Longbow, Crossbow or others for fighters?

bbear

Should my fighter use a longbow or crossbow? Also, please take into consideration for the types of arrows and bolts.

CaptRory

That depends: If your fighter is an Elf I'd definitely go for a Longbow. Otherwise I'd go Crossbow. Not a lot of guys use crossbows and there are a number of very good ones.

Quartz

1. Make Archer with 19 Dexterity
2. Put all your pips into Darts
3. Grotesque number of attacks per round
4. ???
5. PROFIT!!

bbear

I agree. Good Xbow are the heavy xbow of accuracy and the firetooth. Also, bolts do 1d8 damage while arrows do 1d6 damage.

CaptRory

Ammo Sharing helps when carting around tons of ammunition. Someone might have stacks of arrows left after someone else has run out. However, there's a problem when it comes to magical ammunition that people need to compete for and worse Magical Weapons which are in short supply. Spreading the proficiencies around means that ammo sharing is harder but there's more magic ammo and weapons to go around.

If you're not taking Jan Jansen in the second game you're probably not going to have a real crossbow guy. Keldorn uses them but he's a front line fighter and his Dex is terrible. Which is why I voted Crossbow.

ARKdeEREH

In my experience characters who use either kind of bow will actually shoot it when told to do so. Characters who use crossbows will frequently shoot when told to, but will also spend a significant amount of time standing and waiting between shots. Characters who use slings will spend a very long time waiting between shots and may need to be told repeatedly to use the sling before they actually do it. This can be a serious liability during battles as the characters simply cannot be relied upon to fire when instructed.

I use bows all the time as a means to disrupt enemy spellcasting. I will shoot the enemy spellcaster so that their magic is disrupted. I can almost never do this with slings because my characters will wait until after the enemy has already cast the spell to fire the sling bullet. Proficiency does not seem to change this. My Cleric/Thief with the any item ability was proficient in slings, but would consistently wait too long to fire them. She had no proficiency at all in long bow, but when I had her fire arrows she would actually do so when I told her to and wouldn't wait until it was too late.

Bows' superiority over other kinds of ranged weapons has been universal in my experience and has not varied depending on the character class using the weapon. If you care about the amount of time it takes for a character to shoot after you gave them their instructions, I recommend using bows.

elminster

Dwarf with throwing axe = winning.

SharGuidesMyHand

If you're playing BG1, you'll want at least one char who can use the light crossbow of speed, which is arguably the best weapon in the game IMO. It's the bane of spellcasters - especially if you load it with poison bolts.

SharGuidesMyHand

For BG2, I'd recommend throwing axes, especially if you're a good-aligned char. There are some very powerful throwing axes which return to sender in BG2 - and one very useful one in particular which can only be used by good chars.

Marric

1 Handed weapon + Darts + Shield is a very effective and I think underrated setup, especially in BG when that shield AC can really make a difference. Darts get 3 attacks to start and the darts of wounding and stunning are potentially very powerful.

Brude

CaptRory said:

That depends: If your fighter is an Elf I'd definitely go for a Longbow. Otherwise I'd go Crossbow. Not a lot of guys use crossbows and there are a number of very good ones.

This is true, but the ammo tends to be a pain if nobody else in your group uses the same ranged weapon type.

For this reason, with fighters who only occasionally use ranged weapons, I prefer to go long bow.

CaptRory

Brude said:

CaptRory said:

That depends: If your fighter is an Elf I'd definitely go for a Longbow. Otherwise I'd go Crossbow. Not a lot of guys use crossbows and there are a number of very good ones.

This is true, but the ammo tends to be a pain if nobody else in your group uses the same ranged weapon type.

For this reason, with fighters who only occasionally use ranged weapons, I prefer to go long bow.

I discussed that in my second post =p

Oxford_Guy

For a fighter with high strength - throwing axe, you get to use the melee version too, can even use axes with a shield, and the best bows are best in the hands of your main archers.

If Dwarf in BG2 - throwing hammer :-)

Brude

CaptRory said:

I discussed that in my second post =p

I know. I'm guilty of responding before reading the whole thread. :P

Oxford_Guy

bbear said:

I agree. Good Xbow are the heavy xbow of accuracy and the firetooth. Also, bolts do 1d8 damage while arrows do 1d6 damage.

Also in BG2 magic crossbows add their +x to damage, but other bows don't (slings do), though neither magic bolts nor magic arrows currently add +x damage in BG2, only bullets and thrown weapons. In BG1 all magic weapons add their +x damage. I guess it's possible things might get standardised for BG2EE to un- nerf bows, though.

deltago

if you plan on using a two-handed weapon, then go Bow

If you are sword and boarding and mainly front lining, then choose one of the throwing options depending on your over all party's carrying capacity.

Go sling if you plan to dual class to a cleric or druid

If you plan to dual wield, go with axes as some of the throwing axes in the game can be turned off/on when it comes to hurling them at opponents iirc.

Oxford_Guy

deltago said:

If you plan to dual wield, go with axes as some of the throwing axes in the game can be turned off/on when it comes to hurling them at opponents iirc.

