[Kit Mod] Ideas for an improved Archer kit
argent77
Member Posts: 3,434
I haven't touched the kit creation topic for years. That's why I'm glad to see @CrevsDaak has put together a very helpful kit creation guide. I know that there are already a number of mods out there that also attempt to improve the Archer kit, but it doesn't hurt to see yet another mod to add enhancements to it. I've initially planned to create this kit only for my next walkthrough, but I'll make it publicly available if it actually turns out well.
Since vanilla Archers are pretty badly balanced (starting strong and getting less and less useful in the later game), I have put together my own idea of an Archer. I'd appreciate any kind of feedback.
I'm also planning to add the following HLAs:
Since vanilla Archers are pretty badly balanced (starting strong and getting less and less useful in the later game), I have put together my own idea of an Archer. I'd appreciate any kind of feedback.
Archer kit description (2nd update):
ARCHER: The Archer is the epitome of skill with the bow—the ultimate marks<PRO_MANWOMAN>, able to make almost any shot, no matter how difficult. To become so skilled with the bow, the Archer has had to sacrifice some of <PRO_HISHER> proficiency with melee weapons and armor.
Advantages:
– +1 to hit and damage rolls with any missile weapon every 3 levels.
– +1 to AC vs. missile weapons every 6 levels.
– May achieve Grandmastery (5 slots) in longbows, shortbows, and crossbows.
– May use Rooting Shot ability once per day every 4 levels. Can not be used together with other shot abilities.
– May use Power Shot ability once per day every 4 levels, starting at level 8. Can not be used together with other shot abilities.
– May use Explosive Shot ability once per day every 4 levels, starting at level 8. Can not be used together with other shot abilities.
– May use Create Blessed Ammunition ability once per day every 4 levels.
ROOTING SHOT: All successful ranged attacks within the next 12 seconds will entangle the target, according to the level of the Archer:
4th level: Target is entangled for three rounds if failed save vs. Spell.
8th level: Target is entangled for three rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -1 penalty.
12th level: Target is entangled for four rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -1 penalty.
16th level: Target is entangled for four rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -2 penalty.
20th level: Target is entangled for five rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -2 penalty.
POWER SHOT: All successful ranged attacks within the next 12 seconds have a chance to knock back the target, according to the level of the Archer:
8th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath.
12th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath at -1 penalty.
16th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath at -2 penalty.
20th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath at -3 penalty.
EXPLOSIVE SHOT: All successful ranged attacks within the next 12 seconds will explode on impact and cause physical damage to nearby targets in 15' range, according to the level of the Archer:
8th level: 1d4 damage to nearby targets
12th level: 1d4+2 damage to nearby targets
16th level: 1d4+4 damage to nearby targets
20th level: 1d4+6 damage to nearby targets
Caution: Damages enemies, allies and innocent bystanders alike.
CREATE BLESSED AMMUNITION: Create a spiritual arrow or bolt blessed by the Archer's worshipped god or goddess for 8 hours containing a score charges.
4th level: +1 enchantment, +1 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6 damage and slow for two rounds to undead if failed save vs. Death.
8th level: +1 enchantment, +2 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+2 damage and hold for two rounds to undead if failed save vs. Death.
12th level: +2 enchantment, +2 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+4 damage and instant death to undead if failed save vs. Death.
16th level: +3 enchantment, +3 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+6 damage and instant death to undead if failed save vs. Death at -2 penalty.
20th level: +4 enchantment, +4 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+8 damage and instant death to undead if failed save vs. Death at -4 penalty.
Disadvantages:
– -1 CON penalty
– May not wear any metal armor.
– May only become Proficient (one slot) with melee weapons.
– Two Weapon style bonus removed after character creation.
– May not cast any spells.
Advantages:
– +1 to hit and damage rolls with any missile weapon every 3 levels.
– +1 to AC vs. missile weapons every 6 levels.
– May achieve Grandmastery (5 slots) in longbows, shortbows, and crossbows.
– May use Rooting Shot ability once per day every 4 levels. Can not be used together with other shot abilities.
– May use Power Shot ability once per day every 4 levels, starting at level 8. Can not be used together with other shot abilities.
– May use Explosive Shot ability once per day every 4 levels, starting at level 8. Can not be used together with other shot abilities.
– May use Create Blessed Ammunition ability once per day every 4 levels.
ROOTING SHOT: All successful ranged attacks within the next 12 seconds will entangle the target, according to the level of the Archer:
4th level: Target is entangled for three rounds if failed save vs. Spell.
8th level: Target is entangled for three rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -1 penalty.
12th level: Target is entangled for four rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -1 penalty.
16th level: Target is entangled for four rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -2 penalty.
20th level: Target is entangled for five rounds if failed save vs. Spell at -2 penalty.
POWER SHOT: All successful ranged attacks within the next 12 seconds have a chance to knock back the target, according to the level of the Archer:
8th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath.
12th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath at -1 penalty.
16th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath at -2 penalty.
20th level: Knock back target if failed save vs. Breath at -3 penalty.
