PREAMBLE
Bear with me on this, I am a newbie who will be buying this game in the near future, so I am currently in the character planning phase.
I am interested in having one of my mains to be be a utility character - ability to spot secrets, a few points into crafting, smithing, lockpicking, pickpockets, and sneak with gear sets (and traits) to get them to 5. It seems this role was often taken by a "parked" henchman before they patched out being able to auto-level henchmen. At any rate, I want to keep the utility within the active party.
I've seen a ranger build being suggested for this sort of role, as they don't require a lot of skill investment for their combat role, and Perception is handy for them anyway. I like the idea of combat utility via the special arrows, but I'm not all that fond of the auto-attack-then-stealth gameplay.
AMBLE
How viable would it be to have a mage build that doesn't raise DEX, but keeps a low-requirement bow throughout the game for access to the special arrows?
I've heard the special arrows always hit, so DEX isn't necessary to use them. I can keep a staff on hand for stats, and just spend some AP to switch weapons - I wouldn't expect to do this more than once or twice per fight.
Is there some mechanic that would prevent this? Is the cost of switching weapons not worth the utility of the arrows? Is the amount of Perception needed to spot secrets at end-game too high for a mage to reasonably attain?
APOLOGY
I am sorry for being so long-winded.
