fire arrows

**Ludens** · 07-02-2006, 23:18

Fire arrows are less deadly and/or less accurate than normal arrows, but their morale penalty makes them usefull against units that can run amok: elephants and scythed chariots (NOT against ordinary chariots). I suppose you can also use them to tip a wavering unit into a rout, but for killing power normal arrows are better.

**Byzantine Mercenary** · 07-02-2006, 23:35

thanks for the reply, i thought that fire arrows were better against armoured units, i was fighting hopolites once and using nromal arrows and barely getting any kills but when i switched to fire arrows much more got killed, i guess that must have been a fluke.

**Dominii** · 07-02-2006, 23:59

Fire arrows are better able to kill armoured units as they set the unit on fire rather than just pierce the armour, or attempt to.

The best time to use fire arrows is when you have lots of archers, especially forresters, pharoahs bowmen, archer auxilia or cretan archers due to their long range. This allows them to fire off about volleys of fire arrows which is normally enough to create fear, then change to normal arrows to inflict the kills on the enemy. If you use two archer units, one with each option, on a single enemy unit, you can thin the enemy down and drop their morale before charging your front line into theirs and then chasing the routers with your cavalry.

**orangat** · 07-03-2006, 00:09

Originally Posted by Dominii

Fire arrows are better able to kill armoured units as they set the unit on fire rather than just pierce the armour, or attempt to.
..............

What? Is that true? I think the animations shows units burning but I don't think fire arrows are better, besides most units have some sort of armor/shields anyway.

**The Spartan (Returns)** · 07-03-2006, 00:15

Originally Posted by orangat

What? Is that true? I think the animations shows units burning but I don't think fire arrows are better, besides most units have some sort of armor/shields anyway.

i dont think so. but i need better confirmation.

**Seven.the.Hun** · 07-15-2006, 09:34

as i've seen, fire arrows only have the advantage that ludens suggested...animals that go nuts...
the moral effect is a good enough excuse for you to hit anyone with one volley of them if u have time...
and i think they do not have an advantage at all against heavily armoured units...
so other than beasts and a one shot volley to ... well whoever, it is always better to not use them...they do however look 30% cooler at night

my thought is that i'd love to use them against buildings and walls made of wood, just as onagers do. and against siege equipment...
that would be 100% cooler.

**SpencerH** · 07-15-2006, 13:36

I'm just the opposite, I turn on fire arrows immediately and only turn em off once in a while. The morale effect is worth more than the loss of accuracy etc and in RTR it was the only way for archers to have any effect against forward facing units with shields.

**4th Dimension** · 07-15-2006, 18:33

Originally Posted by Seven.the.Hun

my thought is that i'd love to use them against buildings and walls made of wood, just as onagers do. and against siege equipment...
that would be 100% cooler.

Actualy, fire arovs do damage against wooden walls, only proble is you can't target the walls I think.

One time I played this fort siege, and placed my Cretan archers by the wooen walls (right by them), and turned on the FA. Later in the game I noticed that the wall infront of the archers was snocked down, but not by the enemy but it seems by their arrows, but it took allmost two units all arows to do it.
Maby it's a bug but it happened.

**The Spartan (Returns)** · 07-03-2006, 00:14

sigh i stated all the uses of fire arrows along time ago. now its lost. oh well. uses:
good for scaring elephants and scythed chariots, can tip a unit into rout what ludens said, and keeping a unit into rout by shooting them when they are routing.
penalties: takes longer to reload, and is less acurate so it kills less. (though i wish fire arrows had a bonus against armored units or kills more)

**roman pleb** · 07-15-2006, 19:17

Originally Posted by Byzantine Mercenary

thanks for the reply, i thought that fire arrows were better against armoured units, i was fighting hopolites once and using nromal arrows and barely getting any kills but when i switched to fire arrows much more got killed, i guess that must have been a fluke.

Yep. It was just random chance. Fire arrows aren't as strong kill-wise as normal arrows.

**orangat** · 07-15-2006, 20:43

The advantage of fire arrows is that it lowers the morale of the enemy. So the choice is either to thin the ranks of the enemy or lower its morale to break it.

Even when the enemy unit is no longer the target of fire arrows and recovered (no longer frightened by fire), I believe its morale is still affected for a short while after and rout more easily.