Arcane Archer Thread

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BenevolentDevil
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Arcane Archer Thread

Post by BenevolentDevil » Mon Oct 26, 2015 7:10 pm

Tara and I thought the AA abilities would be fine for here as is....
So far, I think I have found two that don't quite match up for anything other than OC content.
The first ability is enchant Arrow , which is a feat that's auto taken at certain levels.
The description says it adds a +1 ( raises up every 3 levels I think, another +1 , up to +5 enchantment. ) ... however, this I found only applies to normal, non-magical arrows. It does not effect any existing arrows if already enchanted.
That's alright I guess, once the levels where +5 is attained, but in between the beginning and then, it's rather useless. I say useless, because you can already buy +3 enchanted arrows from the shop, and some with minor ( +1d6 elemental damage type ) also.
You are no less than 8th level before you can take the AA prestige class no matter what class combo you choose ... so you've already pretty much surpassed the need for basic +1 arrows here in Alangara.

The other is the fireball-like arrow , which I think is neat ... but you expend an arrow, and it doesn't do it's normal effect ( say if you are using special arrows from the archery shop. ) , just a weak level 3 fireball ( like the basic wand ) ... I do not think , this scales up, you just get more fire-ball arrows as you raise up. ( I think it maxes out at 5 such attempts per day. ) ... I have found it great for low level goblin clearing, but other than that, not so great.

I hadn't gained any abilities other than those two yet ... so cannot comment on the next set, if there is any.

Normally AA is a "support" based class, standing in the back-ground allowing tanks to distract baddies , and in those cases, would be great.
As it stands, with the player count low, you get mobbed by spawns if you shoot at one monster in a group. The special arrows help with this a bit , but I have also found "kiting" to be difficult in places , either by environment, or by back-spawns ruining the attempt.

Will comment more as I discover more.

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tarashon
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by tarashon » Mon Oct 26, 2015 7:28 pm

Probably the AA class will need an special summons, just like the "muse" we have created for the bards or the animentals for Rangers + their superior companions...

As from what i read about the enchant arrow it WAS supposed to stack on the attack roll, basically meaning that even with the special ammo that ability should make your HIT better ( which is also very nice if it does that ).

The fireball is supposed to be scaling up with levels but really if it just summons a fireball level 3 arrow it...SUX. If this does not change in a few levels we will definatly make sure it summons another arrow as i should likely be able to find the arrow it summons and alter them, or perhaps find the script and simply redesign the arrow name even scaling it so it summons different arrows at different level etc ;)

ALl this being said, the summon is likely a MUST here in alangar to be able to play archer but for other powers try to think abit "out of the box" and think, symbols, energies, threads etc...

I think it would be rather awesome if we could really make the AA into something unique in playstyle, since if we cant my bed is he/she will basically be *pwned* by Rangers and Bards, making it as useless as i found the Ranger in many aspects before we tweaked it up ( compared to say fighter or even battlecleric with zen archery, etc )

/tara

BenevolentDevil
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by BenevolentDevil » Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:30 am

I will have to check again on the + enchant to hit. I assumed because was an enchantment, it did a damage bonus of piercing as well, I do not think I checked the attack bonus though.

The fireball might scale, I don't have enough levels to say it does though.

The aspects of rangers , can differ than just a bow user. Some can be dual wielding , scimitar whirling blades of death , or a tracker/beast master ... possibly other things as well.

Remember to be arcane archer, there's a load of pre-requisites you must complete before attaining any AA levels. Where as Rangers benefit from their class right off from level one up.
Number one, that hurts the class, must be elven of half-elven ... while it kind of makes sense in a RP aspect , it does inflict an XP penalty if you don't go Bard/RDD/AA , or Sorc/fighter/AA. Given the aspect Alangara you must end your 40 levels, with 6 levels of each class, those options aren't as great because of the 5 extra needed wizard or sorc levels, or the extra 2 levels of bard to gain 1rst level arcane spells, aren't needed to get the AA build.
Second aspect, you must weapon focus in Bow or short bow.
I don't know why , because a crossbow seems just as viable. A Sling even , all three missile weapons basically follow the same principle of use. It fires a missile of sorts , at distant targets.
You must have a BAB of 6 , before you can take AA levels. In Rangers and Bard builds, that's going to take many levels of the class plus the arcane class ...

