Zad Archery Tier Lists
Ranked jobs, skills, and keepers for push, farm, and Guardian checks.
Use this hub when you already understand the buttons and want a ranking. If you still mix up the skill tree and the jobs tab, stop and read Getting Started plus jobs. Rankings below assume the Steam 1.0 ruleset, including patch 1.0.2 gem counts on lower waves and Guardian restore-on-restart.
Three lists live under this hub:
- Jobs Tier List — Archer, Sniper, and how to treat the three locked silhouettes.
- Skills Tier List — Arrow Fall, Explosive Arrow, Sniper orb, and tree nodes that act like skills.
- Builds Tier List — kit plus craft plus tree, including which armor rolls are actually S-tier.
How these ranks were made
This is not a 10,000-hour ladder. Zad Archery shipped on September 1, 2026 as a five-hour incremental. Ranks come from:
- Official systems: five jobs, skill tree, crafting, gathering, Guardian Perks.
- Live UI: Explosive Arrow numbers, Sniper move-while-attacking, Gathering locks, craft fail/take.
- Launch-week pain: missing Guardians, wave 50 cap, gem farming on lower levels.
- Demo and launch YouTube that still matches the 1.0 tabs.
S means you buy it on every file. A means it is default good. B is situational. C is a trap for hour one. We do not invent DPS percentages the UI never shows.
Push list versus farm list
Push is how you reach the next Guardian and the King. Farm is how you sit on a wave after 1.0.2 so gems still count. A Sniper kite build is S for push and still A for farm. A gold-gain armor is S for farm and B for a Guardian check. The farming planner tells you when to swap.
Do not rank locked jobs as S because the silhouette looks cool. Until Samharia names jobs three through five in patch notes, they are “save gems” or “buy if cheap,” not mythic classes. Official names will be added here when they exist.
Related reading
Mechanic pages that feed these ranks: skill tree, crafting, mining, guardians. Patch deltas live on updates. If a 1.1 patch changes gem formulas, these lists will move. Until then, treat S-tier as engine pieces (charges, gems, kiting) and everything else as spice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common Zad Archery questions.
Is this Zad Archery tier list for the demo or Steam 1.0?
Steam 1.0 plus patch 1.0.2. Demo-only recipes are marked when we still cite them.
Why is Sniper ranked above the locked jobs?
Sniper is in the live UI with a documented kite perk. Locked jobs have no confirmed names or kits yet. See jobs.
Should I follow the build list in hour one?
No. Follow Getting Started first. These ranks assume you can already open every tab.