Generic archer

[Tyrion]

I am thuinking of a generic archer for my next game, but are they any good?

Which NPCs should I have in my (good) party with him?

[imported_Illidan]

don't know about bg2 but in bg1 and iwd they are very powerful

[Legolas]

Yes, they are a lot of good
You don't really need anyone esle in your party, but if you insist... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

A thief will be useful, you can use Yoshimo for that, even though he's neutral. You can swap him for Imoen later on. Other than that, a cleric or druid can be useful, as can a mage. One or two tanks won't go amiss either, and you'll have covered all the bases. So that's Aerie, Jaheira, Yoshimo/Imoen, Minsc and Keldorn, for example. You can take Jan or Nalia along as thieves/backup mages, or use Mazzy or Valygar as tank instead. You're spoilt for choice, but the archer really works best when he's got the entire room to himself. Or try 'dualling' with your archer and Jan if you're not entirely confident instead. Lots of options, and all are good [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Brennihelvete]

Generic Archer? Say what?
Well heres my thoughts on Archers:
I did play trough the game with an Archer as my PC once. Yes archers are good.
He was very useful troughout the game and especially in ToB, where he cleared enitre dungeons by himself with hit and run tactics, when my tanks and spellcasters were helpless. I had Valygar and Keldorn as tanks and it worked quite effective as well, Valygar nad Keldorn was beating up enemies, while my archer provided heavy artillery fire from the rear. But since magic is a vital part of the game I had indeed some spellcasters with me. Jaheira the Druid/Fighter and Aerie the Mage/Cleric. All spellbooks covered. Jaheira and Aerie would prebuff the party before going into battle. Aerie would provide heavy firepower with destructive spells and Jaheira was mainly busy summoning powerful allies. Then at last I had Imoen (Thief/Mage). She did provide some firepower indeed, and her prescence in the party doubled the effectiveness of the destructive spells casted at my poor enemies. She also had some thief abilites but they are rather weak, but then again better than nothing. My archer placed second on the list of total kills count. Only Valygar was better. Archers are a strong class if used correctly and I enjoyed playing trough the game as an Archer. Highly reccomended [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 03-03-2003, 09:09 AM: Message edited by: Brennihelvete ]

[Jim]

Hmmm, the Generic Archer vs Ranger Archer is a tough one to choose. Here are the principle diferences between them (IIRC)

• The Generic Archer cannot cast the standard level 1-3 priest spells that the Ranger Archer can. This might not sound like much, but missing out on spells like Armour of Faith and Resist Fire/Cold/protection from fire makes a substantial difference at higher levels.
• The Generic Archer can wield melee weapons with a slightly higher degree of skill.......they can specialise rather than becoming only proficient
• The Ranger Archer's to hit and damage bonuses are as follows:
  levels 3,6,9,12,15,18,23,28,33 = +9 to hit and +9 to damage rolls by level 34 (ToB cap for a Ranger)
• The Generic Archer's to hit and damage (AFAIK) do not slow to +1 every 5 levels after level 18, but maintain advancing every +3 levels, all the way to up level 40 (the ToB cap for a fighter). This gives the Generic Archer a maximum of +13 to hit and +13 to damage
• Both have the same innate ability "called shot".
• Rangers have higher ability point minimums than fighters, therefore in general, the Ranger Archer will have a higher ability point total.

Personally, I'd go with the Generic Archer, who will be substantially more powerful with both Ranged and Melee weapons, as well as having an additional +18 HP over the Ranger Archer with 2 more called shot abilities and *6* additional warrior HLA's. The priest spells are still very significant though (think Armour of Faith), so it simply comes down to your play style, but powerwise, the Generic Archer is difficult to beat.

[ 03-03-2003, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: Jim ]

[Butterfingers]

Allow me to save you a lot of trouble.

Archers rock. Any missle based melee character rocks. But bows suck. Bows are ever so slightly bugged, and, composite bows do not add the str bonus damage like they were meant to.

Crossbows and missle weapons rock.

Crossbows are capable of producing raw hard fire power that is needed for gross chunky death one shot kills. The Light Crossbow of Speed and the Heavy Crossbow of Searing are pretty much the cream of the crop for crossbows in SoA. Giant Hair is nice too.

Missle weapons however, like throwing daggers and throwing axes, add your strength bonus damage to your shot. So do some slings. This means that a Kensai can do utterly sick damage... At range. I made a Halfling Kensai that used throwing daggers and axes... And he was capable of cleaning house. Daggers like the Boomerang Dagger and Firetooth have the damage of a bastard sword, and, offer an extra attack.

Now, while I have not gotten around to trying it yet, I suspect a Halfling stock fighter with Grandmastery in slings, along with the Sling of Seeking and a good strength girdle would clean house. Halflings gain +1 hit and damage with slings, and, everything all added together should be quite spiffy.

[Tyrion]

ok, thanks!
one last question:
Is it possible to convert my fighter I took through BG 1 to a generic archer?
I mean in game the way you can do to kensai or berserker.

I plan on taking him all the way, som that may be nice, don't you think?

[Jim]

Originally posted by Tyrion: ok, thanks! one last question: Is it possible to convert my fighter I took through BG 1 to a generic archer? I mean in game the way you can do to kensai or berserker. I plan on taking him all the way, som that may be nice, don't you think?

Yes, you can, since the Generic Archer is indeed a fighter kit [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 03-03-2003, 09:29 AM: Message edited by: Jim ]

[Alson]

Originally Left Out by Jim: With ToB, the Archer cannot dual. The Generic Archer, however, can dual to a Cleric, Thief or a Mage. This is a HUGE plus. I can only imagine a Generic Archer->Mage with Grandmastery in Darts, tossing Energy Blades left and right, while (ab)using the Cast & Attack tactic...

[Legolas]

And you know what? I always considered the ranger-type archer somewhat overpowered in the right hands. But appearantly he wasn't beefed up enough