Now, as long as you can use the special arrows , the class doesn't really suffer much. But keep in mind, I am not of the levels where damage resistances are kicking in either.

But the AA is highly specialized in use of the bows, so in essence , it is a class that seems unique in playstyle. While it is good to have some melee weapons ( especially in the starting levels here on alangara , as most the beginning quest involve undead/spores that are piercing resistant/immune) , when you switch to melee weapons , you can really tell a difference. They excel at hitting with the bow, the attack bonus drops big time by using melee weapons.
I think that could be offset if you took the feat that allows your dex to be used to hit instead of str , but with the strict AA requirements, being elf means you don't get the extra feats that say a human ranger would, for extra melee punch.
That aspect doesn't bother me, as I feel AA should be a specialist of the bow , and that be their primary weapon of choice , and melee be a last resort. ( at higher levels of course. )

I am uncertain about needing a summon. I think hiring a merc, or buying a totem cat might be better, given the nature of the class. ( if running solo , if in party ... should be fine. )

If not careful, the AA I bet will become very powerful once higher levels and epic levels are achieved.
The best thing about the class, it gains the best attack bonuses in NWN , combined with Dex modifiers , I doubt there will be many instances the AA will miss on most full out attacks with the bow.

I am not sure what abilities the AA gains past the fireball arrows currently , which isn't bad in it's own right. Especially if it does "scale up" , I know at some point you gain a single attack that will never miss , but will not "crit" on it's attack.

Crit damage does seem decent for a missile user. While not as good as a fighter critting at the same level, it's long ranged damage isn't bad on crits.

You asked about Arrows ...
I thought the AA abilities seem to "flame based" , which is great for everything save for fire-resistant bad guys.
So given a bit of thought, I was thinking maybe some specialized arrows only AA can use ( further separating them from the ranger/fighter/bard bow users ) :
Idea one - Arrows when on hit, cast Galedee's Electric Loop ... granting a AOE electrical attack.
Idea 2- Arrows that do some sort of Knockdown on a small group ( or chance to ) .
Idea 3 - Blinding Arrows , or Darkness Arrows. ( More defensive that offensive , if enemies can't see you, or where they are going , it's harder to hit you. True seeing would negate this ability though. )
Idea 4 - Acid Bomb Arrows, granting a corrosive cloud of acid in an area of effect
Idea 5- Arrows of some cold damage type , but this is difficult because NWN lacks any good "freezing" spells.

That's all I came up with at the moment , just tried figuring out some extra damage types that offset the fire based abilities AA do get , and be RP supportive as well.
If they don't make it in the Alangara module, no big deal, they were just ideas.

Calamitus
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by Calamitus » Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:02 pm

I'm not an expert on Arcane archers but I have not used one because of a few reasons. One of which is the arrow of death isn't all that powerful. It's fort save DC is only 20 and there's a bug in the game that doesn't allow it to penetrate damage reduction. Also the fact that imbue arrow only uses fireball whereas the original intent of the class was that you could use any spell you could cast. The fireball does scale up at 1d6 per 2 AA levels. There were other reasons but they were mostly due to rules on the server.

BenevolentDevil
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by BenevolentDevil » Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:04 pm

Arrow of Death ...
That to me sounds like many other NWN "insta kill" abilities, such as Palemaster touch, monks' death strike , and Devastating Crit feat.

While for a "Video game" those aspects are fine, but such things, even with a low DC seem a lot like cheating the system to me. A Builder spends time and effort , creating a powerful boss and monsters , and they are supposto be fought, combatted, ran from even. Well, waltzing up, everyone buffs up to take on this super power, and someone steps up, crits , and the creature fails it' s fort save ... bam it's over before it began.
You might say it' s luck of the draw , and wouldn't happen every time , and it probably wouldn't.
I think most higher up monsters and bosses are crit immune anyways, so the above abilities are simply not going to work properly anyways.

I agree with the imbue arrow aspect. Fireball after level 10 is incredibly weak area of attack.
While I have used it with Anoksuna to help off set some damage, the "arrow" shot expends what ever arrow is in her inventory slot, but it does not do it's effect + the fireball , just the fireball. It always hits though creatures get a reflex save for half. I think spell resistance will null it out on individuals, and of course ... how many creatures and beings in DnD have resistance to fire attacks, or flat out immune. A lot.

