Battlefield Archer (multi quarry questions)

[Thanee]

Can a Battlefield Archer quarry multiple targets in one action, or can he only have multiple quarries active at a time (having to "mark" them as quarry individually)?

Also, can he deal quarry damage to each quarry once per round, or just to one of them?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nightson]

The way I read it, it's a minor action to quarry each one and you can only apply quarry damage once per round (to a single target).

 

[Thundershield]

Good questions, really.

The Battlefield Archer's "Battlefield Experience" feature is rather ambiguous in its description, making it unclear if it allows for a Ranger to apply the Hunter's Quarry to multiple targets with a single minor action. While it does say "at a time", implying that you merely can have it active on multiple targets, it also uses the word "apply", making it sound like using the minor action (which is what applies the Hunter's Quarry) is when you get to select multiple targets.

As for when you get to apply the damage, I'd say it's once per round to the damage inflicted by a successful attack roll, according to the description of Hunter's Quarry. This means that even Close and Area powers only get to apply the bonus damage to one target as you roll an attack roll for each target.

The "Battlefield Experience" path feature simply gives you more options for what to shoot and still gain the bonus damage.

 

[Thanee]

The "Battlefield Experience" path feature simply gives you more options for what to shoot and still gain the bonus damage.

That seems likely... in that case, I guess, you can actually designate multiple quarries in one action, though. Otherwise, that feature would be kinda useless.

So this should be right...

The way I read it, it's a minor action to quarry each one and you can only apply quarry damage once per round (to a single target).

That also ties in better with the Lvl 20 Daily.

Bye
Thanee

 

[OchreJelly]

I was actually going to post this question as well! Weird that someone else did. I think I'd read it as multiple targets quarry on a single minor action.

I assume the multiple quarry targets still follow the rest of the quarry rules, like quarry damage once per round, and your multiple quarry targets have to start with closest, next closest and so forth.

 

[Ryujin]

I would say that it operates much as the Warlock's Curse does. In other words you take a minor action to mark each Quarry. Rather than your Quarry designation switching when you mark another target, you can simply mark an additional Quarry and potentially gain additional damage when attacking either. The total number of targets that you can mark with Hunter's Quarry is limited to your WIS modifier.

 

[Lord Ernie]

Check the FAQ:

28. Does the battlefield archer’s Battlefield Experience paragon path feature allow me to designate more than one creature as my quarry with one action?

No. This path feature allows you to have more than one creature designated as your quarry, but it does not grant you the ability to designate multiple creatures with a single action.

Seems pretty straightforward to me. Also, just like Sneak Attack and Warlock's Curse, the quarry text includes "once per round", which implies it has the same limitations, which makes sense. After all, damaging multiple enemies at the same time with striker level damage is the Sorcerer's shtick, not the Ranger's.

 

[Thanee]

Ok, that's definitely straightforward.

If the quarry damage only applies once per round and not once per round per quarry, however, that seems pretty lame, don't you think?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Ryujin]

Not really. It works for the Warlock pretty well, and that class doesn't put out the damage that the Ranger does WITHOUT being able to target multiple enemies for Quarry. Overall I think that it gives a Ranger some flexibility in his targeting options, which can be very useful when another party member gets into trouble.

 

[Thanee]

Well, the Warlock also gains other advantages via quarry, not just bonus damage.

And this is a paragon path feature, not just a class feature.

Bye
Thanee