ARROWS Tier List - For Archers and Non-Archers Alike! - BG3 Honour Mode Guide

Rating every special arrow and unique ammunition in Baldur's Gate 3! From the situational to the incredibly powerful, arrows can be used to swing combats in your favour in dozens of ways - even if you're not an archer at all!
Detailed analysis and guide to potions and their uses!
0:00 Intro
3:10 Acid
7:19 Fire
9:34 Ice
12:20 Lightning
13:45 Arrows of Slaying Overview
16:39 Beast Slaying
17:28 Construct Slaying
18:50 Elemental Slaying
19:40 Fiend Slaying
20:25 Monstrosity Slaying
21:26 Undead Slaying
22:08 Aberration Slaying
23:22 Dragon Slaying
24:18 Humanoid Slaying
24:59 Darkness
28:47 Ilmater
32:10 Roaring Thunder
34:56 Arcane Interference
38:43 Many Targets
42:25 Salving
44:39 Smokepowder
48:01 Transposition
51:04 Summary and Outro

[@MyanRiller]

Great, now I just need to stop saving the arrows for the "next" fight where I'll really need it.

[@1ricky4dias7]

saving it for bg4

[@Christopherhferguson]

I feel seen.

[@FaeMagic]

Use then when you can’t sneak attack and you need more damage

[@theossy]

The most relatable comment on KZbin

[@spectrum838]

Buy them every time you see them and use them basically every turn, I had the same issue until I literally just started buying out every vendor on sight

[@rubymaes9006]

Don't forget that these slaying arrows are also very nice to sell in the late game after you've forgotten to use them every friggin time

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Extremely accurate

[@Nokaret]

What is this 'selling' you mentioned? Just go shopping as Astarion - he gets the best prices 🤑

[@meliannhawke3318]

Arrow of Many Targets: It bypasses Sanctuary, if you hit a target next to the one using Sanctuary. Incredibly helpful!

[@nothisispatrick6528]

Does anyone know what dangerous elements he is talking about in act 1?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yes! I meant to mention that but forgot - they can also hit invisible enemies!

[@meliannhawke3318]

​@@nothisispatrick6528 SPOILER Maybe the Mud Mephits and Wood Woads in the swamp?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

@@jamesbailey5350 The "L" in trying to correct someone's pronunciation with your specific regional pronunciation in a reply to an unrelated comment is the other kind of L

[@JuiceMandem]

@@Cephalopocalypse trust, and the L in salving isn't silent. another L 🤣🤣

[@vasiliskalaitzis2484]

Roaring thunder is extremely underrated, it shouldn't be anywhere bellow S or A tier. Even with such low DC, it can push back targets that cannot be targeted, throw off the cliff multiple targets at the same time and gives the ability to everyone in your group to push back targets from bigger distances than gust of wind and without wasting spell slots. They also have better control over the position everyone will be thrown (in the video it states that you are supposed to hit the target which is NOT how these are meant to be used). A fighter can throw 3 of these arrows per turn, meaning that even strong targets will fail the SAVE and die. These can make the slayer, balthazar and so many other fights so much easier.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

It's possible I should have been more clear in what I was saying - it's not that you're supposed to shoot them at enemies, it's that if you do, you can't usually use the knockback, and if you don't, you're losing out on damage. In your example of a high level fighter, you're probably giving up on 100-200 damage for a small chance to knock enemies back - why not just attack them? It will just kill them faster. The sanctuaried bhaalists *are* a real use case, but by that point in the game you'll have way better tools to deal with them (including either smokepowder or many targets arrows if you want an arrow-based solution)

[@jeffreybond9327]

​​@@Cephalopocalypse Hmm. I mean, you can certainly use the knockback effect if you are shooting a creature. Not sure about console, but on PC you can fine tune the direction the enemy will fly based on where the arrow is placed on the enemy's body (and get minor adjustments on nearby enemies too). Between move speed and arrow placement, you're getting at least a 60-90 degree aiming arc to send the enemy flying. If there's a ledge nearby an enemy, it's just a ~50% chance to just kill the enemy on hit (so you can redirect the rest of your attacks elsewhere). Can blast them into other walls/hazards as well. Definitely think this one is being slept on too, especially considering arrows that are good for 1 or 2 fights are ranked much higher. It's normal damage, but with a chance to instantly kill the enemy if there's a chasm nearby (and there are lots of chasms in the game).

