Arrow type matters little

[D'rael]

I have played many play-throughs and several times relied on Archery. When I first played Skyrim, I always wanted to have the Arrow type that matched my Bow type. I would save up all my Arrows, I would Forge Arrows, until I realized that it was pointless. One of my recent play-throughs I had the idea to just use Iron Arrows all the time, simply because you find them everywhare and if you always pick them up, you will keep between 200 and 300 on you, which is plenty. So it works, and as long as you upgrade your Bow, and Smith it properly, all the Arrow really does is carry the Bow damage to the enemy, and there is hardly more than 10 or 20 points difference between weak Arrows and strong Arrows, and while your Bow is doing 150 to 250 damage, that really doesn't matter at all. You can simply use Iron Arrows from the start of the game, and be just as good an Archer.

Thoughts? Comments?

[Incunabulum]

Arrow type is incredibly important for one-hit takedowns - they make up 1/3+ of the damage you can do with a bow.

When hunting I use upgraded arrows because I don't want to chase a deer halfway across Skyrim. Same thing for opening up combat - I want the first few guys to go down right away and not run-shoot-run-shoot around the room.

[D'rael]

Lol, with all due respect, you just aren't using your head.. Let me break it down for you. If my Bow does 200+ damage by itself, I hit the enemy in 200 point increments, so If I hit them for 208 or 220, I still have to hit them twice to kill something with 400hp. The base damage of the Bow matters, not the arrow. Even if something had 460hp, The first hit would hit them for -220 from 460hp, next hit would make -440 from 460hp, and the third hit would kill them. And so, if I was only hitting for 208 with Iron Arrows, first hit would be -208 from 460hp, second hit would be 416 from 460hp, and the third hit would kill them... Thats logic and math you just cant argue with...

Arrows don't matter, so just use Iron Arrows all the time, and don't waste materials on making Arrows, and dont spend money on buying Arrows.

[Brandon]

Idk about the vanilla game, but play with SkyRe on legendary as an archer and say the arrow type doesn't matter.

[Panda]

Perhaps at endgame when you have the best bows and full archery perks. On lower levels, correct arrow choice could give you half again the damage of your bow.

Besides, your example is too convenient to your argument. I could always make an example that supports my argument. Say, a bandit with 60HP. It would take 3 shots with an iron arrow and a 20 damage bow. If I had a better arrow, it'll only take 2.

On my games, I don't like how arrows don't encumber you. It's not realistic so I have mods that give them weight. When arrows weigh something and you can't carry an unlimited amount, you carry the most damaging ones with you. Besides, the iron arrow quiver looks like something a pauper hunter would use. It's not at all proper for the Dark Brotherhood's big boss. :p

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by drail3:

Lol, with all due respect, you just aren't using your head.. Let me break it down for you.

Well, if you;ve got it all figured out, then WTF is there to discuss?

Patch 1.5 changed the damage formula such that arrows now benefit from skill/perks/enchants/potions/sneak bonus. . .

From:
uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim_talk:Archery#Formula



My arrows do about 1/4-1/3 of the total damage I can deal out.

An Elk that takes 2-3 hits with Iron arrows goes down in 1 with Steel.

[D'rael]

You guys are just being foolish. Daedric Arrows are the most powerful Arrows, with a strength of 20+. If you losers are claiming that your Arrows double your Bow strength... you little Bows are doing 20 damage LOL.

You should not be an Archer. My bows are 150 and 200+. You guys are arguing against logig and math. Kids will be kids I guess. Learn to add guys.

[Ragewaar]

Originally posted by drail3:

Lol, with all due respect, you just aren't using your head.. Let me break it down for you. If my Bow does 200+ damage by itself, I hit the enemy in 200 point increments, so If I hit them for 208 or 220, I still have to hit them twice to kill something with 400hp. The base damage of the Bow matters, not the arrow. Even if something had 460hp, The first hit would hit them for -220 from 460hp, next hit would make -440 from 460hp, and the third hit would kill them. And so, if I was only hitting for 208 with Iron Arrows, first hit would be -208 from 460hp, second hit would be 416 from 460hp, and the third hit would kill them... Thats logic and math you just cant argue with...

Arrows don't matter, so just use Iron Arrows all the time, and don't waste materials on making Arrows, and dont spend money on buying Arrows.

Actually, what Incunabulum was referring to was having the better arrows makes a significant difference to the first shots before you are spotted when you get the sneak attack multiplyier, which when youre focused more on sneaking and smithing perks for the first 20levels means your bow will only do something like 20-40, and so the extra 10 damage glass arrows provide over iron turns into 30, and suddenly it means you can kill in 1 hit instead of 2. Also, crafting arrows is great for advancing smithing because you never have to worry about becoming encumbered. I gained a good 15levels in smithing just from making dwarven arrows.

