Specialist ammunition vendor

[Egon the Monkey]

Doesn't this discussion come up something like every two months or so?

Yeah, similar ideas, but a vendor for ammo's a new one, especially considering the rather unaffordable but existing Dreamer ammo.
Besides, it gives me an excuse to post maths at people. :D

[Letsplayforfun]

Doesn't this discussion come up something like every two months or so?

LOL. Maybe we need a sticky listing the recurrent posts: archers, class balance, spell upgrades, death whining, rage quiting, how to stay alive, etc.

[Drakill Tannan]

Doesn't this discussion come up something like every two months or so?

Maybe there is a reason for that?

[FleetingHeart]

Archers are incredibly powerful with a stock longbow and regular arrows. They do not need help.

I would, however, love to see more ranged weapons with non combat bonuses. Perhaps even very rare ones that give limited uses of Fire and Acid Arrow, or even once per day use.

Or even something as simple as a magic bow with infinite regular ammo. That is my one gripe with archers, having to carry obscene and impossible numbers of arrows to last a quest. I mean really... is 2-3k arrows -really- that feasible to carry?

[Listen in Silence]

Let's remake the entire ranged combat system.

First, we give crossbows the base damage of a greataxe and the crit multiplier of a scythe.

We then proceed to bump longbows to d10 and shortbows to d8, with x3 18-20 multipliers of course.

We give all successful ranged attacks a random chance at instant killing, and a universal slowing effect. Every now and then arrows may also mean stunning, blinding, dazing or a Fear effect if fired quickly.

We'll then proceed to spam threads of "Nerf ranged attackers" and "Why the hell are archers the only useful sort of characters"

[TheImpossibleDream]

All this QQ and overblown exaggerations over asking to be able to purchase ammo, wow, half of these responses don't even add anything constructive to the thread. Well done. Particularly LiS.

[Drakill Tannan]

Archers are incredibly powerful with a stock longbow and regular arrows. They do not need help.

I've tried to make archers and find out they are only usefull when you have 3-4 archers, in wich case 3-4 fighters are better most of the times.I've also seen other archer PCs in PvP who die without getting their opopnent to "injured". Wich means, if you are right, that i'm doing something wrong. Could you then please explain your reasosns?

[Drakill Tannan]

No, really i want to make an archer, the bastardsword fighter is just not my style. Anyone help? Listen in silence? Fleeting Heart? Imposible Dream?

[Oskar Maxon]

I've tried to make archers and find out they are only usefull when you have 3-4 archers, in wich case 3-4 fighters are better most of the times.I've also seen other archer PCs in PvP who die without getting their opopnent to "injured". Wich means, if you are right, that i'm doing something wrong. Could you then please explain your reasosns?

As it has been stated in probably every single one of the archer threads that no, an archer is not supposed to win in 1vs1 with a melee character.

[Drakill Tannan]

Well no. That was not my point. But one thing is not be able to win, the other one is spend three tanglefoot bags, god-knows-how-many potions and only hit him for 15 damage before dieing.

Now i'm not asking for a single archer to win against a single meleer, but you'll agree it is acceptable that, after using several tanglefoot bags, items and potions, an archer should manage to get a meleer to "injured". In team PvP that would prove the archer usefull. But if it hits for 15 in 5 rounds (say, if the other team drank a blur potion) if you hit all times then you'll need 6 archers to have them being usefull. Unless that is, they are rogues wich is the only way to make a respectable archer.

But let's skip PvP, because as i understand the server is more about cooperative party questing than PvP, quests happen a lot, lot more than PvP (or maybe i just log on the wrong times when no one is in the mood for PvP) so it seems to me the primary concern should the balancing PvM, in wich, an archer is only usefull if you have 4 of them, or if it's a rogue fighting against something not-undead and non-construct.

In wich case, i'm still expecting either for someone to explain to me how can i have an archer that can deal enough damage to contribute to the fight with other things than RP, yet have enough AB to actually hit the enemies and be able to do something about a 5/+1 DR enemy, OR admit archers aren't worth using and support the suggestion of buffing them up.

I mean it, gimme a good archer build for EFU, i'll test it and if you're right you'll never see me in this kind of threads again. (i know you want to get rid of me, now you know how...)

[Howlando]

I'm unlocking this thread just to address this.

I mean it, gimme a good archer build for EFU, i'll test it and if you're right you'll never see me in this kind of threads again. (i know you want to get rid of me, now you know how...)

It's not that anyone wants to get rid of you, but it is worth noting that there have been a lot of really unproductive, lengthily written suggestions written recently that don't seem to reflect the actual reality of the game we're playing (and have been playing) for two years. And sometimes the tone of these "suggestions" seem a lot more about trying to dictate how things should be in the poster's opinion rather than trying to understand and adapt to how things are.

The bottom line is that NWN doesn't handle ranged combat very well, that we're not interested in seeing tons and tons of archers around, and that - as with all things that are a little more unusual and quirky - it should be done for the flavor and perhaps even the challenge rather than anything else. And, of course, as with everything if a ranged-focused PC is a spectacular character they may get spectacular DM loot that will go a long way towards making up for any supposed mechanical shortcomings.

But I'm going to answer your challenge, despite some misgivings I have. Because we do emphasize the RP dictating the build rather than the other way around.

Halfling Mega Rogue

Halfling, high dex, weapon focus sling, pure rogue, rapid shot/point blank shot feats.

You're like any other rogue, except better. With 3attacks/round at level 8 with likely the highest AB of virtually any other rogue type, you will do extremely high damage while flanking (easily done as a ranged PC, with less risk than melee). You also have stealth, rogue skills, trap abilities, etc. making your PC very formidable in the rogue niche of things.

Warrior Yeoman

Human (could also be elf) rogue3/fighter6. Weapon Spec Longbow, Improved Crit Longbow at level 9. Rapid shot to translate into relatively high damage to NPCs 3times/round (equivalent or better average damage to most sword/shield warrior types), as well as 2d6 sneaks while flanking. Fight in plate, damage as they approach, switch to sword-shield if you need to tank for some reason. Can even take Called Shot to disable/slow/weaken from a distance.

I could keep going but I want to wrap this up.

Other things to note:

Assassin death attack works with ranged weapon (fort save or paralysis when not in combat).

Undead, although crit/sneak immune, are often slow.

Divine Favor and Divine Might works with ranged weaponry.

I've seen Zen Archery used with success.

The Arcane Archer prestige class has the potential to be one of the more powerful PrCs available.

There are in fact a huge variety of custom ammunitions available throughout the game world.

And again...ranged combat is poorly handled in NWN due to AI and lag issues, etc. It is nice how it is: absolutely playable and powerful in the hands of a competent player, suitable for special rewards when the RP justifies it, but still rare so those who do choose this path can feel special.

[Drakill Tannan]

Thanks Howland. I'll try this bulds and see how they turn out, and maybe make an archer at EFU:A once i do.

I'll just add as a note i've asked elsewere and i've been told is imposible to make a decent non-rogue archer with this limitations. And that would enjoy seeing more archers, even if they are meant to be weak.

But as i said.. no more me on this kinda threads again.

[Caddies]

Buried beneath a Howland avalanche of polite facts.

[Vlaid]

Offtopic question but it's been bugging me.

What is a Yeoman?

[Sandstorm]

There are some pretty wicked arrows being sold IG by NPCs.