Have you played an archer?

kopywrite · Post by **kopywrite** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 4:14 am

@ Mabrook
Here's another link

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Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 4:14 am

Originally posted by 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

Don't be afraid to mix alignements! A good PC might want to bring along evil NPCs in order to keep an eye on them thus preventing them from doing evil deeds. An evil PC might want to bring along good NPCs in order to use them for his own purposes.

My suggestion for a very strong party:

1) Archer - main distance fighter
2) Korgan - main melee fighter
3) Sir Anomen - cleric and second melee fighter
4) Jaheria - druid and mage body guard, romance interest.
5) Jan - thief and backup mage
6) Edwin - main mage

Blitzer · Post by **Blitzer** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 7:03 am

Let's settle this arrow question right now. There are only a few enemies unaffected by +2 arrows and they are encountered very few times in the game. Off the top of my head, here they are:
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
Greater Mummies, Kangaxx, some (not all) vampires, clay golems, Iron golems, stone golems, and adamantite golems, and that's all I can think of. So if you play a solo archer, your main problem will be killing golems but just put a few proficiency slots in war hammer or something. If you play party, no problem. Basically, all the really annoying baddies will fall easily: dragons, beholders, mind flayers, and vamps. If you're still unsure, throw chaotic commands on an archer and watch him/her kick the %@#$ out of mind flayers. It's funny

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nael · Post by **nael** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 8:58 pm

about mind flayers - these were always my hardest foes, but with my party of archers, i sent in one guy to lure them out equiped with whatever charm/mind protection equipment i had and rained hell on those poor mind flayers with everyone else. definitely my easiest time with them was with my party of archers.

and greater whirwind with archers is just too funny to behold...you've never seen so many arrows fly across a screen

DaringCommander11 · Post by **DaringCommander11** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 10:49 pm

Alexandria

I played my main character Alexandria the elf archer. She used a bow and one axe. (I role play and if she spent all her time working on bow skills then she would use one simple melee weapon for close range) The Frostreaver took me throughout the entire game for anyone that couldn't be taken down with a round of arrows (5 or 6 arrows usually kills something). Anything that need past 2+ (few and far between in SoA) Frostreaver got the job done. If not then that is what Keldorn and the holy avenger is for.

kopywrite · Post by **kopywrite** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 2:30 am

@ Blitzer
few and far between? vampires? Golems? yeah hardly any of those in the game...

(been inside the planar sphere? the elven city? There's less lizard men in BG2 than there are golems!!)

The only vamps that can be hit by +2 arrows are fledgling ones, ie the babies. Add demons and elementals to your list too.

Don't get me wrong, I think the archer is a very powerful character (as is any character who can achieve grand mastery- btw is IWD2 dropping all the extra attacks BG gives characters for specialization?) I just think from a power gaming point of view that short bows are better. AND from a role playing point of view too! Long bows are six foot long... no way would you be able to easily use one in confusion of head to head combat... or in the cramped confines of a cramped dungeon corridor.

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mabrook · Post by **mabrook** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 2:31 am

thanks alot

Okay, as I can see clearly now, actually archers are a somehow interesting subject for a bunch of people

Thanks to everybody so far. And keep it going on!
Well, the last thing still unclear to me is which weapon to chose: longbows or shortbows...
plus 1 in warhammer would be a good choice for these cursed golems (as said above) but I think this wouldnt fit to an archer, right? so i might take longswords.

this greater whirlwind seems to bee really great, when do i get it?

@sojourner & kopywrite:
Thanx for the links, they really helped!
And kopy, let me know how it worked for you with your archer.

@astafas: If I dont solo my archer (which I probably won't because I read in pages sojourner and kopywrite gave me links to), I'll try out your party combination. I'd like to have minsc along, but this doesnt fit with edwin (did it once)

mind flayers have been really anyoing and tough enemies for me too, so I'm looking forward to seeing them get pierced ba tons of arrows soon.

@darin commander: well, why didnt you choose long swords for your archer then. As it's said, these are the most common weapons in Faerun so everybody might use them. And there are some good ones in the game actually.

kopywrite · Post by **kopywrite** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 2:53 am

Re: thanks alot

Originally posted by mabrook
plus 1 in warhammer would be a good choice for these cursed golems (as said above) but I think this wouldnt fit to an archer, right? so i might take longswords.

this greater whirlwind seems to bee really great, when do i get it?

I've given my archer the one melee weapon slot in maces (for obvious reasons,heh) but I'm not sure this really fits in too well with the idea of rangers. IIRC the original D&D had a rule which said that rangers had to spend prof slots on 'rangerish' weapons such as swords, bows, axes, spears etc.

You get greater whirlwind after reaching the SoA exp cap (3 million) assuming you have ToB.

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Sojourner · Post by **Sojourner** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 10:58 am

Longbows give you greater range and better THACO, obviously. However, the extra attack the Tuigan bow gives you is also nice. And when it comes to the Tansheron's and Gesen Bows, something interesting happens when you equip arrows: the base damage of the bows increases by an average of 3 points. Equip arrows which do elemental damage with the Gesen bow, and you're talking insane damage per hit.

