I have a Bard that is going on level 9 and I am confused as to which ranged weapon I should make him take up. He currently uses a light crossbow but I would like an upgrade. His STR is at 8-1 and his DEX is at 18+4 . I would like him with a composite longbow, but from what I have gathered he would suffer a penalty due to his low STR. What would be ideal in his case? When it comes to repeating crossbows, short bows, and composite bows this part of the game really confuses me.
There is at least 1 repeating crossbow that can be found as treasure during the game- the choice to keep it or return it to it's owner is completely up to you and with your bard's Strength of 8 crossbows would seem to be the better bet- just make sure you Spoiler visit the cabinet maker after clearing Delko Woods- you'll be able to buy masterwork missile weapons from him ...
Bards are proficient with all simple weapons (including light crossbow and heavy crossbow), plus the longsword, rapier, short sword and shortbow. Repeating Crossbows are exotic weapons and require the Exotic Weapon Proficieny (Repeating Crossbow) in order to be able to use them without any penalty to hit (even Fighters need to get this exotic weapon proficiency in order to avoid the -4 penalty to hit when firing a repeating crossbow). Any PC (Player Character) who uses a weapon that the PC is not proficient with will receive a -4 penalty to hit while using that weapon. If your bard is a PC, then you are better off using a shortbow because 8th-level bards are able to fire a shortbow twice when performing a full attack each combat turn. Yes, you will suffer a -1 modifier to your damage rolls, but 2 attacks with a shortbow with a -1 modifier to damage are better than 1 attack with either a light crossbow or a heavy crossbow. If you are playing the New Content Edition, then when you arrive in Verbobonc, you will be able to buy a Belt of Strength +6 from at least 1 vendor in Merchant's Row (Simon in his Wonder World shop), which will allow your bard to use a masterwork composite shortbow (Str 14) without penalty. I believe that defeating some foes in the New Content Edition of the game will allow you to loot items from them that increase your Strength. If your bard is a recruitable NPC (Non-Player Character) (i.e. Zaxis), then any NPCs in your party can use ANY weapon without suffering a -4 penalty to hit (even if the NPC isn't proficient with the weapon!)! This is due to a bug in this computer game and is NOT how Dungeons & Dragons version 3.5 is meant to work. In my opinion, elves are the best race in the game (although I prefer half-orcs for Fighters) because all elves are proficient with the longsword, longbow, rapier, and shortbow, so no matter which class an elf chooses to play (such as a wizard or a sorcerer), the elf will be able to use a composite longbow without any penalty to hit. Elves also have a +2 racial bonus to Dexterity, which makes them the best archers and crossbowmen in the game. If your bard is an elf, then your bard can use a composite longbow without penalty. If your bard isn't an elf, and if (during level up) your bard selects the feat Martial Weapon Proficiency (Longbow), then your bard will be able to use a composite longbow without a -4 penalty to hit. If your bard isn't an elf, and if your bard takes 1 level in either Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, or Paladin, then your bard will be able to use a composite longbow without penalty (because those 4 classes are proficient with longbows).
There's a Masterwork Repeting Crossbow you can obtain at the begining of the game paying nothing!How's that for a bard? Something involving a certain unhappy short person... Yes, you have to spend a feat for proficiency, but , you have two attacks with it and strength modifier irrelevant. I'm happy trading that feat ( and, later in game , there's Iolo's Joy to replace the said crossbow.. )
