The Artilleryman is one of the few class D mercenaries in Atlantica Online worth keeping in your party into the late game. The Artilleryman and Axeman are the two main character classes which tend to dominate the upper tiers of Atlantica Online PvP, which is a testament to the power of this class.
There are 3 features of the Artilleryman which make him the scourge of every enemy formation which you will face in Atlantica Online. The first is the artilleryman's normal attack, which can strike any target in the enemy formation, and which does damage to all mercenaries adjacent to your central
target. This attack is highly likely to stun your opponent's units, which causes them to be unable to act for several turns. This stun effect is represented in game by a spinning pink halo over the unit.
The other two features which make this class dominant are the skills Chaos Wind and Deep Insight. We'll have more on these skills further into this article.
The Artilleryman is a great addition for PvP AoE stun builds. These formation builds are tailored around dealing large amounts of damage to every unit in the enemy formation, while also preventing enemy units from being able to perform actions in the opponent's turn in combat. In most every build of this type, an Artilleryman is a great addition, particularly as the player's main character.
The Role of the Artilleryman
The Artilleryman essentially has one overall function in a player's party. This is to deal out area-of-effect damage. Additionally, the Artilleryman can fire upon any unit at all in the enemy's formation, which gives the class a bit of a sniper role as well. If there is a wounded opponent in the rear ranks of an enemy's formation, the artilleryman can oftentimes do a great job of finishing them off.
In your own formation, you're going to want to have your Artilleryman in the back ranks, protected by melee mercenaries or other tougher mercenaries. Even a Monk or a Shaman can oftentimes tank more successfully than an Artilleryman. Ranged mercs are simply quite weak when it comes to staying alive in a battle, though their capability to bring damage into the enemy's back ranks is a worthy tradeoff for this.
The Artilleryman is also an excellent choice for a main character class. The skills Deep Insight and Chaos Wind are quite deadly when pumped up completely with skill books, and an Artilleryman main is actually a pretty tough customer. Additionally, stun AoE builds are some of the stronger PvP builds in late game PvP, and the Artilleryman is an excellent addition to such a build. A non
-main Artilleryman is much weaker than a main character Artilleryman, so it's absolutely worth consideration to make your main an Arty.
While the Artilleryman's starting stats don't look very impressive at first glance, there are a few which do stand out upon further inspection. The Artilleryman's high Action Power and Magic Defense are important, as is his relatively high Intelligence. His high Action Power and Intelligence mean that you will be dealing out more magical damage, more often in the fight. His Magic Defense means that if you can keep him protected from physical damage, any magic damage which the enemy directs toward the Artilleryman won't be likely to put him in much danger.
The Artilleryman is rather weak on physical defense,
with low Vitality and Defense stats, which is a good reason to keep him in either the second or third rank of your formation, safely tucked away behind your tanking mercenaries. While the Artilleryman's own physical attacks are not very damaging, his attacks are very likely to hit, and they have a high likelihood of stunning your opponent, which is the real strength of his physical attacks.
- Strength: 200
- Intelligence: 220
- Dexterity: 160
- Vitality: 210
- Defense: 200
- Magic Defense: 275
- Action Power: 55-100
Overall, the Artilleryman has no major stat weaknesses which can't be overcome by careful planning of the arrangement of your formation. His high Magic Defense means that as long as you have him protected by other mercenaries, he will keep on standing and dealing out high-damage area-of-effect spells and stunning attacks which can hit any area of the enemy's formation. Weak physical defense is a fair trade-off for these abilities.
Additionally, the Artilleryman main is much tougher physically, making the Artilleryman excellent statistically as a main character.
Artilleryman Equipment
In the realm of equipment, the Artilleryman has the ability to equip not only armor, accessories, and a cannon, but he can also equip cannonballs which increase his attack power. Like arrows for an archer in most games, these cannonballs are used up whenever the Artilleryman performs a normal attack, but they are relatively inexpensive and the more powerful ones are definitely worth equipping in important fights.
It's a good idea to equip your Artilleryman with armor and accessories which increase his Magic Defense, and Intelligence. Additionally, it's a good idea to give him equipment with high Defense and Vitality bonuses, so that the effects of any physical attacks which he does receive
are lessened. Finally, armor and accessories which increase the Artilleryman's Dexterity are a good idea, as this stat is the one which most strongly effects his cannon damage. However, the Artilleryman's real strength is in his magical spells, Deep Insight and Chaos Wind, whose damage is somewhat dependant on the Intelligence stat.