I tested the Gesen Bow with my archer (level 9, with grandmastery in shortbows), and here's what I found:

Without arrows: Gesen was doing 7 base damage, with 1-8 electrical

With normal arrows: Gesen was averaging 10 damage per hit, with 1-8 electrical, plus was shooting faster arrows

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 11:27 am

Re: thanks alot

Originally posted by mabrook
@astafas: If I dont solo my archer (which I probably won't because I read in pages sojourner and kopywrite gave me links to), I'll try out your party combination. I'd like to have minsc along, but this doesnt fit with edwin (did it once)

If you like to backstab, switch Korgan for Valygar. Put Sir Anomen with Gauntlets of Dex and a shield in front so the ennemies got a "low AC"-character to focus on. Let Valygar sneak around the backside meanwhile.

Dimensional · Post by **Dimensional** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 12:59 pm

Sheesh you leave the forums for a couple of months and everyone seems to have forgotten all they new about Archers

anyway they are IMHO one of the most fun classes. and there are no enemys they can't take with care and are quite soloable.

so here are my quick points on the subject

Short bows are they way to go if only for the gesen bow (why you say ) the gesen bow without arrows is considered to be +4 enchanted so its missiles are +4 (when you add missiles the enchantment of the missiles takes precidence) also cool nifty fact using arrows of detonation with gesen bow every one taking damage from the detonation also taes electric damage)

2nd best bow is tansherons due to the fact that it is +3 therefore so are it's missiles and is such the only +3 capable bow before the underdark (without TOB instaled)

as such archers can take on any creature relitivly early .

also archers can Hide in shadows - Never forget it. especialy scince with the cloak of non -detection you become undetectable by true sight. mages just don't stand a chance.

Boots of speed are essential for a solo mage as is choice of melee wepon

my top 3 choices
Maces - Mace of destruction +2 and the fact you will need a blunt wepon to deal with them nasty golems.
Longswords - lots of versitility , top swords being Daystar for it's lich kiling properties and Flame tonge - +4 vs undead means capability to take on klangaxx early (v.easy with scroll prot undead)
warhammer - Cromfeyer say no more

use summoning toys - things which keep the bad guys from you are good

Spider statue
Moondog statuette
staff of air elemetal control
horn of vahlalla

remeber to use your called shot ability it stacks and is cumulative

basicaly lots of fun buy all the potions of speed you can see

being faster than you enemies is good.
Beware of beholders they are perhaps the nastiest thing to deal with

lot of luck to you

Jeremy

Robnark · Post by **Robnark** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 1:30 pm

I'm currently the biggest archer fanatic imaginable at the moment, as i'm playing with a five character party that i have created to try to reduce spellcasting cheeseyness, in that i only have one character (a cleric/mage) exclusively created for magical abilities. the rest are:

a kensai (main character)
a paladin (for the holy avenger)
an assasin (general thievery skills)
and an archer.

i have come to the conclusions that archers are
1) the bane of spellcasters everywhere, with high speed, accurate, long ranged spell disrupting attacks. beautiful.

2)useful on minion squishing duty, as a high speed short bow, high accuracy and enchanted arrows can snipe his way through a veritable horde of summons. essential if you want to keep your melee characters concerntrated on the most danerous targets

3)lastly, but in no way least, is that he can reliably deal regular, highly accurate, relatively high damage to any enemy on the screen, while safely protected by your melee characters.

they're fun. what more can i say?

Casius · Post by **Casius** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 1:31 pm

I'd have to disagree with you on that one. You might want to have a point or two in shortbow so you can kill the enemies that are immune to +2 weapons, however, Shortbows shoot so slow that you should really go with a Longbow.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 4:52 pm

Short bows are for thieves (wanting small hideable weapons) and for the small races (not being able to use larger weapons). An Archer constantly using short bow is ridiculous IMO - the long bow has a better range and precision.

Aubrey · Post by **Aubrey** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 5:21 pm

@ Astafas:

I second. And I don't understand why an archer shouldn't take advantage of some beautiful long bows available in the game. I can't imagine Coran in BG1 with a short bow --or Legolas, for that matter.

Cheers

kopywrite · Post by **kopywrite** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 5:46 pm

Bah!

wow, this thread just won't die

@ Casius; short bows are speed factor 6 while longbows are speed factor 7.

@ Astafas; short bows small and hideable? They're 5 foot long... where you going to hide that?

Range is rather meaningless in SoA as the range is dictated by the fog of war. Therefore both types have the same range (obviously IRL this would be untrue).

@ Aubrey. Hmm looked like a short bow he was carrying to me. But I might be wrong...

After all this I've started my own archer character and she's spent all her slots on... crossbows.

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DaringCommander11 · Post by **DaringCommander11** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 7:20 pm

Bows

The average short bow is roughly 3 feet long so yes it is hidable. Legolas was using a longbow (the books say so). Also, in return to what someone said about my character using axes instead of longswords, the axe is a very basic weapon that almost anybody can use. The longsword is more complexe. The longsword is better, not simpler, and that is why more people use them.

Casius · Post by **Casius** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 8:38 pm

Well if that is so kobywrite, then one speed factor must make a ton of a difference. I just tried it out with Gesen Bow and Heartseeker, and I find Heartseeker owns it.

nael · Post by **nael** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 9:35 pm

@casius - actually, gesen and heartseeker have the same speed factor, 4. tansheron's bow is only 3 and requires no ammo, so that is a nice one to use as well.
and with TOB - you can get whatever that shortbow is worked on, and that goes to a speed factor of 1.

Casius · Post by **Casius** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 10:36 pm

Well, something must be up then, because Gesen goes dramatically slower.