Ranged/BS bounty hunter weapon proficiencies?

rickcr

I'm scouring the forums trying to figure out what weapon proficiencies to take in BG2 for my bounty hunter. I'd prefer to play him as a ranged fighter since I think it fits well with how I see a bounty hunter working. I rolled a dwarf. Since they can have decent strength should I maybe go with slings? crossbow? or should I take shortbow/longbow. (Not sure who else I'll have for ranged, but let's assume for now I want to be the primary ranged class, other than magic nukes of course.)

Also for backstab what should I go with? I'm not a RP purist so have no issues going with a staff.. but I also don't want to wait for half of the game before I can get a decent staff. (Maybe my thac0 will be so low that it makes sense to go with a different primary bs weapon?) Take a point in single weapon as well I assume?

TIA

sluckers

Go with crossbows. For backstabs, go with staffs. They are my personal favourite backstab weapon.

I don't see why quarterstaffs should be an RP problem. Just because it's not a literal backstab shouldn't be an issue, since clubs and quarterstaffs are the spiritual ancestor of pistol whipping. Givers of skull fractures rejoice!

Details in spoiler.

A staff of striking can be bought from the temple of Lathander at the beginning of the game. It would be worth going to one of the fences to sell then steal or buy it back, to recharge it, as it comes with only 5 charges.

Another can be bought from Trademeet almost right away as well, if you choose to destroy the genies rather than do their little hunt for Itafheer.

Between the two staffs you will have 50 charges for backstabs, which will last quite a while. You can always sell and buy back to recharge as many times as you want.

You will also, eventually, get your hands on the rod of smiting for sale in Ust Natha, which I believe uses quarterstaff proficiency, which will help you deal with those pesky golems. You can't backstab golems, but the rod of smiting at least allows you to attempt a one-hit-kill on them.

For a dwarf, I'd go with crossbows. A fast firing crossbow can be acquired from the Copper Coronet (2 actually, if you buy/steal one before doing the slave quest, than another one after). Crossbows are mostly for flavour, but I also like them because they come with some wicked ammo options, especially when you start fighting Kua Toa in the Underdark.

Caeria

Personally, I don't bother with single weapon style. All it does is give you a -1 AC bonus, which is basically nothing by the end of the game and therefore a waste. Also, you won't need it for quarterstaffs or crossbows.

That said, I agree that crossbows and staves are a good choice. You can eventually get the upgraded firetooth which is excellent, and the staff of striking will be great for everyone who is not immune. The staff of the ram will cover everything else. I think.

lunar

Caeria said:

Personally, I don't bother with single weapon style. All it does is give you a -1 AC bonus, which is basically nothing by the end of the game and therefore a waste. Also, you won't need it for quarterstaffs or crossbows.

That said, I agree that crossbows and staves are a good choice. You can eventually get the upgraded firetooth which is excellent, and the staff of striking will be great for everyone who is not immune. The staff of the ram will cover everything else. I think.

I would have to disagree. Single weapon style also gives +1 to critical hit chance, so you roll a critical even with 19 or 20. This is extremely useful for a thief who has puny thac0. It doubles your critical hit chance. And for heavily armored foes you always get a %10 chance to hit no matter how lousy your thac0 is. Even if you have a thac0 of 20 and attack a foe with -20 ac, with single weapon style your chance to hit is doubled from a base %5 to %10. Even if the critter is immune to criticals you still get more sure hits. Not to mention that critical backstabs are pretty sweet. (Or brutal, if you are the receiving end.)

Gallowglass

rickcr said:

Not sure who else I'll have for ranged, but let's assume for now I want to be the primary ranged class, other than magic nukes of course.

If your BH is going to be your main archer, then for sure he should be equipped with either Shortbow or Crossbow because of the variety of special ammunition (which is frequently useful) - there are good slings and thrown weapons, but they don't offer that useful choice of situational ammo. Crossbow gives you a slightly better best-in-class weapon (Firetooth +5), but Shortbow gives you more APR and a wider variety of special ammunition, so I'd go with Shortbow.

rickcr said:

Also for backstab what should I go with? I'm not a RP purist so have no issues going with a staff.. but I also don't want to wait for half of the game before I can get a decent staff. (Maybe my thac0 will be so low that it makes sense to go with a different primary bs weapon?)

Quarterstaff for sure, and with a point in Two Handed Style (to improve your critical-hit chance). In SoA use a Staff of Striking +3, and in ToB switch up to the Staff of the Ram +6.

