Are bows still going to be overpowered?
theJoshFrost
Member Posts: 171
BG:EE is using an engine more akin to BG2, correct? If that's the case, are bow's still going to be ridiculously awesome as they were in the original BG? I sure hope so. If not, I may have to find a different plate of cheese.
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Hey bro, you can bring "Archers" this time around.
Go Persian! 6 Archers and blot out that sun!!!
Anyway, for some players the awesome power of bows in the vanilla game is their cup of tea. But for those who want a greater challenge there is SCS, which author David Wallace says he will be upgrading for BG:EE (and presumably BG2:EE when that is released).
If David has SCS for EE ready to go within even a couple days of release I'll be torn about whether to install it, versus playing vanilla.
For BGEE, *if* all creatures will have the same walk speed, there will be no problem.
Otherwise, if like in BGT/Tutu, the walk speed of our party is 10 and only 5 for the creatures... Once again the archers will be high-powered.
So yeah, in BGEE you'll most probably *NEED* to be immune, otherwise Soloing them will be hardish.
- Bows give an extra attack per round. With no dual wielding/Belm/Kundane/Improved Haste it means bows give the most attacks per round.
- Thac0 bonuses from both the launcher and the ammunition.
- Arrows of Detonation, no need to say more on that one.
- In BG2 bows suffer because of certain enemies being immune to missile weapons, not having ammunition greater than +2 until ToB (although Gesen and Tansheron's can get around that), and falling behind the damage output of warriors with 10 apr and massive strength enhancing items for big damage.
Plus a few other minor situational reasons.
In short bows will be just as awesome if not more due to the Archer kit, but melee is going to be better with the addition of dual wielding and some of the melee orientated kits.
Can be clearly seen if fighting Ankhegs. Melee or ranged, makes no difference.
BG2 healing is a non issue due to Heals, regeneration items, and generally more spells available. And the wand of Resurrection/Heal is just ridiculous.
I like my archers shredding things, thank you very much.
1) Give the ammunition some weight
Imagine you needed a quiver or similar container for each single stack + weight of each individual projectile.
2) Don't allow too big stacks
You can't considerably put too much ammunition into one quiver or similar. Even if the total weight might not be that much the volume might make it difficult.
3) Use an inventory screen similar to NWN where volume and size of items were considered.
4) Those restrictions would apply to both PCs and NPCs so no one has an edge.
I remember one of the EOB (Ravenloft) style games from SSI where you had quivers and bows but had to pick up arrows after each battle. That really made a big difference. You thought twice about when to resort to archery and when not. But then that might be too limiting.
How do bows and their ammunition enchantments work. Say if you have non-magical bow and normal arrows then you're obviously unable to hit enemies that are immune to non-magical weapons.
Can i hit them by just getting +1 or greater arrows or do i need to upgrade my bow aswell.
normal bow and normal arrows = non-magical weapon
+1 bow and normal arrow = ?
normal bow and +1 arrows = ?
+1 bow and +1 arrows = magical weapon
And in BG2 where several enemies require +3 or even +4 enchantment on your weapon to get hit, how does that work with bows. If i have a +2 bow and +2 arrows is that equal to +4 enchanted weapon?
Or if i have a +4 bow and use +1 ammunition does that reduce its enchantment?
And what about ranged weapons that need no ammo. If i add ammo to them anyway does that switch their damage to that of the ammunition or does it make them even stronger.
Edit: sorry for the necro. Didnt even notice. This thread came up when i tried to find answer through google.
Edit2: And some archive forum! should really pay attention. Going to copy this to strategy section.
So, imagine if you have a +4 long bow and +3 arrows. You will get +7 on hit rolls (in addition to DEX or other (archer, for instance, or elven race on regular bows for another instance), and try to hit something requiring +4 weapons (or better) to hit. The target will be immune to your attacks, because the arrows are only +3.
To answer specific questions, a mundane bow with +1 arrows is a magical weapon
A magic bow with mundane arrows is a non-magical weapon
Hopefully I answered your questions. The bonuses of missile and bow combine, so they never downgrade or override one another.
As a side note, elemental arrow damage sometimes affects enemies that are immune to the piercing (arrow) damage. In other words, you may still be able to injure enemies with these arrows, even if they don't take damage from the arrow part. I learned this by accident with Flaming Arrows once.