Why lack of damage bonus on missile weapons?

Remove all ads!

I find it odd that most magic bows only have a bonus to Hit, and most bolts/arrows the same, no damage bonus. I don't follow this logic. Even a +5 arrow will do less damage than say, most weapons that are +5 as well, so why are 90% it seems of the bows in the game give only a damage bonus, and why none for most arrows and bolts? Think this should go into the next version of Ease-Of-Use?

 

I don't know the logic behind it, but IMO it would overpower missile weapons. When you hit with a melee weapon, you have to be toe-to-toe with the bad guys, putting yourself in danger. With arrows, you're hiding behind a tree or behind your friends pelting people. I already think bows are the most powerful weapons in the game because they're such great mage killers. My main "archer" in the game (usually Mazzy) gets the most kills, and kills the most big meanies, as it is. An additional damage bonus would be too much.

 

As I recall, the Sling of Seeking adds bonus damage based on the character's strength.

 

Hehe, try an archer, it's über-un-balanced. You can easily do 20+ damage with each shot
I remember toasting Firkraag solo that way, Imp. Haste x 2 plus some protections He didn't stand a chance.....

 

According to original AD&D 2nd edition game rules, there IS a damage bonus for missile weapons based on three factors: Strenght,specialization and weapon bonuses. Formations, I think, were introduced in the game in order to take advantage of this, not just protecting weaklings. However, there are some weapons throughout the game-at least a sling-which adds your strenght score to the damage done with the missile. Don't want to overpower your game?Then just don't use missile weapons, but I think the game designers should have kept to the original rules.