Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Necrochaos 05-22-07, 07:49 AM	So, I'm an 8th level Wood Elf Archer: Ftr2/Monk2/Ranger3/PT 1 I have saved up a stash of money and I don't know what to do with it. My dex is 22 at the moment with +2 gloves of dex. I'm wearing +1 Mithril Chain Shirt, Quiver of Elhonna, Cloak of Elemental Pro, Bracers of Quick Strike, Vest of Resistance My bow is a +1 Frost Mighty Composite Long Bow (+4 Str). I thought about saving to get my next enchancement to my bow (I have about 10000gp ATM). I have access to: Flaming, Merciful, Thundering, Bane Undead, Bane Evil Outsiders Armor Enhancements: Death Ward, Axe block, Glamered, Light Fort I could raise my Dex gloves to +4, I have access to Bracers of Archery. I'm just not sure were to go with my cash. I'm close to 9th level. I probably need to do more damage. Or do I start a new bow and start stacking other things like banes onto it?
Timlagor 05-22-07, 07:59 AM	I'd go with Boots of Speed if you have access. (bracers are 1/day right?)
awroe 05-22-07, 08:13 AM	My bow is a +1 Frost Mighty Composite Long Bow (+4 Str). What's your strength? You may want to consider a +4 strength belt and then start building the appropriate Mighty Bow - use the current one if you suffer from strength damage/drain or in an AMF. AW.
Lupo 05-22-07, 01:13 PM	So, I'm an 8th level Wood Elf Archer: Ftr2/Monk2/Ranger3/PT 1 I have saved up a stash of money and I don't know what to do with it. My dex is 22 at the moment with +2 gloves of dex. I'm wearing +1 Mithril Chain Shirt, Quiver of Elhonna, Cloak of Elemental Pro, Bracers of Quick Strike, Vest of Resistance My bow is a +1 Frost Mighty Composite Long Bow (+4 Str). I thought about saving to get my next enchancement to my bow (I have about 10000gp ATM). I have access to: Flaming, Merciful, Thundering, Bane Undead, Bane Evil Outsiders Armor Enhancements: Death Ward, Axe block, Glamered, Light Fort I could raise my Dex gloves to +4, I have access to Bracers of Archery. I'm just not sure were to go with my cash. I'm close to 9th level. I probably need to do more damage. Or do I start a new bow and start stacking other things like banes onto it? maybe consider to get a "backup" bow, enchant it with "undead bane" - as undead are normally immune to ANY cold damage your momentary bow will not be as useful against them anyway - and bane is just to nice to have versus a specific foe when you encounter such a critter. this weapon will be 100 (composite longbow) + 300 gp (masterwork) + 400 gp (strength bonus) + 2000 gp (magic +1) + 6000 gp (bane, undead) for a total of 8800 gp ciao martin m.
zoinks69 05-22-07, 01:36 PM	Wow...death ward upgrade? That's mighty tempting if you have access to, say, mithril breastplate. Not sure if it comes in under the 10k mark, but that's what I would buy as at 6th level you're starting to get into the APLs with death effect here and there.
jstorrie 05-22-07, 02:04 PM	Death Ward is awfully good.
Swiftbrook 05-22-07, 04:15 PM	Suggestions: Think about a second bow. If you are patient, wait for Holy. If you can, make it Elvencraft. If you want, think about a Great Bow You live in Furyondy .. Lots of undead. Undead Bane, and Evil Outsider Bane are both good. (Holy is better, Sacred is nice). -Swiftbrook Ranger 9 with Sacred Frosty Longbow +1 (+3 str)
Necrochaos 05-22-07, 06:58 PM	Strength is 18. My character is a Verbobonc character, I don't see too many undead. Evil Outsider is more likely. I believe I have access to Elvencraft, but I'll check. I like the death ward, but I don't ever plan to get that close. My Chain is doing fine for now. I'll probably be looking at the backup bow, but I was just curious to get some other opinions. I can't think of too much my character needs, so I need to make sure that when I blow 10K that it goes to the right place. Any other ideas? And no, I don't have access to boots of speed, wish I did.
clannagh 05-22-07, 07:34 PM	Strength is 18. My character is a Verbobonc character, I don't see too many undead. Evil Outsider is more likely. I believe I have access to Elvencraft, but I'll check. I like the death ward, but I don't ever plan to get that close. My Chain is doing fine for now. I'll probably be looking at the backup bow, but I was just curious to get some other opinions. I can't think of too much my character needs, so I need to make sure that when I blow 10K that it goes to the right place. Any other ideas? And no, I don't have access to boots of speed, wish I did. Deathward can be a lifesaver but, unlike the spell, the armor enhancement is only once per day so its not as impressive as it sounds. Consider getting a few each of the special arrows that are now core like blunt. I think you have reached the point were you seriously need to think about what your final strength is going to be and start building a collection of bows that match that strength. A +2 glove will prevent you using your dex glove slot so you need strength belts. The +6 tend to be pricey at mid levels so the compromise is +4. A +4 strength belt is going to let you use a mighty +6 bow that with the mandatory +1 enhancement for any magic upgrade does a minimum of D8+7 damage. Once you know the strength you are working with collect some bows. Some enhancements (banes for example) may be worth going on a seperate bow as they are not used enough to justify the price hike on your main bow.
