The Bow?

[Legacy_Nick The Noodle]

               

Your opinions on missile weapons are sort after.

 

I personally find them very useful, but it may be that I've never really got round to understanding the discipline/knockdown/disarm/parry etc set of skills/feats that would make my characters more capable in melee.

 

I find the bow to be a real force multiplier, and not just because of the damage it causes.  The damage is useful, and sometimes even critical in harsh modules, but often the main effect is to draw minions away from the main body, so that they can be dealt with separately, or by other friendlies, such as guards or militia.

 

I would expand more, but I would appreciate some opinions. 

 

 

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rogueknight333]

               

Missile weapons are indeed extremely useful. This is so even though as a general rule they will do less average damage per hit than the best melee weapons, among other reasons because one cannot by default apply a strength bonus to damage with most missile attacks, and even if one has a bow with a very high "Mighty" property a dedicated archer would need to be boosting Dexterity (or Wisdom if he has Zen Archery) rather than Strength.

 

The great advantage of missile weapons is the great enhancement they provide to one's tactical flexibility. As you suggest, they can sometimes be used to engage large bodies of foes in detail, rather than all at once. Even more usefully, if attacking foes who have no missile capability of their own, you can kite them (shoot at them from a distance and running to keep your distance as necessary) eventually killing them without giving them the opportunity even to make an attack, much less damage you. This is a particularly useful tactic for low level PCs who have so few HP they could be instantly killed by one unlucky hit.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

Assuming "bow" is meaning "ranged attack" since there is little difference besides crit range and multiplier...

 

PvM?

 

Called Shots, especially Leg Shots, can turn a kiter into a skirmish controller.  AAs can best afford the penalty in the opposed check so seldom miss and can spam both types fast enough in rapid shot mode.

 

A ranged trapper (doesn't really matter what the ranged WoC is) can avoid most all damage assuming he/she can kite the enemy into a trap field and then finish them off at leisure. Acid blob are most effective against mobs with a densely stacked field. Stacks of no-save holies work decent too. With the possibility of the AoE from some traps types looming, ranged attack makes the most sense, safety-wise.

 

PvP?

 

Meh.  Depends on whether DevCrit, Bigbys, WoF, etc. have been nerfed or not but it can be an uphill battle except for speedy divine AAs who can dance and disappear.

 

Ranged elemental bashing is still the best way to avoid being killed by an errant epic trap getting triggered while you are in blast range.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Nick The Noodle]

               

Thanks for the replies.

 

One reason for starting this thread was that I found the Arcane Archer tended to be a very successful adventurer.  Indeed, it is only with an Elven Ranger/Wizard/AA that I have completed BR1 The Fall of Ulad, and reached Level 40 in Endless Nights III without dying.  However, I believe this is as much to do with my mindset when playing the character, rather than any innate strengths of the particular class combo itself.  I believe you play more intelligently with a character that is not Uber, and relies, at first, on a relatively weak weapon.  You are also have a distinct disadvantage in a lack of cleave feat at earlier levels, which can cut your number of attacks by half per round, and thereby increases the melee attacks against yourself.  That can lead to a very short life span.  Returning back to BR1, one of the items that you can acquire is a book that allows you cast Blade Barrier once per day.  You are supposed to hand it over to another, but its too useful to part company with.  This was the first time I began to use spells that can effect opponents as they come towards me.  If you are invisible and then cast a cloud of bewilderment in front of yourself, you remain invisible.  The same applies when you cast bladebarrier.  Then you start shooting, enemies will try to run through mist, and plenty will be stunned at this point.    This groups many foes in one place, a perfect target for your fireballs.   

 

My first AA was an Elven Fighter 9, Wiz 1, AA10 at level 20.  After obtaining epic weapon focus in long sword and longbow by level 27, I would take level 10 fighter at level 27 to gain epic weapon specialisation in both.  Then it was about raw damage.

 

When I realised that being sneaky was often a safer option, I then went Elven Ranger 9, Wiz 1, AA10 at level 20.  I found the additional skills, spells, and favoured enemies made up for lack of weapon specialisation.  Entangle and grease are two level 1 spells available to a ranger with wisdom 12 at level 6.  I'd also take a level of ranger after Level 20 to gain another favoured enemy and level 2 spell.

 

Then I went Elven Bard Level 8, Blackguard 4, AA8 at level 20, which allowed me use of Divine Might, and awesome levels of damage, combined with a useful set of skills and spells.

 

The last AA I played was a Half Elf Paladin 9, Sorcerer 1, AA 10 at level 20.  This is fairly specialised, but is slightly tougher and harder hitting than the previous option.

 

My latest character is currently a Wild Elf Ranger 1, Sorcerer 10.  I will continue her as a Sorcerer, except at level 20, where I'll take a level of Paladin for the save bonus, and the additional attack per round.  However, I have also built her around extensive use of the bow, so that I don't need to use my many of few spell choices 

on ranged damage attacks.  It's working quite well, although I have had to use keen edge, greater magic weapon and flameblade as three of my spell options, because some monster will always get up close and personal.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

A pure, artillery AA using Darkness is near godly vs. non-True Seers in PvM.  Servers will often nerf enchanted arrows by either setting an enhancement cap or preventing the DR penetration completely.

 

AA is about the only class I've played that has consistent dominance in high-magic environments, with some monster special effects that are rigged to cause unusual reciprocal damage to melee attacks (similar to Mestil's Sheath, but rather, a physical type damage reflection that can kill an attacker in just a few hits if they are delivering massive crits, as a WM scyther might do).  There is no substitute for distance in those cases.

 

The only weakness I've found is dealing with cage matches where they are forced into PBS range without the ability to displace sufficiently.  Switching to S/S, though a seemingly-logical alternative, turns out to be quite lame unless there are uber finesse-able weapons available for such eventualities.  Pretty tough to match the +15 enhancement bonus of the arrows, though.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Nick The Noodle]

               

A pure, artillery AA using Darkness is near godly vs. non-True Seers in PvM.  Servers will often nerf enchanted arrows by either setting an enhancement cap or preventing the DR penetration completely.

 

AA is about the only class I've played that has consistent dominance in high-magic environments, with some monster special effects that are rigged to cause unusual reciprocal damage to melee attacks (similar to Mestil's Sheath, but rather, a physical type damage reflection that can kill an attacker in just a few hits if they are delivering massive crits, as a WM scyther might do).  There is no substitute for distance in those cases.

 

The only weakness I've found is dealing with cage matches where they are forced into PBS range without the ability to displace sufficiently.  Switching to S/S, though a seemingly-logical alternative, turns out to be quite lame unless there are uber finesse-able weapons available for such eventualities.  Pretty tough to match the +15 enhancement bonus of the arrows, though.

 

Thanks for the heads up re darkness.  May have to consider a Drow AA.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

The AI is definitely broken when it comes to Darkness, it cannot cope with it at all.  It's rather stupid.

 

The main issue I often see is strength meleers attempting to use ranged weapons at high levels and it's pathetic...their AB is non-existent, they usually might as well just AFK if they cannot melee.  In the first few levels, sure, but not at higher levels.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Geth Supremacy]

               

that i am my bad

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

Er, I think you're in the wrong forum.  That said, bows in Awakening and DA2 were extremely good.  Much better than in NWN outside of an arcane archer.