1.5.1/1.5.2 is playing as a horse archer decent now?

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It's been a while since I last played as a horse archer character, but I know they recently updated the skills to make horse archery for the character better (granted some of those perks don't actually work yet). Is playing as a horse archer better now? What are the pros and cons of it? I'd love to hear some opinions on this.
 
I don't know that its ever been bad playing as horse archer. Its always been one of the strongest builds, even without the working perks.

They did get most of the Riding perks working, but sadly, the Sagittarius perk, which is supposed to decrease the mounted accuracy penalty is bugged and actually increases the penalty instead, and none of the Bow perks is fully functional, so if you want to horse archer, you have to do it without the benefit of perks.
 
You just have to get used to leading your targets a bit as a Horse archer. It also helps to try and get around to the side of the enemy line and fire down the line, as it makes it easier to hit targets. It can be difficult sometimes to just get an individual enemy, but if you do it right you can charge them just like with melee but release your shot a little bit sooner as horse archer to make sure you get through the firing animation before whizzing by.
 
I didn't mean that I thought it was ever bad, just that it wasn't as good as it could be. Do you guys think playing as a horse archer is more enjoyable than melee cav in your experience?
 
That´s just personal taste I would say?!

I don´t like playing as a horse archer, I prefer playing as melee cav. Just try and see what you prefer.
 
I didn't mean that I thought it was ever bad, just that it wasn't as good as it could be. Do you guys think playing as a horse archer is more enjoyable than melee cav in your experience?
I always do a little bit of both. I like to keep a long weapon and shield (one handed or polearm - I switch back and forth) in addition to my bow and ammo. Once my troops are engaged in melee combat I like to switch to melee cav and run along the back of their line back and forth cutting down as many as I can. Keep in mind that with the way bow skill works, the aiming becomes much easier as you get to higher levels. Whatever you do, don't pick Saggitarius perk at riding lvl 100, at least not unless you feel like HA is too easy and want to make it harder on yourself lol.
 
Is playing as a horse archer better now? What are the pros and cons of it? I'd love to hear some opinions on this.

It is the exact same as it has always been.

Pros:
  1. Quick to level
  2. Not reliant on perks
  3. Easy to actively command your troops
  4. Low requirements
  5. Easy to escape a bad situation
  6. Gear weight has no effect while mounted
  7. More damage dealt with the horse's speed added to your own
  8. Outsized impact on battles

Cons:
  • Basically none since you can just get off your horse at any time
They did get most of the Riding perks working, but sadly, the Sagittarius perk, which is supposed to decrease the mounted accuracy penalty is bugged and actually increases the penalty instead, and none of the Bow perks is fully functional, so if you want to horse archer, you have to do it without the benefit of perks.
Whatever you do, don't pick Saggitarius perk at riding lvl 100, at least not unless you feel like HA is too easy and want to make it harder on yourself lol.

It's funny, because I have that perk but I never even noticed a difference. My performance is the same -- centered around twelve kills per battle (not all of them with a bow), while rarely breaking eighteen, except in sieges where I usually get between thirty and eighty.
 
It's funny, because I have that perk but I never even noticed a difference. My performance is the same -- centered around twelve kills per battle (not all of them with a bow), while rarely breaking eighteen, except in sieges where I usually get between thirty and eighty.
If bannerlordperks.com is correct, the 15% accuracy penalty is just the size of the crosshair, so it might be a case of high bow skill compensating for the penalty
 
Personally I just suggest avoiding Bows, Crossbows and Throwing weapons until the perks for them are 85%+ finished. Right now they do basically nothing and it would be a lot more fun to use them once they actually have perks. That is just how I feel tho
 
If bannerlordperks.com is correct, the 15% accuracy penalty is just the size of the crosshair, so it might be a case of high bow skill compensating for the penalty
What? I doesn't change the accuracy of the shot? It's just visual? That's silly. That probably why I didn't notice anything before I knew it was bugged.

Anyways OP, horse archer is the best and most fun to me, always has been always will be. You still want a long weapon though, like the long glaive for any normal fight. So you're a Cav and a HA, like khans guard. Hopefully they add perks soon but it's been fine without. You can do ridicules things if you're patient and practice.
 
What? I doesn't change the accuracy of the shot? It's just visual? That's silly. That probably why I didn't notice anything before I knew it was bugged.

Anyways OP, horse archer is the best and most fun to me, always has been always will be. You still want a long weapon though, like the long glaive for any normal fight. So you're a Cav and a HA, like khans guard. Hopefully they add perks soon but it's been fine without. You can do ridicules things if you're patient and practice.
What is said on bannerlordperks.com is this:

Due to a bug, this perk multiplies accuracy penalties (size of crosshair) by 1.15 (+15%), actually decreasing accuracy for the hero.

The size of the crosshair is a visual indication of the accuracy range of your shot. It is visual AND also affects your accuracy. Higher bow skill can compensate for this though as Irontoe mentioned above.
 
I didn't mean that I thought it was ever bad, just that it wasn't as good as it could be. Do you guys think playing as a horse archer is more enjoyable than melee cav in your experience?

No. Melee cav with menavlion and shield is definitely more effective and more fun than horse archer. The horse archer build in Bannerlord (even in e1.5.2) is not very accurate, the bow takes a long time to draw and fire, and damage is not great. It often takes multiple shots to kill one enemy, where you can spear most of them in one shot with the menavlion. The horse archer build is is still strong and I typically pull out my bow and arrows to harass enemy formations when they shieldwall, but in general, polearm/shield is a better and more versatile combo for mounted combat right now.
 
20 something percent of bow skill perks are implemented and I don’t know if any of those have to do with horse archery.

Check Bannerlord perks to see if any meaningful perks have been implemented since you last played as a horse archer.

I personally do not prefer horse archery; however, the very poor game design basically forces the use of a bow in order to level the riding skill.

Without exploits you can level riding over 150 in less than a year with bow.

Using a Polearm maybe you will get to 100 after 10 years.

That’s good game design.


Edit: Oh and I should mention that you don’t need to be moving to level your riding skill. Simply STAND STILL with your mount and fire your bow at enemies.

EPIC.
 
Edit: Oh and I should mention that you don’t need to be moving to level your riding skill. Simply STAND STILL with your mount and fire your bow at enemies.
Yeah, that's an odd one. I thought Riding points came from getting good speed bonuses on your hits, but apparently all you need is to do is just be sitting on a horse and you'll rack up the points.
 
It is easy enough to test against looters. Just take a new character, ride away from the looters (a negative move speed bonus) and hit them with arrows -- Riding will still power level, if a bit slower.
I noticed silly gains like 210 to 211 to 212 and so on each shot in riding, sitting stationary on horse today. This was popping massive head shots at incoming infantry as they rhythmic put shields down for no reason. I din't know what the formula is but it's pretty silly and seemed more then usual.

Melee cav with menavlion and shield is definitely more effective
Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah nope.
I mean sure YMMV, but Bow HA player character is a killing machine. A Glaive is great for killing other cav though, since they're so docile they can't really fight back.
 
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