I used the bow and arrow a lot in Oblivion, and I am certain I had an above average shot. I hit targets that were insanely far away first try, and I hit moving targets with their eratic behaviors with ease. Sorry if this bragging is annoying, but I have a big problem with Skyrim and I'm certain it's not a skill issue.

All of my short and medium range hits have been great and I'm loving my Assasin, however after spending a long amount of time trying to snipe a certain person at a far distance I finally came to the conclusion that there has to be some sort of bug going on.

I tested a still target that was standing still about 10 seconds of sprinting away. I shot extremely low and then moved just a very small bit higher and higher each time to try and get a feel for the sweet spot until I was clearly shooting too far. The target would become aware of my presence each time but nothing seemed to hit.

I found this video and I am almost certain this is the bug! Anyone else?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxmNZDhQEnY

I've noticed this too.

I even TFC 1'd when firing arrows at a distant spider just to make sure I wasn't missing, the arrows were literally in it's face, and the they just vanished when they actually "hit" it.

It's very frustrating, I prided myself in clearing dungeons at the furthest distance I could in Oblivion, now I have to basically get into detectable range just to make a shot. Whats the point in being an archer if my personal skill make no difference?

I noticed this as well. I tried sniping a mammoth, but no matter how many times I hit it (How could you miss?!) I didn't get any damage. You pretty much have to be right on its butt to do any damage, which is odd because spells behave completely different. You have longer range with spells than you do arrows.

I was hoping it was a major issue on my part, because something this inarguably gamebreaking huge getting past internal testing is very sad. I <3 my Skyrim I hope this and all of my other problems are fixed with a soon to come patch...

Yep I'm trying long range shots right now, can't seem to hit it. The arrow is right on target it appears. They do start looking for me too but can't find me. This svcksss

This is a problem.
And it shows itself in skill levels, as well.

In order to gain in archery you must damage the target. Straightforward enough, and a concept everyone can understand.
However, damaging a target with archery while in Sneak mode effectively splits the experience gained between Archery and Sneak.
Not good.
So, in order to gain the full effect of the damaging shot in Archery, one must exit Sneak and stand...becoming easily detectible by said target.
Again, not good.
It's quite easy to gain levels(perk points, actually) through sneak but not get the expected advancements in Archery.

Splitting the experience gained from a sneak shot between the two is, in my personal opinion, a mistake.
If I want all my bow shots which cause damage to help level my Archery, I cannot make any shots whilst in Sneak. Same with One-Handed.
This is counter-intuitive.
Sneak should be Sneak and damage done should count toward that weapon's experience.

If tying Sneak to the weapons was such a good idea, then one should gain weapon experience by merely having it equipped whilst sneaking.
But that wouldn't make sense.
Obviously.
So to have it split the experience gained whilst causing damage in Sneak is...

Disappointing. I was really looking forward to archery when I got the game.

I'm level 20 and both my Sneak and Archery are around level 60 and I'm quite happy with that. I haven't felt that either skill has been held back by anything. The triple damage sneak attack plus all the damage bonuses from equipment and perks means I one or two shot basically everything. It's pretty joyous. Around 15-20 though I started finding harder things and have been attacked a bunch recently, but after building my own armor and improving it my armor skills are raising (sadly!) and I'm still doing well.

I'm also seemingly capable of hitting long range targets, even hit a dragon in flight with a 3x attack from across a city. Definitely farther away than that video showed. Sure seems like a valid bug, just haven't seen it myself yet.

Well then, I might try it after all!

The only problem I have with archery is the arrows shoot a bit above the cross hair, so I often overshoot. Other than that archery is kick ass.

The arrows has an arch or trajectory, just like in real life. This is a realistic imitation of an arrows flight pattern, the same physics and principled apply to a bullet or any projectile.

I to have had this problem while trying to hit a bear. I'm not sure if this is intentional or a glitch, ranged shots seem to be a bit random to me. Also I find it annoying when objects, like walks or bits of scenery have invisible hit boxes surrounding them, have messed up many a sneak shot by hitting solid thin air. Wish we had an archery kill cam as well :'(

i have made all my shoots at the ranges i have taken (but the fact that the arrows arch on their own really messed me up at first, im used to haveing the physics applied to an arrow shot straight like in oblivion) i dont think i have shot far enough for this to happen to me but i will keep training, maybe it will maybe it wont

Yup, this one has been affecting me too. Really annoying for a long-range bowman with no health upgrades at all.