[@0utskirtsOfNowhere]

I mean i usually use them to knock enemies off of high ground or into hazards 😅 maybe its not optimal but its hilarious so i always stock up

[@plain_simple_garak]

While robbing every merchant blind of all their possessions, I always snag their arrows too, because those are good to hoard in my box in case I ever need them one day

[@meekrab9027]

I prefer to shove the merchants' possessions in a backpack and then juggle the backpack until the items are in my backpack. >:]

[@chinaman1]

One day...

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

I put them in the box I keep right next to my bucket of fish full of the inhabitants of the goblin camp from act 1. I'd bring them with me, but I need inventory space to hold all the cultists of Moonrise Tower and stuff them into this barrel. But of course, nothing compares to the Heavy Chest full of Ornate and Gilded chests full of miscellaneous, unsorted weapons, armor, and junk I pull out then slam down on some merchant's counter before extorting them for every single gold coin, healing potion, camp supply, and moderately intriguing magic item they have. By the way. For whatever reason, merchants seem to put containers of items into their personal inventory instead of wherever shop inventory goes. If you know in advance which merchants you're going to ice later (or just male some good predictions), you can sell that crate of goblin weapons like 4 or 5 times. Just. Picking the half ton crate off the corpse is sometimes difficult...

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

"one day"

[@ricardodamacenafilho4049]

Me with the magic scrolls Im a rougue cosplaying mage

[@kainepeterson6638]

I’ve been able to reliably reproduce this, but if you have surprise and the auto-crit from assassin, EVERY SINGLE DAMAGE INSTANCE of arrow of many targets is a critical hit. So you crit on the initial hit, all the riders, crit on the second target plus all the riders, crit on the third target plus all the riders, and the fourth target as well. With Titanstring and Giant Elixir, strange conduit, the gloves that give sneak attack force damage, the sword that gives +D6 Necrotic damage on enemies that haven’t acted yet, elemental weapon from the drake throat Glaive, and sharpshooter I’m doing absolutely NUTS damage. 70+ damage per target, and with action surge or war priest charges I’m doing that 2-3 times on the first turn of combat. NOTHING can stand up to that kinda damage.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

yep, the critical bug with many targets is just completely busted (on top of the arrow's intended effect *already* being completely busted)

[@radiantflux1432]

The arrow of transposition was a life saver in Act 3 when I had to rush around under a strict time limit.

[@slkrsmobile]

I've never thought once to use those arrows in that encounter! ty lol

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep exactly, the main use is to teleport really long distances in a single turn!

[@franciscoimperial8513]

One of my favorite things to do with the elemental arrows is to shoot with frost, fire, then lightning. That way, the enemy gets possibly proned, wet, and then takes double damage from lightning.

[@doloresabernathy9809]

good idea!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yes! I actually talk about this exact combo in the video, it's awesome

[@bopeton]

I love using Roaring Thunder in the Moonrise assault to get the archers out of the rafters and make them fall all the way down to the floor and take a ton of damage. That's about it.

[@jayellgee]

Disappointed to see no Arrow of Sparrow Slaying. Looking forward to watching this one.

[@sephikong8323]

Mao Zedong approved

[@Playingwithproxies]

He must have missed this OP arrow 😢

[@jayellgee]

@@Playingwithproxies I buy it for flavor, love that kiddos rip-off items.

[@justforplaylists]

Probably for the reason mentioned at 2:56.

[@jeepersmcgee3466]

​@@justforplaylists good point, surely its omission is strictly because it's unique. If we couls stockpile those, the game would be way too easy

[@Krater84]

One advantage of arrow of Ilmater is that is NOT an area effect, and can be fired into melee with no problem.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

This is very true!

[@MiltonianPhysicist]

I think I would add my voice to the comments calling for Roaring Thunder to be higher than D tier. Basically, on PC, moving the mouse, you can choose to hit "different" parts of the same enemy, still getting the damage but getting a different angle to potentially move that enemy. This had made arrow of roaring thunder a regular default of mine for certain high stakes fights (e.g. underdark boat fight, Nere/Duergar fight, can use while clearing out moonrise towers main floor on archers in the rafters, etc.). That said, I think intelligent use of them for the normal amount of damage plus the chance to reposition is just strictly better than, say, arrow of lightning. Certainly not competing for A or S tier though.

