CosmicOrderV wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2019 11:44 am
Some considerations about the graph.
To get that kind of crit range you would need a greensteel weapon or 5% a masterly. Considering you made it sound like these were supposed to be easily obtainable for level thirties, i'm going to assume greensteel. Base damage should look more like 2d6 (weapon/essence) + 20 + 4 (perma-essence). That puts average damage closer to 30, in the melee department. For criticals, that means 90 damage. Another 2d6 for sneak attack, if you wish to include it.
Then for the melee's attack, the 'primary final to hit' ought to be 47 for the highest value. Weapon Focus stacks with Epic Weapon Focus, and you didn't max out the attribute bonus, which is easy to do with potions.
Then there's the ranged weapon. Ashwood longbow, which ought to also been keen, because it's a runic weapon, and therefore very easy to keen if you have a t3 dweomercrafter. That puts its crit range at 18-20 x 3. Ashwood also has mighty critical 2d10. Then arrow damage is 8(AA)+4(template stable)+4 (template stable)+4(damask)+4(Mighty)+1d6(template unstable)+1d8(base weapon)+2(archer path)+6(epic specialization). That's about 39 damage average, with criticals that average 127.
Then there's the ranged attack. I'm not sure why you didn't at least make the attribute bonus equal to the melee one, here. This is where the archer shines. The highest attack value here should be +53. Again you can't forget that Weapon Focus stacks with Epic Weapon Focus. Also consider Rapid Shot, here. That's something the WM cannot replicate. For -2 attack, the AA is getting an extra attack per round at their highest value.
All very good points, iirc, the graph output reflects STR/DEX stats taken from the generic cookie-cutter build outline.
I didn't include the Ashwood Bow for the archer, because that is a best-in-slot weapon, that yes a good number of archers will obtain, but likely not EVERY archer is walking around with an Ashwood bow by 30.
Nor did I intentionally take into account optimized, runic best-in-slot enhancements to the weapons.
Again, are there archers (and melee folk) walking around with Best in Slot Everything? Yeah. Does every character by level 30 have best-in-slot everything? No. So as a more realistic cross section, I used the cookie-cutter build feats and stats for each, and the most common and easily attainable (and most likely) weapons to have.
I think you're right, though, that weapon master probably will have greensteel over a masterlydamask weapon.
If someone wants to do a more optimized comparison and post it as a reference, here is the link to the graph generator:
http://www.afterlifeguild.org/Thott/nwn/
regarding ranged getting to start dealing damage far of... yep... the 'if you can see it, you can shoot it' certainly comes into play, and is a huge bonus.
if you would like... you can take a weaponmaster built character into the arena with a ranged AA character... have the weapon master start with their back against the opposite wall, and have the AA begin shooting while at them while the weaponmaster closes in for the attack... and see exactly in a real-life scenario how this plays out.. fully buffed.
I've done this, on a number of occasions on a lvl 30 AA with 15 levels of AA, with +55 attack, and using a +2/+4 Compound bow (before the days of the Ashwood) and never did my AA ever survive. Not once.
For these tests... I had my Archer stand still and -NOT- try to kite the aggressor around... simply try and kill them before they cross the Cordor Arena... trying to slow them with called shot, etc...
I was able to get my opponent down regularly to at or below 1/4 health, but never dead.
I don't disagree there are scenarios where an archer will drop a PC before they get up close and personal. Maybe my own play-technique is flawed, I don't discount this as a possibility.
I can only speak from my own experience that... yeah.. archers deal a crap done of damage.. but what I'm saying is to call an Arcane Archer a ranged Weaponmaster is grossly misrepresenting the truth, even though it certainly sounds plausible.