Magic Ammunition Costs

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

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.

There are a lot more melee feats than ranged feats, at least in the Player's Handbook.

 

[Vaxalon]

Why is that? What is the rationale?

Because only the arrow/bolt/bullet makes contact with the target.

 

[kreynolds]

There are a lot more melee feats than ranged feats, at least in the Player's Handbook.

Well, a DM that bans the use of the splatbooks only has his own ingenius self to blame if he thinks the archer got the shaft.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

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.

More to the point in an environment with more modest lines of sight, the archer doesn't have to move next to his opponent(s) to attack, so he'll get significantly more Full Attacks than the melee fighter.

 

[Vaxalon]

The question occasionally comes up, "What good are +3 arrows when the wizard can whip up some temps with Greater Magic Weapon?"

Mostly, +3 arrows are a good choice when you need to deal with creatures with DR, and you can't expect the wizard to have the GMW prepped beforehand.

1> Defensive situations, where you have guards who need to be able to start doing damage from round 1, but you don't know when the combat will be coming.

2> When your arcane support isn't right there with you

3> When you need every direct-damage spell you can get

4> When you need every clerical healing you can get

 

[kreynolds]

More to the point in an environment with more modest lines of sight, the archer doesn't have to move next to his opponent(s) to attack, so he'll get significantly more Full Attacks than the melee fighter.

Exactly.

 

[Rackhir]

Basically, what I find happens with archers is that they accumulate a small number of magic arrows from treasure and they use those on the occasions when they don't have access to GMW. Which as previously mentioned essentially negates the need for magic arrows under most circumstances.

As to the Melee fighter vs Archer argument. I have a more extensive "standard" answer I can post if anyone cares. Essentially, it comes down to the fact that yes, the stacking bonuses is nice, but there are a number of trade offs and sacrifices that you make for that ability.

 

[kreynolds]

As to the Melee fighter vs Archer argument. I have a more extensive "standard" answer I can post if anyone cares.

It's not really a question of whether or not anyone cares, but more a question of whether or not your reason has any plausibility.

I'm interested though.

 

[Zad]

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.

Oh no - wasn't saying archers get the shaft by any means. I just meant that if you look at the balance and only limit yourself to the feats listed then you're ignoring very powerful things that the melee combattant has available, and hence are going to get a skewed answer.

Arcane Archers: I am one. And it's great. But I can tell you something - some days you want GMW anyway. You have to consider you need a good 6-7 levels before you can get into the AA class, and then your enchant arrow ability will somtimes end up being just below the DR of the monsters you are fighting on a given day. I'm not saying they're useless, but I am saying from personal experience that they aren't broken. In fact they're probably one of the better balanced prestige classes. If the AA in your campaign is strong, I doubt it's _just_ because of being an AA or because of the enchant arrow ability.

Mostly, +3 arrows are a good choice when you need to deal with creatures with DR, and you can't expect the wizard to have the GMW prepped beforehand

As for the notion of "The wizard won't always have GMW ready", I have to disagree. We were down to a routine - GMW was taken EVERY day and part of getting up in the morning was casting GMW on arrows. It lasts 1 hour per level, which is a goodly long time. It's well worth having a slot devoted to it each day if you have an archer in the group. If you're caught without it, then you just didn't prepare properly.

But let's go back to the beginning: Is magic ammo expensive? Yes. Is that a problem? Actually not as much as you'd think, because that's not what you'll rely on for archers to hit DR creatures. GMW is the way to go for that.

As for balance, well now that kreynolds has poked Rackhir, it'll come soon

 

[KarinsDad]

Yep. A targetted dispel works on the target and everything he's carrying.

In the case of arrows, this is incorrect.

A targeted dispel only works on the target and any spells on him, not any spells he is carrying around on arrows, or a silence spell in his vicinity (as opposed to directly on him) or any other spells.

GMW is targeted on the arrows, not on the characters.

Hence, a targeted dispel only affects spells that were targeted on the character and not spells targeted on other objects, even if the character is carrying those objects.

"The character makes a dispel check against each ongoing spell currently in effect on the creature."