[@sgtreid7659]

Agreed. Having an arrow that can do several character-turns worth of clearing whatever chaff is shooting at you from rafters, higher cliffs, another boat, or whatever is worth the price of admission. They also usually don’t have loot you need so there’s only a small price to pay for seeing a bunch of enemies fall to their certain death is just. So. Satisfying.

[@seosoos]

Probably the best Moment I had in this Game was when I fought Karniss in my Honour Mode run. He was the only Enemy left and had just cast sanctuary, so I couldn’t think of anything better than shooting a rolling Thunder Arrow next to him. It completely yeeted him off the Roof he was standing on, killing him although having around 80 health left. Had me completely shook for a Moment.

[@sgtreid7659]

@@seosoos so you Katniss’ed Kaniss? I’m not even sure I’ve got references right.

[@Kailokel]

I never considered acid arrows being worth using with any regularity. Really feel like you've uncovered a hidden gem; thanks!

[@meekrab9027]

Most builds won't have any trouble hitting enemies except for the very early game, where they're quite useful.

[@mythjellies1487]

arrow of transposition much more useful on a monk character who has more use for bonus actions rather than attack actions

[@williamking7800]

Very true. One character where half of an action is definitely less cost than a full bonus action.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

For sure! Very important point

[@henriquealves5740]

And if you fire an arrow you can make the extra attack still.. Or am i wrong?

[@skylerdama]

@@henriquealves5740yes, you can

[@SaHaRaSquad]

@@henriquealves5740 Yes, extra attack works on melee, ranged and throws. So even if you throw a potion to heal an ally you still get an extra attack from it.

[@saintinel]

For me is the Roaring Thunder very helpful to eliminate the helpers of Orin. So I think the D-tier is chosen very low.

[@the_snobot]

I think that's literally the only fight I've ever used them in, and it's against enemies who have Sanctuary so you can't directly damage them anyway. Super niche case in a single fight, and generally underwhelming everywhere else. D-tier seems fair, especially since Gust of Wind will knock those helpers off without the DC-12 save.

[@saintinel]

@@the_snobot Hmmm... Apparently I missed that Gust of Wind -option. Thanks for this advice. :)

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yeah! I think that's pretty much their only real use-case in the game (some people have mentioned the Nere fight, but I think that's mostly trauma from being knocked into lava themselves :P). By that point you should have much better tools to deal with those enemies though (including smokepowder arrows and many targets arrows if you want an arrow-based solution)

[@tylertyrell]

I haven’t watched yet but Many Targets is SSSSS, it carried my HM run so goddamn hard

[@wasienka]

Yeah, arrow of many targets on a character that has a bow with cold damage (via drakethroat glave) and the snowburst ring is too good. Not just awesome damage but great control too. So many proned enemies.

[@andrekperez]

@@wasienka Amazing combo, been using this on my current run and it's so funny and powerful lmao.

[@lolmanmagee2785]

i think you are doing a disservice to the ilmater arrow, because some fights have healing numbers that are extremely high. myrkul for example heals for about 50~, that is from my experience much more than a typical undead slaying arrow and denying that amount of healing can single handedly carry fights that do it. and i dont think its really comparable to the bone chill cantrip because not only is it a attack action instead of a cast action, but also it just happens along with the normal attack while a caster would need to interrupt their plans for that turn to cast it, the level of ease that archers can do it with essentially means if you have a archer in your party no enemies can heal for the entire game.

[@rolancritz1853]

Your breakdowns continue to be super helpful in understanding all the details that are built into this wonderful game! Thanks for all your great work!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much! I appreciate the kind words :D

[@slaminjaminotter7286]

Love these consumable lists, I always learn so much valuable information! The elixir video actually changed the way I play the game, thinking of how my characters will use their “elixir slot” is much more efficient than trying to remember which one to use for when I’m in a tight spot

[@ericfritz4142]

Arrow of Ilmater also has no saving throw and therefore always does an extra 1d4 damage on a hit in addition to blocking healing.

[@brandonbutler334]

Ceph I need you to rank the different camp supplies next

[@mcbiohazard892]

Salami S rank because it's the only one you can use to bludgeon people with for 1d4 damage.

