as for drawing the bow string back for extra damage... yes it is feasible to some extent on a bow that is tailor made for the archer and is somewhat sophisticated. That's the idea behind the *MIGHTY* composite bows in D&D. But of course this only is true to a certain extent... so unlimited strength bonuses are a nono. BG1 was another game where bows completely owned everything, which may be one reason why I was never very fond of it... I like melee characters and, though building an archer is nice, they shouldn't dominate the game. Oh well


I guess if I ever wanted to play a melee character again, I would take a Warrior and pump strength and constitution first and use hammers (which don't need agility). I would only plunk points into agility when I'm falling too far behind on the hit/dodge ratio. I would compensate for the lack of reliable hits (due to low offense) with direct damage spells, so the occasional point would be divided between Int and Agi

How it should work is there should be more now classes with higher str requirments.

That would be more realistic. As you said, though, the main problem is the high base damage for bows.


there is also a skill to increase bow speed and some bows have speed 6 on them.

The recuperation time isn't going to get less than zero, though, so a speed bonus on the bow just means it is a little faster early in the game (before you max the Bow Expertise skill).


This means that a bow is doing 50% more damge than the highest damage 2 handed sword in the game at the same speed.

Is the base attack time for swords and bows the same?


Why put something like this in the game because killing everything in 3 seconds isn't what I call fun.

Probably the same reason Frost on a weapon ignores the target's resistances, so always freezes it.
I tried a Frost sword briefly, which was also not fun (as soon as I hit anything the fight was effectively over, I just had to wait for my character to hit enough times to kill it). At least with an over-power bow, fights are not fun and short.


Another point with the bows is you can stand face to face with a melee monster and still keep firing.

With a single character game, the alternative would be forcing the player to keep running away (perhaps realistic, but not much fun) or switch to a backup weapon (which could perhaps be seen as a hassle).

BD had speed penalties for heavier armour. That wasn't enough to cause a realistic penalty for an archer (or mage), but maybe DD2 will be better in that regard.

When I wasn't playing as a warrior, (because of the spin attack) I think it was good that I had a frost weapon, as I always play in hard, and I like to rush into combat with multiple foes and no summoned creatures! I think a good balance for
armor would be something like in Mordor, where heavier armor resulted in less dexterity, making the game more realistic. BTW, I think Mordor was a pretty good game for it's time and system requirements!

So far i've reached level 11, finished Aleroth and the surrounding forest.
I either use a bow, or dagger with poison on it. The play style is pretty fun so far. I sneak around and ambush monsters, and when i get too many on me, i pop back into vanish which leaves the mobs wondering around, giving me time to set up new strategies and killing them one by one.

At the same time though, i can just run into hordes of mobs and kill them with ease, using freeze on tough ones and healing myself.