Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Why aren't slings in the game?

Maybe it's a D&D 5e thing, as most of my experience of D&D is from the original two Baldur's Gate games and Icewind Dale, but why aren't slings in the game? Would give druids a proper ranged weapon and I want my halfling characters to be able to use slings, dammit! Would also be cool for there to be some magic ammo for them.

I realise it would require additional character model animations, but seems like a strange omission. I used slings loads in the original BG games, especially for Jaheira.

IIRC there are a few valid 5e weapons that don't appear in Early Access: slings, as you say, but also, eg, whips and ... I can't think of any flails? I suspect you may be right that the specific animations for these weapons might be why they weren't included originally. I'm also wondering whether for slings in particular there might have been some thinking to do about how they are handled, given they only take one hand to hold but as I understand it in 5e they require a free hand for loading so (unlike in the original BG games) couldn't be used with a shield per RAW.

Given I'm sure druids in particular would appreciate a ranged weapon, I hope we can look forward to slings in the full game. I guess it's possible that we might get some visibility of this at the Panel from Hell on 7 July, or we may just need to wait and see in August.

+1

I haven’t seen those toes of people in a while. I feel like at least in cRPG crowd they fell out of favour once casters got a way to do damage every turn through cantrips. In BG1&2 they mostly acting as “the thing your caster uses” when you don’t want them to cast spells.

For what it's worth,

Yes, we would.

Edit:
I'm not a big fan of Produce Flame in that slot, as the range isn't great, iirc. Solasta created a cantrip for this purpose, though I understand if BG3 didn't. But slings seem so simple and flavorful, it'd be a shame not to have them.

Maybe Larian can't even begin to conceive any type of ranged weapons with even "floppier" and slower projectiles than their versions of bow and crossbow.
Which already feel like you are shooting wet noodles.

From what I understand slings had more "umpf" than people give them credit for. Good burn though.

Having been on the receiving end lately, I confirm the presence of something called a flail. IIRC the weapon's animation included flailing chains.
Can the flame made with Produce Flame be thrown beyond the range of Thorn Whip?

Both seem to be 9m (compared to Fire Bolt's 18m), and Produce Flame is at disadvantage when within melee range unlike Thorn Whip.

I still like Produce Flame as a spell given it can be used to create a light source or cause damage or set stuff alight, but I'm sure it could be implemented in a more convenient way, such as clicking the spell then a location to produce and throw, or the spell then the caster to produce and hold as a light, rather than having so many clicks just to produce and throw a flame in one turn.

Slings, as many other things, are ready in the games files but not unlocked / implemented yet.
Some mods allow to use them, but I don't remember which one to be honnest...


As this is something you're talking about for a long time, I tried something just for you !
Not free of a few bugs as you may notice though, but it's a first attempt !

Slings and darts are in the game files (as stated above). They are unlocked by various mods..including Buy Your Starting Equipment (BYSE)

Eh, it was mostly a joke, but they are still nowhere near in the same league.
It's considered a more primitive weapon for a reason.


What a freaking hero.

Lol, I was just going to ask for this! Yes, having some ranged weapon for my druid other than throwing Javalins or daggers or spears and forgetting to pick them up would be nice.

Slings in the game files but not implemented doesn't mean that they will be in the final product, they might have been 'dummied out' for any reasons of being problematic. I might appreciate SOMETHING for the druid though, even if it is just cheating a bit and giving them crossbow proficiency even if they don't normally have it in the game. (After all, base DnD druids can't wear metal armor, and BG3 druids can, so they've already fudged some stuff.)

Some other options that might be easier to implement would be, like an item called 'throwing daggers' that you equip to your ranged option slot and let you throw daggers continuously (after all, you don't have to keep track of arrows, why keep track of throwing daggers.) And they wouldn't leave a dagger behind after you throw. Dunno how hard it would be to implement, but you already have the animation for throwing daggers so I doubt it would be too hard.

Also, can we get a way to sneak attack with thrown weapons? Just saying, Astarion might want to sneak attack with a thrown dagger at some point.

Simple. No slings in DOS2 so no slings in BG3? They just forgot about it and didnt bother.
Would make sense for many classes though.
Saying slings exists only the range weapon casters use is uuuh, yea and? Thats the point. Works with Druids, Casters, Rogues...
And it gives a hell of a Baldurs Gate vibe to the game.

Slings if handled by a person who can use them are in the range of 80 to 180 Joules, that's quite of lot for a pre-gunpowder weapon. You can find such tests on Youtube for example. There is some very misleading data about slings, some think they are very weak (scientists trying them first time f.e., like in "From Sumer to Rome", stating less than 30 Joules energy), some call them the equivalent of an ancient gun (total nonsense). Anyway, properly used they are at the upper range of what stronger bows can reach. As energy is a result of speed (squared) and mass and many sling projectiles are of equal weight as heavier war arrows and bolts, it follows that they move at comparable speed.

The biggest disadvantage of slings is that they need a lot of training to hit something, much more than crossbows or even bows.

Also they don' have pointy projectiles, and thus have less penetration ability.

A couple of things to mention about slings:

First, to put slings into a CRPG would require a whole set of animation for every base character type (so that any PC or NPC could use one in game), that's a lot of animation. Plus go look at a YouTube video to see how unique a motion using a sling is, also note how much room you need and the time it takes to wind up and throw and think on that for the type of combat mechanics this game uses. Personally I think the work would be worth it to include a sling animation set but a game development studio may not see the bang for the buck for the number of people they think are likely have their PCs use a sling. While I get that argument I would counter that more people would use slings in CRPGs if the they were given the option.

Second, and this is for those that think slings were not that great IRL, ancient armies that had Slingers used lead shot not stone and when used by a professional they had nearly the same stopping power as a .44 Mag. That doesn't mean they had the same penetration as a .44, or even an arrow, only that it had an equivalent punch as one at their optimal range. Imagine being hit with a ballpeen hammer by the strongest person on the planet and you'd pretty much get what it was like to be on the receiving end of a competent slinger's shot. Yeah, it's not going to penetrate most armors or flesh like an arrow will but it will definitely crush a skull, brake bones, and even do internal damage if you hit the right spot. There was a reason why even Roman legions still used them along with bows for hundreds of years.

So, to wrap: Yes I'd like slings in the game, no I don't think Larian will add them. Maybe, if we're lucky someone with a lot of time and skill could mod in animations and such... but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Anyway those are my two cp's

I expect it's the animation. To use a sling in a realistic fashion involves spinning the whole body, not just holding it in one hand and tossing it with a flick of the wrist.

They aren't much good in 5e anyway, I don't think I've seen one used since 2nd edition.

for some reason the gnoll flail turns into a mace. IF it was at leat a club that would be better..

Huh. Weird.