[@AverageJohanson]

Playing with 4x camp supply cost? Do you hate yourself?

[@Al0neStillAlive]

​@@AverageJohansonIf you pickpocket a lot that wouldn't even be much of an issue.

[@AverageJohanson]

@@Al0neStillAlive Camp supplies have never been an issue for me even without pickpocketing. I also only use the camp supply bundles too.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Poutine > Banana > Roast Dwarf Torso > Cheap Wine > Everything Else

[@LordAryu]

Acid arrows are especially useful if your melee characters are running GWM. That -2 to enemy AC really helps with landing those big hits more consistently

[@Akaenai]

When using the Titanstring bow, the illmater arrow also reapply your strength modifier an additional time to the damage. Assuming you are using a strength elixir this mean 1d4 +5 they can also safely be used against opponent even if you have melee teammate in there without the risk of friendly fire. One of my most used arrow for act 1 & 2.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Interesting! Does that work on honour? Most of the DRS bugs like that got nerfed on honour mode, so if they missed that one that's good to know!

[@Akaenai]

@@Cephalopocalypse Yes it worked on honor mode as of May 2024 when i got my dices.

[@meekrab9027]

I'm pretty sure the Titanstring bow applies +strength to any additional damage arrow. Maybe not the Smokepowder but the elemental ones for sure.

[@joshhobbs4862]

I love using the arrows of Ilmater against baddies who aren't hostile yet, talking my way out of that assault then immediately shooting them again

[@Cephalopocalypse]

That's a cool idea! That prevents the autoheal out of combat I assume? That's kind of awesome

[@jmooj]

And yet, the ENEMY with Roaring Thunder arrows somehow always manage to kill half the party, including inexplicably the character with the HIGHEST strength. I swear, the computer cheats with that freaking arrow every time.

[@02091992able]

The Death Shepards can't be silenced and apparently can bring back ghouls an infinite number of times even though you burnt the corpse. Which if a corpse is burnt you can't use speak to dead on a corpse. "Too damaged".

[@Chronal-Rend]

​@@02091992able The way around this is you pick up their bodies😂

[@roxze772]

Roaring thunder arrow will always be S tier in my book because of the slayer fight in act 3. I had run out of aoe and thats the only thing that kept me in my honour run. deals very well with targets that have sanctuary on them.

[@oreolamp5676]

The arrow of transposition has one very specific usecase that you didn't mention, that i find comes up almost every single encounter: The ability to teleport your Barbarian who wants to use their first bonus action of combat to rage right into the face of the enemies. Since barbarians also get extra attack, this often lets you get out a much higher-value melee attack on the first turn of combat, and is especially valuable for tiger barbarians who can just immediately bleed 3 enemies, giving them disadvantage on con saves as well as activating all the other effects that apply when attacking bleeding characters, such as BOOOAL's benediction or some aspects of the beast etc.

[@Lavamites25]

I understand the reasoning for the roaring thunder arrow being D, but I find so much utility out of these personally. Even if it forgoes damage, I often do the ground target to push enemies off of cliffs. Even with the low save DC, getting 2 or 3 attempts per character (past level 5) makes it pretty likely that at least one of them knocks an enemy off a cliff, killing them instantly. While Thunderwave, Gust of Wind, or shove can do this with better action economy, the ability to do this from range gives a lot of utility to the roaring thunder arrow and makes it B tier for me personally. Not that I'm saying your reasoning is incorrect! Just that I personally go to use these a lot.

[@tawniplays]

arcane interference is so good to break concentration on balthazar's cloudkills. thats where i mainly use those, its really useful for that

[@jameswoods5015]

Really love all the content! Your videos have been so helpful and fun to watch!

[@Nexolez]

Roaring Thunder is S tier bro. Crazy good for knowing enemies off or where you want them to be for AoE

[@onthaloose7521]

A couple of things: the arrow of arcane interference does eork, but only if you’re before the targeted enemy in initiative, which will cause them to be silenced on their turn. Secondly, arrow of many targets can hit enemies in sanctuary if they’re near the original target as it works like an aoe. (It even hit invisible creatures, tho idk if that’s intended). Cheers mate.

[@vlunt300]

Literally a perfect tier list video cos u time stamped it

[@travishartzler9155]

First playthrough I eagerly gathered every kind of arrow and ended up with huge stockpiles because I never used them. Now I don't go out of my way to get them, but sometimes use them.

