Magic Ammunition Costs

[kengar]

I was going to post a new thread, but this one seems pretty closely related to my question. If my character has a +1 magic bow & buys masterwork arrows, does he then receive +2 to hit and +1 damage from his equipment? I know MW bow & MW arrows stack, but do MW arrows stack with a magic bow?

The ONLY reason you NEED a +anythign arrow, is to deal with targets that have DR.

Pax , are you saying that the rules normally don't let you count the bow's enhancement at all against DR? I don't have my books with me so I can't look it up right now.


Thanks for any info!

 

[Crothian]

I was going to post a new thread, but this one seems pretty closely related to my question. If my character has a +1 magic bow & buys masterwork arrows, does he then receive +2 to hit and +1 damage from his equipment? I know MW bow & MW arrows stack, but do MW arrows stack with a magic bow?

Yes, they stack

Pax , are you saying that the rules normally don't let you count the bow's enhancement at all against DR? I don't have my books with me so I can't look it up right now.

That is correct. The bonus of the Bow does not help at all to get through DR.

 

[Vaxalon]

That's right, the bow's bonus doesn't help you penetrate DR.

As for MW ammunition stacking with a magic bow, I would think so.

 

[Petrosian]

Several thoughts...

Indeed the cost of magical arrows is high, considering they are lost. The normal price adjustment between one use and use is 1/50, thats why you get 50 arrows.

Now in my experience the archer is quite powerful. The advantage is not just "being at range" its also they stacking benefits for both feats and plusses.

A fighter with an axe has three feats to improve his performance: focus, specialization and improved crit. The three can give him +1 hit, +2 damage and 19-20x3 crit.

An archer can have those plus point blank shot, rapid fire, precise shot (to beat the melee thing) giving him +2 hit, +3 damage and the same crit in most cases. Think of it as +1 normally and -1 when he takes a full extra shot with +1 damage anyway. (this all assumes 30' range which IMX he can get to if the axer can get to melee.)

The fighter pays 18k for a +3 axe.

The bowman pays 16k for a +2 bow and 50 +2 arrows and 5- +1 arrows. So he now has 50 shots at +3 and 50 shots at +4. You can judge for your campaign how often the Dr level exceeds the arrow vs how often the extra +1/+1 would be beneficial.

in my experience by the time DR gets beyond +2 routinely, the use of GMW and its dounble stack is the answer.

FWIW... unless your mage KNOWS the fighter has GMW weapons, wouldn't he be dispelling the spellcasters? Thats how most of my NPCs think... since they cannot instantly know its a GMW +3 arrow and not just a +3 arrow or even that its a +3 arrow at all.

 

[Vaxalon]

I find that one of the best dispel tactics for a defensive spellcaster to use is to throw area dispels over the whole party, if possible. Most folks seem to carry around a buff or two, especially when they're invading a lair. This is the quickest way to get some "spell superiority". You don't have to guess who has the buffs, and you have a decent chance of taking out more than one spell.

 

[kreynolds]

Is anyone else troubled by the cost of Magical Ammunition?

Nope. Some people are, but those people tend to forget all the bonuses that stack with a bow and arrow, so it evens out in the end.

 

[Zad]

A fighter with an axe has three feats to improve his performance: focus, specialization and improved crit. The three can give him +1 hit, +2 damage and 19-20x3 crit.

I have to disagree here.

What about cleave? A free attack under some circumstances.

Cleave may not be that significant but this is: What about power attack - this is (IMHO) the backbone of melee combat allowing the fighter a lot of versatility and the ability to do a lot of damge that the archer cannot do.

You can't say "they have three feats to improve performance" without considering things like power attack.


Another little ditty is that an archer needs to think about two stats - dex to hit, strength for damage. The melee fighter can more readily focus on one for the benefit.

 

[kreynolds]

Another little ditty is that an archer needs to think about two stats - dex to hit, strength for damage. The melee fighter can more readily focus on one for the benefit.

The archer really isn't suffering any, and it surely isn't the red-headed step child. I mean, you can attack from 1,000 feet away (1,100 feet if you use a composite longbow) and there are even options that allow you to further increase this range, so it's not like the archer got shafted or anything.

 

[EOL]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Arcane Archer. I have one in my campaign and it's pretty disgusting the amount of damage that guy can lay out. Unfortunately for him dragons don't like being shot at and when the full wrath of a dragon is unleased upon you, it's not pretty, so he ended up dying in my last session (and then I put the campaign on hiatus for awhile) but that's beside the point.

Dispel doesn't work on their inherent ability, nor do they need to pay for magical arrows, I've never played or run an Order of the Bow Initiate, but I think the Arcane Archer has him beat.

 

[kengar]

That's right, the bow's bonus doesn't help you penetrate DR.

Why is that? What is the rationale?