Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Ranger with bow and dual weapons

Hi Everyone, Does it make sense to create a dexterity-based ranger to be skilled with both a bow and two scimitars? Or all weapons with "Finesse"?

Which race would be better? I'm sure a wood elf is the best but I think the half wood elf is also a great choice.
I'm quite new to this world and can't wait for the game to come out.

Thanks in advance for all answers!

You basically have the right idea, bows scale with dexterity and finesse weapons use dexterity for attack and damage instead of strength.

As for race, depending on who you ask, race is less for stats and more for roleplay options, especially in a game such as this. I'd wait for someone with much stronger opinions on the former than the latter.

In recent pnp that’s what I did, well, not so much the bow (though I did occasionally use one).

Instead of Scimitars I used Rapiers (with a gloomstalker subclass).

Using 2 light, finessable weapons and a bow is a very solid settup for a Ranger. If you choose Hunter with Colossus Slayer, you'll have consistently good dmg in EA without even needing to use Hunter's Mark. HM is usually not even worth using for enemies with less than 50 HP below lvl 5 and less than 70 HP at level 5, since you'll have to mark a new target before gaining anything from it, since they'll die too quickly.

Edit:
Avoid the "Dual wielder" feat at level 4. It isn't bad, but it is better to increase you dexterity to max before picking it.

For race, any option with + dexterity is great. Try to have 16-17 dexterity at level 1 and 14 constutition and wisdom. After that, intelligence is a good stat for reasons that are complicated to explain.

Thanks for the attention!

Yeah that’s the point , I would like to use both bow and double weapons (whatever got finesse) depending on the situations. But, since the game is practically a D&d transposition, I don't know if doing so I would only be weak in advanced levels.

Dual wielding is strong lvl 1-4 and passable at lvl 5. On a Hunter Ranger, a regular dual wielder will still hit harder than a Warlock with Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast + Hex (Blastlock, AKA baseline). Here are some numbers I ran in another thread: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=838691#Post838691

If you want to play a dual wielder at higher levels, go Rangr to level 5 and then multiclass into Rogue. That will keep the damage competitive all the way to level 20. We don't know how multiclassing will work in BG3, but they did say that they're adding it, so it should be a good combination. Here is a reddit thread I made about it quite a while ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/rmeymw/dd_5e_making_an_effective_dual_wielder/

This could work but in BG3 EA rapiers are finesse but not light, which means a ranger would need to take the feat (dual wielder?) at level 4 to use two at once.

For the OP, only melee weapons that have the Light property which you can see at the bottom of their tooltip can be used in both hands, until you reach level four. You can’t even have a non-light weapon in one hand and light in the other. At level 4, you can select an ability that lets your character use two non-light weapons, but this means that other options, such as improving your ability scores, are missed.

A Dex build also works for a Beastmaster ranger. Haven't tried it since patch 1, but the spider is (was?) basically a dragon. It functionally flies, and shooting webs at fire sources lets it create fire surfaces at great range.

Your ranger doesn't need to be highly optimized when you're rollin' with a dragon, but a Dex based wood elf can hang back next to the spider to protect it with finesse weapons while still impacting battle with Hunter's Mark and a longbow.

If close range is more your style, I'd add to @TomReneth's suggestion that having the jump spell (or picking Githyanki over Wood-elf) lets you get easily into position. The blade-ward cantrip can also help tank in melee range.

The best race would be either a halfling or a half-elf if you really want to optimize, because ranger already gives you access to all weapon/armor proficiencies and those on the other DEX races are wasted. Choosing a halfling eliminates your critical misses and half-elf gets more total attributes and is immune to sleep and has a subracial bonus. I guess a deep gnome could work too with their strong saving throws.

You can do archery and dual wielding. But the best thing is to specialize. Start by making a Wood Elf. (Immune sleep , advantage against charms , +10 feet of moove , perception ) With 17 dexterity. Then you must choose to specialize in dual or archery.

Ranged: Begin Archery style. Go to Auntie Ethel and eat her hair for +1 dexterity. (18 dex) Then at level 4 take +2 dext to reach 20. At level 5 with proficiency, dexterity and your bow +1 and your combat style you have +11 on the attack (you will hit at everytime and more if you get blessing from priest or paladin). At level 8 take sharpshooter which reduces your attack by 5 but increases your damage by 10 if you hit. (you can take sharpshooter at lv 4 instead wich is very strong too). Each turn, use your hunter's mark bonus action, and then land 2 ranged attacks that do massive damage on every boss. (The only default is that all your damage is piercing, some enemies can be resistant to this).