[@scottbyers9258]

Just finished up a solo gloomstalker/assassin playthrough with heavy arrow usage and it was so much fun. Sneak in with an arrow of many targets, invis, repeat. Packs just fall over. I think i did the whole goblin camp with them only getting a total of 4 attacksin before i was able to sneak/invis away. Highly recommend, so fun.

[@ImNotMe1337]

Now, make a tier list of dipable surfaces :^]

[@SuperHansburger93]

Dragon Slaying arrows are mostly useless. You will face only TWO dragons in the entire game, assuming you take on Ansur, unless you also piss off Qudenos, for some reason. And the dragon at the top of the netherbrain, you don't even need to fight at all.

[@eirh]

The slaying arrows are really straining your (reasonable) policy to not mention spoilers. Putting Dragon Arrows in A tier when there are 2 fights against Dragons (one of which you can also use the cheaper Undead slaying ones) is a bit of a stretch to me.

[@JayTheDragonKing]

needed this

[@maxchrysler7925]

I used the many targets arrow for the first time today and it did multi crit. I was blown away!

[@yourfriendlach]

Elemental arrows can also reveal invisible enemies if they take damage Maybe not the most resourceful but makes some fights a lot easier

[@himawarimanjushage9735]

This video made me use the special arrows in Act 2 after I spent hours robbing each one I could find in Act 1. Definetely made combat more fun.

[@EarthLettuce]

The arrow of many targets can be powerful for Crowd Control as well. I ran Astarion with the gloves of power, and bow of the banshee. Using things like drow poison, an attack could have a chance to bane, knock out, and frighten 4 enemies.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep exactly - the on-hit effects being multiplies is just so ridiculous

[@SirPeanutTheFirst]

Top tier content to eat sth with. Do all the items tier lists like armor tier list ring tier list... too ;D

[@derekmaldonado4672]

I use darkness arrows to steal from vendors since the area of effect is much smaller than darkness spell. You’re obscured while attempting to steal and you’re able to steal a few times while in turn based mode.

[@nicholaskersey3771]

Love your videos!! Just wanted to point out that Hat of fire aquity and scorching ray is the fastest way to build arcane aquity stacks!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks! Yep, that's one of the ways to get to max stacks instantly

[@kd0079]

Roaring Thunder is situationally useful. Very Handy in pushing enemies off the high edges and it comes by quite easily too.

[@gremmythoumeaux4455]

the way i mostly used roaring thunder and ilmater\lightning ones....literally saved the day every damn time....this list is....something

[@Cephalopocalypse]

You'll be really impressed if you try the good ones then!

[@Xindiel]

silence isn't inconsistent in stopping reaction spells at all, it is completely consistent with what spells it prevents, those with a verbal component

[@TheYak2266]

I find transposition arrow is very good on non-archer high AC tank builds, especially combined with Sentinel and any "damage on miss" equipment. you can use your movement & the bow to position your tank character in tight concentrations of enemies. it just lets you get up close and personal quickly.

[@slkrsmobile]

I must have gotten lucky in my runs because I'd rate the thunder arrow way closer to the top. It is my most used arrow because it's so prevalent and easy to knock a few enemies off into oblivion. Typically open with that and then let the melee guys deal with who's left. Obviously the bomb is better, but way harder to obtain. Thunder does work in all the acts. Darkness is spot on at the top though.

[@andymci3246]

roaring thunder, bard flourish push, battlemaster prone/push is how i discovered the much fun sport of using bhaalists for bhaal ball. monstrosity good for one boss fight. many targets sooo broken

[@davidwagner3710]

I can't believe you didn't mention the arrow of sparrow slaying. Always a priority buy for me at last light inn

[@Cephalopocalypse]

The most important of all!

[@ayyomanson]

You may not have mentioned that poisons, damage riders and enhancements, and conditions are all transferred through the different arrows and onto any damage surface left behind.

