Bows: Limited ammo?

Modern RPGs tend to give characters unlimited standard ammunition for their ranged weapons. Only magical arrows/bolts/etc are limited.

 

To be honest I don't mind this that much, but if there are any partisans for limited standard ammunition, well, here's your place to speak up.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Infinitron

yes, limited ammo. When so many creatures, enemies, etc rely strictly on melee combat to do damage, and you can theoretically hand everyone in your party a bow, having limited ammo is what keeps you from always destroying opponents who can do nothing unless they're at close range.

It's a good question. To be honest, in a crpg I appreciate unlimited basic ammo. The reason being, you tend to fight a LOT more monsters over a much shorter period of time than you do in a table top setting, and the ammunition management quickly becomes a chore. That said, not enough of a chore that I spend too much time grousing about it, but it's not a FUN part of the gameplay experience to me. The table top session is a different animal and ammo management can be more easily accomplished.

 

Special ammo (+1 or better, special damage types, etc)... limited all the way.

 

Besides, most IE games eventually let you discover some unlimited ammo ranged weapons, so the mechanic itself wasn't apparently considered too destructive to balance.

I'm in favor of limited ammo, and I say that as someone who abused the hell out or ranged weapons in the BG games.

 

I'd also like it if the ammo is weighty, but I imagine a lot of people would find that aggravating, so I'm okay if Obsidian keeps it weightless.

Sure, as long as the stacks are large enough, i.e. stacks of 100 instead of 20. Otherwise the micromanagement can be a bit tedious.

Added a poll.

Voted Yes to Limited ammo.They should have reasonable stack size, but huge consequences for hording.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Jaesun

I'm for limited ammunition. So long as ranged characters aren't overspecialized to the point of being completely useless when they run out. I think the latter is more of a problem in its own.

 

Magical ammo I'm not against being unlimited, so long as it's not special effect ammo. I think being unlimited is a cool magical effect.

Sure, as long as the stacks are large enough, i.e. stacks of 100 instead of 20. Otherwise the micromanagement can be a bit tedious.

 

I solved this in my inventory thread by having you equip quivers that automatically fill their 3 20 arrow slots with picked up ammunition. This way there's not tons of micromanagement, but you can still run out of arrows, and still have multiple types of arrows in your quiver.

Magical ammo I'm not against being unlimited, so long as it's not special effect ammo. I think being unlimited is a cool magical effect.

 

Heh, I don't have an option for that. But it does actually make more sense in a way, doesn't it?

I'd prefer limited ammo and moderate to low amount of arrows per stack. I think this can be balanced by bows shooting a bit slower than RPG rocket artillery like Amazon from Diablo 2, but actually dealing decent damage in larger time period, at least to unarmored targets.

All ammunition should be limited.

 

I never ran out of arrows in BG, altough I'll admit that my Archer ate arrows really fast.

I'm of the desire that arrows should be limited, but the max stack should be of a fairly large size. This does depend a bit on how large the inventory is going to be, however. I often had 2 archers and 2 slingshot users in BG1, and I tell ya, my combined inventory was usually half full of slingshot ammo and arrows...and it was annoying. Of course, this could be because I don't like to backtrack all the time just to shop and often wandered far far afield from towns/shops for many "days" to explore....

Limited.

Limited but I could accept if it was unlimited in easy "I don't like RPG combat" mode.

*mutter*

Yeah, limited, everything should be limited. All forms of attack, be they ranged melee or magical should have limiters of some sort in place to ensure you use them tactically. No free attacks, at all, of any kind. Whether it be a melee swing, a magical shield or a bow in the hand of a capable archery the attack in question, in every single case, should cost. Cost can be anything from eating up a resource to eating up an X per day charge or even stacking some brand of negative, like fatigue, on the user.

How many arrows can one person realistically carry at one time and still fight effectively?

Limited ammuniton for everything. Unlimited ammo is almost the same thing as god- mode. At least as long as it isn't about items rare, magical and very expensive.

 

In other thread someone wanted unlimited ammo, because otherwise, after running out of arrows, he'd have to walk out of dungeon to buy more. A game punishing for bad management, scandalous, isnt it?

 

Wouldn't mind if Eternity brought some suffering to those all lazy mindless casuals.

Limited mundane arrows never affected anything in BG1/2. Ever.

 

Mark me down as indifferent.

I would prefer limited with decent sized stacks, and perhaps the ability to craft and enchant them also.

I vote all ammo should be limited BUT if they have mobs that cant be hit unless the weapon is of a certain enchantment level, I argue the requirement for the mob getting hit should be based off the bow not the arrow.

 

Having to be stocked on arrows of X enchantment level just to be able to hit a mob was a real hassle.

Limited ammo of all types, if only because I think it a) acts as a gold sink b) adds to inventory management c) opens crafting possibilities as an alternative.

I would prefer limited with decent sized stacks, and perhaps the ability to craft and enchant them also.

My preferred option too. I like that "hoarding" ammo comes at a consequence (i.e. you have to give up something else in your inventory). It makes you pick your targets and you are not completely defenseless if you run out (assuming you keep at least some kind of melee weapon on you).

 

Of course limited ammo!

What comes next? Auto health?

Limited ammo, but with the ability to recover (some) arrows that have already been shot. Maybe have a 40% chance of the arrow being recoverable, or something like that. Then there can be magical kind of "never-break" arrows.