Does archer experience have an effect on accuracy?

**Lamprey** · 07-19-2007, 22:52

I always did wonder what earning experience did for missile troops. It raises their defence/attack, but since they should generally be kept out of melee, that's not much of a benefit. In RTW it raised their ranged attack value as well, but this is not the case in MTW2.

Then I remembered that in RTW, experience raised the accuracy of siege equipment. So I wonder, can the same be true of missile troops in MTW2?

Can anyone speak for or against this? It doesn't seem reasonable that experience has no bearing on ranged effectiveness or ranged troops, since that would make a green archer unit equal to an elite one (since they should be kept out of harm's way anyway). Frankly, this seems more than a bit silly.

**imnothere** · 07-20-2007, 01:41

ok, i THINK it does. as i mentioned before, I am prone to alot dosage of accidental (un)friendly fire from own supporting units. just as well that the mercenaries and the spear-grunts that are coping most of it. but hey, you gotta have some casualties in a war!

but after getting some stripes, it seems that i am coping less from friendly fire. this is applicable to artillery - like bombard, canon and balista.

i can't vouch for the missile troops. but they do get better morale and melee stats. but i suspect increase stripes = better accuracy. this is due to my expensive xbow mercenaries disbanded, and high casualties in archers from far off land = merging. Merging depleted units loses some experience if not the same level(like mine).

**imnothere** · 07-20-2007, 02:15

forgot. not noticeable if only 1-2 stripes. but 3 stripes onward the artillery unit seems to be more accurate.

**Ars Moriendi** · 07-20-2007, 02:35

Originally Posted by imnothere

Merging depleted units loses some experience if not the same level(like mine).

Experience is never lost. It is tracked on an individual soldier basis, the display only showing the average for the unit.
Eg. if you merge 40 peasants at 8xp with 40 peasants at 0xp, the resulting unit will have 1 silver, but you'll still have the same number of master pitchfork ninjas.

About the original question, here's something posted half a year ago (and referenced in the FAQ):

Originally Posted by CaptainSolo

I did a quick test on retinue longbowmen V Scottish pikemen and checked the casualties inflicted after 5 full volleys from the longbowmen.The longbows were deployed in a wide line 2 men deep directly opposite the Scots Pikemen and were left on fire at will with no other action from me.

Retinues with no experience after five full volleys - 29 casualties inflicted.

Retinues with 3 gold chevrons under the same conditions - 61 casualties inflicted.

Even though this simple test is hardly under laboratory conditions it clearly shows that there are other forces at work with the additional experience other than the missile attack rating.

There's a lot more info on this in this forum, do some searching.

**imnothere** · 07-20-2007, 03:52

hmm, i guess you are right.

but in my situation - merged units are usually experienced and badly damaged units welcoming new unexperienced friends. i should have stated clearly at the start. So yes, if this is calculated on the invidual basis, the level 6 sergeant unit is reduce by a few levels due to new comers.