[@Aya-mo3fb]

rip I wanted to know where the single available arrow of sparrow slaying would place 😅

[@brylythhighlights4335]

Arrows of Darkness are **incredibly** strong on builds that run hexblade/fighter crossclasses - everyone had devilsight and 3 ranged attacks, and you can put out darkness without spell slots or concentration! Getting everyone on eldritch night gives you even more darkness casts :D

[@TornadicTitan17]

the arrows of roaring thunder should be higher cause the first time one of my characters died was when Gale got thundered into a lava pit. >:( Also lost an honour run cause the whole party was trying to sneak past an archer I didn't know had an arrow of roaring thunder and we were standing next to a precarious ledge.

[@plain_simple_garak]

Yes those duergar archers in the Nere fight completely ruined my day with these on my first honor mode run. They seem to work better for the AI than for players

[@Galardomond]

Yeah, roaring thunder should be at least B: Situational one hit kill & AoE preparation for non-casters is sooo good. I used them on my shadow monk, who almost always went first, a lot of times: Teleport into a good position, knock 2 more enemies into a pile, on higher levels shoot another arrow - then the caster comes in with Fireball, blizzard, whatever.

[@kinggamereon653]

Yeah, they effect my positioning in the Nere fight so much.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

They're much better against the party since PCs will tend to have minmaxed stats, so Gale will often have a very low str save and can fail a DC 12. Enemies tend to have pretty good str saves and even ones with a +0 pass the save 45% of the time - for me, that kind of failure rate just isn't worth it!

[@Flaywind]

I guess I shouldn't have used a Roaring Thunder arrow against Ethel while my friend was in the cut scene with her and knocking her into that bottomless chasm in her huts basement bypassing that boss fight entirely.

[@joerundell8197]

Thanks good subject matter that I haven’t seen anyone else address.

[@skywares]

Duuude I will watch every single one of these I learn something literally every video!!

[@joeking3057]

The best way to use a roaring thunder arrow is to reposition yourself. Use it on a cleric to reposition an open hand monk or something. It can save your damage character wasting action economy to disengage. It’s best used in the same turn as your free disengage. It’s way better than healing your monk or casting a protective spell because it’s free economy and then you can use your movement to reposition after.

[@Eevee3171]

Dude, the Ilmater arrow is so clutch. I was fighting the lava elemental and i couldnt do any damage because of its healing that let it heal up to 120 hp per turn. Shot it once with the arrow and the rest was a piece of cake.

[@doloresabernathy9809]

If you do coatings it would be great to note any interactions with the special arrows like oil of combustion and oil of freezing.

[@peterhansen6853]

The good thing abiut fire arrows is that I oftentimes use them when I for some reason forgot a few explosives next to an enemy and they need some ignition. Makes me technically kill Ansur with 1 Fire Arrow.

[@mxmadifae]

Another great tier list for BG3 in the bag! Curious though: several times you’ve said “having [blank] arrow on each character…” yet the magical pockets mechanic allows any character to use an item from another other character’s inventory. Ergo wouldn’t dividing the stack among the party be unnecessary?

[@aviendha1154]

Acid arrows will also explode things that go boom. Learnt that the hard way. I don’t think they explode liquids like wine, but they def will explode those glass fire bottles.

[@slaminjaminotter7286]

Worth mentioning that the arrow of transposition CANNOT be used as your extra attack! I am not sure if you get an extra attack if you use it first, but if you have attacked once and are on your extra attack it won’t let you fire this. At least, it hasn’t for me in the past.

[@adityaflashraj]

Disagree about the thunder arrow. It's easily saved by the important enemies but it's incredibly useful in dispatching the minions in a huge bunch. Normally they are week and you could shoot them one by one by one thunder arrow takes care of most of them since so many fights are on cliffs and stuff.

[@andybodle7560]

You didn't mention how coatings work with arrows of many targets. AMT + drow poison = GG

[@Cephalopocalypse]

I did mention that all on-hit effects work, but I definitely could have spent more time on it! I just didn't want the video to turn into 15 minutes of hyping up many targets arrows :P

[@aviendha1154]

Immater arrows are usually the ones I sell unless I’m desperate. Most characters don’t heal, unless your fighting a group that has a labeled cleric, like the flaming fist guides, your waiting to see if they heal before you use the arrow. I normally just have 1 for each character and I’ve never brought any.

[@rwulf]

I swear most of these KZbin tier lists purposefully rank things incompetently as possible just for rage engagement comments. Like this one.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks for the interesting and useful feedback!

