Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="WalterKovacs" data-source="post: 4849874" data-attributes="member: 63763">In general, when you compare a military weapon to a simple weapon, the military weapon will be strictly better. &nbsp;You can get around the minor loading issue with a repeating crossbow (it fires 10 shots before it needs reloading, although it then requires a standard for a reload). That requires no feats to be able to use it.&nbsp;The Superior Crossbow does the same damage and has the same range as a longbow, but has a +3 proficiency [but still is a load minor]. You can solve the load minor with a magic property [although that prohibits other magical properties].&nbsp;As for the implement/melee issue, outside of quick draw (or better yet, getting the disembodied hand familiar) you have a few options in terms of magic items. Dragon magazine 368 has the Battle Harness, an armor that gives you free action drawing of items. There are also scabbards that let you draw the weapon out of them as a free action. At paragon tier, you can take euphonic bow to make your bow into an implement (this doesn't work for crossbows, but an accomadating DM will probably allow it, since generally crossbows are worse than a bow).&nbsp;Ultimatley ... outside of the superior crossbow ... crossbows are simple weapons and therefore they will be worse than bows which are military weapons. Artificers are stuck with crossbows unless (a) it's an elf or (b) they spend a feat. Bards have the option of a real bow, so choosing a crossbow is going to be an inferior option.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WalterKovacs, post: 4849874, member: 63763"] In general, when you compare a military weapon to a simple weapon, the military weapon will be strictly better. You can get around the minor loading issue with a repeating crossbow (it fires 10 shots before it needs reloading, although it then requires a standard for a reload). That requires no feats to be able to use it. The Superior Crossbow does the same damage and has the same range as a longbow, but has a +3 proficiency [but still is a load minor]. You can solve the load minor with a magic property [although that prohibits other magical properties]. As for the implement/melee issue, outside of quick draw (or better yet, getting the disembodied hand familiar) you have a few options in terms of magic items. Dragon magazine 368 has the Battle Harness, an armor that gives you free action drawing of items. There are also scabbards that let you draw the weapon out of them as a free action. At paragon tier, you can take euphonic bow to make your bow into an implement (this doesn't work for crossbows, but an accomadating DM will probably allow it, since generally crossbows are worse than a bow). Ultimatley ... outside of the superior crossbow ... crossbows are simple weapons and therefore they will be worse than bows which are military weapons. Artificers are stuck with crossbows unless (a) it's an elf or (b) they spend a feat. Bards have the option of a real bow, so choosing a crossbow is going to be an inferior option. [/QUOTE]

Verification