Oh can they? How do you do that then? Do you mean you can dual wield one the axes that can be used both in melee and ranged? How do you do that?

deltago

Oxford_Guy said:

deltago said:

If you plan to dual wield, go with axes as some of the throwing axes in the game can be turned off/on when it comes to hurling them at opponents iirc.

Oh can they? How do you do that then? Do you mean you can dual wield one the axes that can be used both in melee and ranged? How do you do that?

Either right click it in the quick bar or open up the description in the inventory screen and click abilities and choose Melee.
Although I just re-tested it and it doesn't allow me put an weapon in my off hand after setting it to melee. However I do recall doing this before. confused now. late. need sleep.

Oxford_Guy

deltago said:

Oxford_Guy said:

deltago said:

If you plan to dual wield, go with axes as some of the throwing axes in the game can be turned off/on when it comes to hurling them at opponents iirc.

Oh can they? How do you do that then? Do you mean you can dual wield one the axes that can be used both in melee and ranged? How do you do that?

Either right click it in the quick bar or open up the description in the inventory screen and click abilities and choose Melee.
Although I just re-tested it and it doesn't allow me put an weapon in my off hand after setting it to melee. However I do recall doing this before. confused now. late. need sleep.

Okay, I think I get the idea, though, will try some tests to see what's possible and what's not

elminster

Oxford_Guy said:

deltago said:

Oxford_Guy said:

deltago said:

If you plan to dual wield, go with axes as some of the throwing axes in the game can be turned off/on when it comes to hurling them at opponents iirc.

Oh can they? How do you do that then? Do you mean you can dual wield one the axes that can be used both in melee and ranged? How do you do that?

Either right click it in the quick bar or open up the description in the inventory screen and click abilities and choose Melee.
Although I just re-tested it and it doesn't allow me put an weapon in my off hand after setting it to melee. However I do recall doing this before. confused now. late. need sleep.

Okay, I think I get the idea, though, will try some tests to see what's possible and what's not

Throwing axes can be used like this. Not throwing daggers though from what I can recall.

Isair

Longbow for BG1, Crossbow for BG2 (the reasons already listed by those preceding me). Throwing axes & the throwing hammer in BG2 are also great - especially for sword & board characters. The throwing hammer is made for Dwarven fighter/clerics.

Darts are more useful in BG1 (much more so than throwing daggers +0), but the crimson dart in BG2 is a letdown. It should of had an elemental or poison effect.

MedullaOblongata

Quartz said:

1. Make Archer with 19 Dexterity
2. Put all your pips into Darts
3. Grotesque number of attacks per round
4. ???
5. PROFIT!!

Lol! xD

I will have to try this... Normally I prefer crossbows for ranged, but I had never before considered dart spam...

CaptRory

Brude said:

CaptRory said:

I discussed that in my second post =p

I know. I'm guilty of responding before reading the whole thread. :P

Hehehe, not a problem dude. If I hadn't already said it I would've agreed with you XD It's not unusual for me to write a post, sometimes lengthy, then go "I forgot about X! Oh well, if no one else mentions it I'll get it later." hehehe In this case I got back to the thread before someone else got to it =3

Lemernis

It depends on what style of play one is looking for within a particular party composition.

Most of the time I choose the composite longbow for a ranged weapon for a warrior class PC...

But I dig darts of stunning. It's always neat to paralyze enemies. And in my first run through EE I'm leaning towards this specialization for my Fighter-Mage if indeed I choose any ranged weapons profs at all.

I'll probably dump every pip into dual-wielding long swords, though. (Katanas too if they're available in EE.)

Oxford_Guy

Isair said:

Longbow for BG1, Crossbow for BG2 (the reasons already listed by those preceding me).

It's a waste to take proficiencies in both, though, unless the primary archer

Eldmore

I never used a crossbow.. I should try that...

OperativeNL

I think I will play an Undead Hunter. An Undead Hunter with a crossbow is just damn cool. I will name him... Van Helsing!

Oxford_Guy

Quartz said:

1. Make Archer with 19 Dexterity
2. Put all your pips into Darts

Except you can't, in BGEE you won't be able to put more than two pips into a single weapon/style at character creation

Silence

Even though I voted Longbow here, I have to point out the game is packed with great Short Bows. Enough for you and all your party's thieves!

So is BG2...Short Bow of Gesen, Tuigan's Bow, etc....

I'd almost rather be a short bow user in BG2.

Quartz

MedullaOblongata said:

Lol! xD

I will have to try this... Normally I prefer crossbows for ranged, but I had never before considered dart spam...

It's actually fairly effective as long as you keep someone else in front of you so you don't have to switch tasks at all. Darts are only 1d3, but give you 3 attacks per round ... now if we're talking about a warrior, 3 1/2 if you have two pips. Get to Level 7 and you have 4 attacks per round ... dart spam is indeed the right word haha!

Oxford_Guy said:

Except you can't, in BGEE you won't be able to put more than two pips into a single weapon/style at character creation

There may be an exception for that kit in particular, if you think about it ... it would make sense for them to allow you to put 3 pips in a ranged weapon at character creation and 1 pip in something else, considering archers cannot specialize in melee weapons. Not gonna hold my breath though. We shall have to see.

agris

Sling.

For a fighter with significant +dmg due to strength, you can do some serious damage. The biggest problem with the sling is the lack of special ammo.