Archer useless?

[BobbyGun]

Short Question. through my experience with any kind of range combat, it seems -well- nearly useless to me (except for the ki of course).

[Prince Kaine]

They are not if you know how to build one. But they tend to be usefull mid to late game, they need some level to pull their weight.

[Reaver79]

Depends on the faction but its never useless.. The strategic stuns ect. you can push into fights where you cant help in melee is just magic..

[Rodfather]

Smugglers are very good ranged units, but in general u have to know how to build a good ranged unit, for example I have a Merc Archer who is really dependable with Quick Reload, Hand Shot, Knee Shot, Vital Shot, Bullseye, Eagle Eye and some other skills i forget

[Summanus]

No, not useless at all. I have a level 9 Zealot archer with a bow for my warband and he dishes out some great dps as well as some much needed crits and stuns.

But as Kaine says, they are terrible to begin with - you have to push through to the good levels.

[Trueseeing]

I main Mercenaries and have found archers, specifically Marksmen to be fantastic. You have to shoot at the right targets, ideally with less armour. So any heroes in cloth made for dodging, or spell casters are their main prey. When you get perforation master runes they can shoot anyone on the battlefield.

Here is an example I use for a henchman: The Pyro link is picking up a swear word, I'll put the summary:
Marksman

Attributes:
===========
Strength: 3
Toughness: 5
Agility: 15
Leadership: 3
Intelligence: 9
Alertness: 11
Weapon Skill: 3
Ballistic Skill: 18
Accuracy: 11

Skills:
=======
Chain Shot Basic, Quick Reload Basic, Hand Shot Basic, Bullseye Basic, Nerve Shot Basic, Introspection Basic, Sidestep Basic, Hunter Basic, Eagle Eyes Basic

Books:
==========
Tome of Abilities, Martial Grimore

Equipment:
==========
Helmet, Light Armour, Longbow

They shoot 3 times per round with introspection if they don't move, and with hunter procs can often still have blue pills reposition after. Even against armoured enemies, with perforation rune longbows they do 50 damage shots, very accurately.
They also add some utility for when you need it with Hand and Nerve Shots. I run with two of these at all times. Equipment I like for them is light armour with the thief master rune to bring their ballistic skill up to 20, and the perforation longbows as mentioned before.

Here is a Lads got Talent Marksmen Hero I've been using: http://www.pyrospace.co.uk/mordheim/#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%3D
Use a Light armour of ballistic skill to bring him up to 20.
The idea is that he can do the standard 4 shots/aimed shots easily enough for good damage, and can use adrenaline rush to bring that up to 6 shots per round when you really want to pile on the damage. Also, he can instead fire off accurate headshots, by firing two normal shots to build up accuracy, then use adrenaline rush and fire off two headshots at key enemy targets, stunning two enemies and dealing 4 shots worth of damage. Potentially devastating.

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by BobbyGun:

Short Question. through my experience with any kind of range combat, it seems -well- nearly useless to me (except for the ki of course).

Whats the KI? You mean the Artificial Intelligence? If so, no they are not useless. If you feel they are useful for the AI, then they are useful to you.

Ranged Combat needs you to consider ranged combat. Plan your lines so your Ranged guys can fire into melee.. Or ideally... have your ranged guys set up so they take a bunch of HP off of of the enemy before they even reach your defenders.

Admittedly i wouldn't use more than 3 ranged characters.. but i wouldn't use more than 3 of anything.

[Penny Royal]

Not useless, for sure. I have a couple of Marksmen that are indispensable, although they were lucky to survive to become that!

[Boink]

Set up a perimeter and take advantage of elevation.

The ai goes for your weakest so it is more likely an archer henchman.

The only time my archers gets in trouble is when I get ambushed so I only bring 2 of them.

[Castor]

The AI is terrible with shooters. Leaving them exposed and near terrain that won't allow Disengage on the regular.

[mfvm70]

Archers/Marksmen are very usefull from the very begining.
1) They can overwatch to slow and soften incoming enemys. It is an ambush with no counter attack risk.
2) They can focus fire to finish the right target.
3) They can hit & run.
4) They can hit & loot.
5) And they can switch to CC and evade :-)