The always hit Arrow, is also another nerffed arrow. You shoot, you hit , but only does normal arrow damage, not the damage from what arrows you are using. ( as far as I can tell, still testing that.) That ability seems weaker than the fireball imbue to me, and it takes a few more levels to get than Imbue.
While that ability is great for RP ( Anoksuna can always bullseye a target no matter distance ) , it's effectiveness in NWN is not that great.
Unless you had say 50 Arcane archers, releasing the always hit shot at once , on a group of marauding Orcs, then maybe it'd be great ... but as it stands, I think it's really under-powered for the strict progression one must go through.

The class , is interesting in my opinion. I like it , I'm not having any real issues surviving , a few close calls here and there.
The Attack of Oppurtunity from monsters , seems to be a problem I don't know how to remedy. I have Point blank shot feat , but that doesn't do any good to remove the AAO from bad guys it seems. A lot of the monsters have sneak attacks when not in direct combat, so you can see how an AAO would be a tad worry some for an archer. Even with the "slowing arrows" I have gotten mobbed a few times despite trying to maneuver, and choke point the targets.

Most the "forge options" for her, is null and void weapon wise. Even the one quest that grants you electrical attacks extra , will not work on the bow I think ... so most my forge options I think I will go defensive on, add to armor I guess. Or clothing, as I gain more ability points , my dex will be high enough, any light armor will block out some of her maneuverability.

Still, it is a fun class to play in my opinion.

On a side note, my story/description is basically for Anoksuna explaining her rise to the arcane archer profession. I built her off a concept that was from another system, where they have a profession that is totally dedicated to Archers.
If Anoksuna "teaches" her way to the path , then it will be as she learned it here , or similar.
Otherwise, there are other ways/paths I'm sure that are open to take the class as well. So, no one is stuck RP wise, for claiming such a class.
I'm not an expert of the rich detailed system of the gamesystem Anoksuna was inspired from , but I know a bit from experience playing in the system, and GMing some adventures from it. So, the fact other players , especially DnD payers will not have a real clue as to what I've described as the Path of the Arrow , I don't desire others to feel they must match or take that kind of RP progression in order to play a character with the class option.

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tarashon
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by tarashon » Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:01 pm

Howdy :)

Well basically we started to tweak the Ranger because it was my personal feeling the ranged - arrow/stone/dart etc damage basically SUX compared to melee.

Also from you further explanation of the powers here i full heartily that the powers needs some tweaking. First of I strongly suggest considering some sort of summon. Howevr i would love for it to be something SPECIAL. Like I stated earlier I'm fairly sure the AA needs tweaking to have its room and purpose in Alangara - after all RP wise the AA basically offers nothing one could not create/play with a ranger; more or less.

So how to give the AA its own niche ???

I am considering following approaches - everything obviously open to suggestions, and changes during a "test period".

1. A summon. To make this special from others maybe some sort of energy creature that is rather sturdy-very high surviveability, but basically NO damage. However on hit it fx cast the lesser bigby hand on target, ie it debuffes the target.

2. Death arrow is indeed next to useless as most mobs, and all bosses are utterly imune to death and instand deatheffect magics for the very reason mentioned here by you BVD. I simply have a deepfelt dislike for insta death that is too much of a spoiler to my likeings. however that arrow is ment to be like a real powerfull one and special. We could make that arrow summon some "death" with a reaper and all using henchman scripts maybe since else it will dismiss your current summon. This death could be a fairly nasty bugger but short duration. in reality a sort of mini version of the dragonknight epic spell, here on Alangara that is a mall wurmling of immense power but only like 2 min duration.

however i am REALLY interested in finding perhaps some special and interesting gaming options to SPECIALISE the AA. I was considering giving them a "blink like" option ie mini teleport click on ground like thingi but that one i am unfortunately afraid can be a game breaking thingi just like the monk speed that simply ruins the game mechanics in terms of encounters etc.

SO think creative folks and I WILL be listening :)

/tara

BenevolentDevil
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by BenevolentDevil » Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:28 pm

Hmm, a summon that is basically a defensive shield like that would work very well.

I think the "death arrow" would be better suited to have a high powered disjunction effect on hit. If it hits a summon, has a chance to send it back where it's from. If it hits a buffed up target, then perhaps it dispels the protective enchantments, leaving the baddy vulnerable for a short time?

But I want to look at the abilities from the system I took Anoksuna from, and see if it gives me any ideas on things too.