King Kashue 05-22-07, 07:37 PM	Is the 'Death Ward' the Soulfire enhancement from BoED?
clannagh 05-22-07, 09:10 PM	Is the 'Death Ward' the Soulfire enhancement from BoED? Complete Arcane Page 142
solbergb 05-22-07, 11:08 PM	I feel your pain. I'm in a similar situation, and to make matters worse I really have been putting off cheap enhancements that I should have bought around level 5 for a long time too. Here's my shopping list (I'm level 8, about 3 rounds away from level 9). current primary weapon is merciful +4 strength bow, with backup unenchanted elvencraft str4 bow. Is arcane archer, so any bow is +N, where N depends on his levels. I've spent on all kinds of weird ammo - about the only DR I can't beat is aligned. 400gp aquatic bow (doesn't have to be masterwork, I'm not enchanting it) 500gp swap cloak of resistance+1 to vest of resistance+1 1800gp masterwork elvencraft strength+7 bow (for future use, or to buff up and use vs DR/I can't penetrate creatures) 2000gp ring protection+1 (low priority) 3000gp death ward enhancement on mithril chain shirt 3000gp upgrade to +2 vest 4000gp gloves of dex+2 (yes, I'm a L8 archer with bare hands) 5000gp upgrade to +3 vest (like all my other L9+ characters...) 7000gp upgrade to +4 vest 9000gp upgrade to +5 vest 12000gp boots of speed 12000gp upgrade amulet health to +4 16000gp belt of strength+4 18000gp upgrade one of my MW bows to Holy, probably the +7 bow 20000gp upgrade belt strength to +6 20000gp upgrade amulet health to +6 The depressing thing is if you add all of that up I'm probably pushing retirement. In the short run, I'll get about 12k from level 9-10. Probably boots of speed will do more for me than death ward and a significant upgrade to my vest of resistance. I think before level 9 I can get the new bows and my gloves of dex. The real problem is what I WANT is the holy bow and the boots of speed. The rest of it is boring boring boring :) But playing with my current equipment until level 11 is looking kind of dangerous. The merciful bow will likely get a bunch of elemental enhancements eventually - most of the stuff with elemental resistances is stuff you wanna shoot the holy bow at anyway. I've got fire and frost access when the time comes, but it's gonna be in the L13-14 area when 10k and 14k don't seem like all that much money....
solbergb 05-22-07, 11:13 PM	to the original poster - consider seriously upgrading the vest of resistance to +3 with the money. It isn't sexy, but I've noticed that spending on vests of resistance at about the rate of +1/3 levels helps keep the saves in line with enemy DC's quite a bit. You appear to have most of the useful cheap items, before you tie all your money up in the next tier of big ticket items, consider bringing your vest up to the level of your other expenditures....to +2 at least. I'm not practicing what I preach with my own archer though, so take it with a grain of salt.
King Kashue 05-23-07, 01:35 AM	Complete Arcane Page 142 Ah, only 1/day. Still nice though, and only a +1 ability. Though I'd definitely shell out the cash for Soulfire...:D
clannagh 05-23-07, 02:25 AM	I feel your pain. I'm in a similar situation, and to make matters worse I really have been putting off cheap enhancements that I should have bought around level 5 for a long time too. Here's my shopping list (I'm level 8, about 3 rounds away from level 9). 4000gp gloves of dex+2 (yes, I'm a L8 archer with bare hands) ... My level 9 still doesnt have dex gloves yet .. but she does have BAB 8, lesser bracers of archery and dex 22 to make up for that.
Camden 05-23-07, 06:32 AM	My level 9 still doesnt have dex gloves yet .. but she does have BAB 8, lesser bracers of archery and dex 22 to make up for that. Lvl14 Archer with no Gloves of Dex... Seriously though, save your cash till you have enough for the Boots of Speed, then think about upgrading Vest, Bow, and other misc magic items. The only one's I have seen have been Adv access, and imho they are a must have for any Archer.
