Solo archer-suggestions wanted

[Pyrenk]

I am soloing an archer with longbows, on core. I am looking for suggestions on general gameplay for him; generally equipment. Anything would be appreciated.

[SixOfSpades]

Put a couple of weapon points into Short Bows, as well; you won't be disappointed, especially after you assemble a very nice Bow in Chapter 6. (One piece is in the Bridge District as early as Chapter 2; the other piece is in Chapter 4.)

For a good Long Bow, go to the Copper Coronet and talk to Nalia. If you have at least 19 Stregth, you can just go shopping at the Adventurer's Mart.

The only *really* good armors for you are in the Umar Hills quests.

As for melee weapons, it depends on your style: If you don't mind going into the Inventory screen to change from 2-handed weapon to Sword & Shield in the middle of a battle, go ahead and put that last point into Dual-Wielding, and then put a point into Flails, or indeed ANY 1-handed weapon except Clubs. If you'd rather change weapons via the main game screen, you'll have a blast with 2-Handed Swords and Halberds.

Go to the Den of the Seven Vales (in Waukeen's Promenade) and the Temple District Sewers for a couple of important Cloaks.

[Pyrenk]

Hmm..Gesen is pretty good, but takes too long to make. Elven court is a good choice however. I will probably pick halberds. I love those things.

[Butterfingers]

Well, and mind you, IMHO, I would shoot for Grandmastery in both shortbows and crossbows. The Searing Crossbow from Ribald makes short work of trolls, no fire arrows needed. Also makes mincemeat of mages. As far as shortbows go, Tugian with arrows of any good quality rocks with an Archer. Lots of shots = More killing power = Fewer people rushing you. For stuff that needs higher enchantment, keep Tasheron and later the Gesen shortbow around.

Longbows, and, Composite Longbows are poorly implemented in game, and, all of the reasons for using them are not there. Composite bows were meant to add your Str score damage. They don't. Longbows are also slower on most occasions, and, the damage bonus really is not much, compared to what an Archer gets naturally. Speed kills... Go with what gets out the most shots per round.

Also, for any sort of ranged character, I like having instant tanks. Carry an elemental staff of some sort to get an Elemental. Fire Elementals are good. Also, if you can, get Ras ASAP. It can hold most anything for a few rounds, allowing you to retreat and get some breathing room. Following this tactic, if you have to fight close range, use spears or halbreds for reach. Stand behind your summon, drink an oil of speed, and, start poking. Archers are fragile delicate sorts, and, easily smashed in toe to toe combat. If you can, get some sort of free action going, or, make sure you have range, and try to use Entangle when you can. Get your Moondog figurine when you can, as early as possible. Archers need some sort of decoy, as if I have not stressed this enough.

[Pyrenk]

Heh..thanks for the info.

[Imrahil]

I tend to agree that the Tuigan Bow is by far the best bow in the game. I've had my characters pass up much "better" magical bows just for the extra shot per round. Oddly enough, I don't feel the same way about Belm for my melee fighters.

I guess it boils down to the fact that my snipers tend to be less skilled at Bows (tends to be Nalia/Imoen) & I like the extra opportunity to hit, rather than than the higher probability to hit, whereas I like my front-liners to hit every time, rather than more often with less probability.

- Imrahil

[Rataxes]

Just note that Tuigan can only give you a max ApR of 5 unhasted. Using any normal shortbow will get you 9/2 ApR at lvl 13, with the Grand mastery patch installed. Personally I don't think the extra +1/2 ApR is worth using a rather poorly enchanted bow when I got alternatives such as Tansherons and Gesen's Around. Constantly having to switch bow when I need to hit something with a +2 Immunity (there are quite a few of them), is also a pain I can do without. In ToB you'll also get a pair of gloves which gives you an extra 1/2 Attack, making Tuigan completely obsolete.

[Legolas]

Boots of speed will be useful for your hit-and-run actions. Halberds or twohanded swords are your best melee options. Bring lots of unenchanted arrows.
Gauntlets of Ogre Power or a belt of ... giant strength allow you to spend less on strength and more on dexterity/constitution.
Being able to summon some kind of creature is also quite helpful.
As for rings, the ring of regeneration is rather useful.

Helms, other rings, amulets, cloaks and armour, as well as the bow itself, depend on your personal preference. Aegar's hide is quite alright, and maybe you want a ring to increase your charisma, leaving yet more points to spend on other ability scores.
Try to work towards proficiencies in longbows, shortbows, halberds, twohanded swords and twohanded weapon fighting. If you already know which bow you're going to use later on, you can save five slots by not mastering the other kind. The basic unenchanted composite longbow is quite alright by itself, actually.

[Brennihelvete]

I have been wondering of starting an solo archer myself...
They have an easy time vs melee guys especially when you get the boots of speed. You can just run around and gun them down and the best thing is that they wont be able to catch up on you. When it comes to wizards, you wont be able to run away from their spells they cast at you, so I would reccomend to equip your archer with as much magic resistance Items as possible. They usually have magic shields that protects them, so any item that lets you cast some dispel effects would be useful. Though I cannot think of any such items for an archer.

[Rataxes]

80 Arrows of Dispelling can be bought in Wuakeen's Promenade, those will last you at least through SoA. They're extremely expensive though.