I did a save reload test on the same enemy, and every time I hit the same enemy with a regular arrow it took out 1/2 - 3/4 of it's health, all elemental arrows only took up less than - 1/4 of their health and that was only due to some of the damage on the arrow itself, the elemental damage was practically useless because half the enemies in the game never get affected by the elemental damage from arrows. This was a direct result of the reload test I did.
Your problem is you don't even offer direct combat logs to support your argument. 1/4 hp of an enemy could range from 50-500, easily.
But you have missed some things I think. For instance my Ricochet hits 5 targets for around 120 average. So if I get 5 enemies, I just did an instant 600 damage. This is nearly double the highest damage output of anyone in my group's single attacks. We are mostly lvl 11-12, Knight, Rogue/Marks, and 2 mages. Arrow spray can shoot 16 shots, at 50 damage a pop, thats 800. It is a lot more reliable then other mid-end spells, for getting that high end dam.
Also a marksmen gets a pretty amazing ability early on, with Tactical Retreat (leap).
Lastly I think you drastically underplayed the power of special arrows. I have seen posts about fights people cannot beat, where I used a few special arrows and just controlled the entire fight. Literally charm arrow, hide, watch the other enemies rip apart themselves 1 by 1. A dunrandrea plant and an arrow head, costly? Huh. I dont waste elementals on arrows, man up and buy them if you get too low of one type. I have seemingly endless amounts, even sold off some like weakeness, speed debuff, ect. Later I found a fight I needed them badly for, so I wont have less then 2 of each type, or else im failing as an archer. Gold is so plentiful, I cant imagine this being a problem for anyone that knows how to play the game (crafting, blacksmithing, stealing).
As for making the elemental arrows, they should be expensive tbh, I think vendors should reflect that better. I have about 7-10 of each arrow type, play on hard, and fight enemies 4+ levels higher. Game is almost brokenly easy, due to my archer.
Rethink yours, I have- Bully (50% dam against crippled, knocked, slowed enemies), Guerrilla (double damage out of stealth, which dont work with abilities sadly), Quickdraw (1 ap off range attacks cost). I promise you its worth the wait, im not even full marksmen (bow is only 2 points), balanced attributes (8str, 14 dex, 11 perc, 8 con- roughly is his stats). To wear heavier armor, still do solid dagger damage, and can survive a little damage if I dont get off one of my several get out of jail free cards, and a decent ranged damage/crit.
Could also be my bow, I have a lvl 11 legendary bow like 150 + 20 restrung standard damage, 25 water, 45 fire (joshua spice). And bunch of bonuses on it that I need. For the most part, I can get a consistent 150 hp basic hit. Doubled when in stealth.
Whoa, i just rambled on for a hot minute.. Basically I wish I went a more pure archer with my guy, because he has always been the clutch player who pulls us out of a certain end. Dont lose all faith in your archer yet.
