[RPG] What good is Adamantine for arrows aside from sundering

pathfinder-1eranged-attackspecial-materials

In what scenario, aside from a ranged sunder Combat Maneuver, would having an adamantine arrow be useful?

Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20.

Yes I know that adamantine works very good for sundering, but I do not plan on taking the fighter archtype archer to gain the CM ranged sunder.

I also know that ranged attacks suffer 50% damage reduction to objects.

So since it is most useful when sundering, which I wont be doing, when would it be useful to bypass hardness under 20?

Best Answer

Use adamantine arrows to bypass appropriate damage reduction

As you've noted, the primary purpose of the special material adamantine seems to be damaging objects, yet adamantine arrows are typically a lousy choice for, for example, destroying a dungeon wall. But that's not all the material's good for. The universal monster ability damage reduction says

Some monsters are vulnerable to piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing damage. Others are vulnerable to certain materials, such as adamantine, alchemical silver, or cold-forged iron. Attacks from weapons that are not of the correct type or made of the correct material have their damage reduced, although a high enhancement bonus can overcome some forms of damage reduction.

An archer will want a batch of adamantine arrows if, for example, confronted with a gemstone gargoyle or a creature that's the subject of the spell stoneskin. While some archers bypass DR/X (adamantine) using a bow with an enhancement bonus of +4 or better, not all archers are fortunate enough to have such a weapon.

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