[@joshuaforce9939]

One sidenote about the arrow of ilmater: I often use this as a tiny bit of extra damage, especially at the start of the game on my rogue character in combo with invisible Shovel, therefore keeping Shovel out of battle, but still dishing out a tiny bit of extra damage with the arrow AND getting the guaranteed sneak attack. This is not really possible with the other basic arrows as they do an area of effect, damaging shovel and thus pulling him into combat.

[@dimKiriyenko]

In addition to all what you said, Arrow of Many targets bounces can hit enemies in Sanctuary, which in one certain encounter where the main enemy is surrounded with those who buff her while staying in sanctuary make that encounter just a joke. Totally imbalanced consumable. And you can stack infinite amount of them in creche (I don't know, maybe even earlier, but cheche trader is the first one I can think of).

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yes! I meant to mention that but forgot - they can also hit invisible enemies!

[@Turantula]

Tactical spoiler for the end of Act II: . . . . . I tried using Arrows of Ilmater on the Avatar of Myrkul at the end of the second act, because I knew he would devour those Necromites and I didn't want him to heal from that. Unfortunately, it turns out that the healing technically happens on the sacrificial Necromite's turn, and since the Bone Chill effect stopped at the end of his OWN turn, the Avatar of Myrkul was totally able to benefit from that healing. At first I thought the arrow was glitched out or something, but when I reviewed it afterwards I saw the order of operations. So, I guess the short version is: Don't bother with Arrows of Ilmater during the Avatar of Myrkul fight in particular, they will not prevent his healing because of the way the healing happens (through no fault of the arrows' own). [EDIT] Unless you can apply it *after* Avatar of Myrkul's initiative (but before the Necormites)

[@DieGurke_]

The arrow of Fiendslaying is SS Tier for a Certain Handsome Devil Boss Fight

[@1AmGroot]

Where is the Arrow of Sparrow Slaying???

[@grittywaffle]

hell yeah

[@ianwinter514]

the one time i needed to use a transportation arrow i only had an extra attack left but the game wanted my full action for the arrow and said no. was quite infuriating.

[@audreyb1269]

I don't know if this is the same issue, but there's a bug that prevents you from using special arrows as an extra attack, when they are inside a bag in the inventory. I had the issue for most of my first run, but when I put them at the top layer of the inventory, I was able to use them.

[@ianwinter514]

@@audreyb1269 i am messy with arrows, so no bag involved

[@AndrewNoFiction]

Can I please say thank you? Your builds helped me to finally finish honor mode this weekend.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Nice, congrats!

[@Dlnqntt]

I have never used the Salving Arrow, thus placing it D tier for me, and have used many a Roaring Thunder to end or shorten fights near ledges, pushing that one up to B tier.

[@yourfriendlach]

Lightning not making a surface can also be good if your fighter/barbarian is right beside the enemy

[@NKMitch42]

The one fight Arcane Interference feels excellent in, if you dont have silence for some reason, is Lorrokan. It stops that stupid elemental retort.

[@peterhstadt1081]

I too do like Darkness but I was surprised at least 2 times in honour mode by enemies being able to throw bombs or stones into it: Yurgir's Merregons and Goblins. Merregons have Devil's Sight, so no hiding in Darkness from them. But Goblins only have Darkvision. I created a bug report and they are looking into it.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yeah, there's some weird issues with darkness still - the game's lighting engine is incredibly buggy. My (completely unsubstantiated) theory is that the darkness effect sometimes intersects either environmental lighting or hidden level geometry and leaves little tiny holes in the protection effect, then the enemy targets your exposed elbow or something like that. The downsides of an analog rather than grid-based combat system!

[@ColossalRay]

Dude the doppelgangers are monstrosities and there's several encounters with them in act 3

[@MichaelHaneline]

My main issue with all the arrows that create hazard surfaces is that the moment battle is done all my companions will go out of their way to walk through those surfaces 😡

[@vvayne5494]

At level 3, I defeated the level 5 Matriarch Spider with a single shot using a thunder arrow. I knocked it down a hole and got the trophy Pest Control.