Dual wielding: Begin dual wielding style. Go to Auntie Ethel and eat her hair for +1 dexterity. (18 dex) Then at level 4 take +2 dext to get to 20 or dual wielding feat to equip 2 rapiers. At level 5 you gain an extra attack. You can make 3 attacks at 1D8+4 damage and +1D6 if you have the hunter's mark (but this will cost you a bonus action and therefore the first turn you will have one less attack). In addition you will have to keep your concentration for the hunter's mark, face to face it is more difficult. (At lv 8 take +2 dex or dual wielding feat).

The ranged buid is stronger in my opinion in baldur gate 3. They haven't implemented sharpshooter yet but mods can do this.

Just because the OP says they are new to this world, I will say that this way of maxing stats and optimising damage isn’t at all necessary to succeed. If you want your ranger to be more effective out of combat (eg to talk to NPCs) you could, say, stick with 16 DEX and pop two points into CHA instead. You need to give it some thought if your ranger isn’t going to be ineffective in combat, but many different builds can work.

Getting Auntie Ethel’s hair in particular involves specific roleplaying choices that you may not want to make, so don’t feel you have to! Plus, even if you want to there’s a tricky battle so don’t rush to her house. I wouldn’t go before level 4 if you’re new to BG3, though it is beatable at level 3 (chances are you’ll be at least level 3 by the time you first meet Ethel if you follow what seems to be the logical sequence of events the game wants you to follow).

Thank you very much to everyone for the answers, you are very kind.

Surely the main thing will be playing the role, I will not make choices to have perfect statistics.

However, I think it is rather difficult to have a credibly strong character in both weapons, correct?

It's very easy. Dexterity is the primary stat for both finesse melee and ranged weapons. Picking two-weapon fighting style at level 2 will let you be effective with both dual wielding and archery. And since you're a Ranger, picking Hunter with Colossus Slayer at level 3 will make sure your damage with both is good for all of the early access.

You can go Beast Master or pick something else from Hunter than Colossus Slayer, but that is harder to play effectively, so I recommend Hunter + Colossus Slayer since you're new to the game.

You can go the third path and focus on defense (take +1 to AC) then you character would be sturdier and their bow/scimitar action would be pretty much the same in terms of efficiency.

Indeed I do not force anyone, moreover I indicate to take 17 in dext but for the rest they are always free to take what sings to them and leaves a lot of choice.

For role play or persuasion, ect, simply take the amulet of guidance (+1D4 to all test) which is in front of the secret entrance to the druid groove at the top of the cliff. Even with a warrior or a paladin... this amulet is enough to pass all its tests. Besides, we have a lot of inspiration. And finally, in a group of 4, each can specialize in one thing.

I give my point of view, but you are free to ignore me, I completely understand that people can have different points of view and desires.

Harder to be maximally effective, true, but if you fancy roleplaying a ranger with an animal companion that can help in battle then Beast Master at level 3 is the way to go! Or you can just pick a smaller familiar with Beast Tamer at level 1 that’s not really helpful in combat but can scout and be situationally useful. Or you can do as I did with my Lolth-sworn drow ranger and have both, though you can only have one summoned at a time. (Though be aware if you wander around with your animal that it can sometimes cause odd behaviour on the part of NPCs who react to it - this is still a bit buggy.)

Two weapon fighting, sadly, doesn't do nearly as well without Colossus Slayer due to bonus action complications with Hunter's Mark, so it really is an important feature if they want dual wielding to be an important part of their combat strategy. But, yes, Beast Masters can be great if you want the RP value or learn to use the ability effectively.

Is that still true?
I tried summoning both the Ranger's companion and a familiar this patch and I was able to. But I didn't try in combat, admittedly.

Didn't they patch that sometime in #8? I think I read something about that, but haven't tried it.

Thanks again, Melivy, for keeping me accurate! I may well be out of date as my ranger playthrough was a while back. Patch 8 I think, but it may even have been 7. I hadn’t spotted this change in any patch notes, but there have been so many of them!