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I finally completed the Underdark, and had the Gesen bow constructed.

Not needing arrows anymore (but I still hold onto those Arrows of Dispelling!), I have Imoen using this bow. But the "ammo" moves so slowly, and I don't know if I'm getting 2 attacks a round anymore (as most bows give you).

What makes this bow (other than it's free) better than Tansheron's Bow? I mean, I know Gesen is +4 while Tansheron is only +3, but does that really make much of a difference? Conversly, Tansheron has a Speed Factor of 2, while Gesen's SF is 3 (the lower the better).

Gesen has a better thac0 and has extra lightning damage. It should have the same attacks/round as any short bow. The speed factor mainly applies to who gets to attack first, so it isn't a major issue.

And it isn't free. It costs about 5000-7500 gp to construct (I forget the exact amount, but all of Cromwell's items are expensive).

But, depending on who you have in your party, it is usually beneficial to use both bows. I frequently give Imoen Gesen and Nalia Tansheron. If I have Mazzy in the party, she can use Tuigan which goes through ammo much faster (she can easily switch to melee if she runs out of ammo, whereas the other two suck at close fighting).

Compared with a fast bow like the Tuigan, those two definitely feel very slow. Unfortunately, Tuigan has low enchantment and as JackOfClubs points out, only Mazzy (grand mastery) should be using it.

I would prefer a long bow though, with a nice enchantment (+5), shooting non-magical arrows at a fast rate. I haven't played archers in a while, but is there such a long bow (considering mods too)?

-kaitsuburi

Hi, if you shoot a mage who has cast "stone skin" with Gesen Bow, you can hurt the mage with the lightning damage which also disrupts his/her spell casting.

Very useful. The Fire Tooth flying dagger sold in the drow city can also do the trick, and Imoen has a proficiency star in the dagger as well.

+5 to thaco makes gesen superior..

punches thru stoneskin..

gesen is the superior bow...

just equip imoen with dex and thaco bonus items, and it will serve you well...

also note that the game engine only shows you attacking I think 3 times per round normally, so despite attacking 10 times per round with whirlwind or whatnot you really don't swing your sword that many times per round according to game graphics

In regard to gesen bow, note that you can equip enchanted arrows on it and it will do lightnng and that arrow dmg as well.

Originally posted by Ekental
In regard to gesen bow, note that you can equip enchanted arrows on it and it will do lightnng and that arrow dmg as well.

Yeah, actually I am surprised that UserUnfriendly didn't say this. He had mentioned it in some other threads.

Isn't is true that if you equip this box with arrows, the speed factor decreases? The animation is certainly faster and it seems to hit people faster too.

It's nice to use normal arrows with this box against mages. Electrical damage goes through stoneskin and normal arrows go through Protection from Magical Weapons.