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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GreenTengu" data-source="post: 6943649" data-attributes="member: 6777454">But these weapons already come with their own drawbacks.Longbows are 2-handed weapons that deal d8 damage-- any other two handed martial weapon deals at least d10 damage on a hit, if not d12/2d6.Shortbows are two-handed weapons that deal D6 and fi you are a small race or a Rogue/Bard that doesn't get full martial weapon proficiency, it is what you get stuck with.Furthermore, they are shackled by a rule that melee weapons are not-- you have limited uses of the weapon and you must carry a number of arrows equal to the number of times you are going to use the bow. Granted, one may be able to retrieve one's arrows most of the time if the DM feels generous which could minimize this drawback, but it is still a drawback.Crossbows deal a bit more damage, almost keeping on par with regular two-handed weapons.. EXCEPT... they have that whole slow reload which means that you can only ever shoot the thing once a turn.So there are considerably drawbacks to focusing on archery that it seems you have not considered.You cannot dual-wield bows and though you can technically shoot two hand/light crossbows in the same turn, you would have to spend your entire next turn reloading them.You cannot apply the Great Weapon Fighting feat to any of the ranged weapons to my understanding, if there has been some sort of indication that doing this is remotely possible, I'll need more elaboration on what you mean.And, yes, the advantage of ranged attacks-- the reason they do less damage than melee weapons and have limited use-- is because you generally have a freer choice of targets than a melee character is. Though most battles I find take place with all combatants within 60' of each other. After all, Dark Vision only extends to 60'. This means that generally any targets you are in combat with are going to be within charge distance. Sure, if you have a speed penalty or there is difficult terrain slowing you, that might not be the case-- but those are relatively rare circumstances.Now, it is true that D&D 5E doesn't have a rule preventing you firing directly through allies to hit enemies and that doesn't quite sit right with me. But instituting penalties at all times also seems counter-productive. Generally I don't see an issue firing into melee so long as you can draw a clear line-of-sight to the target without going through an ally.And while it might make sense that an arrow (or a spell) let off doesn't hit until the end of the turn, the fact that people get to move and act on a turn suggest we aren't really simulating real time anyway. Maybe if instead of each person moving and acting in turn, there was a movement phase and then an action phase. But without adding such complications, it seems right to me that someone firing at a charging enemy will have a much higher chance of getting off their shot (i.e. higher initiative) than the person reaching them. Even when talking about melee combat, I think a single round's damage isn't necessarily a single "swing" even though we have been all guilty of describing it as so-- but could be 6 seconds of bashing away at the enemy's shields or armor while deflecting attacks to try to get that lethal blow through. In such a scenario, the arrow set speeding off across the battlefield without any hesitation or resistance may very well land its damage first.Similarly, if the advantage of Dexterity-based melee combat was simply the initiative alone, it probably wouldn't be an issue. But it is a matter of the free AC, the initiative, the useful save, the equivalent damage and accuracy and the superior skill selection that leads to the conclusion.... why should anyone choose to play a Strength-based fighter at all and, more importantly to this discussion, why should they bother using a long sword when the long sword is solely fitting for the 1-handed fighting style in which Dexterity fully dominates.</blockquote>

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