Have you played an archer?

[mabrook]

I am thinking about my next main-character. Maybe it could be an archer. Think he's quite an interesting kit.
But I wonder if it's somehow possible to beat the game with a long range weapon user? Many enemies seem to have a natural resistance against arrows anyway...
So, has anybody done this game with an archer? Maybe even soloed him?

Let me hear your experiences...

And always remember:
The sins you are going to regret the most later on, are the ones you haven't done when you were younger... ;-)

Mabrook

[Blitzer]

I'm playing an archer through the game right now and he's damn good. He's not solo but he's damn good. His thac0 is at -8 and he hits everything except monsters immune to +2 weapons and less (have to wait til ToB for those +3 arrows ). Firkraag died before he killed all my summons. Some good equipment for you starting out would definately be a girdle of giant strength and the Strong Arm +2 Composite Long Bow, both of which can be purchased from Ribald. Put most points into dex + con, the girdle will balance out the strength deficiancy. Hope this helps!

[mabrook]

some monsters

He can hit almost all the monsters?
What about shadows or demons?
I think it woulb be kinda stupid to equip your archer with a melee weapon everytime you bump into some of the harder enemies. Does it work with them too?
Of course you need to have arrows +2. And I think lots of them. Can you manage this with your inventory before you get this bag (forget the name, where you can put sooo many stuff in)?
But thanks so far. I think I'm going to create one tonight. Archers always impressed me somehow.
Never bought the "strong arm" so far, but I'm going to take a very close look at it then

Thx
Mabrook

[Astafas]

Re: some monsters

Originally posted by mabrook
He can hit almost all the monsters?
What about shadows or demons?
I think it woulb be kinda stupid to equip your archer with a melee weapon everytime you bump into some of the harder enemies. Does it work with them too?
Of course you need to have arrows +2. And I think lots of them. Can you manage this with your inventory before you get this bag (forget the name, where you can put sooo many stuff in)?
But thanks so far. I think I'm going to create one tonight. Archers always impressed me somehow.
Never bought the "strong arm" so far, but I'm going to take a very close look at it then

Thx
Mabrook

Most ennemies in SoA can be hit with +2 arrows. You could always use Tacheron's or Gesen for those who can't.

I wouldn't recommend using the Bag of Holding for Arrows since that will fill it up pretty fast. There's no problem managing the arrows in your inventory, though. Why should there be?

I've played the Archer a couple of times and like the kit. However, I think the Stalker is a better one. His THAC0 with the bow will be good enough for most ennemies (there is no point of lowering it further when you hit anyway) and he can backstab as well.

[kopywrite]

Re: Re: some monsters

Originally posted by Astafas


Most ennemies in SoA can be hit with +2 arrows. You could always use Tacheron's or Gesen for those who can't.

I wouldn't recommend using the Bag of Holding for Arrows since that will fill it up pretty fast. There's no problem managing the arrows in your inventory, though. Why should there be?

ToB gives a rather nice item that can make arrow managment very easy.

Both the bows that don't need ammo are short bows; not much use if your archer has thrown everything into longbows... the Gesen bow was just made for Mazzy, in her hands it becomes one of the most powerful weapons in the game especially as there aren't a great deal of nasties that are resistant to electricity.

[Astafas]

Re: Re: Re: some monsters

Originally posted by kopywrite


ToB gives a rather nice item that can make arrow managment very easy.

Both the bows that don't need ammo are short bows; not much use if your archer has thrown everything into longbows... the Gesen bow was just made for Mazzy, in her hands it becomes one of the most powerful weapons in the game especially as there aren't a great deal of nasties that are resistant to electricity.

I disagree. The Archer's low THAC0 will allow him to use those short bows and still hit often enough.

[mabrook]

And the both of you do think it's fun playing an archer?
It's just because I get bored step by step by palas or fighters. And everybody else who doesnt play such char seems to play a mage.
I want to do something different (kind of individualist )
I think kopywrite meant that you put you proficiency (right spelled?) points on long bows and not on short bows as an archer.
A Stalker is kinda interesting, too. I'll check this out again.

I can remember that there are some situations (especially the dreams) when you have to handle enemies alone. Does this cause problems with a long range fighter?
Or is my memory misleading me and these situations arent solved by battle. Curse me for a fool, my little grey cells in the head seem to die by playing too much of this computer games... but they are so addictive!! Maybe I should change to a more common harmless drug like alcohol...

Keep it going guys (and of course ladies!)
Never meant to be a sexist!!!
I think women are something weird but damn beatiful!


Mabrook

[Arcane]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mabrook
And the both of you do think it's fun playing an archer?
It's just because I get bored step by step by palas or fighters. And everybody else who doesnt play such char seems to play a mage.

dont forget us good old rogues! assasins, bounty hunters and swashbucklers!

harder, faster lvl ups, more of a challenge!

theres nothing a like blade between shoulder blades...

sorry if the colors hurt your eyes

[Astafas]

Originally posted by mabrook
I want to do something different (kind of individualist )

Then play a Bard, the character that has it all:

1) use all weapons
2) throw spells
3) get familiar
4) level up fast (more powerful spells)
5) pick pockets
6) use intruments
7) play bard songs
8) high lore
9) UAI (ToB)
10) Set Traps (ToB)

... and probably more that I've forgotten at the moment.

[Casius]

A lot of people think Archers are overrated, but they aren't. I don't know if I could bare a game without an Archer (I'm not into NPC games). Sure, some monsters are immune to them, but it doesn't matter, they still own, perhaps my second favorite class (Next to Sorcerer).

