Epicurus
Recruit

Although I rejoice in the melee combat in M&B, I have found that I am not really capable of taking out hordes with nearly the same efficiency hand-to-hand as I am with ranged weapons.
My invitation to you more seasoned players is to share your opinions regarding ranged combat: Which of the three archetypes should a ranged combatant specialize in?
From the amount I have played, it seems to me that the situation with ranged weapons is this:
If you are melee-oriented and do not want to have to spend any skill points on your ranged combat, use a crossbow, since it is unaffected by power draw and quite good without much specialization required.
If you are melee-oriented and want as many weapon slots free as possible (say you want a lance, shield, and close quarter weapon at all times) then choose thrown weapons, which require a small investment of skill to be useful and take up only one inventory slot, not to mention dealing very nice damage with excellent accuracy and rate of fire, though with atrocious effective range.
If you want to focus primarily on ranged combat, use a bow, since it has a much better rate of fire than the crossbow, and much greater effective range than thrown weapons(since it goes further but also since the projectiles travel faster), although it requires an investment of skill points (in Power Draw) to get the damage up to acceptable levels for taking on armoured opponents.
My character is a merchant who prefers to kill as many enemies as possible by himself in order to protect the lives of his troops. Ranged attacks have seemed like the best route for this.
Unfortunately, I initially chose to invest in Power Throw, because thrown weapons are so cool, but I have found the slow travel speed of axes and daggers makes taking out mounted troops at a distance near-impossible.
Is Archery with a bow the best choice for this battle philosophy?
Share your own impressions.
Also - Power Draw doesn't affect Crossbows, right? And what's this I hear about being able to reload a crossbow while mounted?
My invitation to you more seasoned players is to share your opinions regarding ranged combat: Which of the three archetypes should a ranged combatant specialize in?
From the amount I have played, it seems to me that the situation with ranged weapons is this:
If you are melee-oriented and do not want to have to spend any skill points on your ranged combat, use a crossbow, since it is unaffected by power draw and quite good without much specialization required.
If you are melee-oriented and want as many weapon slots free as possible (say you want a lance, shield, and close quarter weapon at all times) then choose thrown weapons, which require a small investment of skill to be useful and take up only one inventory slot, not to mention dealing very nice damage with excellent accuracy and rate of fire, though with atrocious effective range.
If you want to focus primarily on ranged combat, use a bow, since it has a much better rate of fire than the crossbow, and much greater effective range than thrown weapons(since it goes further but also since the projectiles travel faster), although it requires an investment of skill points (in Power Draw) to get the damage up to acceptable levels for taking on armoured opponents.
My character is a merchant who prefers to kill as many enemies as possible by himself in order to protect the lives of his troops. Ranged attacks have seemed like the best route for this.
Unfortunately, I initially chose to invest in Power Throw, because thrown weapons are so cool, but I have found the slow travel speed of axes and daggers makes taking out mounted troops at a distance near-impossible.
Is Archery with a bow the best choice for this battle philosophy?
Share your own impressions.
Also - Power Draw doesn't affect Crossbows, right? And what's this I hear about being able to reload a crossbow while mounted?