Time to give up the Bow?

Hey all,

I was on the server a year or so ago and archery was bunk. Any changes since then? Or is it time to drop the bow and pick up poisoned katana. I'm playing a provo bard with archery now.

Thanks!

Give it up. Archery is only worth using for fishing or for the setup of bow turrets for battle mining. And you can do some fun pvp as ork.

BlackEye you didn't tell him that we have deadly poisoned shafts now?!! j/k

Unless you're Wulver, Archery is of little use in PvP. I enjoy having an archer, but I usually shoot things twice, and then switch to a spear to wack at them.

My archer mage is my favorite pvp template and I do quite well with it.

yeah archer mage with a big nasty heavy xbow of vanquishing!
U wait a hit of 40+ dmg and follow with a good drop explo-eb ...

Key word there is "wait." Archery seems to miss A LOT and there's no tactics bonus like all other weapon classes.

I would personally not use it for PvM. PvM is all about generating income. Arrows cost too much to fling at monsters.

I didn't know this. Does this mean that if you want to make an archer, the only skill you need is Archery?

Wouldn't you still need anatomy as a damage modifier or does that just help healing? Poison arrows anyone?

This is not how HC plays... (at all really) ... and he is by far the best archer tank I've ever fought on UO:R... probably the best tank period.

How are the offensive capabilities of the pvp archer compared to other templates? Can you solo kill pro's in a 1v1 situation without the need of incredible luck?

I would be curious to see this as well. I never could get comfortable with it on OSI. Bow for sustained damage or Heavy Crossbow for the big numbers then dump? Stats 90/45/90 + dex pot (or something similar)?

My first tank on the shard (my favorite template to play by far) was an archer... I fought in ONE fight night fight and immediately switched because I felt like I was sitting there waiting for my bow to fire meanwhile Erza was smacking me with a halberd at a much faster rate.

But I'd like to give it another shot on the field; as I think that's where the template would truly "shine" (although shine might be a bit of an exaggeration)... with purple pots and what not.

Anyways... with all that said I stand by the fact that HC is fairly easily the strongest tank I've ever fought on UO:R; and I've only fought his archer.

While "extreme luck" always plays a bit of a roll when two fairly evenly matched opponents duke it out 1v1 on the field... I think in HCs case extreme skill is more relevant. *shrug*

I wouldn't give up archer, if you enjoy using the character. (We can have 15 characters here) so lots of room to have various templates.

I disagree with Basoosh here. Arrows cost very little, if you make them yourself. Just time to collect feathers and logs. Fletching kits are cheap.

Also I enjoy arachery for pvm...I don't consider pvm just about generating income.

Mainly, I think, it's about your personal play style. I recommend playing the templates you enjoy.

Westra/Marjo

I use a regular bow

Feel free to contact me on IRC if you'd like to go a round against my archer mage. And I use a bow for sustained damage, quicker shots for more interrupts, and archery can miss a ton, (especially if your not close to your target) so the heavier archery weapons I don't think are as viable as the bow in 1v1 pvp. You are spot on with the stats and I always str+dex pot. The stats are great against all those people stuck on mind blast.

One thing the properly played archer is great at in a 1v1 is really wearing down a mages mana supply quite quickly. Most people spend their whole time just healing and trying to survive the archer.

I do pretty well in my archer, if you get the timing right, most of your shots can hit hard.

This is a stretch but personally, I have a lifetime supply of arrows/bolts from my dungeon chest picker.
Then again, I don't have an archer either.

Perhaps a small amount of time with harpys and a low skilled fletcher mule would suffice?
I can't be sure as I've not personally tried that route here.


Anyways, to the OP I pretty much cosign what others have said.
I spent half an hour on test center with archery and that solidified it for me.

NOPE!

Whether you buy them, make them, or farm them from dungeon chests or ratmen, they're still worth 7.5g a shot. That's a fair chunk of cash. I haven't really tried archery much in PvM since the loot container patch, but I'd guess the arrows aren't going in their loot containers either. Bleh.

The other big problem (probably bigger, even) with archery in PvM is you can't repair bows with a 5g repair deed.

Good point on the repairing. I currently fort powder up every bow i use, making it a more expensive class. In pvp the archer mage takes a lof of resources also, from purple pots to wands.