It also comes with daedric quality arrows.

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this or if it's specific to bound bow, but with the quick draw talent archery gets a little um...funky. Sometimes you draw all the way back but the arrow flops out, and sometimes if you try to chain shots the bow stops responding for a second. Not a major thing but kind of irritating. Seems like a possible bug/glitch.

The more I play, the more I love Skyrim's archery. It is hands down the funnest TES mechanics thus far. I really feel like Legolas (in a good way!) Maybe it gets overpowered later on, but right now I can be killed in 1-2 hits by most enemies. Dragon breath can kill me in a couple seconds without healing potions.

I totally agree with the OP.

I did watch some mount and blade archery vids. It looks "ok" but I think I still prefere Skyrim. Maybe I'm missing something?

I like the archery, after I changed my ini settings Although I changed them to:

f1PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.0
f3PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.0

which gives me a realistic feel IMO.

Just looking at it is probably different than playing it. I picked up Mount and Blade on the Steam sale but haven't played it enough to comment on its archery. So far though it definitely has a more involved melee system with an actual learning curve to it.

I am getting used to the archery in Skyrim. But as another poster said it feels like more hand holding. Because people couldn't get the realistic concept of arcing in Oblivion. I had to arc my shots at longer distances in OB and it felt more realistic to me. I am not a big fan of Oblivion, but it was one of my favorite features in the game itself. Why do people think in movies and other games cutscenes. The archers aim in an upward arcing position, so they can get a longer distance shot on an enemy. They aren't doing it just to look cool.....lol

Here's an archery trick for the really avid archers amongst you.

If you bash immediatly after firing an arrow, you bash seems to count as another arrow hit like you'd stabbed them with an arrow (At the very least the bash procs the enchantment on your weapon). If you have the quick shot perk you actually have a fighting chance in melee, staggering a foe, shooting an arrow, then bashing them again to proc the additional damage and stagger them for the next shot to be drawn.

The bash hit doesn't seem to consume ammo either so it can be a way of saving arrows on weaker targets that'll take 2 hits to kill (I whirlwind sprint over to them ;p)

I've wondered about this as I occasionally would kill enemies seemingly with a bash, I wasn't sure if bow bashes did damage like shields can do or what, but this is interesting.

Yah, it can lead to some very dynamic strategies since dealling a double-strike is higher DPS than just firing since you hit twice in succession.

For example in a big fight with multiple enemies you could whirlwind sprint up to a guy who is seperated from the group, bash-shoot-bash him to kill him faster than arrows alone would and start shooting from the new position to whittle down the mob until a new split develops and you pick off the new straggler the same way. It' feels strange being able to push the line forward instead of fighting a slow retreat*


Edit: Vanguard! - That's what it feels like xD. Vanguards in Mass Effect 2 use ranged weapons, but can blink into melee range to deal a massive point-blank killing blow; even more so since my character uses alteration barriers and force blast from midas magic (biotic barrier and shockwave respectively xD)

Now might be a bad time to tell you that a high archery skill improves what is effectvely 'auto-aim' for your shots. :/

I prefer player ability being the primary attribute for determining whether your arrow hits or not. Bethesdas system means that higher archery skill means an increase 'magnetism' effect on the arrow which draws it towards the enemies head as long as you roughly aim at the head.

In some ways this is a good thing because it means you can pull off increasingly improbable shots as your skill improves. Just be aware that you have little to do with where the arrow lands however.

It's important to note that shooting static targets (like the archery targets outside the companions place) does not demonstrate this mechanic. It only comes into effect when shooting actual NPC's. Ie, that video thats doing the rounds in which that Scandinavian guy commentates is not a realistic representation of what is actually happening when you shoot a living target.

Personally I wish archery was solely based on the players ability to aim, and that archery skill just increases damage.

Each to their own.

