@Wowo You're not exactly wrong. If we were discussing Baldur's Gate 2, you'd be right.
The fact is that the first game was designed around Weapon Groups and not individual weapon proficiencies. The Enhanced Edition helped a little when they added more weapons, but the game is still tilted towards that sort of flexibility. Once you hit BG2 there are more weapons of the different types, and the Non-Fighter Warrior Classes gain a broad proficiency where they can have two pips in a lot of different things, but that just doesn't happen in the first game where with a ranged weapon you'll be limited to only a couple different kinds of melee weapons, bastard sword not being a good choice because of the limited variety of them not counting the ones good at killing shapeshifters and werewolves. If you consider you'll probably want a ranged weapon, and a blunt weapon, even if you only one pip them, you don't have tons of pips left for extras when you take combat styles into account.
@Wowo You're not exactly wrong. If we were discussing Baldur's Gate 2, you'd be right.
The fact is that the first game was designed around Weapon Groups and not individual weapon proficiencies. The Enhanced Edition helped a little when they added more weapons, but the game is still tilted towards that sort of flexibility. Once you hit BG2 there are more weapons of the different types, and the Non-Fighter Warrior Classes gain a broad proficiency where they can have two pips in a lot of different things, but that just doesn't happen in the first game where with a ranged weapon you'll be limited to only a couple different kinds of melee weapons, bastard sword not being a good choice because of the limited variety of them not counting the ones good at killing shapeshifters and werewolves. If you consider you'll probably want a ranged weapon, and a blunt weapon, even if you only one pip them, you don't have tons of pips left for extras when you take combat styles into account.
The barstard sword from Dorn's quest is one of the best weapons available in BG1.
I always say, "Once I get access to Baldur's Gate I'll grab Dorn and Rashid and do their quests." but by that point my party is set and I always forget~
I always say, "Once I get access to Baldur's Gate I'll grab Dorn and Rashid and do their quests." but by that point my party is set and I always forget~
Who wouldn't want to take Dorn along to engage in some "sword fighting"
Would you switch him to a melee weapon (which he has only a one slot proficiency in) during close encounters so as to negate the close range penalty, or would you have him move away and shoot from afar? What about for creatures with high resistance to piercing and/or missile damage like skeletons and such: do you switch to a blunt weapon or continue barraging them with arrows (albeit with penalty to damage)?
The reason I'm asking this because unlike other characters/kits who can reach a high proficiency with a bow as well, the Archer kit primarily favours the use of the bow. So I'm wondering if anyone has tested this or has knowledge about this. Thanks!
You have already been given many answers, but since I've played a decent amount of time with archers in BG and IWD, I'm gonna give you my opinion as well.
In my opinion it comes down to two things: 1: Convenience VS Effectiveness. 2: Party composition.
If you're in a group, have plenty of meat ahead of you (tanks), a full quiver and a bunch of skellies charging you then I wouldn't bother changing from bow/xbow nine times out of ten due to convenience.
Even without GM that adds APR you will still dish out enough dmg to make it not really worthwhile to change, unless you are opting for maximum effectiveness in battle from each party member at all times. If you have GM adding APR, then you can reach 4-5 APR with the bow/xbow, double that with IH and you are a machine gun even when half damage is negated through resistances.
This also applies to 2H vs dual weild and whether or not you should change from ranger to melee if stuck in close encounters; I would try my best to reposition if I was caught in melee with an archer, boots of speed is a good choice for the archer. But if not repositioning; dual weild will net a higher DPS but you need to open inventory and manually switch weapons. Seldom absolutely necessary (you can get by most fights without doing it), but can be needed in some rare occassions. I've done both, and by experience I kept the bow in hand alot more often with my archer who had dual weild than on another archer going with 2H. I'm kinda lazy with fighters and the archer with 2H weapons in quick slot ended up using it alot more often, though still not very often. I prefer to focus my microing on spells since I prefer to play without autopause. You can script the archer to switch to 2H, but not to switch to dual weild. Convenient.
Even without GM that adds APR you will still dish out enough dmg to make it not really worthwhile to change, unless you are opting for maximum effectiveness in battle from each party member at all times. If you have GM adding APR, then you can reach 4-5 APR with the bow/xbow, double that with IH and you are a machine gun even when half damage is negated through resistances.
Does using IH negate the cap on APR for archer? I heard there is a cap for APR right?
Cap APR is 5 under normal circumstances, which is quite hard to hit without dual wielding. IH doubles APR *after* the cap is applied, so it basically changes the cap to 10 (in addition to providing extra attacks). Whirlwind Attack also bypasses the cap, in this case by simply setting your attacks to 10.
Even without GM that adds APR you will still dish out enough dmg to make it not really worthwhile to change, unless you are opting for maximum effectiveness in battle from each party member at all times. If you have GM adding APR, then you can reach 4-5 APR with the bow/xbow, double that with IH and you are a machine gun even when half damage is negated through resistances.
Does using IH negate the cap on APR for archer? I heard there is a cap for APR right?
@Jarrakul answered above, but I just wanted to make it clear I was referring to reaching 4-5 APR with an archer using a specific bow and/or xbow which adds attacks on top of the ones from your class and level. The xbow is available in BG1, purchasable in Beregost, but you wouldn't reach max APR before lvl 13 (which ofc you can't reach in BG1), which I should have mentioned above.
Comments
The fact is that the first game was designed around Weapon Groups and not individual weapon proficiencies. The Enhanced Edition helped a little when they added more weapons, but the game is still tilted towards that sort of flexibility. Once you hit BG2 there are more weapons of the different types, and the Non-Fighter Warrior Classes gain a broad proficiency where they can have two pips in a lot of different things, but that just doesn't happen in the first game where with a ranged weapon you'll be limited to only a couple different kinds of melee weapons, bastard sword not being a good choice because of the limited variety of them not counting the ones good at killing shapeshifters and werewolves. If you consider you'll probably want a ranged weapon, and a blunt weapon, even if you only one pip them, you don't have tons of pips left for extras when you take combat styles into account.
I always say, "Once I get access to Baldur's Gate I'll grab Dorn and Rashid and do their quests." but by that point my party is set and I always forget~
In my opinion it comes down to two things:
1: Convenience VS Effectiveness.
2: Party composition.
If you're in a group, have plenty of meat ahead of you (tanks), a full quiver and a bunch of skellies charging you then I wouldn't bother changing from bow/xbow nine times out of ten due to convenience.
Even without GM that adds APR you will still dish out enough dmg to make it not really worthwhile to change, unless you are opting for maximum effectiveness in battle from each party member at all times. If you have GM adding APR, then you can reach 4-5 APR with the bow/xbow, double that with IH and you are a machine gun even when half damage is negated through resistances.
This also applies to 2H vs dual weild and whether or not you should change from ranger to melee if stuck in close encounters; I would try my best to reposition if I was caught in melee with an archer, boots of speed is a good choice for the archer.
But if not repositioning; dual weild will net a higher DPS but you need to open inventory and manually switch weapons. Seldom absolutely necessary (you can get by most fights without doing it), but can be needed in some rare occassions. I've done both, and by experience I kept the bow in hand alot more often with my archer who had dual weild than on another archer going with 2H. I'm kinda lazy with fighters and the archer with 2H weapons in quick slot ended up using it alot more often, though still not very often. I prefer to focus my microing on spells since I prefer to play without autopause. You can script the archer to switch to 2H, but not to switch to dual weild. Convenient.
Cheers,
//Skat