Arcane Archer Feedback

[hirmor]

I was wandering if anyone that took the arcane archer path could post some feedback about their experience. Tks in advance.

[VampericX]

Well i have yet 2 take it but i am thinking about it if only 4 the fact that u dont have 2 worry about running out and u dont have a full bag of arrows all the time...which takes up ur loot room.

[barecm]

Well, I wanted to take it, but took deepwood sniper instead. It would be sweet if you could take both. Currently, I have all the qualifications for it except mental toughness, but could easily swap one feat out for it and have qualifications for both deepwood and arcane archer. Oh well, maybe they will change that rule and be able to choose both.

[hirmor]

Lol... No one seems to want to be the guinea pig?

[Benjai]

Well heres the thing, anyone who's trying to be as effective as they can be won't be taking it, because the current +4 arrows is like 1 damage and 1 tohit better than house D, for the cost of a mostly useless feat and the loss of Tempest or Deepwood Sniper.

I know that power-gaming isn't everyones playstyle, but I can't help but think that any feedback you did get would be skewed in the opinions of someone who doesn't really care about being the best they can be for their group.

Although exceptions would be maybe a non-ranger archer build that can't get deepwood.

[DragonKiller]

WOW! I didn't realize I didn't care about what is best for my group. Thanks, with out you telling me how to think I would have never known and still toiled around in my own ignorance! :rolleyes:

Ok, back to reality. I have taken it on my 13/2 Ranger/Fighter and it gives me exactly the same thing that the house D arrows do, except they don't take up any back pack space, therefore allowing me to carry slaying arrows, and I never EVER have to say "OOOPS I'm out of arrows... I gotta run to house D".

The deepwood sniper to me seems like a waste, I can "snipe" with my first shot using True Strike and get a +20 to hit. That puts be at a +60 to hit with a +5 bow. I rarely miss anyways.

The Tempest ranger is a good one though, but with all my other enhancements for being Elf, and taking OSTWF (Over Sized Two Weapon Fighting) I decided that I would rather be able to have an unlimited supply of arrows and be able to carry more weapons/slayer arrows than what Tempest gives you when TWF.

The bummer part for my build is I had to give up extend to take mental toughness. I ended up with more SP than I had before but now I have to re-cast Bark/Ram's Might/Resists every 13 min's instead of every 26. O'well... I'll get Extend back most likely. I also don't care for it how the arrows drop when you leave/change instances. Why should my arrows disappear (and I have to make new ones) when I change from the open area Vale to a quest? It's not a HUGE deal, but it means I have to remember to "****" some more arrows (my guild was making fun of me when I first got the enhancements and said "Oopps hold on I gotta make some arrows"... they kept asking where the arrows came from... ).

[Benjai]

WOW! I didn't realize I didn't care about what is best for my group. Thanks, with out you telling me how to think I would have never known and still toiled around in my own ignorance! :rolleyes:


I'm sorry, that came out harsher than I intended. What I meant to say was if you go arcane archer you're a terrible player. Kidding couldn't help myself.. but really in terms of end-game content I don't really see the advantage of arcane other than a bit of inventory management. Unless you happen to have a transmuting of greater xxx bane, where xxx is every creature that has DR that is bypassable, you're going to need to keep a stock of adamantine, cold iron, bysek, silver, and ghost touch arrows anyways. Plus I've never really seen a creature take damage from impressive inventory space (Oh wow, you're a ranger and you have HOW many free spaces? Thats so impressive I'm going to stop hurting you and give up).

I don't mean to argue with you personally, or insult your playstyle, but I just want other people who are considering arcane archer to consider the potential drawbacks, I mean its their right to know that arcane archer blows for anything other than inventory management.

