AB Bonus vs. X Creature and DR
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Question. I thought in NWN, an AB Bonus acts similarly to Enhancement in regards to DR. I have a bow that has +2 AB vs. Undead. Shouldn't that pierce the hides of some undead? It seems to not work on just about any undead I shoot. Or are undead special in this regard?
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I believe bows and other missile weapons are the exception to the rule as the arrows are considered to be the weapon for DR purpose.
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FML. All right, thanks for the swift response.
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Emperor nailed it. And that, essentially, is why archers in low magic worlds always suck (mechanically) against powerful monsters.
Edit: Really? Oh. Huh. Guess I've been avoiding ranged focus for a long while now for no real reason -_-
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I am afraid Emperor did not nail it.
If either a bow/sling/crossbow OR amunition have a + AB then it will work to bypass Damage Reduction.
HOWEVER As well as Damage Reduction there is also Damage Resistance. Some undead (particularly zombies or skeletons) will have a resistance to certain types of damage (Zombies to piercing and/or bludgeoning, skeletons to piercing and/or slashing for example) This reduces incoming damage of those types regardless of how magical they are.
There is also Immunity. This will reduce damage of certain types as above by a percentage amount.
If the creature you are fighting has Immunity or Resistance, then you will see your damage reduced, or (in the case of resistance and low damage output) outright blocked even if you have a +20 bow of awesome. Or Sword of awesome for that matter.
I have on many many occasions made use of ranged weapons with +AB enchantments to get passed Damage Reduction. It can be done.
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Right, I knew about the difference between the three. But yeah, now that I think about it, I recall seeing "Resistance" in the combat feed.
So AB vs. X isn't so bad, then. Except against undead. That's comforting.
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Ranged weapons definitely bypass DR if sufficiently enchanted.
But does AB bonus really equal enchantment bonus in this regard? Can any DM confirm this? -
Annoyingly, yes, it does. Bioware made a really annoying screw up here, making variety in low magic environments much harder to create.
A +1 AB axe, bypasses DR just as a +1 enhancement axe would, you just don't get the extra 1 damage (OH NO BIG DEAL OMG)
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Yup. Absolutely 100% confirmed.
And don't worry Neo. there are still loads of undead where the bows enchantment will help.
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Occasio arrows for extra damage, as well as your +Xvs undead bow should work pretty well.
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All right, sufficientl answered. Zool, leg it- I mean lock it.
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Bow ab penetrates DR, but skeletons for example have 50% slash resistance and 75% piercing resistance if memory serves, so good ol' blunt dmg is what works best. Bows and the like are not the way to go against skeletal enemies. Mummies are even worse.
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makes another suggestion to be added to metalworking for arrows…
ironfist arrow - no dam, bonus dam +d6 bludgeoning
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Small note regarding cadiz's suggestion, but good to know for DMs creating weapons:
For the purposes of damage resistance and damage immunity, all bonus physical damage is converted to the weapon's base type regardless of the type of bonus physical damage. A weapon needs the "extra melee damage: piercing/slashing/bludgeoning" weapon property to do another type of damage. For the suggested ironfist arrow, the "+1d6 bludgeoning" property by its self would be converted to piercing damage for the purposes of damage reduction, but with the "extra melee damage: bludgeoning" property the arrow would do both piercing and bludgeoning damage. In fact, you don't even need to have any bonus bludgeoning damage dice listed; having the extra melee damage property will convert all physical damage to both the weapon's base damage type and the weapon's extra melee damage type, meaning it will deal two damage types similar to a morningstar, halbred, or scythe. If I remember correctly, you can only have one extra melee damage type. A second type will override the first.
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I knew that's how weapons like the halberd operated, but I didn't know creature DR would ignore bonus damage without selecting that other option. Thanks, Rufio.
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Things like 1d6 bludgeon are only important if enhance is also used, as a arrow with +1 enhance will not stack with +1d6 piercing damage (it will not get the +1 damage as bonus damage of the same type does not stack)