alchemist, explosive missile

[kilvehk]

does explosive missile do arrow + bomb damage or just the bomb damage?

[avr]

arrow + bomb. & if the alchemist is a grenadier, possibly an alchemical weapon as well.

[Scott Wilhelm]

You could put Explosive Missile on a Marker Dye Arrow which does no damage--Bomb Damage only. The advantage of doing that is that it would be a Ranged Touch Attack.

[Scott Wilhelm]

avr wrote:

arrow + bomb. & if the alchemist is a grenadier, possibly an alchemical weapon as well.

And while Feats like Deadly Aim don't normally work with Alchemal Bombs, they do work with the Arrows. Explosive Missile is a good way to stack Deadly Aim (and stuff) with Bomb Damage.

[avr]

I can't agree on Deadly Aim, Scott. Once your base damage is high enough taking penalties to hit in exchange for more damage is a poor move. Explosive missile with non-dye arrows should reach that level of damage and with dye arrows Deadly Aim won't work.

Also archer alchemists are feat starved.

[Scott Wilhelm]

avr wrote:

I can't agree on Deadly Aim, Scott. Once your base damage is high enough taking penalties to hit in exchange for more damage is a poor move. Explosive missile with non-dye arrows should reach that level of damage

Oh, I'm not speaking to whether it is a wise idea to try to stack Deadly Aim and Bomb Damage by using Explosive Missile. I'm just saying it can be done.

It's got to be a good idea sometimes, though. Maybe circumstances allow or demand you cast True Strike first. Might as well use Deadly Aim then.

avr wrote:

and with dye arrows Deadly Aim won't work.

No. Correct. Deadly Aim wouldn't work with Marker Dye Arrows or the Bombs attached to them. I wasn't trying to suggest it would.