What is the best stuff for an archer?

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what is the best....

[ October 24, 2002, 11:41: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

Well, the obvious answer is an bow and arrows, or a crossbow and bolts, and a melee weapon in emergencies. But I suppose you want a more specific answer.

The Heartseeker +3 Composite Bow is a good long bow; Gesen's Bow and Tansheron's Bow are both good short bows. As for arrows, +1 arrows are abundant, +2 arrows should be readily available in the later parts of the game, and there are arrows that deal elemental damage (acid, fire, cold, etc.).

As for Crossbows, there are plenty of good crossbows in Ribald's, although you may have to wait 'til Chapter 6 to obtain them. Not to mention they cost a bundle. There are excellent bolts out there; bolts of electricity (4d4 extra lightning damage) and bolts of biting (poison).

And a good melee weapon just in case.

As for armor, Shadow Dragon armor is good, as the the Night's Gift +5 (good for stealth), and Aeger's Hide is a decent armor as well. Those three (take your pick) will serve you well.

 

Gesens bow was always my first choice - you don't have to worry about running out of arrows. It can take a while to get though, since it is a unique item.
Imoen used it with great effect, she hardly ever seemed to miss.

There are more shortbows than longbows in BG2, and they all seem better IMO

 

I always have a tough choice between crossbows and long bows. (I tend to reserve short bows for thieves just by habit.)

Any significant differences between crossbows and long bows? (other than ammunition types or the lack of an unlimited ammo crossbow)

Bracers of Archery would also fit nicely.

 

@Blog:

I think, but I'm not sure, Crossbows does more damage but takes longer to reload.

 

With any kind of bow -short, long or composite- you get two attacks per round. With a crossbow you only get one attack per round (unless magically modified). I don't know if this applies to BG2 but in PnP rules with a heavy corssbow you can even get less than one attack per round!

On best bows, Mana bow is also a good choice, though it's found a little late in the game.

 

thank you i will certanly try all these and see which is best

 

I like to put on the girdle of ogre strength (thats the one that gives you 19 I think, or its the hill giant one) and use the strongarm

 

Gauntlets of Ogre Strength - 18/00 STR (not enough to use Strongarm Bow)

Girdle of Hill Giant Strength - 19 STR (enough to use said bow)

 

The Tuigan short bow actually gives you three attacks per round instead of two.

Mana bow is found in D'Arnise Keep. That's one of the first quests. I agree with you that it's pretty good though.

 

Elven Court Bow - only Magical Long Bow in the de'Arnise Keep, I believe. It is located in the Golem Room. Watch out - the Iron Golem and a (something) Golem will attack you should you take the Bow.

The Elven Court Bow is a +3 Long Bow.

The Mana Bow is located in the same area where the entrance to Suldanesllar (sp?). It is a +4 Long Bow and grants 20% Magic Resistance.

 

The best is the strong arm bow with piercing arrows

 

Piercing arrows? I always thought biting was the best just because it sells for the most. Not sure though...

Wow.. never knew you can get less than one attack per round. I guess those heavy crossbows are a real burden.

 

From a power stand point the Tuigan is capable of producing the most damage I believe.

See:
http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=004431#000015

 

Heavy crossbow base number of attacks per round in bg2 is 1 not 1/2.

 

The great thing about the elven court bow is that you can find it so early in the game (d'arnise keep). It will be quite some time before you find a better bow than this...

 

Bracers of Archery
Boots of speed (Run and hit)
Heartseeker
Girdle of hill giant strength

Maybe it would help to choose an Elven Archer??
Arrows of dispelling
Elemental damage Arrows
Some normal arrows
Magic arrows

 

When i made a archer i was testing all the bows and crossbows...

Betwen bows the best one is Strongarm + to wield it you have to have a very good strenght- imported from BG1 natural. I admit i underestimated Tuigan bow... being a short bow with no great bonuses(+ to THAC0/damage) i considered it too weak.
From the arrows i used piercing ones and elemental. Arows +2 make only one diffrence that it gives you +2 to THAC0 which isnt that important since those of piercing give you +4 i think.

I found crossbows far too slow. It is true they have better bolts but you cant get those good ones very often aye? In my opinion far to rarely.

Conclusion: Test Strongarm and tuigan bow. Best way is to start a multiplayer and make to identical characters then shadowkeep(or CLUAConsole) those bows in and the arrows. Then start the shooting at each other. Who wins is better You should do this many times to minimalize the effects of random rolls.

 

I always thought it would be amusing to attempt a Cleric/Archer.....

A must would be the bracers of archery, for obvious reasons.
Boots of speed. You will not want an archer to be caught in melee
Heartseeker will not be needed, as you have called shot anyway, so ditch that. Grab something like the bears arm?? (the bow that needs 19 str.) and the girdle of hill giant strength. You could always go for somthing like elven court bow, just whatever floats your boat.
Get down to WK quick like for the ammunition belt and the neverending +1 arrows. That way you can sell all excess ammo.
Cloak of non-detection for those harrowing Truth sight spells.
Shadow Dragon armour is the best armour available for a theif or ranger, so nab that.
Ring of invisbility, for those times that a quick arrow in the head is called for, and with the nondetection cloak, you will disappear without a trace.
Go for the regenerating ion stone, for a helm.
Neckalce?? Well. That is Hard. Just grab a necklace of missiles and use that. Whatever you want, really.
Melee weapon would be celestial fury. Nice and powerful.

Also, the ring of earth elemental for that extra AC bonus.

 

I have an elven archer named Legolas