[DragonKiller]

I'm sorry, that came out harsher than I intended. What I meant to say was if you go arcane archer you're a terrible player. Kidding couldn't help myself.. but really in terms of end-game content I don't really see the advantage of arcane other than a bit of inventory management. Unless you happen to have a transmuting of greater xxx bane, where xxx is every creature that has DR that is bypassable, you're going to need to keep a stock of adamantine, cold iron, bysek, silver, and ghost touch arrows anyways. Plus I've never really seen a creature take damage from impressive inventory space (Oh wow, you're a ranger and you have HOW many free spaces? Thats so impressive I'm going to stop hurting you and give up).

I don't mean to argue with you personally, or insult your playstyle, but I just want other people who are considering arcane archer to consider the potential drawbacks, I mean its their right to know that arcane archer blows for anything other than inventory management.

I'll happily show you my limited inventory. and the reason it makes sense to take Arcane Archer. I have pretty much every bane/epic bow there is, in some unique combinations. Add to that all of my Longswords, Rapiers, and light weapons (now being changed out for Rapiers & Longswords), and the growing collection of Slayer arrows, Wands, Pots, robes, etc... and my little Ranger comes equipped to do about everything except throw a firewall.

I can self buff, self heal, buff others, heal others, kill monsters by bow or sword, raise the dead, and just about anything else you can think of. All of that takes... inventory.

But then I guess if your play style is more about not helping others, not conserving casters/cleric's mana, then yea I agree I see no advantage to taking Arcane Archer. Or I guess if your a Ranger who doesn't range, such as a TWF specialized Dwarf, then yea again it doesn't make sense.

Then again, what do I know... I only have a 28 pt elf Ranger build that can solo out in the Vale, Tank the Reaver on elite, Hero the Dragon on Elite, get my AC up to 50 in a robe, has over 230 hit points, over 450 SP, can get the Strength, Wisdom, and Range lever in Von 5, and just about anything else (except throw for mentioned Firewall, or disable a trap).

Luckily again for me you set me straight, and I have seen the light. Time to re-roll. :rolleyes:

[Westerner]

Different people want different things from this game... so if Arcane Archer is part of your concept, and you enjoy it, go for it. :)

From a powergaming perspective, Arcane Archer doesn't add much incremental value. House D +3 sturdy arrows provide a very similar benefit for no build investment. Don't know what the cooldown on True Strike is, moderately annoying having to keep triggering it. +20 to hit is nice, but hitting wasn't the issue before. DPS/ rate of fire was.

Deepwood is a bit more interesting. Takes the silver bow to 16-20/x4 crit range, get a few sniper shots off during many shot, and you might do serious DPS during those short bursts. But is it enough to make ranged significantly more useful than in Mod5? I doubt it, but would love to be proven wrong. (I like ranging.) :)

I don't see the inventory advantage to Arcane Archer. From personal experience, it's a pain using Flame Arrow wands to conjure up arrows at the start of a quest, at least those arrows provide a concrete DPS boost. I expect you still need open slots to conjure the Arcane arrows into, so not sure how that is any easier than filling those slots with House D arrows.

EDIT: you only need 1 inventory spot for the arrow, it returns. Thanks to isldur for the correction.

[Tharris]

I will be taking this at level 16. Trying to get a +2/3 Int tome before I get there.

I will be multiclassing as a Wiz to do it.

I think getting the free extend Meta will be good, as I can do my buffs once at the start at not have to worry.

I am also taking the AA, as I think when we get more into crafting, being able to get the +5 to hit and damage from the arrow leaves more room for better enhancements on a bow, where you only need to take +1 before all the rest is elemental/bane/transmute/ouncture etc.

Just my 2cp.

[isldur]

Different people want different things from this game... so if Arcane Archer is part of your concept, and you enjoy it, go for it. :)

From a powergaming perspective, Arcane Archer doesn't add much incremental value. House D +3 sturdy arrows provide a very similar benefit for no build investment. Don't know what the cooldown on True Strike is, moderately annoying having to keep triggering it. +20 to hit is nice, but hitting wasn't the issue before. DPS/ rate of fire was.

