Archery and the lack of a Special Attack

Firstly, the event was a group thing, most archers had warrior support, I know I had a ton of help from everyone when I was shooting Balam from the balcony. Secondly, while I can concur that fighting mobs on a pure archer is doable, its not easy and you pretty much cant touch casters only melee mobs. Finally, Its still pretty easy to run away shoot run away shoot and make a decent living but I think what we all want is a little bit of 'magic' added to the skill, anything that will give it a bit of a "woohoo I landed a special shot".

I totally agree Wise and you're right, it's a bitch fighting casting mobs because they can GHeal to %50 health while you wait for another shot.

What about a 'silencing' shot? I'm not sure what two skill combos could be used for it, but the end result is 'target can't cast spells for 10 seconds' after hit. kind of like paralyze, but without the actual paralyzation.

This could be tailored for PvM only if this would be too over powered in PvP.

A grand idea to get the ball rolling but I fear that it would not do much good against a formidable melee warrior in a pvp situation.

If (hopefully when) a special attack is added it should perfect archery in all aspects (mainly solo pvm and pvp [not just against mages]).

Perhaps a discombobulating shot (yeah thats a word) something like you lose 5 of each stat for 30 seconds, less hp less mana less stam. maybe a max stackable of -10 per stat unless that will cause a shitstorm of imbalance.

ah ha! i've got you now! you might argue what then is the use of concussion blow against a warrior as well? yes, most warriors are hybrids, so the depletion of mana hurts them. Wouldn't the momentary silencing also be on par with the axe's special move?!

* steps aside and makes way for Wise *

Your play sir!

Damn, time to maneuver carefully.

Well then, since we are in search of a special attack, may I argue that giving archery the same special attack as swordsmanship (which only works with some sword weapons if I am correct) will make it less 'special' for both archery and swordsmanship?

Also, I believe in the specific case of the sword warrior, the special attack was added as a consideration because specifically vs mages this class was quite weak. (I am open to perfecting existing special moves although I think the current ones are working quite well).

The sword warrior was pretty good against all but mage templates, archery on the other hand cant really hold a candle to any other weapon class or char type (mage, dex, even tamers).

I tip my battered hat to your well said rebut, but I'm far from bowing out. The silencing shot, could be just what's needed to land the final shots. From my observation of PvP so far, what most great fighters end game comes down to is who can eliminate that last 10 % of life. Poison is most often used for this.

Your alternative suggestion of discombobulation sounds a lot like "curse" and also sounds good, but what skill combo would be suitable to discombobulate someone?

The combination of stealth and archery are the most viable imo for a solo stand point. While there are some great archers in most fantasies you'll find they are almost always set as a support class if there is only one archer. Also, Because archery is essentially an advanced technology compared to hand to hand you can't really tweak it and not expect it to be exploited. It's like introducing gun powder and expecting people not to set up a firing line.

I still think there is room for a special attack that only requires GM archery and no additional skill. You already have to have 100 dex or its pointless and you pretty much have to get anatomy for the damage bonus and tactics/resist are a given of course. Anatomy/Archery/Tactics/Resist leaves 3 skills left, force Stealth in for the special shot and you have 2 left, pretty much pick 2 or a combo of healing/magery/tracking/hiding. Not a lot of room to play around as with other classes that can add poison to some weapons without sacrificing a single skill point.

My two complete archers look pretty much the same because there is not much else that can be done except swapping their melee wep skills with hiding.
Anatomy/healing/magery/resist/tactics/archery and one has fencing the other one swords, both obviously support chars. The only other current use for solo archery I can see is fishing. A GM fisherman can make quite a long and healthy living with the mastery of archery and magery. Archery/tactics/anatomy/healing/mage/resist/fisherman anyone?

Gonna pass out soon pulled an all nighter last night but i really hope someone else will continue this invigorating discussion.

Cheers

I'd never make a stealth archer, that is too gimmicky. The silence shot would be decent for both pvp/pvm, I like that.

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Speaking of debuff... what about a Dex de-buff, like the Concussion blow from swords?

Slows down dexer swing and heal rates, kind of like Gideon suggests. Against Mages, may allow for more powerful Mind Blasts. Or you could make an archer-macer, and wait for the dex debuff and then switch to your mace so they're chugging red potions much more frequently...

Instead of all of the different effects, what if they did something really, really simple like copy & pasting the lumberjacking damage bonus equation to bowcraft/fletching, and gave characters with bowcraft/fletching as well as archery up to +9 or +10 damage per hit, like a lumberjack dexxer?

It'd be so easy to add...

I don't think it'd be unbalancing either. Archers in 1 vs 1 pvp have a hard time combining magic with their attacks because their attacks are too slow and predictable. Even with a damage bonus, in 1 vs 1, a good pvper should in theory be able to keep themselves alive against pure archery. But it would make them worthwhile, and even more useful for group fighting.

I agree. I remember archery doing a big comeback when they added Fletching damage bonus.

What if just simple as chance to hit additional to random stat.

Possibility to do 50 percent extra damage OR take equal damage to stamina OR equal damage to mana.

Ie hit target for 20 damage.

If successful possibility to hit damage for thirty or hit damage for 20 hp 10 Stam or 20 hp 10 mana

That would be useful yet not something you could abuse since it is random

I like the ideas in the thread. Archery has such promise but falls short currently.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I can tell you how I've seen poison arrows work on a different RunUO shard.

Dig this: GM poisoner can make a poison soaked cloth (oil cloth model) which, if in your main pack, will allow you to fire poison arrows.
The poison scales like poison for magery, so if you have poisoning skill the poison is better (archer has GM poison, does DP)
Poison cloths have a certain number of charges and when they wear out, they're gone. Non rechargable.

It added a niche, while not being OP. Was pretty cool.

Over the years archery was almost mandatory on our orcish warriors...on this server its more of a handicap than being on foot! Hoho! Def needs a buff of some sort.

Do you think that's related to the lack of insta-hit here?

How about the arrow knocks the bandage clean off the enemy! MARKSMAN! Stops your bandage timer.

Dare I say headshots?

Sorry if I'm missing something, but I always thought archery's special was range?