Death Arrow

[Drow Arrow]

ok now from what i hear this was made basically useless against players because it was considered OP... but if we're going by that logic why wasn't dev crit completely disabled?

if we can find a fix for dev crits instant death then surely there can be an equivalent fix for death arrow. it's 1 use per day it's not like I or any other AA is gonna be firing them off willy nilly. even with the original effect as i said it's use is 1/day so if i miss the shot or the target makes the save that's the arrow gone until i get a chance to rest.

either way i think there's gotta be a better way to balance it than just making it useless against players unless they roll a nat 1.

[Dyndrilliac]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the DC of AA's Death Arrow is fixed at 20, and it's a Fortitude save. Many enemies will auto save (constructs, undead), those that don't stand a good chance of succeeding on all but a natural 1 unless they just have garbage CON.

Link: https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Arrow_of_death

So there is no need for this skill to NOT be a true insta-kill, because no level 40 PC or end-game mob should be failing a DC 20 Fortitude save.

If you want to fix it though, make it like dev crit in every regard and give it the same DC scaling. Maybe use DEX mod instead of STR mod though for the calculation so Archers not going for Dev Crit (Longbow) don't get hosed.

[Drow Arrow]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the DC of AA's Death Arrow is fixed at 20, and it's a Fortitude save. Many enemies will auto save (constructs, undead), those that don't stand a good chance of succeeding on all but a natural 1 unless they just have garbage CON.

Link: https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Arrow_of_death

So there is no need for this skill to NOT be a true insta-kill, because no level 40 PC or end-game mob should be failing a DC 20 Fortitude save.

If you want to fix it though, make it like dev crit in every regard and give it the same DC scaling. Maybe use DEX mod instead of STR mod though for the calculation so Archers not going for Dev Crit (Longbow) don't get hosed.

yeah 20 is the natural DC it's fixed at i'd just like to see it in a more usable state in PvP. would even have to change it's mechanic necessarily, i was talking the other day to one of the other players and even just changing the DC (if possible) to 35 or sumin would make it more viable. as for constructs, undead etc that's not why i made this post i just feel that generally speaking outside of PvE death arrow was kind of lack luster and if that's the case what do we got? 3 fireball arrows and a hail of arrows. can't say seeker arrow is really a boon because AB isn't really an issue so a guaranteed hit isn't exactly an amazing function.

[Dyndrilliac]

Turns out I was wrong about the undead/construct thing anyway. I was able to use Arrow of Death successfully on both undead enemies (the advisors in Ozban's quest line and their protective skeleton warriors) and construct enemies (Akon's guardian, Sandman, and all the mobs in shrines 1-6). Those mob types don't have CON scores (CON of zero) - or at least they shouldn't based on D&D 3 rules - so they should automatically succeed the save since they don't have the relevant attribute. I can't find a reference online to the relevant D&D 3.0 rules, but the d20 SRD (which is the public domain parts of the 3.5 rule set) states the following for both the Construct creature type and Undead creature type (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm):

Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).

However, when I look at the NWN Wiki page for the Undead creature type, I don't find any references to similar language about these creatures being immune to effects that require Fortitude saves.

With that being the case, I think the ability is fine as is. Because even if the creature succeeds its save, it takes a huge amount of magic damage anyway. Everything I tested it on in Oasis and Underdark was either killed outright or severely wounded by it.