Well of course it is. But I'm wondering if there is a viable character build in which a bow would be one's primary weapon. I've never tried it but I have been bombarded by hordes of dark elf's all wielding bows. Theses encounters where by no means pleasant and got me thinking if an archer build was possible. If so, wouldn't real time by the logical choice for combat considering the speed bonus you would get for firing arrows? Any help is appreciated.

The last time I played Arcanum (a couple months ago I got an urge to play it again, and so I played for a while) was with a bow wielding elf character. Bow was his only weapon and I was soloing him (well, with Dog too).

I personally was playing in turn based combat, but I had enough dexterity most of the time to be able to either get off enough shots to kill things or take shots and then back peddle during my turn.

But yeah, definitely a viable build. I didn't have any other combat or magic/tech skills, but you might want to invest in other things (maybe magic) to make your life easier in some places.

It's possible, sure, but bow-users, especially player bow-users, will always be hampered by the demand for ammunition. A character based around infinitely reusable throwing weapons, like boomerangs or chakras, might be more viable. You don't need to worry about the arrow supply/weight, and you can add your strength to weapon damage. Also, the most damaging ranged weapons in the game aren't bows. They're guns, chakras, or (if you don't mind limited supplies) grenades.

Enemy NPCs with bows can be troublesome because they give ranged support to melee units. You, as a player, don't really have the luxury of depending on your allies to hold the enemy back while you shoot them. On top of that, the enemies you REALLY don't want getting close to you (fire and earth elementals, really big demons, ogre fighters), are going to be the ones who can rush straight through your stream of arrows and knock you senseless.

So, if you're serious about being a ranged-weapon character, make sure to invest in defense as well as attack. Max out that dexterity score, increase strength so you can wear the heaviest armor, and max out Dodge. Try to recruit party members who can soak up damage on your behalf (see my NPC guide for details).

Everything is pretty viable in arcanum but if you are going to go archer i would recommend being techie and investing in explosives, electricity, and mechanical so you can get the compound and pyrotechnic bow, and charged rings. With only 3 points in throw and several points in explosives youll make being an archer much easier because you can get people to back off or stop moving with grenades if they get to close. Don't work about str or con too much just have enough cha to bring along sogg meadmug and let him carry around a crap load of extra arrows and youll be fine.

Thanks everyone. I've pretty much decided to go with magical aptitude for this one. I'll be soloing this time so while my character is attacking with his bow I'll be busy casting buff spells. I think this build will work well for switching between real time and turn based. Turn based will be for casting spells and while my enemies are busy being stunned, entangled or fleeing in terror, I'll switch to real time for swift kills.

This would work? Or would skills lose there effect switching between real and turn?

It will probably be fine, why not just try it out? You can always decide to use turn-based or real-time primarily if switching doesn't work too well for you.

I would think that turn-based would help with aiming your bow attacks (so you don't accidentally "mis-click" an enemy which causes your character to move instead of shooting) but others have reported liking real-time combat for gunman characters, so I'm sure it's viable.

Holding shift while spam clicking will prevent that from happening :-) I'm gonna try it out now, I suppose I just like talking sometimes.