Glass Cannon Archer

[zan5bar]

I would be more worried of the will save than the AB. You cannot any longer count on spells because the first time you appear from the shadows you're shot with dispells that pretty much remove all the buffs you have (this has changed during these 2,5 years I have been absent, I think). And after that you're shot with mind affecting spells. And there aren't too many items which add both to will save and hide / MS skill. So far I have had no luck in finding longbows with any hide / MS bonuses either.

My level 19 ranger / AA / assassin / EA can hit quite OK even with manyshot (and the char is not min-maxed) when fighting against the enemies she is supposed to at that level. It is the will saves (and lag) which makes it so difficult though. If you're planning to participate in pvp a lot then you might need high AB though. When playing an assassin patience is a virtue... or something like that..

[metaquad4]

Low will is expected on fighter and rogue types, generally. HiPs helps, as you can avoid a lot with it.

For times when you are caught without your pants down, I recommend a wand of lesser spell mantle. They are very useful for countering your low saves. Wands of silence can also help debilitate spellcasters, if they are your primary concern.

[Vogar Eol]

You are giving yourself +4 EB damage, does this stack with the +5 Imbue from AA (I don't think it does since both would be EB, but even if it did, are you going to find a steady supply of +4 EB, +1-6 Piercing arrows?) Assuming this, your damage, without considering crits is:

1-8+6+2+2+5+1-6 = 17-29 - any DR the enemy has. Average is ~23 damage per hit. Still not terrible, actually pretty solid with Manyshot. However, using manyshot in conjunction with your extra sneak damage makes that number look way prettier.

My stacked damage numbers are accurate in the NWN2 engine. It would require a bow with 4enh and 6 Mighty, and some piercing arrows. We have +4enh +5mighty bows in shops.

Yes, the bow enhancement applies damage. It doesn't in PnP, but is a nwn2 engine mechanic. Most servers use to only build bows with AB and Mighty to counter this, like the composite bows. However, we have been allowing bows from shops, random items, and custom items to have Enhancement for eight years now. It also stacks with arrow damage.

Also, AA enhancement DOES stack with both the Enhancement on the bow, and Damage on the arrows. The best way to think about this is as a free pairing of +4enh +4enh +4dmg +4dmg when you pair 7 levels of AA, +4 bow with +Mighty, and +4arrows of the correct kind. It's quite broken, to be honest.

[Sun Wukong]

I think EB on bows became a thing with Storm of Zehir, before that it just could not be done, and before that if you wanted to make an Archer you were kind of forced to make some form of Bard/Arcane Archer.

And yeah, Arcane Archer arrows stack with EB.

[Vogar Eol]

Just rolled up the Elemental Archer version heavy in Int on a Woodelf. I dropped a longbow in Jeg's with +4enh, +6 Mighty, Unlimited 1d6 fire. Numbers with bull Strength and cats grace:

1d8(19-20/x3) +11 (Mighty + AA)
+4 piercing (Bow)
+2 piercing ( Specialization or Mastery???)
+2 acid (earth EA)
+1d6 fire (Arrows)

Looks like either ranged mastery or specialization got lost in Jeg's.

[Vogar Eol]

I'm a little confused though, as I landed a 101 dmg Critical hit while kiting some bladelings. It wasn't a sneak or a manyshot. That means both the arrow d6 and bow d8 had to roll max, AND both Mastery and Specialization have to be working.

[Sun Wukong]

The Jegs migth not be up to date.

[Vogar Eol]

It looked a lot like Specialization wasn't showing on the character sheet with Mastery. The build otherwise seemed legitimate. Maxed its attack at 52 AB using the +4 bow and cats grace. It utterly slaughtered a horned devil who had 10/- and fire resistance... without using sneaks or manyshot at all. Just kiting.


This was the tested version:
http://nwn2db.com/build/?262488