Deepwood is a bit more interesting. Takes the silver bow to 16-20/x4 crit range, get a few sniper shots off during many shot, and you might do serious DPS during those short bursts. But is it enough to make ranged significantly more useful than in Mod5? I doubt it, but would love to be proven wrong. (I like ranging.) :)

I don't see the inventory advantage to Arcane Archer. From personal experience, it's a pain using Flame Arrow wands to conjure up arrows at the start of a quest, at least those arrows provide a concrete DPS boost. I expect you still need open slots to conjure the Arcane arrows into, so not sure how that is any easier than filling those slots with House D arrows.


You only need one spot for the arrow. it returns. Does this change your mind at all? I haven't leveled up yet (waited for ostwf), so would really like opinions. New raid is range heavy for my ranger. (pit fiend and blades) so I must carry lots of house D arrows and a flame arrow wand. :(

Where's my quiver!

[Benjai]

Different people want different things from this game... so if Arcane Archer is part of your concept, and you enjoy it, go for it. :)

From a powergaming perspective, Arcane Archer doesn't add much incremental value. House D +3 sturdy arrows provide a very similar benefit for no build investment. Don't know what the cooldown on True Strike is, moderately annoying having to keep triggering it. +20 to hit is nice, but hitting wasn't the issue before. DPS/ rate of fire was.

Deepwood is a bit more interesting. Takes the silver bow to 16-20/x4 crit range, get a few sniper shots off during many shot, and you might do serious DPS during those short bursts. But is it enough to make ranged significantly more useful than in Mod5? I doubt it, but would love to be proven wrong. (I like ranging.) :)

I don't see the inventory advantage to Arcane Archer. From personal experience, it's a pain using Flame Arrow wands to conjure up arrows at the start of a quest, at least those arrows provide a concrete DPS boost. I expect you still need open slots to conjure the Arcane arrows into, so not sure how that is any easier than filling those slots with House D arrows.

Deepwood is pretty interesting. Due to a feat progression error on my part I couldn't take tempest right away and to reorder my dodge feat I picked up the feats necessary for deepwood for 3 days. It was fun and did add a noticeable boost too ranged dps (critting for 150 instead of 100ish now that I've lost deepwood and the associated feats). Also the silver longbow crit on a 15, not 16.

And yes I did find it sorta useful, especially on boss encounters, hitting 4 arrows per shot for 20 seconds is pretty monsterous. The drawback over tempest is that its very bursty, those 1minute 40 seconds inbetween manyshots your still not coming close to what melee could be doing. That being said when I went back to tempest I still used my bow quite often (when manyshot is up) effectivly but still enjoyed the benefits of tempest (when you get up to 55ish AC it matters in all but shroud on elite). I don't miss deepwood at all really even when I'm soley ranging (I.E. Phase 4/5 of shroud)

[Benjai]

I'll happily show you my limited inventory. and the reason it makes sense to take Arcane Archer. I have pretty much every bane/epic bow there is, in some unique combinations. Add to that all of my Longswords, Rapiers, and light weapons (now being changed out for Rapiers & Longswords), and the growing collection of Slayer arrows, Wands, Pots, robes, etc... and my little Ranger comes equipped to do about everything except throw a firewall.

I can self buff, self heal, buff others, heal others, kill monsters by bow or sword, raise the dead, and just about anything else you can think of. All of that takes... inventory.

But then I guess if your play style is more about not helping others, not conserving casters/cleric's mana, then yea I agree I see no advantage to taking Arcane Archer. Or I guess if your a Ranger who doesn't range, such as a TWF specialized Dwarf, then yea again it doesn't make sense.

Then again, what do I know... I only have a 28 pt elf Ranger build that can solo out in the Vale, Tank the Reaver on elite, Hero the Dragon on Elite, get my AC up to 50 in a robe, has over 230 hit points, over 450 SP, can get the Strength, Wisdom, and Range lever in Von 5, and just about anything else (except throw for mentioned Firewall, or disable a trap).