I liked Oblivion archery better. It was more challenging and more rewarding when you got it right. Taking out enemies in sneak from what seems like 150-250 yards (IRL) is awesome. I see the ini settings, and I know Skyrim can be adjusted for more realistic feel. However, being level 30 at this point with archery as one of my main skills, I'm not going to relearn now.
I do have a serious problem with extremely long range shots though. It seems that the game just doesn't detect collision of arrows with NPCs past certain distance. I can aim very carefully and take numerous shots at enemies that are extremely far out, save/reload for perfect positioning and keeping the NPC from moving, yet nothing will result in a hit. It's very common with Giants. Those guys stand up so tall - it should be impossible to miss, yet at the right distance arrows just won't hit them. I've played with FOV to zoom in (setting it at 20-40) just to observe the arrow travel trajectory and witnessed several times how the arrow just goes through the NPC, doesn't do any damage, and collides with an object directly behind that NPC (wall, table, etc). The NPC then hears the arrow and turns toward that object behind it. Pretty lame and frustrating sometimes.

Isn't the magnetism what these lines fix? -

fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0
fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

This brings up what may be a dumb question because I am not a code writer, I just trust code that others provide with their understanding of it. The question is this...if the magnetism increases with skill level, does the tweak mentioned earlier in this thread mess up those mechanics in that higher skill scenario? (I hope I phrased that question right...)

Possibly, I was querying the console commands with spookyfx (aka DukePatrick) but didn't get any answers for the actual console commands.

I'll give it a go later on.

The best way to test if it's working is to position yourself about 20 foot away from a target and then save the game. Zoom in with your bow and then fire just a little to the left or right of the targets head (ie,, over their shoulder). If you see the arrow automatically compensating and flying towards their head then it's still doing it.

This video shows what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpsMW4DKE0o

I get you. I can't be certain but logic would dictate that if the console commands disable the 'magnetism' then yeah, it's going to screw over the benefit from a high archery skill a bit. Personally that wouldn't bother me but it will bother some people.

A mod will no doubt come out that solely scales damage with archery skill. Might have to wait until after the CK is released though.

I really want to play an archer with my next character. It looks genuinely satisfying.

It's so good that I was going to go as a sword-paladin kind of guy but when I discovered how great archery was I started over for a sneaky archer. I love every minute of it.

Til you can pull this off, all of you are archer wannabe's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE4uzGaQDQg

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Outstanding!

Just a warning for archers - don't take the quick shot perk. It currently just makes you draw faster but you still have to hold the same amount of time to get a full shot, you just can't tell how long you have to hold due to the faster draw animation. It's almost certainly functioning improperly. This thread kind of got me thinking about the perk again since I'd been using less archery and more conjuration for awhile to nonchalantly traverse through dungeons while dremora lords took care of my dirty work. I had been avoiding the perk since it felt weird to me the first time I tested it, but I tried it again for a longer period and it's definitely dysfunctional. Sadly, this means no bullseye talent for me either since I use a bound bow(not to mention arrows are abundant enough anyway) there's a worthless perk(hunter's discipline is the other) on both sides blocking me.

While yes it doesnt draw your arrow to full strength, it is rather handy in close quarters archery. When I have several targets I know I can easily 1 or 2 shot surrounding a boss I can with this perk get those shots off now. Where as before I may only get 3 shots with the perk I can get 6 or 7 off. It may not be full strength, but all its got to do is hit them.

_ <- the top arrow is your aim
^
< >
v <- down arrow for close range

top arrow for long distance?

Yeah that only works when your not sneaking. With the horizontal line and a dot you have no up/down marker help, so you need to learn and judge it yourself. And when you do you can get some fantastic long range shots on moving targets that have no clue your even there.

Any word on Critical Shot? I've heard people say that it is an absolute must, and others say it only adds a few points of damage. Mine is currently at level one so I could move on with the next perk, and sometimes it seems to do a lot more damage on a critical, and sometimes I don't notice any difference at all. Does anyone know what the exact damage numbers are for Critical Shot?