EXPLOSIVE SHOT: All successful ranged attacks within the next 12 seconds will explode on impact and cause physical damage to nearby targets in 15' range, according to the level of the Archer:
8th level: 1d4 damage to nearby targets
12th level: 1d4+2 damage to nearby targets
16th level: 1d4+4 damage to nearby targets
20th level: 1d4+6 damage to nearby targets
Caution: Damages enemies, allies and innocent bystanders alike.
CREATE BLESSED AMMUNITION: Create a spiritual arrow or bolt blessed by the Archer's worshipped god or goddess for 8 hours containing a score charges.
4th level: +1 enchantment, +1 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6 damage and slow for two rounds to undead if failed save vs. Death.
8th level: +1 enchantment, +2 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+2 damage and hold for two rounds to undead if failed save vs. Death.
12th level: +2 enchantment, +2 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+4 damage and instant death to undead if failed save vs. Death.
16th level: +3 enchantment, +3 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+6 damage and instant death to undead if failed save vs. Death at -2 penalty.
20th level: +4 enchantment, +4 to hit and damage rolls, additional 1d6+8 damage and instant death to undead if failed save vs. Death at -4 penalty.
Disadvantages:
– -1 CON penalty
– May not wear any metal armor.
– May only become Proficient (one slot) with melee weapons.
– Two Weapon style bonus removed after character creation.
– May not cast any spells.
I'm also planning to add the following HLAs:
Sure Shot
High-level Archers have gained perfect control over their ranged weapon of choice which allows them to point out and target vital areas of the opponent with frightening precision and speed. By enabling this ability, the Archer takes up <PRO_HISHER> stance and shoots missiles in rapid succession.
For the next 12 seconds this ability sets one's number of attacks per round to 10 and every shot is considered a critical hit. Since this technique requires utmost skill and concentration, the Archer is rooted to the spot for the next two rounds. It can not be used together with other shot abilities.
Requires: Critical Strike
Missile Trap
This ability allows the Archer to set a powerful spring-loaded missile trap in the chosen location when no hostile creatures are in sight. It does 3d10 missile damage and each 1d10 damage of various elemental types to the unsuspecting creature that sets it off.
High-level Archers have gained perfect control over their ranged weapon of choice which allows them to point out and target vital areas of the opponent with frightening precision and speed. By enabling this ability, the Archer takes up <PRO_HISHER> stance and shoots missiles in rapid succession.
For the next 12 seconds this ability sets one's number of attacks per round to 10 and every shot is considered a critical hit. Since this technique requires utmost skill and concentration, the Archer is rooted to the spot for the next two rounds. It can not be used together with other shot abilities.
Requires: Critical Strike
Missile Trap
This ability allows the Archer to set a powerful spring-loaded missile trap in the chosen location when no hostile creatures are in sight. It does 3d10 missile damage and each 1d10 damage of various elemental types to the unsuspecting creature that sets it off.
Post edited by argent77 on
2
Comments
I'm personally not fond of knockback effects. Not only because they can trivialize melee opponents in many cases, but also because I've played with the effect, and it often glitches (especially when spammed) causing weird issues like enemies being pinned against walls (effectively entangled, but it's worse because they still try to move, therefore they basically do nothing) and in worst cases sent through walls.
Seeing a -6 penalty to save vs. stun makes me cringe a little. It seems way too high for a status effect that can effectively be auto-win. A surprising number of powerful enemies can be stunned, especially in a non-SCS game. With Greater Malison and Doom, a -12 penalty altogether is just stupid especially since it can be reapplied with every hit. What else has a -6 penalty to save? Spook? Even -4 is a bit much considering you'd have, what, 3-4 APR at that point? I'd change it to maybe -1/-2/-3.
I've also played with the 'explosive shot' effect on my Arcane Archer Kit. Creating a spell-like on hit effect is a pain in the ass, making it scale with level is even more so. Have you already made the spell? I haven't found an efficient way to do it.
Lastly, the blessed arrow is... weird. Not that it's a bad or broken spell, but I'd think it would be more useful as a weapon version of Bolt of Glory, doing extra damage to demons, outsiders as well as undead. I'd also maybe remove instant death for the 12th level version.
Stunning shot: The entangle effect is a good idea. It would also be more fitting for a ranger.
Power shot: I agree, using saving throws is more consistent with other spells.
Explosive shot: The explosion projectile still has some issues in my tests. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I need to experiment a bit more.
The save penalties are a bit high. I didn't take Malison/Doom into account when I came up with these effects. Reducing it to half of the current values seems more reasonable.
Blessed arrows do additional damage and (on higher levels) instant death to undead creatures. I can try to expand it to all kinds of unnatural creatures. I guess this would include undead, demons and devils. Not sure if I should include other kinds of outsiders. Not all of them are destructive in nature. But I have to replace the death effect by something more fitting in this case. I don't think rangers would have the power to destroy powerful demons so easily. Reduced hit points would be a reasonable drawback. I might also add a higher DEX requirement and (if possible) a lower CON requirement instead.
@subtledoctor Using your spell to remove the initial points in 2-weapon style works, but it's still showing up during character creation. I guess that's really hardcoded.