[nael]

i played a party of four archers. each one with grand mstery in either long bow, short bow, or crossbow. it hink i had 2 with shortbows. it was insane to watch them in battle. they laid to waste everything in sight in mere seconds. especially once you get that one bow that fires three times a round. try to do the first level of watcher's keep so you can get the unlimited quivers. and the firetooth bow that you can buy right off the bat as well soem fancy magic arrows...the first level is real easy to do if you can get soemthing that will give you negative plane protection.
but archers are a lot of fun, the big problem is that ther eis no insanely awesome artifact to put together. but Sabre (a member on this forum) made me some pretty uber powerful bows to use.

just try a party of archers and you'll see. no enemy came anywhere close to beatign me. dragons were dead in just a couple rounds of called shots.

[kopywrite]

Re: Re: Re: Re: some monsters

Originally posted by Astafas


I disagree. The Archer's low THAC0 will allow him to use those short bows and still hit often enough.

maybe so... but the archer's no of attacks will still be pretty low even assuming he/she is at least proficient with short bows and that might make kangaxx a bit of a pain with his super fast regeneration...

And there's just SO much that can't be hurt by +2 arrows (even elementals)

[mabrook]

thank you all

Thank you all for your opinion.
Still I'm unsure about my archer. Although it was funny in Irenicus Dungeon so far... Every little enemy was put to death with one single shot!
Well, but I dont really know whether this will stay that funny with some heavy enemies and not only small skirmishes...
@kopywrite: what is it now with the +2 arrows? Are they sufficient or not. What would you say?
As I said above, I don't want a cool archer that has to change to daggers when fighting heavy enemies. This way it would become the 6th character in the party (the one you carry along, but who doesn't really have anything real to provide the party with) Pls Help!
Dragons can be hit? Elementals cant? Sure? Hmmm, makes my decission harder.

@nael: how does this creating of own items work? isnt that like cheating?

Anyway thanks
maybe I`ve just seen Lord of the Rings too often now (Yes, I admit: I like Legolas!!)

CYA
Mabrook

[Sailor Saturn]

I made my Ranger who I used through BG1 an Archer in BG2. She weilds Strong Arm +2(or whatever it's called) and has the Bracer's of Archery. She's also got points in Dual Wielding and a point in Long Swords. When she's unable to use her bow, I take out the bow and slip Daystar into one hand and the Blade of Roses in the other and set her loose. She's deadly with both the bow and the swords. I sent her in weilding her swords and hasted, but alone, against the Daystar Lich and she won before the Lich had a chance to do any damage to her.

[nael]

@mabrook - to create items you have to use soem sort of infinity engine. yes, in some ways it is cheatign, especially considering how absurdly powerful you can make an item. i have beaten BG2 a dozen times over, from good to evil, from a party to solo. i am not worried about my ability to beat the game. i just felt as if my archers deserved soem cool artifacts since they don't use items like foebane, axe of unyielding, etc.

and i don't know who thought that archers can't have a fast rate of fire. archers can attain grand mastery in a ranged weapon (not sling), so that on top of some of the bows that fire more than once...it's insane. and for more fire power, there are arrows of detonation, ice, fire, poison, disspelling for those pesky mages.

i do recommend, depending on your party, putting proficiency slots in a blunt weapon to ensure you can fight clay golems.

are you soloing this archer? who do you plan on taking with you?

[samcu]

Archer in a party make the party really hard to lose. They are probably pretty hard to solo, though I haven't try that yet.

[Lynariel]

Archers are very fun to play at higher levels. GW does miracles.
By the way, hello and well met to all you Forgotten Relams heroes!

[Sojourner]

If you have ToB, give your archer lots of Greater Whirlwinds and 2-3x Hardiness. For tips on soloing SoA with an archer, read Tales of Stormreed the solo archer.

[mabrook]

Has anybody a good suggestion who to take along with my archer then? In case it will proof to hard to solo him.
Alignment doesnt really matter since I can restart easily (just played about half an hour yet). But I think somehow you have to be a "hero" in this game (you know, saving poor people, killing deadly dragons, freeing cities and such stuff), so I think it just fits better to have a good or at least neutral party alignment. Anyway, I never tried evil


@nael: You are absolutely right about the bad equipment for archers. My last char was a paladin because he can wield that great holy avenger (thats what its called, right?) If you know where to get some cool stuff, let me know.
Actually I was thinking about soloing this archer, but I'm not quite sure if he can do it. Probably I will need at least one more close combat fighter. Maybe I'll take minsc along. Or Valygar would probably be a good choice for me, too.
The Problem is IMHO that I will need a real mage later in the game, right? My last time playing it thru, I can remember I was damn lucky to have some magic users along.

@sailor saturn: thx for scharing your experience with me. I think I will go on with my archer then. Someone else said, it was also possible for him to beat firkraag (damn, never know how to spell this!) with his archer, too. So it must be a kinda good character.

@sojourner: Thanx a lot for the link, I`ll check it out immediately.
And yes, I have ToB installed, but not played yet. Whirlwinds and such are these special-abilities you get at high levels, right? (seems to me too like a newbie question...)


Thanks to all of you and keep playing

Mabrook

[kopywrite]

Re: thank you all

Originally posted by mabrook
@kopywrite: what is it now with the +2 arrows? Are they sufficient or not. What would you say?
As I said above, I don't want a cool archer that has to change to daggers when fighting heavy enemies. This way it would become the 6th character in the party (the one you carry along, but who doesn't really have anything real to provide the party with) Pls Help!
Dragons can be hit? Elementals cant? Sure? Hmmm, makes my decission harder.

Elementals are from other planes giving them pretty good immunity to most weapons. IMHO +2 arrows just aren't enough on their own; I'm about to start an archer and i'm going to throw everything into either short bows or crossbows (ToB installed).

As long as your longbow archer is part of a group you shouldn't have too much grief... you can even give him a script to make sure he fights as a sniper automatically

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