Questions about the Archer kit

Ihatememes

1. Is it as good really as effective as Kensai, but with ranged weapons?
I know ranged weapons are super-effective in BG1, but does it fall off later like the shapeshifter/beast master kits?

2. If you need a +3 magic weapon to land a hit on a monster, and your bow is +3 but your arrows are +2, will you able to hit it?
This is a very big deal for me because I haven't seen any projectiles with beyond +3 and you can't get those until Throne of Bhaal I think.

DreadKhan

Archers are wwwaaayyy better than Kensai until they are higher level, though I'd give a slight edge to the kensai later in ToB. Archers are incredible in BG1 and SoD, and mostly SoA they are deadly. They are still great damage dealers, but some enemies are resilient vs bows, and you'll want to use melee in those few battles.

Hitting stuff uses the arrows, so it can be an issue, but you'll be swimming in +1 and +2 arrows as long as you use a full party. Dispel arrows are arguably better than anything a kensai gets.

sarevok57

1. the archer will do less damage than the kensai, but an arcther will also be in ranged combat, which is a safe place to be, kensai's are the most damaging class in the game but that doesnt make them the best, and that also doesnt make it pointless to be an archer, in fact, if you are newer to the game, archer is a better choice than kensai since they are user to use ( because they won't be dying in melee like a kensai would be ) and just like the kensai the archer gets to hit and to damage bonuses all the way to max level ( well at least level 33 ) so it's still a solid class, the archer is one of the best damage dealing classes in range

2. if you have a +3 bow and +2 arrows, your arrow will be determining what you will be able to hit, so if you are fighting a baddie that requires +3 weapons you will be out of luck BUT this is where things get interesting, in bg1 the longbow is the archer weapon of choice, but in SoA the shortbow is king of the bow game, first you get tuigan bow ( very early in bg2 ) and it gives you an extra attack per round, then at trademeet there is a +3 bow that fires "phantom arrows" ( infinite +3 arrows ) and if you make the gesen bow, you will have a +4 shortbow that will fire phantom arrows that deal 2 damage plus 1d8 electrical damage and the thing about those phantom bows is that if you use the "phantom arrows" those arrows are based on the bow for their enchantment, so then you will be able to hit those harder to hit enemies

with my archer in ToB i had them dealing up to 24 damage a hit with arrows, the weapon that gets "nerfed" in bg2, but in my opinion dealing 24 damage a hit ( more with called shot ) with arrows from a safe distance is pretty damn good, especially with those greater whirlwinds

the thing that you are going to notice as well is that your archer will have the most kills in your party, so be an elf, with 19 DEX start with that godly thac0 and start tearing through those enemies

Ihatememes

Thanks for the input guys.

I see now in databases that "Arrows of Piercing" also count as +4? Suppose I could stock up on them and save them for the few encounters that require it.
Kinda wanna try that Strong Arm Longbow with Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise to see how deep the arrow holes go. Hopefully it will be like walking around with a Ballista.

sarevok57

well strong arm is the most damaging bow in the game when it comes to damage bonus, just remember you need 19 STR to use it

Grond0

Ihatememes said:

I see now in databases that "Arrows of Piercing" also count as +4? Suppose I could stock up on them and save them for the few encounters that require it.

Arrows of piercing give you +4 to THAC0, but they only count as +1 from the perspective of what creatures they will hit. They're a great option in BG1 and early BG2, but for most characters they're not much use later in the game.

Chronicler

Beamdog also changed the "Enchant Weapon" spell. Now it can make any arrows strike as +3 weapons, making them good for most of the game, which offsets the archer's primary late game weakness.

OlvynChuru

Grond0 said:

Ihatememes said:

I see now in databases that "Arrows of Piercing" also count as +4? Suppose I could stock up on them and save them for the few encounters that require it.

Arrows of piercing give you +4 to THAC0, but they only count as +1 from the perspective of what creatures they will hit. They're a great option in BG1 and early BG2, but for most characters they're not much use later in the game.

In Icewind Dale, on the other hand, Arrows of Piercing count as +3. They are among the only missiles that can damage Belhifet.

Danacm

Or use this mod: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/58374/enchant-the-missile-launchers-ranged-weapon-tweak/p1

With this, only the launcher enchantment matters.

sarevok57

OlvynChuru said:

Grond0 said:

Ihatememes said:

I see now in databases that "Arrows of Piercing" also count as +4? Suppose I could stock up on them and save them for the few encounters that require it.

Arrows of piercing give you +4 to THAC0, but they only count as +1 from the perspective of what creatures they will hit. They're a great option in BG1 and early BG2, but for most characters they're not much use later in the game.

In Icewind Dale, on the other hand, Arrows of Piercing count as +3. They are among the only missiles that can damage Belhifet.

i've seen other ammunition that was +3 or higher, like confusing arrows +3 and inferno darts +4, although they are part of those pesky random item tables