My current party consists of Edwin, Jaheira, Minsc, myself and Kivan. I have equiped all my male characters excluding Edwin with bows, arrows and also some nifty magical items such as the gauntelets of dexterity etc. as well as close combat weapondary. I was wondering, should I keep this arsenal of bows or not. I have found them extremely effective against weaker advesaries however more and more enemies seem to be invunrable against the ordinary arrows such as Battle Horrors, Doom Guard's and Vampire Wolves, forcing me to blow all my money onarrows of biting or under expensive magical arrows.

First of all, you're party looks to be farely balanced and would probably do just fine. Personally I can't stand listening to Jaheira and all her Mother Earth propaganda, so I would rather designate Branwen as my healer. But that's your decision.

Second of all, I would throw in a 6th lackey for more firepower in those big battles. Maybe Shar-Teel or Xzar, or whoever.

Thirdly, you should have someone designated as your "tank" who can wield magical swords, axes, hammers, or whatever. I'm a little curious at how Edwin can use a Bow and arrow? Maybe I misunderstood you.

If your aim is an "archer party" then go ahead, I guess you can kill those Battle Horrors and other tuffies with armor-piercing arrors (or whatever they are called). Have fun, sounds good to me.
(EDIT) Oh, I almost forgot! Welcome to the World renown Ironworks Gaming forum!

[ 07-07-2002, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: Sir Heinrich Godfrie IV ]

He said he's got all his male characters EXcluding Edwin using bows.

An archer-based party is actually a very solid setup--whacking the majority of enemies before thay can get close to you is always a good thing. The problem with your setup is: What happens when an enemy has enough hitpoints, or a low enough AC, to run up to your party & start whacking Edwin? Minsc could step up with a 2-handed sword to take the heat off Edwin, but it'd be better if Minsc had a shield, so he took less damage himself. That's why a lot of people use Tanks: A character who's so pumped up on defensive skills (and gear) that he's practically invincible. He (or she) can keep the enemies busy at melee range, while the rest of the party is firing missiles or spells from a safe distance. Once your Tank or Tanks are good enough, you can even take on Battle Horrors and come out on top.

Personally, I only use specialty arrows if I've got lots of them (like I've killed tons of enemies who use Arrows of Ice or Fire), or i've got loads of money I can use to buy Arrows of Piercing or Detonation.

UUUhhhh..... I saw that... really I did. I seriously have been fighting a severe sinus infection (among other symptoms) the last few days and as a result my brain has been a little woozzy. Or I could have just over-looked that little tidbit of information. Sorry.

Yuk. I hate infections. I had a sinus/ear infection last year that kept me at home for a week. Finally got rid of it with hot garlic mullen oil in my ears. Spewing forth rancid clouds of radioactive, poisoned phlegm.....icky.

Yep. That's what I'm going through right now. Do you know what the worst thing was??? It all hit me like a fully loaded freight-train on Thursday morning! JULY 4th!!!!! I hadn't seen fireworks for about three years and I had major plans to go with my new girlfriend. I literally couldn't get out of bed for last two days. It's good to know that someone feels my pain... cause my girlfriend sure wasn't to simpathetic.

[ 07-07-2002, 11:38 PM: Message edited by: Sir Heinrich Godfrie IV ]

Thanks for the assitance. I have taken into account what each of you has said and agree completely. My battle strategy in general is to plonk Minsc at the forefront of my attack as my so-called tank followed by Kivan, my own character and Jaheira and to leave Edwin at the very back far enough away as not to get into the heat of hand to hand but close enough so as to be able to use all his spell wielding capabilities.
I enjoy the sucess of this line out and see it as being unstopable. Minsc usely takes the worst of any onslaught as he has the most health and armour (Full plate mail soon to become ankheg armour). If he becomes too weak or gets poisoned there Jaheira is to cast slow poison or cure light wounds so that he will live to fight another day.
AS for Jaheira I accept your advice as i find her unbelievably irritating with her continuous banter on about enviromental issues while i'm dealing with a pack of hungry knobgoblins. I'm extremely interested in this Branwen fellow and wish to know where to find him.
In so far as a sixth lacky goes I already have an ingenious scheme as i will asign another bowman soon enough. I forget his name, although I understand that he is located in one of the cloakwoods. I know this from one of my previous games. Hah Hah Hah (evil laugh)!!!!

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! It sounds like you are under the impression that Ankheg Plate is Better than Full because it weighs less. Please correct me if I'm misunderstanding you. You see Ankheg Plate (still very good) has magical properties that will prevent you from using any other magical AC increasing items or equipment, like rings and necklaces. Now if you are getting Ankheg to equip your secondary fighters while your Tank wears Full Plate (Best), then go right ahead. That's what I would do.

Branwen can be found at the Carnival in Nashkel. (Hint: bring a stone to flesh scroll with you) Oh and by the way, he's a girlie-girl.

Is your main character a theif? Because if He/She is not then I would recomend you go back and pick up Imoen. As she can use the light crossbow of speed and become that sixth archer. But if YOU are a theif then I would recomend you go back and pick up Xzar, as your mages will become FAR MORE powerful than your archers and or tanks later on, atleast in big battles. Remember this is my opinion, do as you please.

(Edit: Spelling)

[ 07-08-2002, 02:49 PM: Message edited by: Sir Heinrich Godfrie IV ]