Lilura
RPG Codex Dragon Lady
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2013
- Messages
- 5,274
10) LOLblivion -- Starting off with a joke entry, but archery on a stealth build is mildly entertaining for a few hours due to how broken it is. You have bowzoom, high RoF and couple that with high sneak and knockdown perk, you're untouchable. Expect to get 4 extra plinks at a knocked down enemy before it can get back in your face. I defeated Oblivion with a lvl1 archer. Morrowind's archery was over-balanced (read: weak) unless you fetch that daedric bow early and install the official plug-in that gives AoE arrows. Then things get interesting.
9) Dark Souls -- I love this game, the mechanics are wonderful, if I may be allowed such a term. Providing you spec right and are skilled at headshots you really shouldn't hit many speedbumps in the single-player game. Melee opponents in PvP who are killed by staggering headshots will rage hard and call you cheap. There's nothing like chaining staggers together on a tanky opponent, knowing that if the next shot fails to stagger, you're one-shotted. Enemy archers can be extremely frustrating, I cite the knights wielding dragonbows who fire SPEARS which knock you down into oblivion. This dragonbow can be used by the player later, though it's largely a gimmick short of long-range knockdown sniping in PvP. There are much better bows in DkS.
8) Deus Ex -- When I get to choose between a GEP gun and mini xbow, I choose the latter. Tranquilizing "terrists" for non-lethal silent takedowns is very satisfying and faciliates the stealth approach for which Deus Ex is famous.
7) Baldur's Gate -- Bow-wielders start off with two flat attacks per round, enemies are weak, enemies move slow, enemies get pin-cushioned. You can have max6 archers in your party, who can get several attacks per round, hasted - that's every 3 secs on 60 AI updates - firing detonation arrows which have fireball AoE/dmg. 2d6 acid arrows are also killer. Coran, Khalid and Kivan can be specced to be lordly archers. I presume forests got chopped down to supply my guys with arrows. Annoyingly, archery was nerfed in Baldur's Gate 2 but an archer prestige with Firetooth xbow (ToB) or Gesen will still tear through the field and drill down bosses to death with Greater Whirlwind, real fast.
6) Planescape: Torment -- WTF? Oh I see you forgot about Nordom! The only companion with missile weapons, means he must be mentioned with adoration. A shame he can't be recruited earlier, but he gets some use when farming XP down in Under Sigil.
5) Gothic 2 -- Just like in Dark Souls, a player who specializes in melee will still nock an arrow and make a bow sing, every now and then, because the design is thoughtful and the game logically at times calls for it's use. The only problem is that the cheesy side of my gaming brain calls for it's use a little too often...
4) Storm of Zehir -- It's the solid crafting mechanics in this underrated expansion for NWN2 that ensures bows + xbows shine. Make them out of rare materials like duskwood and zalantar, deck your low lvl slobs out with them (yep, even spellcasters), and mowdown rag-tag mobs before they even get to your meatshields.
3) Temple of Elemental Evil -- General consensus seems to be ranged weapons suck in this game, but holy axiomatic or icy-burst +3 longbow on max-INIT buffed elven archer with all the right feats = dropping behemoths like hill giants before they can even raise an eyebrow. Make two.
2) Diablo 2 -- Bowazons were a whole lot of fun, but the letdown was they were so loomingly overshadowed by lightning javs. The Median XL: Ultimative mod turns them into glass cannons, but they can clear out areas in a couple of clicks - fastest killers I ever saw in any game. But the ranged king in Ultimative is the xbow necro, boasting of a skillset mixing in sniping, SMG and shot-gun firing modes.
1) Warband -- OK, this is it! THIS IS IT! First off bows far outstrip xbows as the latter only do flat dmg. A total newb using a starter bow with bent ammo can headshot an armored vet for 80 dmg. Now, a masterwork warbow in the hands of a strongarm build with 10 power draw and +3 arrows will one-shot anyone but a king decked out in lordly fullplate. Headshots do in excess of 200 dmg. RoF at skill 400 is probably 2.5 draws per sec, causing RSI. 2nd off, Rhodok snipers using xbows can single-handedly win sieges, expect to get 50-200 kills before you even send your sergeants up the ladder, depending on fortress type. Plus they are tanks, their board shields protect them from responding hail when they reload. Third, Khergit veteran horse archers are sexy as allfuck, 200 of these guys circling and kiting an infantry force = pincushioned into oblivion. A player with 10 horse archery and 10 ride on a champion coarser is untouchable short of being fired on by top-tier archers himself. LASTLY, the Noldor rangers in the Prophecy of Pendor mod fire bows like machine guns, their arrows blot out the sky. Nothing lives. The player can earn a sapphire bow by jumping through unreasonable dev hoops, thereby even exceeding the RoF/dmg of ancient elves.
