Elder-Basilisk
First Post
Well, I can see a couple things in this:
1. The rogue shouldn't be getting a lot of sneak attacks with a ranged weapon.
-The maximum range for a sneak attack is 30 feet (not thirty yards). There are no Core Rules or WotC feats that expand this (and for good reason). If there's a house rule that permits it, that's where to start looking for problems
-It's rather difficult to get ranged sneak attacks. Generally, this will only happen if your opponent is flatfooted since you can't threaten an area (and therefore can't flank) with a ranged weapon. If the rogue is invisible, s/he can get ranged sneak attacks in reliably (especially with improved invisibility) but that's another spell (and one that can be countered).
2. You're obviously playing a high level campaign if the sorceror has the greater magic weapon spell (it's not first priority for most sorcerors) and it gives +3 (min 9th level) or +6 (min 18th level). At this level, buffs like Greater Magic Weapon, Empowered Bull's Strengths, Persistent Shields, Mass Hastes, etc. rule the day. If the enemies aren't dropping dispel magics, greater dispellings, Mordenkeinen's disjunctions, and anti-magic fields, they deserve what they get. Removing such buffs is one of the most tactical actions in a high level battle.
As a player of an archer character (Elf clr 6 in RttToEE elf and war domains plus all the other feats except far shot and weapon specialization), I must admit that archers can deal out hideous amounts of damage (with all her buffs going, my character deals out more average damage/round than the 28 strength half orc/half dragon barbarian or the fighter with the +3 icy burst spiked chain or the 18 strength longsword specialist with the +2 longsword--and that's without Greater Magic Weapon on her arrows). However, archer characters have significant limitations. Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud, Sleet Storm, Wind Wall, Cloudkill, Darkness, Deeper Darkness and solid fog all shut down archers completely. Protection from Arrows is 2 levels lower (and much less expensive) than stoneskin which presents a problem at levels where greater magic weapon isn't readily available. Bows are ridiculously easy to sunder too (if your greater magic weapon grants +6 then your opponents' is likely to as well so this doesn't let archer characters avoid this fate)--especially since most archers load their bows up with special abilities (holy, shocking, frost, bane, etc) instead of enhancement bonusses.
Enemies have options other than getting torn up by archers. Since even a first level spellcaster can cast obscuring mist and any third level caster has access to darkness and/or fog cloud, they should often be able to negate archers altogether.
1. The rogue shouldn't be getting a lot of sneak attacks with a ranged weapon.
-The maximum range for a sneak attack is 30 feet (not thirty yards). There are no Core Rules or WotC feats that expand this (and for good reason). If there's a house rule that permits it, that's where to start looking for problems
-It's rather difficult to get ranged sneak attacks. Generally, this will only happen if your opponent is flatfooted since you can't threaten an area (and therefore can't flank) with a ranged weapon. If the rogue is invisible, s/he can get ranged sneak attacks in reliably (especially with improved invisibility) but that's another spell (and one that can be countered).
2. You're obviously playing a high level campaign if the sorceror has the greater magic weapon spell (it's not first priority for most sorcerors) and it gives +3 (min 9th level) or +6 (min 18th level). At this level, buffs like Greater Magic Weapon, Empowered Bull's Strengths, Persistent Shields, Mass Hastes, etc. rule the day. If the enemies aren't dropping dispel magics, greater dispellings, Mordenkeinen's disjunctions, and anti-magic fields, they deserve what they get. Removing such buffs is one of the most tactical actions in a high level battle.
As a player of an archer character (Elf clr 6 in RttToEE elf and war domains plus all the other feats except far shot and weapon specialization), I must admit that archers can deal out hideous amounts of damage (with all her buffs going, my character deals out more average damage/round than the 28 strength half orc/half dragon barbarian or the fighter with the +3 icy burst spiked chain or the 18 strength longsword specialist with the +2 longsword--and that's without Greater Magic Weapon on her arrows). However, archer characters have significant limitations. Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud, Sleet Storm, Wind Wall, Cloudkill, Darkness, Deeper Darkness and solid fog all shut down archers completely. Protection from Arrows is 2 levels lower (and much less expensive) than stoneskin which presents a problem at levels where greater magic weapon isn't readily available. Bows are ridiculously easy to sunder too (if your greater magic weapon grants +6 then your opponents' is likely to as well so this doesn't let archer characters avoid this fate)--especially since most archers load their bows up with special abilities (holy, shocking, frost, bane, etc) instead of enhancement bonusses.
Enemies have options other than getting torn up by archers. Since even a first level spellcaster can cast obscuring mist and any third level caster has access to darkness and/or fog cloud, they should often be able to negate archers altogether.
Ds Da Man said:
) should be able to outshine him.