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tarashon
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by tarashon » Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:43 pm

Well mordencainens disjunction would work like that unless im mistaken. however most mobs basically have their powers permanently either in item or on their "creature skin" or a combinaiton of the both. Only minor thinks like improved invi, etheral visage etc is really targetable by disjunction, so it would only work well in PVP - which is fully legal and could come very handy just the same though....

And yes if that system has some totally other aproaches we could integrate then just all the more fun & excitement ;)

/tara

BenevolentDevil
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by BenevolentDevil » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:12 pm

I don't really build for PvP , so maybe my disjunction idea wouldn't work with the perm abilities of baddies.

Of course, if there is RP-PvP situations , say like a group of players playing Darkmoorians ... I would RP it out and participate in such a way, but generally PvP is not a thing I like to do.

I've had bad experiences with even some RP-situations involving PvP ...
I once played a Palladin of Sune , and long story short ... a DM forced me to turn her evil, because the character she was enamored with and traveled with was secretly a tiefling and secretly evil , my character rhad no knowledge of such, and as a Paladin of a goddess of love and beauty, had no means of detecting evil ...
But anyways, I was kinda forced to turn her into Blackguard because the DM insisted ...
Anyways, as a blackguard, she got way more custom abilities on that realm. I thought other than the fact none were useful against any NPC/Monster ( because none were "good alignment, only evil/neutral ), the abilities were or geared towards PvP play.
Anyways, another long story made short ... my "blackguard" was about level 17-ish at the time, we had a DM event ... one of the other characters found this cursed orb thing. The DM kept sending me "/tells", the orb was calling to my character, and she wanted it really badly.

I however, actually did not want the thing, and the orb passed to the other character ( the secretly evil tiefling person ) , whom was also level 40 ...
After about 10 minutes of me ignoring the DM's prompting to attack who ever held the Orb , he finally got me to interact ...
I tried asking for it first. Of course the holder , didn't want to give it up ( I assumed compelled by the device ) ... because neither of us actually wanted it or needed it in reality, we just happened to go along with others on this adventure.
The Teifling wouldn't give up the orb peacefully, and started casting spells at my Blackguard.

At this point, I am shrugging off damage , and I PM the DM ... " Are you forcing me to PvP with the other characters? "
The DM said in this situation, PvP was allowed, and I must get that orb no matter what ...
Now here I am the lowest level character in the group , fixing to basically get in a fight with a level 40 epic that was also my character's "girlfriend" , over an orb , she really had no desire to have to begin with.
So, I gave in finally after being threatened with XP loss, if I didn't play along by the DM's rules ... and I stepped up and attacked the said character.
Bam-Bam-BAMMMM ! , ... to my amazement, the level 40 went down like a rock.
My character wound up party-wiping the rest , that attacked her for the orb as well.

Afterwards, I tried explaining to the other characters, I had no control over that situation, an didn't really want to physically attack any of them, but was made to or I would have lost levels for not cooperating with the DM.
But, the damage was done.
My long time companion , left the server after I had annihilated her ( embarrassing seeing how I wasn't even close to their levels ), the other players metagamed and "ousted" my character as an evil blackguard , even though they had no way of knowing that fact actually. This caused all "goods" to try and be confrontational, blocked some access I had previously to certain areas and shops, and so on and so on.
There was a lot of tension and hard feeling directed at ME , and not my character ... because my other alts that were good and innocent, also got treated badly, and ignored.
Yeah, that happened ...

It just killed any PvP type of thing for me back then. I found it caused too many hurt feelings for those involved. I'm sure if they had beaten my character down, they wouldn't have made such a drama over it all, but since I chopped and smite-good my way through their epicness ... they were simply mad, and aggravated, and caused problems from there on out. Several of them were DMs of the server, so wasn't like I caught any breaks from anyone ...
So, I normally don't get involved in PvP situations. I will if the RP actually warrants it , but only after there's no other way around it.

Calamitus
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Re: Arcane Archer Thread

Post by Calamitus » Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:41 am

Holy crap BD, (pun intended) that's a sorry excuse for a DM. No one should ever RP another's reactions/actions. I dislike PVP simply for the fact that I suck at builds and prefer RP to getting my arse handed to me on a regular basis. I've played on 2 different servers, one for at least 10 yrs, and they had really strict rules for PVP which I really enjoyed, even those times I was stomped into the ground as the RP around them was fantastic from both sides.

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