They need bows. Duh. However, what is good for the archer's melee weapon? I have been changing my mind about this a lot. An archer, being a ranger, starts with 2 *s in dual wielding, but that doesn't work with a bow (it gets tedious, switching the weapons around all the time). Should I use single weapon proficiency, or suck it up and dual wield? Also, I had originally intended on having him use the CF, but after I got Valygar I am giving that to him. Since I just made the FoA, should I use that?

TIA!

I actually suggest giving an Archer a 2H-ed weapon that you wouldn't otherwise use. (Remember, that you don't normally want to have your archer in melee.) A good halberd or spear is a nice option.

The archer's best melee weapon should be the boots of speed... so that he can run away from the guy attacking him and turn him into a pincushion with his BOW!

Oh, and if you absolutely MUST have a melee weapon to equip, I concur with Magness that you use a two-handed weapon such as a spear, halberd, or even a staff. Ignore your 2* in dual wielding as it will only cause you much consternation when you try to switch between your dual weapons and your projectile weapon.

Back when I had an archer I always gave him two short swords. Role-Playing-Wise I loved it.

legolas in LOTR only had a dagger and killing orcs in melee point blank range.. kinda funny when you compare it to here.

oh dont mind.. just rambling [img]tongue.gif[/img]

my solo archer was modelled on the idea of a primitive hunter so her feature melee weapons were dagger, spear and axe

she did carry other weapons for special occasions but these were the main ones

There are some great Helberds in the game that never get to see the light of day because of "better" melee weapons and NPC's with no points in them..

Same goes for spears.

Which is why those weapons are great for archers.

Archers should rarely have to resort to their melee weapons. And if these are rarely used weapons, that just means that the best, rarely used weapons are getting used (rarely) by characters who should rarely need to use them.

It's kind of symbiotic! [img]smile.gif[/img]

It's just a pain trying to switch between a bow and dual-wielded weapons that you should be using only rarely.

I suppose from a roleplaying perspective, an archer should use one fairly simple 1 handed sword or dagger as a backup, cuz it's easy to stick in a scabbard and whip out in a hurry.

However, from a game playing perspective, I think that using the rarely used weapons works out great. There are some great and powerful 2H weapons out there, like the Impaler spear or the Ravager halberd.

Also, why tie up a great 1H weapon in the hands of someone who should rarely use it? (unless you wouldn't be using it for other reasons, I suppose)

Well, there is the Pause feature which also works in the Inventory screen. Switching weapons only takes what, three seconds? :D