Talk:Arrow of Detonation/@comment-67.183.86.95-20191022002720

These are great weapons, particularly if you know where there is a group of enemies standing still. That is to say, either they haven't spotted you yet (and you've found them with a stealthy scout), and/or they haven't turned hostile yet, but you expect them to. But as with any area attack, make sure your scout/spotter is not within the blast radius. I found it easy to take down what was supposed to be a major group of enemies by having my scout (Imoen) sneak up on them, and then hit them preemptively with three archers firing Arrows of Detonation and Xan hitting them with a fireball. All but one of the enemy party were charred remains before they even got a chance to react.

It was surprising to me that all enemies within the attack radius took both the arrow damage and the explosion damage. I would expect only the main target, who is hit by the arrow, to take that part of the damage, and then everyone in the area to take the explosive damage. I guess it makes sense, though, if you think of it as "explosion" (concussive shock wave) and then "fire," both of which encompass an area, and don't think of any of it as the piercing damage from a normal arrow.

These can be particularly tricky to use, though. If you have only one slotted in your quiver, your archer will fire that one, and immediately run forward to engage in melee combat, probably getting caught in the blast. (I had assumed that after firing the one Arrow of Detonation, emptying that quiver slot, then the next type of arrow in the quiver would be used. Not so.) If you have more than one in the quiver, then obviously your archer will keep firing, which (a) wastes these expensive arrows, and (b) will likely damage your own party as the enemy moves toward you for melee, or vice versa. The best way I found to use the Arrow of Detonation was to stick two in a quiver slot; target and fire; once the first arrow is away, immediately pause game; switch to a different type of arrow or engage in melee intentionally, but don't let it happen automatically, because your character will probably be running straight into the explosion.

And of course, always save immediately before the fight, so you can try it again if you accidentally blow yourself up.