I might also improve the original Called Shot ability a bit. I can imagine applying one or another crippling effect on higher levels. Blindness or slow might work.
Also, I'd recommend that you ship the mod with a set of items (mostly, longbows, also you can use this one I made if you want to), like RR, S&S and others do, and, besides, there are no good longbows in ToB, while longbows are pretty amazing weapons in BG1/SoA, this also affects Archers in a negative way for ToB.
About the Called Shot ability… I'd rather remove it altogether and add the new ones you gave the ideas of. Those look pretty cool. Yeah, possible too. If it's set to move away from caster & a short distance, I don't think it would be too game-breaking, nor that it would break the game, engine-wise by sending enemies other side the wall. The insta-kill effect on a Bard song would surely be OP, since it's triggered each round. Maybe if you give it at level 25+ (or to choose as an HLA) and give it a save penalty of +5 or +4, then it wouldn't be so OP.
I've planned to add some +4 arrows and bolts to several stores in ToB, but I can probably come up with one or two powerful longbows as well.
I've just noticed that Rangers in general already have rather high stats requirements. I don't think that any further change is needed. Or I can add a -1 CON penalty to Archers. I have to think about it.
The knockback effect is supposed to be very short, since it's caused by the impact of a single arrow or bolt. I'll experiment a bit to find the ideal duration. The main purpose of this effect is to keep enemies at distance.
The blessed arrows and bolts are meant as regular ammunition, but also as a slightly less powerful version of the cleric's Turn Undead ability. While clerics can turn or destroy whole batches of undead each round, the Archer's arrows will target a single undead and allow a save against the death effect. Moreover, the blessed arrows are limited. Each use of the Archer's ability will create a single non-stackable arrow or bolt with 20 charges for a duration of 8 hours.
Edit: I have to remove the "always hits" effect. I thought setting THAC0 for ranged attacks to 32767 disables dice rolls, but that doesn't seem to work with effect opcodes. Luckily, the "always critical" effect also hits on a roll of 1. You can place these traps anywhere within visual range as long as no hostile creatures are visible, similar to the special traps of Bounty Hunters.
I've updated the kit description in the first post again.
Now I'm in the middle of creating new bows that I want to add to the game.
The first one (a longbow) has been shamelessly ported from IWD2 and can be found somewhere in the first level of Watcher's Keep:
The elves of Evereska are known for their isolationism as much as their skill and bravery in battle. One of their most well known warriors in human lands was the incredibly accurate archer Bariah Goldendown. Though the elves will neither confirm nor deny the legend, some human tales state that keen-eyed Bariah never missed a target in battle. His bow, crafted by his mother, was never given a name that was known outside of the family. The humans that suffered under its power called it "Great Sun-Reacher," believing that Bariah's arrows could reach into the heavens themselves. In a battle that many Evereskans are bitter about to this day, Bariah's griffon mount was killed in the sky by the spells of invisible wizards that ambushed an elven patrol. Though only one mage escaped with his life, he did manage to take Great Sun-Reacher with him.
STATISTICS:
Charge abilities:
– Protection From Normal Missiles once per day
Combat abilities:
– When no arrows are equipped, the bow fires +3 arrows that receive +3 to hit and deal 1d6 missile damage
THAC0: +5
Speed Factor: 1
Proficiency Type: Longbow
Type: Two-handed
Requires:
6 Strength
Weight: 2
The second bow (a composite longbow) is more powerful and can be found in the entrance area to Sendai's Enclave:
(Still working on a good background story...)
STATISTICS:
Equipped abilities:
– Reflects missiles back at their user
– 3 shots per round
THAC0: +5
Damage: +2 (missile)
Speed Factor: 2
Proficiency Type: Longbow
Type: Two-handed
Requires:
18 Strength
Weight: 6
Are the bows powerful enough or do you have suggestions how to make them even more useful?
Also if you're using a projectile, I'd say you remove it, since it's not needed (the arrow's .pro will be used as projectile).
The missile deflection was indeed very powerful. I've changed it to a +4 AC bonus against melee weapons. I'd like to keep the increased APR though. How do I apply the area of effect damage without a projectile?
While I can successfully disable spellcasting, the Archer is still able to memorize spells. Is there a way to remove spells completely as it's done for the Inquisitor kit?
Just add it as an effect to your passive effects at level 1.
Is there a way to completely disable the priest spell selection screen? It must be possible, because the Inquisitor kit already does this. But I can't find out how it's done.
Both kits have a passive effect which applies Spell: Priest Spell Slots Modifier [62] and a Slot Amount Modifier of -1 for each spell level. It seems... iffy and I'm not sure if it works, since neither mod is compatible with EE, but you could give it a try and see what results you get. AFAIK the priest spellbook will still be accessible, but you won't have any spell slots nor be able to see any spells.
I couldn't find any indication how the Inquisitor kit manages to disable priest spells. I have to assume it's one of the many hardcoded aspects of the game.
And with this issue solved the mod is ready for download. I've only rudimentarily tested the kit, but from what I've seen it works very well. Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas to make the kit better. I'll open a separate topic for the final product.