I left out Arcanum because I honestly haven't made an archery build, I assume it would kick ass. Bloodlines mods might also allow you to use xbow effectively now, I'm not sure. Note that this list makes no claim to being authoritative or exhaustive, it's just I've been thinking about, and it would be great if you guys could fill me in on other RPGs with entertaining or unusual ranged combat, especially anything pre-Infinity Engine.
9) Dark Souls -- I love this game, the mechanics are wonderful, if I may be allowed such a term. Providing you spec right and are skilled at headshots you really shouldn't hit many speedbumps in the single-player game. Melee opponents in PvP who are killed by staggering headshots will rage hard and call you cheap. There's nothing like chaining staggers together on a tanky opponent, knowing that if the next shot fails to stagger, you're one-shotted. Enemy archers can be extremely frustrating, I cite the knights wielding dragonbows who fire SPEARS which knock you down into oblivion. This dragonbow can be used by the player later, though it's largely a gimmick short of long-range knockdown sniping in PvP. There are much better bows in DkS.
8) Deus Ex -- When I get to choose between a GEP gun and mini xbow, I choose the latter. Tranquilizing "terrists" for non-lethal silent takedowns is very satisfying and faciliates the stealth approach for which Deus Ex is famous.
7) Baldur's Gate -- Bow-wielders start off with two flat attacks per round, enemies are weak, enemies move slow, enemies get pin-cushioned. You can have max6 archers in your party, who can get several attacks per round, hasted - that's every 3 secs on 60 AI updates - firing detonation arrows which have fireball AoE/dmg. 2d6 acid arrows are also killer. Coran, Khalid and Kivan can be specced to be lordly archers. I presume forests got chopped down to supply my guys with arrows. Annoyingly, archery was nerfed in Baldur's Gate 2 but an archer prestige with Firetooth xbow (ToB) or Gesen will still tear through the field and drill down bosses to death with Greater Whirlwind, real fast.
6) Planescape: Torment -- WTF? Oh I see you forgot about Nordom! The only companion with missile weapons, means he must be mentioned with adoration. A shame he can't be recruited earlier, but he gets some use when farming XP down in Under Sigil.
5) Gothic 2 -- Just like in Dark Souls, a player who specializes in melee will still nock an arrow and make a bow sing, every now and then, because the design is thoughtful and the game logically at times calls for it's use. The only problem is that the cheesy side of my gaming brain calls for it's use a little too often...
4) Storm of Zehir -- It's the solid crafting mechanics in this underrated expansion for NWN2 that ensures bows + xbows shine. Make them out of rare materials like duskwood and zalantar, deck your low lvl slobs out with them (yep, even spellcasters), and mowdown rag-tag mobs before they even get to your meatshields.
3) Temple of Elemental Evil -- General consensus seems to be ranged weapons suck in this game, but holy axiomatic or icy-burst +3 longbow on max-INIT buffed elven archer with all the right feats = dropping behemoths like hill giants before they can even raise an eyebrow. Make two.
2) Diablo 2 -- Bowazons were a whole lot of fun, but the letdown was they were so loomingly overshadowed by lightning javs. The Median XL: Ultimative mod turns them into glass cannons, but they can clear out areas in a couple of clicks - fastest killers I ever saw in any game. But the ranged king in Ultimative is the xbow necro, boasting of a skillset mixing in sniping, SMG and shot-gun firing modes.
1) Warband -- OK, this is it! THIS IS IT! First off bows far outstrip xbows as the latter only do flat dmg. A total newb using a starter bow with bent ammo can headshot an armored vet for 80 dmg. Now, a masterwork warbow in the hands of a strongarm build with 10 power draw and +3 arrows will one-shot anyone but a king decked out in lordly fullplate. Headshots do in excess of 200 dmg. RoF at skill 400 is probably 2.5 draws per sec, causing RSI. 2nd off, Rhodok snipers using xbows can single-handedly win sieges, expect to get 50-200 kills before you even send your sergeants up the ladder, depending on fortress type. Plus they are tanks, their board shields protect them from responding hail when they reload. Third, Khergit veteran horse archers are sexy as allfuck, 200 of these guys circling and kiting an infantry force = pincushioned into oblivion. A player with 10 horse archery and 10 ride on a champion coarser is untouchable short of being fired on by top-tier archers himself. LASTLY, the Noldor rangers in the Prophecy of Pendor mod fire bows like machine guns, their arrows blot out the sky. Nothing lives. The player can earn a sapphire bow by jumping through unreasonable dev hoops, thereby even exceeding the RoF/dmg of ancient elves.
I left out Arcanum because I honestly haven't made an archery build, I assume it would kick ass. Bloodlines mods might also allow you to use xbow effectively now, I'm not sure. Note that this list makes no claim to being authoritative or exhaustive, it's just I've been thinking about, and it would be great if you guys could fill me in on other RPGs with entertaining or unusual ranged combat, especially anything pre-Infinity Engine.