Honestly the hop3 to dragoon combo is probally the best overall, due to finestra, at lv 15 (hoplite3) it adds 150 crit rate and +3 aoe attack ratio via a attribute at circle2 (bascally 150 free dex worth of crit) a very useful spamable attack skill in spear toss, and stabbing itself hits like a truck (make sure to hold the button down not spam it, its been tested holding it down is best). They also got a skill that can make anything take 50% more dmg from piercing attacks, which can also stack with a mobs natural weakness to pierce for bascally double the effect. The downside to the hop3->dragoon build is its a late bloomer for dps. It gets a ton better once you get dopple, then it becomes god tier once you get dragoon and its super hard hitting attack skills and 2 hand spear use. But since you have Peltasa circle 1, which afaik is the only class with a aoe taunt skill, you can actually join a party as a tank, while not as good as peltasa 3, you can more than do the job well enoigh, you just take a bit more damage I think. I see lots of partys looking for a swordie that has at least peltasa 1 somewhere in its build to tank. The hoplite build is perfect for this, since it can use 1 hand spear+shield and not lose access to any skills. Don’t feel bad about 2 hand sword using people out dpsing you at midgame, at endgame you’ll be making them look stupid it’ll be worth it when they relize how crappy they are compared to you. XD
The archer one is popular because alot of the fletcher skills have 0 cooldown at all, So your only limit is the cheap as hell arrows and your sp pool. I suspect to see them nerfed in the future myself though, their dps is far too high with all those 0 cooldown skills compared to pretty much any other archer build. Its popular because its an OP build, once it gets nerfed you’ll prob never see them again. or very few of them. All it needs for a nerf is for cooldowns to be added to all skills, and for the aoe cooldowns to be increased to match other archer classes. The arrow cost is a joke so don’t even try to argue that, they are pennies if that. I’m calling it now, fletcher WILL see nerfs, its just a matter of time.
