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so i'm playing an archer and i have 3 bows that i think are pretty good.

The bows i currently own

Elven Court +3
Tungian +1
Strong Arm +2

i've been using the tungian because of the extra shots but i really would like to use the strong arm because of the extra damge.

but if there is a better bow that i can use(i am in chapter 2 i can pay of gaelyn but i choose to mess around a bit first) please let me know!

There are a lot of bows later in the game, yet my advice is to concentrate on Short Bows. Long Bows are powerful, but there are no +4 or +5 projectiles for them. Crossbows too are very good, but lack certain valuable bow-ammo, the Arrows of Dispelling.

There are certain enemies which can be hit only by weapons with level of enchantment +4 or higher, or even +5 or higher. And there are only two missile weapons (bow and crossbow that is) which are of +4 enchantment and shoot +4 projectiles - the Short Bow of Gesen and the Firetooth Crossbow.

More shots per round is better than more powerful, but fewer shots. So focus on the Tuigan Bow(best) or the Light Crossbow of Speed(optional) with some special ammo, like Bolts of Lightning or Arrows of Piercing.

For an archer, I'd be going for damage output as sole criteria - THAC0 will never be a problem for you.
For damage you have a couple of options:
+damage in bow/crossbow. You'll find the crossbows to be more damaging, but also with an attack less per round.
Number of attacks.

In my opinion it is about style - do you prefer few hits with high damage output or several hits with less damage output?
It's easy to do a bit of math on it if you wish - I'll leave that up to you.

As for the advise above regarding enemies that can only be hit by certain enchantment - they are generally few. I would never choose a weapon so I could hit that 1 specific creature in the game.

+2 will hit 99% of all enemies. +3 will hit most of the rest leaving only 2 creatures that I can think of that require +4.

However, gesen's bow is good in the sense that it creates its own ammunition, however there are cases that provide the same for regular bows.


Personally, I like Tuigan for the extra attack, as for an archer a lot of your damage will be done due to your class. Hence, more attacks = more damage. Further, will more attacks, you are also more in control of whom and when you shoot during a round of combat.

Strongbow is certainly an option though, and the best way to find out is to test both and go with the one you like best.

Note however, that you gain a lot by specialising in your bow of choice. So pay attention to your proficiency points - if you have only 1 in short bows, but 5 in long bows - go with long bows.

just a small addition - I agree with the above - Tarlash +4 (WK) gives speed points plus can be upgraded to +5 in ToB - worth considering.

normally, Tuigan is my fave for short and Fire Tooth for Crossbow - I have Keldorn use it as his ranged weapon - perfectly suits him.

as for ammo - there is a lot of good stuff around, especially if you go to WK early on.

There being no +4 arrows is only true because of a glitch, Arrows of Biting were supposed to be +4, and are in all respects bar one due to a cock-up.

This can be corrected by extracting the attached file into your override folder.

galraen wrote:There being no +4 arrows is only true because of a glitch, Arrows of Biting were supposed to be +4, and are in all respects bar one due to a cock-up.

This can be corrected by extracting the attached file into your override folder.

Didn't know about that. Is it also fixed with the community fix packs?

I really don't know Tricky, but the descriptions says +4 to hit, the item extension header says +4 to hit (which means it does add 4 to your to hit die rolls) but for some reason the 'enchanted to hit' on the general tab says +1, which obviously can't be correct. The file I attached simply changes the 1 in the general tab to 4 in line with everything else, nothing else is changed.

Not the arrows of Biting, but the Arrows of Piercing appear to be +4, since they give +4 bonus to hit. Yet, under the fixpack, their description is like that:

Always considered to be of +1 enchantment when determining what to hit(which is normal, and should be like that).

THAC0 bonus: +4

The Arrows and Bolts of Biting, as well as the Arrows of dispelling, under the G3 fixpack read:

Always considered to be non-enchanted when determining what to hit.

This means enchantment level 0, but doesn't mean that they're NORMAL missiles. They're considered still magical missiles, and thus cannot penetrate Protection from Magical Weapons, but CAN penetrate protection from Normal Missiles.

The Fire, Acid, and Ice arrows, as well as the Bolts of Lightning are considered to be of +1 enchantment when determining what they can hit. Same is true for Paralytic and Kuo-toa bolts.

The Sunstone bullets are of +4 enchantment when determining what they can hit.

You're right Saros, and that's the arrow (of piercing) the attachment's for, I only got it wrong in the post(s).

As for being enchanted yet not being enchanted that's pure non-sense, it's either enchanted or it's not. The arrows are clearly of +4 enchantment, for anyone to try to say they're normal missiles is gobbledygook. Just someone trying to cover a mistake rather than admit they blundered.