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I've just recently begun with my Generic Archer, who now is at lvl 9/12 i think it is. I have 4* in Short bows, 2* in katanas and 2* in two handed weapon style. Of course i want to use the bow of gesen, but is there a better alternative? Weapons from ToB is also counting.

Short bow is probably the best option. Still... there's Taralash (long bow, +4 when you find, +5 when Cespenar is done with it) you can get near the end of Watcher's Keep. And there's the crossbow Firetooth at the entrance of WK. It's not as powerful as the Gesen bow, but it does adequate damage, doesn't require ammo and is much faster. Another weapon Cespenar can upgrade to +5.No troll shall stand in your way!

Short bow, though longbow and crossbow are good, you still get the lightning dmg with gesen when you equip different arrows and use them, so you get the bonus arrow dmg and the lightning dmg anyway

Firetooth! (crossbow)
IIRC it does more damage then the gessen and you get it sooner (if you want).

My biggest problem is that i cannot imagine an archer with anything else then a longbow.

i like to use the quick short bow which can fire 3 shots per round, i don't quite remember it's name nut you can get it at the copper choronet when you kil the beastmaster

[QUOTE=Stilgar]My biggest problem is that i cannot imagine an archer with anything else then a longbow.[/QUOTE]

I know what you mean - I always use a longbow myself - from a role-play perspective, I just can't see any serious archer using anything else.

In the game though, there's just not much difference really. You do get an extra shot/round with a bow, which is nice - but that benefit is diminished by grand-mastery (4 attacks vs 3 just isn't as big a deal as 2.5 vs 1.5), and completely eliminated with whirlwinds. And the crossbow does give you an extra point of damage on average (1D8 instead of 1D6), so that helps even things out.

As for short vs long, you do gain bonuses for a longbow of +1 to hit, and for a composite an additional +1 to damage (which basically evens them out with a crossbow for damage). However, there really isn't a lot of composite longbows in the game (I think the best one is a +3). And a lot of the magic longbows seem to forget about the longbow bonuses (the Taralash for example - as a +4 longbow, it should give +5 to hit, but instead only gives +4). And the big advantage to a longbow is supposed to be the range - but that's largely a moot point in the game. By the time you get line of sight, you're usually in range for any bow.

So really you can go with whatever you prefer, although the Gesen (shortbow) is I think the best bow in the game. But don't forget about the Strong Arm (longbow) - only a +2 but gives you +3 to damage!

[QUOTE=Stilgar]Firetooth! (crossbow)
IIRC it does more damage then the gessen and you get it sooner (if you want).

My biggest problem is that i cannot imagine an archer with anything else then a longbow.[/QUOTE]

Problem is that fire resistance and immunity is more commen then any other elemental.
But that is a choice you make... you could also keep it and have another bow as back up.

I actually prefer to use Thraseron's Bow instead of Gesen.

Too bad there isn't any repeating Crossbows in BG2. With my Wizard Slayer I used a Long Bow cuz arrows aint that big a deal. Its like 1 gold for 30 arrows. By the way if ur attacking an enemy who's immune to normal weapons, is it the bow that counts to see whether u damage him or the arrows or both?

Gesen bow would do more dmg than firetooth no? Because you get lightning dmg from gesen + whatever arrow you equip, so it does potentially do more dmg, whereas firetooth you can sub in different bolts or use the generic +2 firearrows