[Lord Tansheron]

I tested the WS as an Archer now (without ToB though, still can't get it to install);

I have to say, it is indeed impressing. Rendering Mages utterly useless within seconds, as well as crippling bosses is quite a substantial advantage.

That being said, I toyed around with them a bit and came across the WS->Mage combo instead of ->Thief. Now that of course means that you will not get to bypass the inherent WS penalties with UAI, but then again do you even need to, really? Rings and Amulets are not that relevant for an archer-type character, which leaves Boots (annoying to miss speedy footgear, but not crucial), Belt (would be nice, but not enough to go around for the whole party anyway) and Hands (that one does hurt). On the upside, you get some significant bonuses: better defenses (Stoneskin and the whole shebang), better combat stats (Tenser's - true, you can use scrolls with UAI but duh...) and most importantly: better offense! It seems somewhat paradox but I found that after you pump the spell casting penalty up high, there won't be much left to do, since your damage isn't exactly stellar. That's where as a Mage, you can switch to the usual arsenal of high-end arcane nukes including the nifty multi-target spells that offset your non-mage fight liabilities.

I'm trying it out to the full extent right now and I got to say for me personally it outshines WS->Thief in basically every aspect so far. But then again, it's without ToB... so maybe UAI does impact it more than I would like to admit.