Magic weapon on arrows

[TootsieRoll]

Not sure why, but magic weapon and Bless do no work on arrows here.  It would really be nice if they would.  There are alot of things that are immune to rogues number one feat ie; Sneak Attack.  At least with magic weapon cast on arrows they could actualy hit something now and then.  And bless weapon would be even better.

[Relinquish]

This again, eh.

[MetallicSlime]

Yes. Either this, or make magical ranged weapons (+1) more common.

+1 Attack bonus isnt terribly awesome, And finding +1 ammo can be not only very expensive and difficult, but considering the rate at which dedicated ranged characters can burn through ammunition, short lived as well.

[lovethesuit]

There are magical, +1 bows around, both long and short. Fewer crossbows, though. I would say allowing Magic Weapon to affect ranged weapons would be a great idea.

At the same time, I'd say the way magic ammunition works right now is fine. The big thing to understand, in my opinion, is that ranged weapons have a bonus no melee weapon has: being ranged. That requires a close look at the balance.

[Incorrigible]

And at the cost of being ranged it also does very much less damage in return. Especially in a group.

[Drakill Tannan]

We all know we want magic weapons to afect bows.
We all know DMs won't listen to us like the last 17 times.

[Paha]

I know I don't want. They are potentially already some of the most dangerous fellows around, and find +1 bows decently enough.

[Ebok]

It has been said lots of times before, implementing this doesn't work. It get very complicated and would be nice if a way could be found, however, the Dms have not found a solution that works for them.

[LaceAndLeather]

As the player of a character who is almost solely focused on ranged combat, I actually can't say I see any desperate need for this.

If your bow/arrows aren't enchanted, there are plenty of other ways to occupy oneself usefully and help out your allies in a fight. =]

[Luke Danger]

If it can be practically accomplished, I wouldn't mind this so much. However, as it's been said archers can have other uses like patching up allies or other support roles when they're not plugging away.

Make your Archers combat medics xD

[Drakill Tannan]

That's like saying it's ok for wizards not to cast spells, they can still be wizardy healing others.

[Paha]

Life's sometimes unfair, but like said, if you're dedicated, there definitely are tools to do the job for piercing dr, but they definitely should not necessarily be every mans toys.

[Decimate_The_Weak]

If I remember correctly, the feat "Point Blank Shot" actually gives you a +1 enhancement bonus to your bow when the enemy is closer than 15 yards - correct me if I'm wrong.

As well, when a mage casts "magic weapon" on a weapon itself, it's only one item. So, if you think about this logically, it'd take dozens of castings to enchant a whole quiver of arrows, as each is an individual piece.

[lovethesuit]

Bludgeoning weapons are advised against skeletons. If you take a sword to a skeleton then you have to deal with the fact that they have no skin, muscle, or organs. Likewise, ranged weapons have limitations that make up for their ability to attack from any distance. I would love to see more crossbow-based stuff added, and a greater frequency of drops for ammunition of all types, especially bolts (arrows seem to have the advantage right now) but I also admit to bias, and the fact that I don't feel underpowered simply because of the loot that drops from monsters and quests. I chose it, and I make the most of it.

PBS does give you +1 AB/Damage within 15 feet, or however close it is. But it's not an enhancement bonus, unfortunately.

The thing about Magic Weapon on ammunition is that, as per the PnP rules if we're going there, it can also affect 50 rounds of ammunition such as arrows, bolts, or bullets. And for the weapon itself, it bestows its enchantment on the ammunition it fires, but doesn't stack. So you can't have a +1 Flaming Crossbow and fire +1 Shocking bolts. You'd have to pick one effect or the other. Again, that's just PnP.

[Egon the Monkey]

Ok, something that isn't in the manual or documented anywhere but people should know IMO as it might stop some of this cropping up as much.

 MAGIC WEAPON WORKS ON THROWING WEAPONS IN EfU:A.

I can't be sure about Shuriken as I didn't test it, but someone mentioned this a while back, and I have used it effectively for Darts and Throwing Axes in a few PVPs and DM events before. If you're a Rogue, your best bet is to carry a magic weapon device and some darts if you can't find +1 darts. That'll give you 50 +1 weapons to deliver sneaks with. Note though it is only Magic Weapon, not Flame Weapon, Darkfire, Keen Edge or GMW.

For PVP, unless you're a pure Fighter, you'll have wands to dispel that blur off with too, and they work at range. And as people have said, a couple of the great things about EFU:M are there are finally +1 bows about as non DMloot items and the Alchemy/Herbalism systems let you make ammo.

If you want to kick ass with ranged weapons, a few tips:

• A strong investment in Alchemy or Herbalism can net you ammo, or devices that let you keep enemies held back.
• You don't need 14 STR even to use a +2 Mighty bow. Use STR potions. If you use throwing weapons, use rage potions even to add more damage.
• Poison Weapon works on ammunition (except for Bullets) and thrown weapons.
• Divine Favour, Divine Might, Man of Faith and Bard Songs all add damage to ranged attacks.
• Carry lots of weapons. A Mighty bow for general use, as many +1 vs race as you can find, and so on.
• If your AB is good, Called Shot can keep stuff in range or act as effectively ranged Taunt to lower its AC with a shot to the legs.

It's true ranged weapons are indeed weaker than having a greataxe most of the time and you won't win many duels with them. However there's the odd circumstance when they are exactly what is needed, for example in cramped spaces where you don't want to block a retreat and want to be able to damage something. Or if you're out of potions and still want to contribute. Or in one DM event where the villain was on the other side of an impassable ravine but only 1/3 PCs could shoot her. Any PC other than a mage who doesn't carry one is frankly a mug, slings weigh next to nothing if that's all you can bear.

With the above in mind, the only suggestions I'd make about magic weapons and ranged weapon is to allow Greater Magic Weapon to work on throwing weapons using the same script that we already have for Magic Weapon. That way shooty PCs have a possible means to damage PC werecreatures and other stuff with X/+2 DR. The other thing I'd say would be to bring back the Arrowhead loot in some way as some of the items were very reasonably priced and effective ammo.