Dark Archer

Standard Evolutions:
Dark Archer I, II, III"'When the moon goes black, the Dark Archers rise from the cursed earth to rain terror on their enemies.'"

Elite Evolution:
Talus"'Channeling the souls of all the fallen Dark Archers, Talus' bow screams with the power of the Ancients.'"

Strategy:
The ultimate gamble ability, Sidewinder is feast or famine. With a chance to do zero damage, evolve early to Sidewinder II to improve hit chance by 10%. When it lands, Sidewinder is devastating, dealing damage equivalent to a 4-5 AP attack. Land a few during a battle, and victory is all but assured. Barrage also has a powerful evolution, as it gains Expose, increasing the damage of any attacks that follow. Ideally start each round with a Barrage, then follow with more attacks for big Expose combos. For your First Strike if you don't have allies to follow up with a low-cost attack, it's usually worth gambling with a Sidewinder to the face of your prime target.

Items:
Try using a Time Warp item to increase your odds of a successful Sidewinder. Add a Burst item for the chance of firing free Sidewinders… or perhaps even better, Burst a Barrage so the Dark Archer’s allies can combo off the Expose for tons of damage. Offense and/or Defense Boost items can also work: landing a Sidewinder with 3 Offense items equipped can almost 1-shot an enemy; added defense means more Sidewinder attempts.

Team:
With one of the lowest defense/offense ratios in the game, Dark Archers can't survive long without strong allies in support. A Goblin Guard with his Guard Shield ability and Guardian trait make a great start. Use a Priestess to drop a Mark of Light on the Archer pre-Sidewinder, and that hit-or-miss moment becomes even more exciting.