Longbows

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Does anyone know what the best Longbow is on SoA and ToB respectively?

The Strongarm bow from The Adventurers Mart is pretty cool in SoA, but are there any better ones? And where abouts can Ifind them?

I gonna make an Archer but want to make sure I can make the guy good

 

I've always thought the Heartseeker +3 Composite Bow was decent.

It's found in the Iron Golem room in Firkry's place.

 

Hm ... I have just completed the game with an archer some weeks ago. IMHO the weapon is not so important in the later stage of the game (I was using the Heartseeker as far as I remember). Considering the +1 hit/damage per 3 levels and called shot - you are able to hit _ANYTHING_.

Take care - the ammunition is more important than the weapon. It does nothing to score 5 hits/round with +1 arrows on a high level vampire.

And for the early game stage - concentrate on disabling the spellcasters (archer is really good in this), or use called shot to weaken the bosses.

[ June 03, 2003, 21:34: Message edited by: Hassassin ]

 

Hassassin - *ahem*.

I suggest that you edit your post so it's, ah, more appropriate. Just warning you before Tal does it for ya.

I forgot to recommend the Elven Court Bow. It's a +3 Bow (I forget it you get a +3 damage with it or not - someone remind me here). However, snatching it means angering an Iron Golem and a Clay Golem. The former, you can run away from, the latter, you can defeat it with relative ease.

The Elven Court Bow is found in the de'Arnise Keep, so you can obtain it at a relatively early stage in the game.

 

I always liked the Strongarm. Gotta have 19 in strength though, but theres a belt in the same store so just get som rep and cash and you´ll be set =)


-Strategy Spoiler Warning-


Well, as for the golem room in de´Arnise keep...
Greatest strat to fix this is to kill the golems one by one before looting. If you attack them one by one the others wont attack you. And it´s not hard to kill one single golem, even if it´s an Adamantium Golem (not that there is such a golem there). Be sure to have blunt weapons for the Clay Golems though.

 

I had Minsc use the Elven Court Bow.

I thought about the Strong Arm.... but it is a SHORT BOW.... and really... who wants to use the Girdle Of Hill Giant Strength on their Archer? There are fighters that can make better use of it. Mazzy, in my party, now has a sword that gets 7 attacks ... so I gave her the Girdle. My character is also a halfling (cleric) so I gave him the Mace that makes your strength 18. So, I have TWO pretty buff halflings leading the party...

 

I think the Elven Court Bow gives +4 thac0 but no damage bonus. It really comes down to the Heartseeker (+4 thac0 +2 Damage) and the Strong Arm (+3 Damage and thac0).

I prefer strong arm if i'm using an archer and the heartseeker for anyone else.

Strong Arm is a longbow

Also there is the Ripper from the planar sphere but it is less powerful (+2 thac0 and damage).

 

Thank you all for your advice Much help, Cheers!

 

Late in the game you can get Taralash (+4) in Watcher's keep, and upgrade it with the Bowstring of Gond from Sendai's lair to make an awesome +5 bow. with good ammo you can pop anything. I used the upgrade weapons mod to get a quiver of plenty +3 and went to town with it

 

Sorry mate, but the Taralash is a Shortbow. We're talkin longbows now

Anyway, Strongarm has got to be the best longbow i have found. +3 THAC0 and damage is priceless.

 

hmm is FireTooth a shortbow too? i forgot. I know you can use the bowstring of Gond to upgrade one of three weapons. Darkfire bow is a crossbow.. Taralash is a shortbow... hmmm

 

Whoa, I think you're getting a little confused...
Firetooth is a powerful crossbow and Darkfire is a shortbow....
Personally, I like the Firetooth +5, but since we're talking Longbows, Tansheron's bow is good too. Unlimited arrows is always nice. Taralash is really great.

 

OK

no more two day old pizza for me then.

 

who's confused???

Tansheron's is also a short bow, IIRC

 

Hmmm, confusion all round then.

Here's the stats for the bows I know off the top of my head:

1. longbow - +1 thac0 bonus

2. longbow +1 - +2 thac0 bonus

3. longbow +2 - +3 thac0 bonus

4. composite longbow - +1 thac0, +1 damage

5. composite longbow +1 - +2 thac0, +1 damage

6. The Ripper +2 - thac0 +2, damage +2

7. Strong Arm +2 - thac0 +3, damage +3
19 stregnth to use

8. Heartseeker longbow +3 - thac0 +4, damage +2
increase thac0 by +7 once per day for 9 secs

9. Elven Court Bow +3 - thac0 +4 bonus

10. Mana Bow +4 - thac0 +4 bonus,+20% resistance to magic damage.

Thats it for SoA. Somebody else can put the ToB ones in, because I can't remember

 

Strong Arm (?) seems nice if you have 19 str (girdles go)

Darkfire in ToB.

The fun thing with bows is that when you get the biggest thac0 bonus you can have from the bow and also from the arrows, you are then practically sure to hit because they stack. Contrary to what some people say, six characters with bow can bring a very tough opponent to badly wounded or even kill him before he reaches their ranks (That's how I got my first full plate in BG saga ). If you have a full-time ranged fighter, you might want to give him the proficiency in both long and short bows.

 

Good work Malovae!

And corbulo87 was right, Tansheron's bow is actually a shortbow. Sorry! Darkfire is also a shorty. And while I'm , Gesen bow and +3 arrows = devestation. A wicked bow that adds electrical damage to a +3 arrow.

Ok, no more of shortbows.

 

Never heard of this mana bow before, where's it found?

 

As BTA said, Mana Bow is found in the southeast corner of Forest of Tethir (the forest area before Suldanesselar)

And here's ToB longbow list (correct me, if I missed something)

1. Taralash +4 (+5 when upgraded) - +4 (+5) thac0 bonus, increases movement rate by 2

2- Longbow +3 - +3 thac0

3. Composite longbow +3 - +4 thac0, +1 damage