I haven't taken Mazzy just because she usually overlaps with my own characters. I also tend to play fighters with diverse abilities, like throwing Kensai, Rangers, Fighter/Thieves, etc. I may play a Sorcerer soon, in which case I may take her.
But really, the case is that the "archery nerf" makes 5 pips in bows pretty essential to be useful with a bow, which means that really only Archers and pure Fighters can do any good with bows in BG2, which is why Mazzy is so relatively good.
But I, along with most people I think, have gotten around this by using throwing weapons and slings instead of bows. So for me, a PC throwing Kensai, Ranger or Fighter/Thief outperforms Mazzy as a ranged/melee attacker.
Jaheira also competes for this role later in the game with the Sling of Everard. Jaheira can be a great tank, but once she get's GWW she can also be a mid range slinger/caster with a STR belt. I like this role for her because it makes casting Insect Swarm and some other stuff easier, but she can also put on Ironskin and melee when needed. Also, this is good if you have someone else that can better use Spectral Brand.
Actually I think the best way to do Mazzy (and a PC Archer as well) is to just put all her remaining pips into Slings and switch between Short Bow and Slings, keeping her a full-time ranged attacker.
The reason for this is that the only +5 ranged weapon in the game is a Sling. Also, once you get the GWW HLA the lower APR of Slings doesn't matter. So the thing to do is, at the very least, switch back and fourth between Gensen and Sling of Everard, using the Sling when you GWW. Or you can just go full time Sling once you get into ToB.
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But really, the case is that the "archery nerf" makes 5 pips in bows pretty essential to be useful with a bow, which means that really only Archers and pure Fighters can do any good with bows in BG2, which is why Mazzy is so relatively good.
But I, along with most people I think, have gotten around this by using throwing weapons and slings instead of bows. So for me, a PC throwing Kensai, Ranger or Fighter/Thief outperforms Mazzy as a ranged/melee attacker.
Jaheira also competes for this role later in the game with the Sling of Everard. Jaheira can be a great tank, but once she get's GWW she can also be a mid range slinger/caster with a STR belt. I like this role for her because it makes casting Insect Swarm and some other stuff easier, but she can also put on Ironskin and melee when needed. Also, this is good if you have someone else that can better use Spectral Brand.
The reason for this is that the only +5 ranged weapon in the game is a Sling. Also, once you get the GWW HLA the lower APR of Slings doesn't matter. So the thing to do is, at the very least, switch back and fourth between Gensen and Sling of Everard, using the Sling when you GWW. Or you can just go full time Sling once you get into ToB.