On the PC you can use the hotkeys F1-F3 to switch between different weapon sets. On the Xbox you can assign melee and ranged attacks/skills to different buttons, and the character will automatically switch as required.
A bow is quite handy at the start of the game, and helpful even without any ranger skills through the middle of the game. Late in the game, playing a strength based duel wielding warrior, I mostly just used a bow for breaking crates, etc. My next character will probably be more of a ranger.
Character OptimizationI put 5 points into Spirit total. Vitality I got up to 31, though probably wouldn't do so again; I was going to stop around 20, but trying to take out the level 27 guards in the quarry tower before getting the battle tower, I figured extra hit points would help, and put the spare 10 stat points I had into Vitality (next game I'd just leave them until later, as it was intended).
Strength I got up to 47, with another 20 points from my end game equipment. Earlier in the game I would take Dexterity or Vitality bonuses just as readily, everything else being equal; it was chance that Strength ended up predominant on my final equipment.
Dexterity and Intelligence were both 25 at the end of my game, though I wasn't deliberately keeping them the same. I boosted Intelligence some to help with the magic armour rating and mana refill rate, then later used the Potion of Wisdom (+5 Int). Dexterity was always less that Strength, but before the end game I had several extra points due to equipment bonuses.
Near the end of the game there were a few bows around I couldn't use, IIRC with minimum requirements of 28 or 29 Dexterity.
I had 39 unused stat points at the end of the game, at level 36, so could still have adjusted my character build if I had needed to, or maxed Strength if I wanted to make things easier (with the higher damage bonus).
I don't know if you need both a lot of magic and ranged skills, especially if you intend to be predominantly a warrior. In any case, about half way through the game you will be able to unlearn all your skills, and reinvest the skill points as you wish. The cost in gold for this doubles each time you do so, but assuming a reasonable amount of looting you should be easily able to unlearn skills 3 or 4 times (I did so twice).
You can not redistribute your stat points, but you should be able to adjust your build as you level, if you wish, especially near the start of the game. There are many viable builds, though, so you don't need to worry about having to maximize every aspect of the character in order to do well.
The skill Mana Efficiency helps reduce your mana requirements (50% at level 5), for spells or summoning your creature (which you should get around level 12, or so). If you are mostly playing a melee warrior, Mana Leech would help also (I put 1 skill point into this, though I'm not sure I really needed it).
Level 1 of the healing skill comes in handy. I invested in Potion Efficiency, though I'm not sure I needed it after investing a couple points in Life Leech and Regenerate, and one in Healing; the second time I unlearned my skills, late in the game, I didn't bother re-learning it.
Lockpick I maxed early, though some people prefer leaving locked chests until later, since in some cases they can scale somewhat to your level, so opening them later will give better loot. I didn't see much point in getting a bunch of good loot after it would have been helpful, though, and didn't want to keep track of where all the locked chests were, to be able to go back and get them later.
I had unused skill points most of the game, though usually not a lot. If there are no other skills that you want or think would be useful, then hang on to them until you reach the level requirements to learn the skills you want.
Skill Books/Stat Books/Dragon Skill Books Complete (spoilers)
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