Archer making good use of whip

[santamaria]

Just to see if it would make any difference, since my character has high dexterity and low strength (dark elf archer in this case), I decided to equip a whip I found lying around. Pretty normal whip, if a little bit higher damage than usual. (-4, 1d3+2) Cursed so I couldn't take it off, so I've been using it.

But gee, I get some nice bonuses to hit and damage just from my stats. I had read about them, but they feel more or less usable for high dex low strength characters. Doubt the usability will go very far into the game without wishes though. But still, it's killing things instead of neutering me.

Normal tactics are getting me +10 to hit and 1d3+9 damage at 23 Dex. Level 11 archer in UD:8 took out a crystal statue in 4 turns with that whip. The character's potential dex is 43. I want to increase this. If this char ends up with wishes to spend, I may consider certain whips.

Anyone out there make practical use of whips besides alignment adjustment?

[divij]

i think whips on archers are a tad bit gimmicky for me...i always go for a spear...orchish spear or mithril spear. as an archer, your job is to kill enemies from a distance! you are going to be using big punch in the mid to late game neways!

[mjkittredge]

Well if you get a whip of the snake and get dexterity boosted even higher that could be end game viable

[santamaria]

I did randomly happen to find (my second whip seen) a whip of mayhem (-4, 3d3+6), which I've been using for now. It's been pretty good.

I'd use missiles all the time if I had the right missile weapons, but this time around I've been finding lots of quarrels and no crossbows (except hand ones), lots of bows and very few arrows. Been using slings and melee but can't carry many rocks, so the whip comes into use a lot. It'll all correct itself in time, and I intend to get some good sling training in for now so I don't lag behind in skill levels. A hatchet and some crossbows are all it'll take to fix my ammo issues though.

I'm hoping this character finds some wishes to spend, because one will likely go to whips of the snake if there's a spare one. The dexterity bonus will benefit missile use too.

[santamaria]

And it turns out this character found an amulet of life saving somewhere. I haven't even done the dwarven graveyard, high king's tomb, pyramid, or animated forest. If I get a wish at some point, the whip might just be the first priority on my wishlist.

[Dlightfull]

what starsing are you? If raven, as an archer should be, get that RCT asap and never look back, why would you need a whip anyway? lategame your damage is coming from archery, not melee. Use that spare wish, if you have it, on carrying capacity (GoGS?) if you can't carry those rocks around.

[Moeba]

get that RCT asap and never look back, why would you need a whip anyway? lategame your damage is coming from archery, not melee

If your damage is coming from archery only, it makes no sense to switch to a 2H polearm instead of a whip + a shield DV-wise. Although the dexterity bonus (only +5 relative to whip of the snake) is nice. It's a good option, but I wouldn't say that you have to take it always.
Sure, it's safer, with no possibility of item destruction.