Necrochaos 05-23-07, 06:53 AM	to the original poster - consider seriously upgrading the vest of resistance to +3 with the money. It isn't sexy, but I've noticed that spending on vests of resistance at about the rate of +1/3 levels helps keep the saves in line with enemy DC's quite a bit. You appear to have most of the useful cheap items, before you tie all your money up in the next tier of big ticket items, consider bringing your vest up to the level of your other expenditures....to +2 at least. I'm not practicing what I preach with my own archer though, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm not overly worried about my saves ATM. I'm have a few monk levels. At Level 8, Fort 13, Ref 13, Will 7. The Will is my only worry. But I'll look into all of those ideas I'm also not too interested in the elvencraft as I'm a monk and can use my fists for the same damage as a longbow.
jimmy_dowdall 05-23-07, 07:16 AM	yeah but are ur fists enchanted?
Swiftbrook 05-23-07, 08:03 AM	Lvl14 Archer with no Gloves of Dex... Seriously though, save your cash till you have enough for the Boots of Speed, then think about upgrading Vest, Bow, and other misc magic items. The only one's I have seen have been Adv access, and imho they are a must have for any Archer. I just got some gauntlets that let me hit Incorporals. Don't recall the name. I'll be taking off my gloves when I meet some Incorporals. Also will be buying the Ioun Stone for dex ASAP. But I've had lots of problems with incorporals, and Ghost Touch costs toooo much, and you need it for every weapon. -Swiftbrook
Timlagor 05-23-07, 09:02 AM	In the absence of Boots I'd go for the Belt of Giant Strength.
solbergb 05-23-07, 12:17 PM	yeah but are ur fists enchanted? It is highly unlikely for an archer to invest in enchanting his elvencraft bowstaves in LG until near retirement. It takes 8k per end to make it worthwhile at all (unless you consider +1 damage for 2000gp to be worth doing). That's money that could be spent on upgrading the projectile portion of the bow. Sometime very near retirement I might upgrade the ends of my main bow to Eager and Fortunate, or maybe Defending but I'm mostly making the ends masterwork for the to-hit bonus on the rare occasions where I am taking an AOO to prevent a grapple or disarm or something.
MatteBlack 05-23-07, 12:46 PM	When you play, where do you come up short? Shore up areas of weakness then start either adding bonuses or new abilities. In general, the bump to your gloves of DEX helps in a number areas important to you. +1 Mithril BP is also only 5k and some change if, AC is coming up as a weak point but, will that work with other limitations? Better AC, Saves and HP are always good because they keep you alive and playing. Before you start on a back up bow, do you have the full range of ammos? (Sliver, Slashing, etc.) Most of them are fairly inexpensive and can greatly improve your damage output. Also fairly cheap are Masterworked tools for basically all skills. Carrying capacity could make the tools or ammo problematic so, a Quiver of Ehlonna or Handy Haversack could also be affordable options. Depending on whether or not you are built for melee or not, Elvencraft bows or sword bows could also be a good option. If you are pure range look into how functional you can remain in the water. It can shut bows down but, there is equipment that can help.
solbergb 05-23-07, 02:49 PM	Depending on whether or not you are built for melee or not, Elvencraft bows or sword bows could also be a good option. If you are pure range look into how functional you can remain in the water. It can shut bows down but, there is equipment that can help. Yeah. An ordinary aquatic longbow does a lot for my archer, especially when he gets weapon mastery at level 9. At level 9, his unbuffed full attack with an ordinary, aquatic bow (for non arcane archers, this would be a +1 aquatic bow, costing 2700gp instead of 400gp) 15/15/10 d8+5 with underwater range mod of 30'. With guided shot, he can do stuff out to 150'. While the damage is inferior to the d8+9+d6 from his merciful bow, that bow is at -2 to hit for every 5 feet underwater. It takes a chunk out of his offense to be underwater, but he still does meaningful damage at range with an aquatic bow. Without weapon mastery, it isn't as impressive but he can still do worthwhile stuff out to 50'. At level 8, without my dex gloves and weapon mastery the bow mods are +12/12/7 d8+3 with 10' range, 50' max range. Considering though that I'm comparing it to an attack with a longspear (+11/6 d8+6 or a bit more with GMW) it's pretty clear why the aquatic bow is a good investment, especially as point blank shot improves the bow to 13/13/8 d8+4 at 10', same range as the spear. This kind of comparison shows why normally, barring a grapple situation or something, hitting something with my elvencraft bow is inferior to shooting. The stave only does d6+6 damage, vs d8+8+d6 damage at close range now, or d8+10+d6 next level, and has -2 to hit at L8 compared to the bow, -5 to hit at level 9. Sadly only aquatic longbows exist. There are no composite bow versions.
Necrochaos 05-23-07, 08:45 PM	You are right, my fists aren't enchanted. I do have a Quiver of Ehlonna. I have most of the arrows I would need from my metaorg. Got 100gp to buy stuff with, and I purchased lots of arrows. I'll probably get the belt first, then upgrade the vest then the gloves.
Munchausen 05-23-07, 09:37 PM	Ohh would luv to get access to a Quiver of Ehlonna for my scout/ranger. Just have to get the right access.