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As a pure Archer class I find myself wishing for more tools to slow my opponents down,or stun them before they get to me,but I don't want to level up a cloth class, I'd rather stick to metal armour wearing classes. What would I need to do to get more "controlling" if that's the right word abilities?
Take what I say with a huge grain of salt, as I'm not a fan of ranged classes, only magic; purely a personal choice. I say this, as I did not level the ranged classes until I was heavily multi-classed.
If you keen on perusing ELAR, then there's not a whole lot extra you can do. They already get all the Elemental Arrow subsets (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Elemental), with Lightning Arrows providing the best stun. They also get 10 Bow per level, so you won't be short on skill. You could consider leveling a class which will boost your Dex, as ELAR gets 9/lvl, maybe Weaver or Monk... (probably Weaver as that would be easier than leveling a new adventure class just for a little extra Dex).
However, if you're looking for more crowd-control, you might consider Ranger instead of ELAR. They only get Lightning arrows, but I find it the most versatile. They also get Clock of Thorns and some Nature skill per level. Nature spells offer stuns, roots, healing and AoE's, so they have significant crowd control and supporting type spells. Unfortunately, Rangers only get 7 Nature per level, so you'd have to level up another class with higher Nature to keep up with using the best spells. Ranger also only gets 9 Bow per level, so you'd also have to level up Scout/ELAR as well to keep your Bow skill high. A lot of extra work, for what would seem like not a huge return...
So ignoring the possibility of shifting focus to Ranger, the only other thing you might consider to help ELAR would be Cleric or Healer, just to give you the buffs and Revitalize heals. Elar and Scout can only cast the most basic spells, and only if you have another class to give you the skill, so neither offer any magic uses.
Hope that helps, even just a little.
Happy huntings!
Elemental archer in itself is not a class that is capable of crowd control, Lightning arrows deal nature damage and can stun a single target, Ice arrows will deal ice damage and slow a target down some, Flame arrows will deal better damage as flame and can cause engulf flame dot. Cleric at the minimal is needed for any biped, Elemental archer's spirit arrows deal spirit (not the same as spirit bolt) and can heal for the exact amount of damage the hit deals. I have a level 100 Elemental archer but I have not used it since the day the change came. I know only some about ranger but i do not have that school.
Well since then I've started leveling a Healer for some more survivability,due to the increased heals they get,and it seems to help,as least to some extent. Being able to cast Instant Heal III,plus the other healing spells I have access to,is extremely helpful at times.
I have been leveling ELAR for months. I'm at 91 now. At first I died constantly-- I found it difficult even with many other adventure schools at level 100. The healing will definitely help. Also, having done Mage, I have a fire damage over time that helps a lot. Many of my other skills don't transfer over to ELAR so it's been really tough staying alive. It's fun, though.