Long range archery. Impossible? - Page 4

That video was hilarious!!!!

Reminds me of the 20 Things to Do On Oblivion When You Are Bored. I was high when I first saw that video and laughed my ass off.

Ok, though Skyrim does have physics and all that, it is seriously messed up. All you people saying that you need to shoot at a certain angle- you don't. -.- Wherever your marker is, that's where the arrow hits- according to two different wiki's, the strategy guide, and my own experiments. I have noticed the distance glitch though- It seems like the only thing you can hit at a really long range is a dragon. I shot a dragon, and it damaged him. At the same range, I fired at a random bandit archer who (understandably) thought I was a bigger threat then the huge, fire-breathing lizard thing. It didn't hit him. I fired several more arrows before I gave up. No, the bandit was not strafing, or moving anything but his draw-arm.
On a further note: The dragon then proceeded to burn the bandit into oblivion, and got killed by some roaming Giants.

quote OakfeatherEagle-Eyes

Ok, though Skyrim does have physics and all that, it is seriously messed up. All you people saying that you need to shoot at a certain angle- you don't. -.- Wherever your marker is, that's where the arrow hits- according to two different wiki's, the strategy guide, and my own experiments.
....

Well, wiki's are edited by everyday people and are not exactly sound proof one way or another. The strategy guide . . . well guides have also been known to be incorrect also.

I'm an archer in the game. I use the bow I'd say about 90% of the time, and trust me, there IS an angle to the trajectory of the arrows. I have proved this many a time, and guess what . . . . that video on the very first post proves it as well. The arrow has a curve based loosely upon gravity. How closely it abides to the laws of physics is the question, since, it's highly difficult to tell since there are NO real standardized distances and velocities in the game.

Anyways, there DOES seem to be a max distance the arrow will travel . . . on our screen. What I mean is, the arrow will LOOK like it's still in the air traveling when we try to make it hit our target. We will see it either disappear, or go "through" the target sometimes. However, the reason it doesn't hit our targets is because it's actually hit the ground before reaching it. If you check around on the ground along that arrows path, you can almost always find that arrow stuck in the ground between you and the target. But don't count this off if you can't seem to find it, stray arrows are not exactly always easy to find, and sometimes they glitch and don't show up even though you can go right to the place it SHOULD be (proved by shooting a wall/ground within reasonable distance, and going where you KNOW it was, and yet . . . sometimes nothing)

I don't know about anyone else, but my game seems to have a kind of auto aim. No matter the distance, if i aim the dot at someones chest, thats where the arrow will hit. I don't have to make adjustments for the angle.

However, like the Op, i have to be pretty close to Dragons and Mammouths for the hit to register damage

Hmm... My character uses bows 90% of the time and I have to agree with hisservant. There is definitely a trajectory.

Just last night I had an awesome robin hood moment. I was doing the civil war questline and had just cleared a fort with fellow imperials. I noticed a storm cloak soldier fleeing into the horizon. He was running so fast that I was losing him at the edge of my visible distance.

That's when I had my robin hood moment. Drew back my bow, zoomed in, time slowed down. I calculated the trajectory and his running speed and let loose. I had to wait a full 3 seconds before I heard the thud of my arrow. I was in sneak mode as well - if that makes a difference to anyone. But I definitely aimed up - it was probably the most satisfying moment in over 100 hours of skyrim gameplay...

Best thing about this thread is the YouTube vid....someone posted a thread "what do you do when bored". Well, obviously we all know what this player likes to do. LOL

Some times I honestly believe people forget that its just a GAME!

The problem is the AI/draw distance, yes.

For those of you with the PC version, if you look hard enough you will find a fix for it.