[kyoto kid]

...so I came up with a concept for an archery Adept.  Yeah, a bit of a throwback in the days of high powered automatic weapons, gauss rifles, and even man portable lasers. However the idea was still interesting as with the right grouping of skills I thought could be rather effective. For one bows are deadly silent with no muzzle flash, they have decent range for a strength powered weapon which make them perfect for sniping, they can be internally smartlinked, and there are a number of high tech arrowheads that can deliver a wide array of painful effects.

OK, so I can understand a bow being tuned for a certain strength (bows in RL are rated in pounds of pull), but arrows?

In 3rd ed bows were priced on a STR minimum, however arrows were just arrows with no "ratings" as like bullets, the were considered an expendable.

Standard arrows cost 10¥ ea, Ranger-X arrows (Cannon Companion) 18¥ ea. While CC also had different types of arrowheads each different costs that added to the base arrow, the prices were flat with no multiplier for rating. So the most expensive arrow one could get was an EX Explosive Ranger-X arrow at 68¥ ea  OK still pricey but not like a say rating 6 Monotip Head Arrow (basically APDS for bows) that costs a whopping 180¥ ea.  That's almost twice the cost of a single Depleted Uranium round.

...and there's no way to do a double tap with a bow.

The character I have been working on uses a Rating 8 bow so twenty matched Montip arrows comes to 4,800¥. That's 600 rounds worth of of APDS ammo that can go into any gun, from a holdout to a Barrett M22. Her team's face better negotiate some fat paydays just so she can stay well stocked each for job.

This is where I think the developers may have got a little carried away.

[Kiirnodel]

You know you could also go with Barbed Arrow heads on regular arrows, right? You aren't forced into buying the most expensive arrows for every job...

You're talking about buying an arrow that costs 15 times the normal amount. Yes, it is hard to make highly penetrative arrows, those things are already designed to punch hard.

There is a slight possibility that the Ares Monotip was supposed to be +30 to the normal cost rather than 30 per rating, but I couldn't tell you.

What I can say is that I've seen an Archer Adept work quite effectively, and without using the Ares Monotip, so it is by no means a deal breaker...

[Jack_Spade]

Not to mention you can actually retrieve spent arrows and reuse them.

[MijRai]

Not to mention you can actually retrieve spent arrows and reuse them.

Exactly.  The shaft might not be usable, but the expensive arrowhead probably makes it.  Plus, recovering it removes one more method of the officials tracking you down. 

[Hobbes]

Crossbows > Bows and still have that low tech flavor.  At least as much as a sci-fi material, smart linked, telescopic sighted bow could be called low tech.   

But yes, Bow users pay a heavy cost for cool.

[fseperent]

Here's an idea that might cut the cost down long term and keep you well supplied.
Take Artisan (Arrow Creation) and buy an archery shop.
You will be able to craft standard heads, barbed heads, hammerheads, and screamer heads right off the bat.
The other variants would require either more knowledge or someone that has that knowledge.

[MijRai]

Uh, not quite Hobbes.  Bows can do more damage and don't rely on an internal magazine.  +2 DV versus a reduction of AP by 1 (which arrowheads can easily rectify) if you're going full Archer. 

[Hobbes]

Uh, not quite Hobbes.  Bows can do more damage and don't rely on an internal magazine.  +2 DV versus a reduction of AP by 1 (which arrowheads can easily rectify) if you're going full Archer.

Arrowheads would work for Crossbows just fine.  AFB so it's entirely possible there is some restriction I missed.  And Bow DV is based on Str so you'd need a fairly beefy character for the bow to do more damage.  Again, could be I'm not recalling the Crossbow rules correctly.

And IMO internal magazine is a plus, not a minus.  With a Smartlinked Crossbow you can change ammo and fire on the same action pass just like you can with Bows if you want to go with the Quiver of many Tricks concept. 

Bow using character with a high Strength and Agility has the benefit of being set up for a standard melee build.  But, like any Firearms using character, the Crossbow build can pick up Shock Glove/Monowhip/Stun Baton and carry on.  As a bonus smaller crossbows are much more concealable than a bow and are legal so make a more convenient everyday carry weapon.  And freeing up the stat points from Str normally lets you Prioritize something else higher or bump up secondary stats and wind up an overall better 'runner. 

