A THREAD FOR NEWCOMERS!

I've been wanting to know for a long time... There are three artifacts (Elven Cherrywood Bow, Unicorn Hair Bowstring, and Angel Feather Arrows) that state in their description that they increase ranged attack skill by a certain percentage. So, what does this actually mean? Does it mean that all units with ranged attacks deal a certain percentage more damage? Or does it imply that if the hero doesn't have that skill, these artifacts are useless?

1. Yes. All units with ranged attacks increase their ability (BUT, only if the hero has the Ranged Attack skill).
If the hero doesn't have the skill, the artifact won't have any effect (in terms of increasing the damage of ranged units). However, if all three artifacts are present and the Sniper Bow is assembled, its ability will work - shooting without a penalty in melee combat, at a long distance (>10 hexes horizontally), and through walls - in this case, it doesn't matter if the hero has the secondary Ranged Attack skill.

2. The specified artifacts increase the effectiveness of the secondary Ranged Attack skill. For example, if a hero has expert-level Ranged Attack, which gives +50% to the damage dealt by his ranged units, then the components of the Sniper Bow will additionally provide 30%, which will result in 50%*1.3=65% (but not 80%, as is often mistakenly believed). A Ranged Attack Specialist (Orrin) further develops his skill by +5% for each level. Thus, Orrin, who has the Sniper Bow and is level 10, will allow his ranged units to deal 50%*1.3*1.5=97% additional damage.