Which familiar should I use? (in General)

My NCB character Enzzo is an archer. So far I've gotten together some pretty decent gear for him, and I feel like I'm doing well.

I am wondering, for a single-minion archer strat, should I stick with the Steel Familiar I have, or go with a Halidon + AoJ? At what point (if ever) should I hire a new minion, and for what purpose? I feel rusty in terms of strategy, so I welcome your opinions. Thanks :)

The old standard is a ToA to boost your stats and provide weapon + without you having to invest CBD in it.

Hal vs SF? Tough choice. I think during your run the Hal would work best since you are focusing on others weaknesses. Later on, when you are getting beat on and losing score, a more distributed strat might work better.

I would suggest one extra minion. You can use him to:
- Cast dispel magic, which is very nice in conjunction with fast kill strats
- Equip leadership items which will boost your damage.
- Give you an extra kill slot.

You could even have the DM minion wear the Hal/SF allowing your main tank to equip armor, an AoM instead of AoJ, and a power shield if desired.

are you starting the ncb with any stockpile of cbd?

also, how will you be using your money rewards, buying ba during xp times for max mpr growth or investing in your elb?

I would definitely hire another minion to cast the amf..use current amf xp towards archers stats

As far as the gear goes either ToA for added stats (which will stack nicely with item bonuses) and an AoM or move steel fam to enchanter and get EC, AoM, and either TsA, BoE, or Adam (in that order i would recommend.)

Also you may want to get DBs later to help avoid those stat draining xbows with either tat

~WC~

Thanks for the suggestions, guys :) To answer some questions, I have a little over $2M at the moment. I've been sinking most of my money into my ElBow.

Also for general info, here is how I've spent my XP so far (keeping Archery at 1.00)

Stat % Distribution
HP 23%
ST 31%
DX 29%
Archery 7%
AMF 10%

I really like the idea of getting a Hal/AOJ, and I also like the idea of dropping it to a 2nd minion eventually so my main minion can wear BoE/EC/AoM... Good things to think about :D

Personally I'd prefer using the SF so there's still some damage coming from the team against exbow wielding, jiggy using or rare EC using teams. The Halidon is probably better damage wise though as it would be sharing armour you're already upgrading for your tank.

lol.. if you choose for Hal: Exbow = game over xD

Also, is it better for my Archer to continue to fire his Elbow during melee rounds, or to use a melee weapon (currently wielding a Blade of Thuringwethil)?

As long as you can hit twice in ranged, switch to a melee weapon. But it's an investment-heavy strategy. Those weapons suck down money.