[@jbois8424]

Ive never used the darkness arrows,i hate being blinded and usually roll drow for darkvision to help prevent i guess im just not cordinated enough for it

[@luchomedina3276]

i love lighting arrows if you have the right equipment or are a storm cleric

[@cryamistellimek9184]

I remember when I made the Ethal fight so much easier when I fired an ice arrow at the one I thought was her out of her clones. She slipped and Karlach got to wail on her with a speed potion and dropped her down enough for her to surrender.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep - it's just so powerful when it works that even with the low DC it's still busted

[@ericdziubekmaelynngawlak15]

You said silence isn't consistent. Is it possible they were just casting spells that didn't have verbal components?

[@alexmashkin863]

What are dragon fights? I can think of two, and I can imagine being able to get one more with specific choices

[@isaz2425]

I think you got it. there are not many dragons in the game.

[@alessandrogarofalo9951]

Ice arrows are definitely S+ tier. You can double the cold damage on wet enemies, so you deal 4d4 extra damage and can create a much greater ice surface if you casted water. Same for lightning arrows, probably S tier on water surfaces (the electrocuted damage is doubled too). Fire arrows are meh, too much enemies resist to them, and you practically just use them to fire explosives.

[@rar679]

Do these still help your barrage dual crossbow flourish bard or only when like out of inspiration charges for the flourish DMG wise? Obv the two AC reduction and such is helpful

[@rar679]

Guess probably depends on encounter

[@ThanhLai5]

[Spoiler alert] Arrow of Roaring Thunder can push the cultists in Orin's encounter off the cliff. You can attack those cultists from the furthest distant without triggering Orin. If you attack Orin without those cultists chanting, she will have ZERO Unstoppable charge.

[@doloresabernathy9809]

Thanks for this!! i’ve been looking forward to it. i’m sad about lightning arrows not being good because I tend to enjoy causing lightning damage and i didn’t notice they were not hitting. i usually use them against wet enemies. But I believe you. i’m sad about arcane interference too - i had no idea about the silence wearing off at the start of the enemy turn. i thought you get one whole turn of silence. i had no idea how useful the arrows of slaying are with damage riders. one note: you mentioned stacking arrows on specific characters but it seems to me like bg3 allows you to fire arrows from any character in your party. It took me awhile to figure that out. am i right about that.? Some might consider that contrary to role playing or TT rules, or an exploit, but all items can be passed around in inventory for free so I think it’s intended. Like a single party inventory. I think there is an exception if the arrows are in a container, but I’m not sure.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yeah - the way the arcane interference arrow doesn't actually work I think is pretty bad - it's so easy for it to trick players! I think a lot of my complaints with this game really come down to the very inconsistent timing on effects - it makes it incredibly hard to predict what a spell or item actually does when every single effect uses completely different timing rules! That would be an awesome qol change! I haven't noticed it but will definitely look out for it now - like you say that would make perfect sense, thanks for pointing it out!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Tested and you're right - I've been carefully distributing my items for 100s of hours in vain................

[@doloresabernathy9809]

@@Cephalopocalypse another trap for the unwary i fell into is the Adamantine Longsword. i always get the grymforge equipment on my runs and I wanted to try something different than the usual shield and armor. the description for the longsword says “critical hits whenever it hits an object.” i thought object meant anything .. but it means “inanimate objects”. so its great if you like smashing things instead of lockpicking. Woops! But it looks cool.

[@davidhalliday7776]

Dash + Jump + Misty Step + Arrow Transport = One long distance

[@MercurialDecree]

Hey, you missed an arrow of sparrow slaying sold from the teethling kid in last light

[@1wing1]

If arrows could be used with the bard-ranged-doubleattack, id probably have used them all up by now. but like this, i choose to use bardic inspiration instead

[@violetbliss4399]

Strangely, i think it's kind of cool that bard builds feel less about the arrow and more magic, while eg ranger uses the arrows way more. Maybe not the goal but it's just a fun distinction to me. And probably also good for game breakage limiting. :D

[@DragonologyStudent]

Has anyone found any actual use for acid arrows? Anyone I shoot at won't get the acid affect, and the annoying thing about acid surfaces is once anyone leaves, they instantly lose the effect. Every NPC will get out of that surface on their turn, often meaning I lose my chance to take advantage of it

[@lonelybananana6356]

The problem i have with the acid arrow is that blood overrides acid, so if you hit an enemy with the acid arrow their blood will be underneath them and not the acid

[@cubanriot7152]

Ilmater arrows would have made the Honor Mode Kethric fight much easier, damn