b38 Archery (ammo speed)

[Broutwo]

While I like the idea of heroically agile monsters and heroes dodging arrows and sling bullets, I don't like my archer being outfoxed by a low level snake on the first floor of a newbie dungeon. Mind you, I'm using a sling of True Flight, which is supposed to double (triple?) the flight speed of my bullets. I think the game would be more realistic (yeah, yeah, it's a fantasy setting) if the ammo speed mechanics were only brought out when special conditions were met:

1) The target of a ranged attack has a Ranged Defense in excess of the archer's Accuracy.
2) The target of a ranged attack is wearing a special ego item (ring of the Matrix, necklace of Neo, Bullet-Time rough leather armor, etc...).
3) The target of a ranged attack has a special skill that slows down ammo shot at him (maybe gives a chance to deflect at level 3 and a smaller chance to rebound ammo upon the attacker at level 5).

Rather than give ammo 'speed' you could simply pause the ammo in front of a target that has a chance to get out of its way. I think players and monsters would move if possible, though the ability to deflect or return the ammo might make players and AI a bit cocky.

Anyhow, I think these changes would make archery a little less frustrating, especially at the outer ranges of the bows and slings. I saw an artifact sling in the shop selling for 500+ gold. It boasted a very sexy 70% firing speed, which is great for b38. It also boasted a supposedly sexy 10 range. Sadly, most of the shots between 6 and 10 range will be wasted if the monsters have any room to move around.

[Tirear]

Sadly, most of the shots between 6 and 10 range will be wasted if the monsters have any room to move around.

While this is true of snakes, most enemies move quite predictably (unless blinded or confused), and can be hit reliably by aiming past them (which sadly means no dual arrows or volley of arrows). The important thing to remember is that targeting is asymmetrical, so if the enemy is to the north of you, try aiming south to see what path it will take to reach you, then aim so that your projectile will pass through both the square the monster is in, and the square it is moving to. I'm currently trying a slinger out, and I have been using a sling of true flight not for the travel speed, but the +1 range, and still find myself wishing I could shoot a bit further (Scattershot is good for this, but it comes with a cooldown and I might want that stun for when the enemy is close enough to attack me).