Originally posted by Panda:

Besides, the iron arrow quiver looks like something a pauper hunter would use. It's not at all proper for the Dark Brotherhood's big boss. :p

as the head of the dark brotherhood i currently wear cicero's hat and shirt, and people see me and still are scared because of the reputation, so looks dont mean much, and im sure many feel like that too

[D'rael]

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

An Elk that takes 2-3 hits with Iron arrows goes down in 1 with Steel.

Dude, if you cant kill an Elk in one hit, I suggest you go sell your Bow, lol, Its broken or something. I am not using Archery mods, and I can take out Bandits in one hit, and dragons in 5 - 10. You just arent doing something right.

[Panda]

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

Originally posted by drail3:

Lol, with all due respect, you just aren't using your head.. Let me break it down for you.

Well, if you;ve got it all figured out, then WTF is there to discuss?

Patch 1.5 changed the damage formula such that arrows now benefit from skill/perks/enchants/potions/sneak bonus. . .

From:
uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim_talk:Archery#Formula



My arrows do about 1/4-1/3 of the total damage I can deal out.

An Elk that takes 2-3 hits with Iron arrows goes down in 1 with Steel.

I've always known from my games that the better arrows kill stuff faster but looking at the actual formula involved is interesting. Thanks a lot! :)

[D'rael]

Originally posted by ACERagewaar:

Also, crafting arrows is great for advancing smithing because you never have to worry about becoming encumbered. I gained a good 15levels in smithing just from making dwarven arrows.

Ill take that in to consideration.

[Ragewaar]

Originally posted by drail3:

You guys are just being foolish. Daedric Arrows are the most powerful Arrows, with a strength of 20+. If you losers are claiming that your Arrows double your Bow strength... you little Bows are doing 20 damage LOL.

You should not be an Archer. My bows are 150 and 200+. You guys are arguing against logig and math. Kids will be kids I guess. Learn to add guys.

Not everyone is a level 80+ character with a massive bow selection. I am level 43 and the only bow i own does 35 base + 25 frost and 12 shock. When i use it im sneaking around and the enemies are all clumped up so i cant use a dagger. when youre shooting at high-level draugr, the iron arrows give you sneak attack damage of 240, which tends to leave them alive after the first hit, which since i have an armor value of 18, is NOT conducive to survival. Meanwhile, dwarven givees me 258, and glass gives 270, both of which cause instant death for varying levels of draugr depending on the dungeon I'm in. So take your little "high and mighty top level" attitude and kindly stuff it somewhere where we don't have to deal with it please.

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by drail3:

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

An Elk that takes 2-3 hits with Iron arrows goes down in 1 with Steel.

Dude, if you cant kill an Elk in one hit, I suggest you go sell your Bow, lol, Its broken or something. I am not using Archery mods, and I can take out Bandits in one hit, and dragons in 5 - 10. You just arent doing something right.

Yeah, yeah, mr master archer.

It may not make a huge difference at end-game when you have that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ daedric bow, but they do make a huge difference all the way up to that point.

Did you actually want comments or were you just looking to draw people into this so you could insult them?

[D'rael]

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim_talk:Archery#Formula

Thanks for the link, I checked it out, but It actually defends my position. "Arrow damage is the sum total of the quality and material of the bow and the arrow being used, as well as the bow's draw length." And so, like I said before, once you are dealing damage in the 200s the arrow no longer matters, because you still have to deal 200 or 208 or 220, untill the 200s stack up and kill the enemy in question. If that enemy has 460hp or more, you can hit for 200 or 220, and YOU STILL HAVE TO HIT IT THREE TIMES NO MATTER WHAT ARROW TYPE YOU ARE USING!!!

[Panda]

Originally posted by ACERagewaar:

Originally posted by drail3:

You guys are just being foolish. Daedric Arrows are the most powerful Arrows, with a strength of 20+. If you losers are claiming that your Arrows double your Bow strength... you little Bows are doing 20 damage LOL.

You should not be an Archer. My bows are 150 and 200+. You guys are arguing against logig and math. Kids will be kids I guess. Learn to add guys.

Not everyone is a level 80+ character with a massive bow selection. I am level 43 and the only bow i own does 35 base + 25 frost and 12 shock. When i use it im sneaking around and the enemies are all clumped up so i cant use a dagger. when youre shooting at high-level draugr, the iron arrows give you sneak attack damage of 240, which tends to leave them alive after the first hit, which since i have an armor value of 18, is NOT conducive to survival. Meanwhile, dwarven givees me 258, and glass gives 270, both of which cause instant death for varying levels of draugr depending on the dungeon I'm in. So take your little "high and mighty top level" attitude and kindly stuff it somewhere where we don't have to deal with it please.

Don't be lured. When I stumble on trolls, I go wide and ignore them. It's not worth it especially since troll fat is worthless as an alchemic ingredient anyway. ;-p

[Ragewaar]

again, you're looking at it only from endgame perspective. The rest of us DON'T have the 200-damage bow, and when you're a lower-level character who doesn't have that arrow type makes a LARGE difference. While it may be true that endgame it makes no use you never specified that, you simply applied it to the whole game. PLEASE bother to read all the comments before making outrageous post like this last one.