Hidden archer range?

from Elemental Forums

I noticed that archers seem to have a kind of hidden range in addition to their maximum range.  If you've played Heroes of Might and Magic you'll understand what I'm talking about.  Archers in that game would only do half damage past a certain point up to their maximum range.

 

It seems that whenever my archers shoot at anything beyond 5-6 tiles they do horrible damage or miss constantly.  Bring the enemy close and they start murdering stuff.  I haven't see any indication that archers have this range penalty though.  Has anyone else observed this or am I just really unlucky?

elemental
6,708 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

The Elemental\data\English\CoreWeapons.xml states a range of 8 for both bows as it seems. But I couldn't find any further explanation:

Code: xml
  1. <TacticalRange>8</TacticalRange>

I think it's the maximum range you can target enemy units at all, as I had some battles where I was unable to attack units far away.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

It always felt like this to me but i really couldnt say.  Similarly though when my archers or casters try to fire through a hill, or when they are only halfway up the back of one, accuracy and damage seems way off.  I think elevation may have some effect as my archers on hills have always done better.  Then again, theres really no way to tell for sure is there :).  Not without trawling through the game code to find out, and i'm not that tech savvy.

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

I am not 100% sure, but it is also my impression that archers do much more damage if they are standing on higher ground. This could be because higher ground increases the range?

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Now that could be tested in practice, i'll check if i ever get a battle where i have archers on a hill with enemies at 8/9/10 range (not likely to happen lol, but i'll let you know if it does).