Every post I've seen has mentioned that as a barbarian I would be best served to train a ranged weapon as one of my two primaries. Why is that? Every time I ask why, I get a vague answer like "You'll be glad when you're older."

Well... why? Are there enemies I can only fight from ranged? Couldn't I just fight different enemies? If I focus on melee weaponry, won't my defenses be better for it?

I guess my point is... if I only want to train melee, why is that a bad idea? Keep in mind that I don't have any interest in PvP. Thanks.

It isn't only good for PVP, although that's the main reason people recommend it. You may develop an interest you wouldn't expect also. For instance, tournaments and spars can be fun even if you're not the type to actually fight another player. They're pretty exciting and give you insight into how combat systems really work.

When it comes to invasions, you'll often find you can't even get to melee on creatures. Ranged may be more dangerous to train, but if you neglect it, you most likely will regret it when you're older. You can always train it as a third weapon if you find it to be too much trouble.

You can train melee only if you want, though there's been plenty of Barbarians that have regretted not training a ranged. Why?

1. Ranged allows you to fire at an enemy/critter from a distance. Some critters are best fought at ranged because of special attacks/abilities they may have at melee.

2. Ranged combat allows you to kill critters faster. You'll find this very helpful during invasions when dozens of critters come in and you need to kill them as fast as possible. Going to melee all the time will do nothing but impose a huge multi penalty when 3 or 4 of those monstrous critters decide to jump you.

>>Well... why? Are there enemies I can only fight from ranged? Couldn't I just fight different enemies? If I focus on melee weaponry, won't my defenses be better for it?

You can always train a ranged weapon and still focus on your defenses. Training evasion/parry/shield and then retreating to use your ranged weapon works effectively. If you ask just about anyone they'll tell you to train a ranged weapon, and it's for a reason.

Notice I didn't mention anything about PvP. If you're not interested in it, that's fine. However, you'll still want to be able to PvP when necessary. You'll want to be able to light that mage up with arrows/bolts/spears when he tries to mock you and waggle his fingers at you from a distance. So while being good at melee is important, at least having one good ranged skill will help a lot. Hope this helps explain some of it.




Vinjince

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"There are five possible operations for any army. If you can fight, fight; if you cannot fight, defend; if you cannot defend, flee; if you cannot flee, surrender; if you cannot surrender, die."

- Sima Yi

Also... what is a good ranged skill for someone like myself to train? I was thinking light thrown, since it's not as much of a pain as longbow or crossbow. I could do it offhand with my armworn shield and not have to worry about picking up arrows, reloading, etc. Then I could do it at the same time I was training my melee skills.

Is this a viable method?

Ranged has a ton of uses. Beyond just the usual PvP applications, it can also be a nice break if your locking up your defenses quickly. Generally, you don't learn as much while using a bow and it can give you a bit of a break. It also works great with stealth in this application as well. Then, say, you want to participate in an invasion, it's not the easiest thing to stand up in the swarms at melee, but if your able to hide and use ranged, you have a much better chance of at least killing a few.

But basically, your a barb, train everything, and if you can keep balanced with a melee and ranged weapon, then you'll do that much better. And if you want to just train melee, some of us do that as well and aren't that bad. Both have their advantages.

who says ranged hinderes defence?
Shield Usage: 356 53% mind lock
Parry Ability: 284 71% bewildered
Multi Opponent: 290 03% bewildering
Highest Weapon: 290 in Heavy Crossbow
2nd Highest Weapon: 222 in Heavy Edged
3rd Highest Weapon: 202 in Composite Bow

oh yes and thats my 59th circle ranger
The Assassin in Plat

Those who live by the blade die by those who don't

I don't PvP but my primary weapon is LX. Everyone laughed at me for training it up highest but it's what I enjoyed the most, I got really good shield work in at the same time and now that I'm adept I'm told I'm deadly with that thing. With my hickory crossbow I get an 8 second RT for loading now and I can kill things at level with average of two hits.

The only time a arm worn shield works when using a longbow is when the bow isn't loaded. If you really want to use a shield at the same time you'll have to use LX or HX.

---

Range Master Dragamar, Recluse of Aesry Sulaenis'a
Brother Urio, Follower of Urrem'tier
Cadet Ltorilu, Up and Coming Paladin

>>I'm able to wear an arm-worn light shield with my longbow (50 ranks of shield), but it doesn't seem to be working - I never block, only evade. Is there a certain level of skill I have to reach before I start to actually block with the shield?

If you're evading the attacks then there's nothing to block. However, you aren't able to utilize the shield once you've started aiming your bow.

>>If it's impossible to use a shield and a longbow at the same time, would I be better served with a xbow (where I'm told I can use a shield)?

Absolutely. If you'd like to use a shield while using ranged then crossbows or thrown is the way to go, and in addition you can go back up to a medium-sized shield and will not be penalized.


~Thilan

If you're gonna use longbow and not bother with shield then you should train your stealths as high as possible.


Vinjince

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"There are five possible operations for any army. If you can fight, fight; if you cannot fight, defend; if you cannot defend, flee; if you cannot flee, surrender; if you cannot surrender, die."

- Sima Yi

Slings fall in the joke category of ranged weapons.

Beware my mighty 24 ranks in each.

Asbhuan

Vertigo works great for sling training.

Slings are like LT with the steelstar spell. It really kicks in around 500 ranks.

I am --- Navak

Oh, I don't know that slings are that bad. I've seen logs of some BEAUTIFUL crits done to blood warrior tummies with a sling. And I myself have killed critters with a sling that I couldn't touch with comparable ranks in a melee weapon.

Now, I do agree that there is no point to staff sling as is.

Ryeka


Sometimes the key to happiness is not assuming it is locked in the first place- Ziggy

A journey of a thousand SMILES begins with a single step- Ziggy