Luckily again for me you set me straight, and I have seen the light. Time to re-roll. :rolleyes:
Well I'll address the sole reason you think arcane archer is good, is because it enables you have have more inventory to do the things rangers do? The only time I've ever needed more than a couple of stacks of house D arrows would be the Shroud, where you need about 2,000-3,000 arrows (about 7 stacks or so of 75% returning). Even then the simple solution is to put some stuff you know you won't need in the bank. No undead in the shroud, no need to carry undead bane. No mummies, no need for a reavers ring. A few more like that and all of a sudden now I have the inventory for 10 stacks of arrows, enough pots, wands, and scrolls to take care of everyone in the quest like you mentioned, plus the benefit of having a more effective combat enchantment.

[Westerner]

It was fun and did add a noticeable boost too ranged dps (critting for 150 instead of 100ish now that I've lost deepwood and the associated feats). Also the silver longbow crit on a 15, not 16.
It's nice to see high numbers pop up on ranged and killing stuff at a distance quickly. For short bursts, you get to experience how a caster feels. :) Are you sure about 15 being a crit on silver bow? Base crit range is 19-20, IC: ranged takes that to 17-20, Deepwood should add +1 crit range (like Barb crit rage I) according to the release notes.


And yes I did find it sorta useful, especially on boss encounters, hitting 4 arrows per shot for 20 seconds is pretty monsterous. The drawback over tempest is that its very bursty, those 1minute 40 seconds inbetween manyshots your still not coming close to what melee could be doing. That being said when I went back to tempest I still used my bow quite often (when manyshot is up) effectivly but still enjoyed the benefits of tempest (when you get up to 55ish AC it matters in all but shroud on elite). I don't miss deepwood at all really even when I'm soley ranging (I.E. Phase 4/5 of shroud)
Sounds like Deepwood was nice, but not game changing. Would be cool though to get 6 Deepwood spec'd rangers all manyshotting a boss simultaneously. Artillery barrage... :eek:

[Westerner]

You only need one spot for the arrow. it returns. Does this change your mind at all? I haven't leveled up yet (waited for ostwf), so would really like opinions. New raid is range heavy for my ranger. (pit fiend and blades) so I must carry lots of house D arrows and a flame arrow wand. :(
Thanks for clarifying. It potentially saves the House D arrow space and cost, about 5 inventory slots for me. I'd value unlimited +3 arrows at 4-6 AP and zero feats, so not worth it unless you already have the prereq feats in your build, IMO.

To make this a (more) viable ranger specialty, I'd like to see a broader choice of arrows. e.g. Elemental, Holy, Slaying as you rise in level.


Where's my quiver!
Indeed! :)

[DragonKiller]

Well I'll address the sole reason you think arcane archer is good, is because it enables you have have more inventory to do the things rangers do? The only time I've ever needed more than a couple of stacks of house D arrows would be the Shroud, where you need about 2,000-3,000 arrows (about 7 stacks or so of 75% returning). Even then the simple solution is to put some stuff you know you won't need in the bank. No undead in the shroud, no need to carry undead bane. No mummies, no need for a reavers ring. A few more like that and all of a sudden now I have the inventory for 10 stacks of arrows, enough pots, wands, and scrolls to take care of everyone in the quest like you mentioned, plus the benefit of having a more effective combat enchantment.

I have in too many instances had to either run back to House D for more arrows, or leave sell able loot in the chest because I didn't have room. To me the Arcane Archer is good because it does leave me more inventory and never worrying about using too many arrows. Having the extra room allows me to carry an extra sword, bow, or other item that I wouldn't because of inventory before. It allows me to use what I consider the Ranger's greatest ability.... Flexibility. That is why I truly like the Arcane Archer line. Did I give up anything for it? Well, only really the Extend feat. The same AP's that I used to take the Arcane Archer line were before being put in the Energy of the Wild line. So by trading out Extend I got more spell points then I did with Energy of the Wild.

