1) Crossbows do the best basic damage of all missile weapons, but they require an extra feat to get as many attacks per round as the others. Without this feat, you'll only be getting one attack each round when shooting a crossbow.
For a predominately melee-oriented character who will be using ranged weapons only occasionally, I'd say go with longbow. Pretty good basic damage and you needn't dish out an extra feat point to make them effective.
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