Originally Posted by TomReneth
Originally Posted by Aranlas
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.

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.)

"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"