Now on Deepwood sniper, I guess I'm missing the usefulness of that one. So if someone who thinks it's useful can explain it to me then I might get it.

Tempest is obviously useful, specially to those characters that are TWF focused. That's an easy one to see why you'd take it.

[BRINKS]

I have in too many instances had to either run back to House D for more arrows, or leave sell able loot in the chest because I didn't have room. To me the Arcane Archer is good because it does leave me more inventory and never worrying about using too many arrows. Having the extra room allows me to carry an extra sword, bow, or other item that I wouldn't because of inventory before. It allows me to use what I consider the Ranger's greatest ability.... Flexibility. That is why I truly like the Arcane Archer line. Did I give up anything for it? Well, only really the Extend feat. The same AP's that I used to take the Arcane Archer line were before being put in the Energy of the Wild line. So by trading out Extend I got more spell points then I did with Energy of the Wild.

Now on Deepwood sniper, I guess I'm missing the usefulness of that one. So if someone who thinks it's useful can explain it to me then I might get it.

Tempest is obviously useful, specially to those characters that are TWF focused. That's an easy one to see why you'd take it.

I have to agree with DragonKiller, you free up spaces for loot, shoot as many arrows
as you want, use manyshot every time it pops without worry. Extremely flexible
because you have slots free for all the extra things rangers like to carry (resist cloaks,
raise ring, wands, pots, tons of bows and rapiers). The only drawback as mentioned previously
is the pesky need to re-create the arrows (and they appear in your inventory so you have to
search for them EVERY time you make em in every new instance.) The devs should either make
em permanent or make em automatically equip to the quiver. In PnP would you create arrows
then throw them in your pack, then search for them to put in the quiver? NO.

[Mandinga]

The devs should either make
em permanent or make em automatically equip to the quiver. In PnP would you create arrows
then throw them in your pack, then search for them to put in the quiver? NO.

From the WDA for Mod 7:

Weapons conjured by the Holy Sword spell and arrows created by the Arcane Archer enhancement are no longer destroyed at the end of a dungeon. These items now persist until you have been logged out for half an hour or more.

[BRINKS]

From the WDA for Mod 7:

Weapons conjured by the Holy Sword spell and arrows created by the Arcane Archer enhancement are no longer destroyed at the end of a dungeon. These items now persist until you have been logged out for half an hour or more.

Wait.....is that Ranger love? Mod 7 is so far away, but suppose I can bear it till then knowing an end to the madness is in sight :)

[Tharris]

And so far I love it.......

I took a level of Wiz , and spent the one AP to qualify as an Arcane Archer.

I clean forgot that by taking that one level of Wiz, I can now use all Arcane Wands. So now I can get hold of all the Buff Wands I can, and start any adventure Buffed up to the eyeballs. I took Extend, so now my Barkskin and Rams Might last for 30 mins. Freed up about 10 spots for more loot ( don't need to get house D arrows). And the loss of 1 BAB (which I would have got by staying pure Ranger) is offset by now having +4 arrows as standard. Obviously not for Melee, but I don't plan on getting into that too much (although more than capable if needed).

Looking forward to being much more survivable and solo'ing more quests too.

[negative]

I didn't seen it mentioned, but the cooldown on True Strike is 30 seconds. I use it right before a manyshot while weilding a destruction bow.

I think the AA line will really shine once we can make +5 arrows or other special types of arrows. Right now, it seems worth it for my ranged ranger, both for the inventory space and the true shot ability. For whatever reason the deepwood sniper ability doesn't really do it for me.

[Monkeytoe]

The only drawback as mentioned previously
is the pesky need to re-create the arrows (and they appear in your inventory so you have to
search for them EVERY time you make em in every new instance.) The devs should either make
em permanent or make em automatically equip to the quiver. In PnP would you create arrows
then throw them in your pack, then search for them to put in the quiver? NO.

Try using flame arrow wands and watching leftover arrows drop every time you leave an instance. Argh.