Archer

The Archer (アーチャー Aachaa) is a bow-wielding class that appears in every Fire Emblem game. Archers are foot soldiers carrying Bows who can deal with enemies from a range without fear of counterattack. Notably, Archers cannot attack from one space away under normal circumstances. While low in defense and health, Archers attack from a space away, so as long as they are placed behind friendly units, they will be okay (unless there is an enemy who can attack from a range, then they can be attacked).

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, this class is only available to the enemy.

In Fire Emblem: Fates, the Archer class of the game is called the Bow User (弓使い Yumi Tsukai) class in the Japanese version and is a Hoshido class.

Combat
Archers need cover and support. While they can attack Sword, Lance, or Axe users without being counterattacked, any enemy in range can easily move in and fearlessly attack the archer; not being able to counterattack at melee range is an inherent downside of the class. Any type of ground unit, preferably one with at least moderate defense, will make for suitable cover. Archers are strong against flying units such as Pegasus Knights, so drawing these enemies into their firing range will save them a lot of trouble later on. In Gaiden, they are able to attack an enemy from three spaces away, as well as being able to counter attack melee fighters, as opposed to the usual two.

Promotions
Archers can promote into the more powerful Sniper class, enhancing their strengths and often rounding out their weak points (such as low HP/Defense). In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Archers and Mercenaries can also promote to Ranger (alternatively called Forrest Knight), a mounted unit with balanced stats that can use swords in addition to bows. This trait resurfaces in Fire Emblem: Awakening where both Archers and Mercenaries can promote to Bow Knight, a mounted, sword-toting archer class which bears many similarities to the Ranger class. In Fire Emblem: Fates, they can continue to promote into Sniper (renamed Holy Bowman), but also promote into the Golden-Kite Warrior, the first flying archer promotion.

Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi/Shadow Dragon

 * Gordin - Archer of Altea. The youngest of the Altean Knights, who dreams of becoming a Sniper.
 * Tomas - Member of the Akaneia Knights, who was captured and imprisoned in the palace.
 * Norne - A volunteer soldier from Altea, who appears in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.

Fire Emblem Gaiden

 * Paison - One of the members of Clive's Sofia Liberation Army on Alm's route.
 * Leo - One of Valbar's members battles Geyse's pirates in the Pirate's Fortress on Celica's route.

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

 * Raian - Gordin's younger brother.

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade

 * Wolt - An archer serving Pherae. Roy's milk-brother.
 * Dorothy - A girl from Etruria serving the Elimine church.

Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken

 * Wil - A youth from Pherae, in the Lycian League. Very social.
 * Rebecca - A youth from Pherae. Very helpful and bright.

Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones

 * Neimi - A childhood friend of Colm who hails from Renais. She cries a lot.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

 * Rolf - Member of the Greil Mercenaries and the youngest brother of Oscar and Boyd. He is a gentle and bright boy.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

 * Leonardo - An archer of noble birth, whose family was destroyed by war. His personality rarely shows, since he is quiet and rarely talks. A serious and thoughtful person. He regularly nags his daydreaming partner, Edward.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

 * Virion - A noble archer from a fallen country in Valm and a member of Chrom's Shepherds force.
 * Noire - Tharja's daughter from the future.

Fire Emblem: Fates

 * Takumi - The youngest prince of Hoshido.
 * Kiragi - Takumi's son, a prince of Hoshido.
 * Setsuna - Born to a noble house in Hoshido and is a subordinate of Hinoka.

Trivia

 * The Archer class is unused in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. It can be seen if cheats or hacking is done the class has a C rank in Bows so it can be assumed that it was going to be a lesser version of the Bow Fighter class. However, if brought into battle the game will freeze.

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