The style differences between Crossbow and Bow are cosmetic but the mechanical difference is non-trivial.  The OP is complaining about the inefficient mechanics of Bows, seems that maybe Crossbows may be a viable alternative for the character concept.  Maybe, maybe not, but certainly worth pointing out in case the OP hadn't considered them.

[kyoto kid]

Here's an idea that might cut the cost down long term and keep you well supplied.
Take Artisan (Arrow Creation) and buy an archery shop.
You will be able to craft standard heads, barbed heads, hammerheads, and screamer heads right off the bat.
The other variants would require either more knowledge or someone that has that knowledge.

..,would love to but can't, this is a Missions character and according the Missions FAQ, characters are not permitted to do their own B&R in downtime.

Ran into the same issue with my demolitions expert Leela.  All she is allowed to do is juryrig things on the fly (Juryrigging Quality) which is useful for setting boob traps and that's about it..

[kyoto kid]

Not to mention you can actually retrieve spent arrows and reuse them.

...that is a nice idea but it means sticking around the scene longer to allow the authorities to show up. This is why I consider arrows to be "expendable". She and her team members are not (except maybe to the corp which hired us).

[kyoto kid]

...using a rating 8 bow (with STR pumped), the character already has the same DV as a heavy crossbow. 10P and one less in the AP, -2 instead of - 3 (with a standard arrow).

One of the advantages however is range.  At the character's base strength (6) medium range is 60m (she has a monocle with vision mag so that effectively reduces the  range mod by one level with the take aim action) with her strength pumped up to ( it's 80m.  Where it gets even better are longer ranges 180m/240m at long (-1) and 360m/480m at extreme (-3). OK so not the 1.5 KM of a sniper rifle but in this respect superior to a crossbow.

Again, my contention is not with the bow rating, that has been around since 1st ed and again in a sense exists in RL with pull ratings. It's the individual arrow ratings which really don't make sense. I'd rather pay a bit more for a high quality bow and have the arrows all a flat price like they were in 3rd ed (didn't play much 4th ed so don't remember how it was handled there).

...oh yeah the character also has melee skill as well, and after her first mission, will be wielding a Highland Claymore as she's quite the strappin' Scottish Lass.

[MijRai]

Uh, a rating 10 arrow costs 20 nuyen.  This isn't really expensive and is reusable (unlike, say, reagents), unless someone is firing them all willy-nilly in a way as to prevent fetching them.  And there's definitely some real life comparisons to arrow 'ratings.' 

If you leave arrows behind, you leave evidence behind.  Sure, it takes a moment to grab one, but that's better than leaving bits behind in my opinion.  Generally an archer isn't firing all willy-nilly. 

[Kiirnodel]

Yeah, he's complaining because the monotip arrows are significantly more expensive. They're 30×Rating instead of ×2. So it isn't so much a problem with archery, just with that one arrow type. Answer there is: maybe that arrow isn't worth the nuyen.

[kyoto kid]

...standard arrows are fine for when the oppos are very lightly armoured.  Shoot at a guard in FBA? or even an armoured jacket with ballstic mask, you want some extra AP  to help reduce your target's soak roll as much as possible so he takes more boxes of damage.  Also as there is no burst fire with arrows, a shot can be more easily dodged unless you get a really good number of hits or get the total drop on your target. Add the Enhanced Accuracy Adept power and internal smartlink to crank that accuracy up as much as possible.

If you are sniping from say 200 - 300m away, are you going to go running up after the fight is over to hunt around for your arrows? Usually at night when your teammates are yelling you to hurry up and get in the van because someone hears a rotodrone or police cruiser rapidly approaching? 

Almost considering going with incendiary and EX arrows which would destroy the evidence.

[Kiirnodel]

Having a variety of arrows is probably your best bet. In cases where you know that you aren't going to be able to recover your arrows, you could go with the self-destructing type arrows.

If you absolutely want to have some of the Monotips on hand, I would probably only use them sparingly and in cases where you could recover them. I mean you're basically shooting mini mono-filament swords there. Those things aren't cheap for a reason.