Your AC is likely to be rather weak as well as your THAC0, so regular melee isn't the right place for this character. When you're forced into it (as will sometimes happen), carry the Buckler +1 (upgrading to the Buckler +3 in ToB) and wield a weapon which gives some bonus protection, rather than worrying about maximising damage, because you should usually be extricating yourself from regular melee and retreating, so that you can either switch to ranged attack or go into stealth and attempt a backstab.

rickcr said:

Take a point in single weapon as well I assume?

Perhaps at some point, to improve your critical-hit chance when it's better to attempt a backstab with a one-handed sharp weapon. You'd want to do that against an enemy resistant to the blunt damage of your quarterstaff ... but there are few of those, so this isn't high priority.

sarevok57

if you want to go with a one handed melee weapon, why not celestial fury? it does 1d10+3 and has a chance to stun an opponent when hit, for one handed melee weapons in SoA it is probably the best for backstabbing

Caeria

@lunar Huh, I actually didn't know that about SWS. I probably still won't use it personally, but now I can see how some people might find it useful and like it.

Aerakar

I realize I am posting late on this, and you may have finished your run already

After you choose crossbow/shortbow for your ranged dwarven bounty hunter (I like crossbow for flavor with a dwarf as mentioned by @sluckers), consider daggers in early BG2 for the +2 and later +3 boomerang daggers if you have high strength. With high strength the damage output can be shocking, plus it is buckler friendly.

I also like the dagger of venom in BG1 for backstabbing as mentioned by @lunar, especially against mages, and my thieves usually take dagger in BG1 in preparation for the boomerang daggers in BG2, but staff is better for general combat/backstabbing in both games as already outlined above.

If you play with mods, the Rogue Rebalancing mod can add some flavorful changes to thief kits. The changes actually reduce somewhat the BH trap power in some respects (traps are not thrown, magic traps become alchemical traps, Otilukes trap and Maze trap are replaced with traps that stun/slow/knock-out), but add some other goodies to compensate (an assassin-like paralysis ability, stun/slow effects with traps) and in my opinion add a lot of flavor to the kits, even if the kit power is reduced a bit. There are some great thief-friendly items added also. You can only install the item additions if the kit changes do not appeal.

rickcr

@Aerakar not too late to reply:)

I took a break from bg2 but now plan to go back to it and was debating about going back to the game... and of course can't decide which class. I have a dwarf BH rolled up and started.. not sure I want to use him though. My rationale behind 'not' using him is the BH seemed to be a 'bad ass' for tough fights with traps of course and back stab. But BG has a ton of trash of fight and I sort of want a main PC that also chunks stuff up there as well. I'm thinking the swashie might be a better fit for me.. yea I won't have backstab, but at least he'll be a fun fighter for the trash stuff and still have traps for tough fights. Still debating though.

Aerakar

For a straight-up combat thief - also good at back-stabbing and with good THACO throughout the game - I would recommend a fighter/thief (dwarf is also good for this combo). There is great synergy with the fighter and thief classes IMO, and combine this with the dwarven constitution for extra hit points and shorty saving throws and he is nigh indestructible.

I also think dwarf is a good pick for swashbuckler. You could then choose something like daggers for both melee and thrown and specialize from level 1, adding in TWF from level 4-12, and then adding additional blades for flexibility, e.g. scimitars, swords. Since daggers are now zero weight, this becomes realistic even without 19 strength in the beginning of BG1 (that will come later of course). The dwarven racial bonuses go well with swashbucklers since stealth does not have to be your first priority without backstab. I personally have never played a swashbuckler as I like to backstab, but it does sound like a fun build and maybe like what you are looking for.

Bounty hunter is a fun thief - I am playing one now in BG1 and am in Durlag's Tower and close to the finish and off to SoD - but definitely a different play-style than a swashbuckler or fighter/thief, as the BH is more of an ambush and hit and fade sniper than a straight-up swordsman. If you want to front-line it, then definitely fighter/thief or swashbuckler IMO.

Aerakar

And for a swashbuckler maybe even postpone that 3rd TWF pip and instead take scimitar or short sword at 12 for speed weapons (I like short swords on the dwarven sprites so I often go that route on my shorty thieves. but ninja-to also look like short swords and are also good, and of course there is Belm if one does not mind scimitars on the dwarven sprites).

The two boomerang daggers both give 2 APR in both melee and when thrown, but cannot be used in the off-hand, so one approach could be to use them in the main hand and then use one of the speed weapons in the right and you hit 4 APR somewhat early in SoA.

Of course a fighter/thief could do the same approach and also can backstab as needed, as well as receiving the extra fighter APR.