How fun is archery?

[AstralFire]

I'm torn at the moment between a sword-and-board in Dwarven armor with Restoration back-up, or a light-armor wearing horseback archer with Restoration back-up. Is archery fulfilling to play even if you're not getting sneaky? Like, obviously it's always ideal to have distance from the enemy, but if I can't get the drop on someone, is it still going to be fun to play?

[bar333]

I'm currently playing a sort of "skirmisher" archetype, a Nord using light armor who is skilled at both axe & shield, and archery, and having fun.

Archery is highly practical even if you're not the sneaky type, but in that case you will need to have some melee alternative to fall back on, this can be sword & board or dual wielding, I suspect that unless you like kiting all over the place and shooting arrows at people from zero range, your one handed skill will increase a fair bit without putting much effort into it anyway.

 

Do note that I've never played with more than one follower even though I have UFO installed.

It's entirely possible that with 2 or more melee followers you'll be able to focus entirely on Archery without needing to draw a blade very often.

 

Archery itself was already fun prior to 1.5, but the added killmoves made it even better. They're very satisfying, every single time.

I actually play without a crosshair as well, which demands a bit more skill and takes practice to master but makes it all the more rewarding.

Edited June 1, 2012 by bar333

[AurianaValoria1]

I'm currently playing a sort of "skirmisher" archetype, a Nord using light armor who is skilled at both axe & shield, and archery, and having fun.

Archery is highly practical even if you're not the sneaky type, but in that case you will need to have some melee alternative to fall back on, this can be sword & board or dual wielding, I suspect that unless you like kiting all over the place and shooting arrows at people from zero range, your one handed skill will increase a fair bit without putting much effort into it anyway.

 

Agreed, every character but my mage uses a bow. It's very useful when you can't get to an enemy fast enough for melee without getting killed (Forsworn, anyone?), or for when you need to whittle a dragon down to size while waiting for it to land or crash.

[Rabbit1251]

Seriously I cannot play the game without it. Tried magic, kept getting killed. Tried sword and heavy armour, kept getting killed. Use archery and I rarely even get hurt. I put all of my perks into Archery, Sneak and Blacksmithing. I use whatever the current flavour of bow is with iron arrows. Low impact arrows like Falmer, Forsworn and iron give you the best experience per target. Mr. Master Vampyre too tough for you? Keep coming back when his guard is down. In the end they will all submit.

 

 

Rabbit

[AstralFire]

I'm looking more for depth of gameplay than ease - I already play on Master with melee with a lot of hardness mods.

[Stemin]

Seems like it would be hard to play an archer without complementing it with something else. I've got 1100 hours into the stock skyrim and I always have to either use sneak or be ready to melee when the enemy gets close. Unless you're just supposed to keep running away?

 

But I agree with the consensus that it's hard to play WITHOUT archery as well.

 

I'm just not sure about a pure archer.

Edited June 1, 2012 by Stemin

[Staind716]

I agree that archery can be a lot of fun but you may find you need a backup for closer range. It kinda sucks backpedaling and shooting arrows at point blank range. You should give it a try if you haven't put much time into it because it does make for a different play style and different strategies. :)

[kevkiev]

I find archery really fun, especially taking long range shots so you have to really account for the arc of the arrow flight. You can actually hit someone standing/sitting behind an object sometimes. Great fun. (Which is why I have never installed a "faster arrows" type mod that takes away from the vanilla arc.)

[BrettM]

Even my mage has a bow, since arrows have a longer range than spells. Archery is great fun, and even greater once you get the Eagle Eye perk for zooming in. I just love plopping an arrow or two into a sleeping dragon from far enough away that he won't wake up as I approach.

[xlcr]

@AstralFire, most gamers setup hotkey equip favorites tactically with sword+board for close combat and

simply switch to bow+arrow for ranged attacks.

 

I've noticed archery to unfortunately be an overpowering advantage because a majority of Skyrim's enemies rarely have any

scripted AI for them to intelligently take cover or duck/dodge arrows, they mostly just charge right at you or stand or

move slowly making them easy targets. Especially when you have the Steady Hand (zoom + time slows) perks.

Wish enemies would use better ambush strategies or actual prepared positions, you can simply walk into most forts/etc.

 

I use all light armor/gear for agility/speed/carryweight reasons, tempering/enchantments keep things balanced enough.

Anyway, seems like you can merge both your ideas to create a multi-specialized character.

Edited June 2, 2012 by xlcr