Lonely Barrow Archers

[Aria Athena]

Why do the Champion Archers in Lonely Barrow keep attacking my flat footed AC? What am I missing?

I'm fighting the Lonely Warrior and when the archers come out they wipe the floor with my high AC chars for no apparent to me reason.

[Orange]

im going to guess their initiative is higher than yours... as per the rules you are flat footed until your first action
Something looking at the logs could tell you.

Also, protection from arrows spell, never leave home without it

[Aria Athena]

It's not on the first turn, they spawn mid fight.

Isn't protection from arrows just a -10 damage reduction? That will barely delay the inevitable.

[Dixon Sider]

You have to make a combat action to relieve your flat footedness. If you sit with a full GCD bar you will still be flat footed. Do a ranged attack, swap weapons, something like that

And certainly use protection from arrows. That spell is incredible

[Aria Athena]

Does killing the Lonely Warrior and fighting 4 Skeletal Warriors count as a combat action?

Damage reduction on unfair is anything but incredible. Let alone that they probably have Clustered Shots.

[Mochi Fox]

Originally posted by Dixon Sider:

You have to make a combat action to relieve your flat footedness. If you sit with a full GCD bar you will still be flat footed. Do a ranged attack, swap weapons, something like that

That's not how it works in game. There's an "initiative cooldown" for each unit at the beginning of combat, and after the cooldown goes to zero, the unit is not flat-footed anymore even though it's idle in combat.

Originally posted by Aria Athena:

It's not on the first turn, they spawn mid fight.

I've tested in game and I can't reproduce this case, so I have some guess:

1. If you've killed all Warriors right before the Archers are spawned, the combat will be "restarted", and the following round will be considered as the first round of combat.

2. Though in tabletop "flat-footed" means a unit loses its Dex bonus to AC before its first action, but in PFKM losing Dex bonus to AC for other reasons is also described as "flat-footed". And there are various ways can cause a unit lose such bonus, e.g:
(1) The unit's group (or your party) haven't seen the attacker
(2) The unit is Helpless
(3) The unit is Stunned
(4) The attacker has Total Concealment from the unit (or the unit is Blinded)
(5) The attacker has Shatter Defenses feat and the unit is Shaken or Frightened
(6) The attacker has activated Impromptu Sneak Attack
(7) The unit lost its Dex bonus to AC because of other unlisted effects

According to this guide, it's most likely case (1), because the archer attacks you before you can ever see it (the line of sight in combat is 38 feet, but and archer can shoot from farther with a bow):
https://www.gamerguides.com/pathfinder-kingmaker/guide/walkthrough/chapter-2-journey-to-varnhold/lonely-barrow

It’ll be joined in combat by a Skeleton Champion Archer, who will merrily shoot at you from beyond the fog of war to the west.

[Aria Athena]

Originally posted by hsinyuhcan:

(1) The unit's group (or your party) haven't seen the attacker


That's probably it, thanks. I start the encounter from the side towards the entrance of Lonely Barrow and the archers don't even spawn in the same room. I'm gonna call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on this line of sight mechanic.