..They're bows, not sniper rifles.

This is a real problem that needs to be patched. Let's not derail the topic with complaints about skill raising and trajectory. The plain and simple fact is that after a certain distance the arrows SIMPLY DON'T HIT THE TARGET!

That's right they pass right through the enemy. This is what happens there is no arguing it, it's not an ambiguous problem anymore, and it's time for it to be fixed.

This is the one glaring problem with what amounts to easily the best archery in a game experience I've ever encountered.

Please please fix this, if an actor is rendered there is not reason for the arrow strike to not register. Even the arrows striking surfaces register, in fact enemies are still alerted to your presence and start looking for you when they should actually be dead with an arrow sticking out of them.

No More Ethereal Arrows! No More Arrow Ghosting!! Reward us snipers for our well-aimed shots and patience!

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1269030-tweaking-arrows-to-behave-more-like-oblivion/page__p__19269739__fromsearch__1#entry19269739

See the .ini alterations at the top of this thread, it's helped me a lot. No use for console users sadly.

Even with the changes there is still problems with hitting at long range, it removes what seemed like an element of 'auto-aim' that boosted the initial 50 or so yards of the arrows trajectory, making it almost laser straight. It could be that this is in fact the problem, the engine is having difficulty registering hits because of some purpose built 'feature' that Bethesda have put in for god knows what reason. We'll need to wait for the CK to come out to know for certain. Just how much it can be modified and altered will only become clear then.

For the time being though, the .ini changes provide a more realistic archery based experience.

The arc problem is only an issue at close to medium range, (just aim low, or "center-mass" as they call it) it's negligible when you get to targets that are behind the initial up-arc that they put into the bow because as players we automatically "learn" how to compensate while we play. It's just a matter of learning that extra millimeter of compensation. I actually like the stock settings for this because it makes long range shots overall more possible with less pointing at the sky (keeping your quarry actually on screen.) Ironically enough, as you said those long range shots aren't even making contact with any of the actors anyway. (passing right through them) Hahaha...how tragic.

Let's make more of a stink about this please.

I've seen several of these threads and I keep mentioning the same idea, with no real response.

I note that the archery skill tree has an Archery Overdraw perk, perhaps this perk is what's needed before long-range kills can be achieved?

I also like how Archery is currently implemented with the exception of this 'Archery Range bug.' I was trying to shoot bandits off the tower bridge between Whiterun and the Riften valley and I was able to hit the closer NPC just like usual (estimating around 100yards in-game distance) but his buddy further out on the bridge was immune to my arrows. They just passed right through him and caused him to become active.

I hope this gets addressed. Or at least hope the CK comes soon so we can fix it ourselves.

Wow, that's the smartest post I've ever seen. And what's with bows being able to shoot at all? I mean they're not guns.

I'm wondering if maybe they just remove the "getting hit" part of the AI past a certain distance to save memory.

I don't think so man, but a confirmation would be nice from someone who has maxed the perk. However if this is intended....I think it's a horrible horrible idea. I highly doubt it.



I considered this as well, however I dismissed that theory when I took into account how much is still being processed on a shot at that distance:

1. Arrows flight physics are still calculated and drawn.
2. Arrow surface impact calculations, (ricochet or embedding)
3. Arrow impact alerts enemies, and what's more the enemies always seem to go investigate area of impact, so the interactions between the arrow impact and the enemy's AI is very much intact.

I have a feeling that any processing saved by making enemies ethereal to arrows at a certain distance would be negated by all the other interactions that remain. Once again. If intention this is stupid stupid stupid.
I'm stumped.

Well based on it's description it's just a damage increase. No mention of range.

I noticed this too right away the first time I went out hunting. Trying to bring down targets downrange at large distances is impossible. The arrows just pass right through and don't register damage. I've tested this over and over and found the arrows in the ground right where the animal/npc was situated.

This needs fixing asap tbh!

The youtube video is proof positive.