I'm trying to figure out why I'd take this card over the black arrow ranger.
Sharpshooter adds 1d6+1 to ranged combat and adds magic. Of course, this late in the game all ranged weapons I have are magic so that's kind of pointless.
The black arrow ranger adds 1d6+1 to ranged... Not ranged combat, I assume that is any ranged check, like rolling to acquire a ranged weapon. On top of that, the ranger adds the same amount to dexterity and perception.
Both cards abilities are recharge, as well as a discard to explore.
So, this late in the game, the ranger essentially does everything the sharpshooter does and more, since the add magic to ranged combat check seems to be not useful.
Just wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything. I hope I am, but I feel like something is missing.
Hey, look, an elf that's worse at something than a human :D
Because you didn't encounter a Black Arrow Ranger? Because you can have both?
Not all cards are strictly better than previous ones, even in later sets.
Couldn't disagree more. Cards from the most recent AP don't need to be better at everything than their predecessors, but they should be better at something.
How many Black Arrow Rangers are there in total? 3 I think? So if you have a group that has lots of Dexterity/Ranged characters, there aren't going to be a lot of them to go around.
Does the Elven Sharpshooter add to "your" ranged combat check or "a" ranged combat check?
Couldn't disagree more. Cards from the most recent AP don't need to be better at everything than their predecessors, but they should be better at something.Because you didn't encounter a Black Arrow Ranger? Because you can have both?
Not all cards are strictly better than previous ones, even in later sets.
All right, this one adds the magic trait. Almost always going to be unnecessary, but it's something different.
And Hawkmoon, it's your ranged combat check, sadly.
I think there are bound to be some boons that aren't "better" than what you've already got. And I think that is especially true with allies. There are lots of allies that you would probably never keep in your deck between scenarios (Mayor Kendra, Yap the Pixie, Vern Vinder) but that are still useful when you find them and for using in a scenario.
I'm just hypothesizing here, but maybe their intention was that the Elven Sharpshooter was to be an ally you'd be happy to find and use for a scenario, but that wouldn't necessarily be one you'd keep in your deck. Maybe flavor-wise they are solitary by nature and don't want to stick around with your party. (I do NOT play Pathfinder RPG, so I have no idea exactly what elves are supposed to be like).
All that is guesswork, but I'm fine with an ally not begin "better" than all the previous allies, if all we mean by better is that I want to keep it if I acquire it. After all, some of the "best" allies are still the earliest allies: Shalelu Andosana, Poog (if you got him) and for the best "just for this scenario" allies I still really like Mayor Kendra Devrin, Ameiko Kaijitsu, and Aldren Foxglove. I even really like Vern Vinder.
All that is just my personal opinion, anyone may obviously feel differently.
While I agree that not everything needs to be better, most cards that come out later are at least roughly equivalent in terms of usefulness of earlier cards that are similar. I understand why the 'special' character allies like Shalelu and Poog would still be some of the most powerful.
It just feels like the stats on the Black Arrow Ranger and Elven Sharpshooter should have been swapped. Sure, AP 3 having an ally that added magic probably would have been welcome. AP 5? *yawn* Alternatively, I expect the Black Arrow Ranger to still be very useful in the last scenario.
The solitary thing you mentioned; That's done pretty well with other allies, where to use their power you have to banish them. They're generally more powerful than allies you keep consistently, adding a unique ability.
Looking through the rest of the cards in the deck, now that bolstering armor was clarified, I understood the point of them. And I do feel that most of them are more powerful than similar cards in previous AP's. I feel all of them brought something to the table, however subtle, even if they weren't more powerful number wise.
There are a number of cards that I know I probably won't personally want to use with my character setup/playstyle. But I'm not disappointed in them, just know that they're not there for me. There are also cards that I didn't notice the subtleties that made them useful at first. It seems like adding magic to the attack is the main draw of this card, and it feels like it falls flat. This card is the only one that stuck out as being genuinely disappointing to me.
I welcome the discussion and hopefully it didn't come across as a rant. My initial post was just to make sure I wasn't missing a key point of the card, like I did when I didn't notice the change between 'your' and 'a' location on Scrying!
ugh, I'm rambling again. Would that I could actually make concise points (apologies!)
I'm just hypothesizing here, but maybe their intention was that the Elven Sharpshooter was to be an ally you'd be happy to find and use for a scenario, but that wouldn't necessarily be one you'd keep in your deck. Maybe flavor-wise they are solitary by nature and don't want to stick around with your party. (I do NOT play Pathfinder RPG, so I have no idea exactly what elves are supposed to be like).
Hawkmoon, I think that the role you describe can work well for allies. I would add Conna the Wise as another perfect example of that use. However, Conna, Devrin, Kaijitsu and Foxglove have two important differences from the elven sharpshooter. First, they are named characters, which helps them feel unique and plays into the narrative elements of the game. Mechanically, they all do something special; they aren't just bad versions of cards you already have. Yes, its true that what they might be less powerful, in some abstract sense, and you would rarely ever keep them in your deck deck from game to game, but they still have their niche.
It sounds like the sharpshooter misses the mark on both of these counts.
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The group I play in with Hawkmoon has (in terms of "ranged characters," or at least characters who might want to do ranged): Harsk, Merisiel, Ezren, Lem, and a Valeros that's keeping at least a longbow +1 in his deck. It's very easy for me to imagine that one of those characters will be stuck with a non-magical weapon even into AP5 - e.g., perhaps the Heavy Crossbow. There are just too many characters here that want ranged weapons. It could be that this Elven Sharpshooter is in here to bring characters up to a minimum level of "competency" or powers / ability, especially in a situation where the ranged weapons are being shared among a larger group than they might otherwise be.
Elves are immune to charm spells ;)