Arrows hurt more

[jesterskull25]

They should cause more damage and at least slow targets down.

[Taurni]

Yes they could. In fact I can tell you how to do this yourself in just a few minouts.

 

1 Open the construction set.

2 Load the oblivion file (DO NOT SET IT AS AN ACTIVE FILE)

3 in the left hand window, scroll down untill you find the ammunition category. Select it.

4 Find the arrows you want to do more damage. Open them.

5 Increase the damage number.

6 Save the file.

7Activate the .esp

8 Play.

9 Fear the guards, and their rain of death.

[Ferryt]

I agree. Vanilla archery in Oblivion is pretty wimpy. Real bows do massive damage and this simply isn't reflected in the way the game handles them. While Taurni is certainly correct in that quick and dirty solution of just tweaking arrows globally in the CS, if you really want to play an archer-type character you'll want an archery overhaul mod of some kind. There are a number of mods which address this. I'm currently evaluating EAGLE EYE REALISTIC ARCHERY MOD Replacement in-game, and have been quite satisfied with it, so far. You might want to look at that one.

[Taurni]

Personally, I think that the entire arrow system needs a major overhaul. I have a Longbow RL. I made it myself, so it isn't perfectly made like one in Cyriodil would be. It can still fire an iron headed arrow through up to an eighth inch of plate steel at 50 yards, maybe further, but I am not that good of a shot yet.

 

So because of this thread, and since I am making a mod that will require a damn good bow anyways. How about we band together to make a script that lets bows ignore armor rating? That way the arrows can still have the same damage (or we could add 5 points to each arrow as well) but the bow its self works like it should in reality?

[Ferryt]

Actually, while the longbow was effective against chain armor, modern tests have proven that against high-quality plate it was not. The only consistent penetration in tests was with a 160# longbow at point-blank range. You'll get deformation of the plate, but not penetration, most of the time. Of course, lower-quality armor puts all bets off. I'd say that anything below steel armor might have a chance of penetration, but steel and up ... no way. Ideally, though, the script should check for range and modify that rule, allowing an arrow to penetrate if the target is very close, at least for steel armor. There's a decent summary of testing results in this Wikipedia article a little way down the page under "Range and Penetration".

[Taurni]

True, however, a good quality set of armor would be very very expensive, and reserved only for nobles. Plus what a lot of people forget to factor in with those historical tests is the shape, size and weight of the arrow head. It is possible, even with a low velocity, for an arrow to penetrate armor if the arrowhead is set up for it. Example, the conquistadors. there armor was commonly pierced by obsidian arrowheads.

 

Now I am not saying that the arrows would go in one side and out the other, what I am saying is that they would defiantly punch a hole in one side of the armor and hit the pweson in it. Becides, Oblivion docent really let you use a bot at a realistic full range, so unless that is fixed too, there is no point making the range matter in the script.

[Deleted1848331User]

I think that if the arrow is of high enough material (daedric, for example) then it could pierce through most armors below it.

[Taurni]

Thats a good idea! Have any idea of how to code it? My scripting knowledge is limited to On equpp additem....

[Ferryt]

I think LordFrostcraig is onto the right approach, here. Historically, you're right, Taurni. Armor-piercing arrowheads will pierce some armor, just as armor-piercing rounds in modern weaponry will pierce some armor. It's not an all-or-nothing deal, though, and you'd have to completely revamp the archery system in Oblivion to account for all the possible variations in armor, bows, and projectiles (crossbow bolts aren't really "arrows", in case you're using a mod that adds crossbows).

 

I think the algorithm that determines whether or not there is penetration should compare the in-game quality of the armor and the arrow (LordFrostcraig's idea), with the current "health" of the armor, and the damage the arrow does. Thus, there would be a chance for steel arrows to penetrate silver armor, however slight, but silver arrows would penetrate steel armor fairly readily. If your armor is down to almost no "health" then just about any arrow would penetrate it. This is already handled to some extent by the vanilla gamesystem by adding in an armor protection factor that even takes into account what pieces of armor are actually equipped.

 

Given the following (with arrow damage and protection offered by a full set of armor added for comparison):

 

                       Base      Full Armor
Type         Class  WeaponDamage  Protection

Unarmored      1                    00.00%
Fur            2                    16.90%
Rough Leather  3                    20.75%
Leather        4                    25.00%
Chainmail       5                    30.00%
Rusty Iron     6                    32.50%
Mithril        7                    35.00%
Iron           8         8          40.00%
Steel          9         9          45.00%
Silver        10        10         
Dwarven       11        11          50.00%
Elven         12        12          40.00%
Glass         13        13          50.00%
Orcish        14                    55.00%
Ebony         15        14          60.00%
Daedric       16        15          75.00%

 

(Note that no complete set of Rough Leather or Rusty Iron armor exists in the game, and these items are only available in the tutorial on your way out of the prison. They are roughly comparable to their ordinary Leather and Iron counterparts, but are not precisely equivalent for all items.)

 

A basic formula for determining the actual damage an arrow does could be calculated something like this:

 

• ModWeaponDamage = DWgt * WeaponDamage ( WWgt* WeaponClass / ( AWgt* ArmorClass ))

 

A check would have to be made to insure that ModWeaponDamage <= WeaponDamage, or iron arrows would actually do more than their base damage against leather and fur armor, for example. The mod would also have to take into consideration that there are special arrows in the game such as the Dremora Broadhead Arrow and the Rose of Sithis that don't fit into the above classes. In addition, magical arrows have different IDs than the basic arrows, although they're all based upon the standard arrows. A check would have to be made for those arrows' "Base Item" to determine their WeaponDamage factors.

 

The three factors would need to be weighted, I'm sure, but this would have to be something the modder plays with to see what would work. If a script could dynamically alter the damage, thus calculated, upon impact, this mod should work with any mod that alters the archery system, as long as it was above that mod in the load order.

 

The gamesystem already accounts for tougher armor "absorbing" more damage than lower-grade armor, based upon the armor's condition and the player's skill in Marksman according the following formula, which I believe is a multiplier for the listed protection percent:

 

• ( 0.35 + 0.0065 * Skill ) * ArmorHealth%

 

This could be tweaked by modifying the formula I've suggested, assuming it's possible to determine ArmorHealth%, but is probably unnecessary. A full set of Daedric armor, for instance, absorbs 75% of applied damage (see the above table). A full set of Fur armor only absorbs 16%. It does not, to my knowledge, factor in the quality of the arrow (or other weapon), though. This mod would rectify that, at least for arrows, although it could be applied equally to other weapon damage, as well, for a more comprehensive and meaningful mod.

[Guardianl]

Have a look here

Think you will need an account though.

Duke Patricks - Combat Archery

You have to search it on the tesalliance website