Stats for a Ranger bowman

[remen]

How to divide stats for a Ranger Bowman wise?
Game explanation on shooting is not clear. It says ranged weapon depends on different stats for a different kind of weapon? Does it means some weapon adds Strength to damage or Intelligence to successful shooting.

Does an intelligence worth to invest? Can Ranger use offensive spells or is it better to just shoot and cast only detection and enchant spells.
I think mage is better spellcaster. And it is reasonable to concentrate on something one than be a jack of all trades, master of none. But I don't know this game well. What to expect in a future.

STR 17
Int 10
Wis 10
Dex 17
Con 17

[Derakon]

Damage for bows is given by (bow multiplier + slay multiplier) * (ammo dice + ammo to-dam + bow to-dam). So for example, an average Shortbow shooting average Arrows does 2d4 damage per hit, not counting critical hits. A Longbow of Extra Might (x4) (+10, +13) shooting Arrows of Slay Dragon (1d4) (+6, +8) at a dragon would deal:

(4 + 2) * (1d4 + 13 + 8) damage, which averages out to 141 damage per shot.

DEX has a minor impact on your ability to hit things, but I don't believe it's significant. If you want to focus on missile weapons, just get the best bow you can and load up on ammo and on Phase Door scrolls. Remember that rangers only get their bonus shots when using bows, not slings or crossbows.

Otherwise, I'd generally favor putting your points into STR, INT, and DEX. STR is always helpful, and DEX will be important for getting multiple melee blows since you won't be able to shoot everything to death (if nothing else, you'd run out of ammo very quickly). INT is more immediately useful than CON, too, if only for making you better at casting detection spells Rangers do get offensive spells, but their bows will almost always be a better choice.

The difference between a CON of 12 vs. a CON of 18 is only 29HP at level 20 -- a Human Ranger gets a d14 hit die and would have on average 150HP at that level. That's why I say that CON is a poor bet in the early game. Later on, two things happen that make it more valuable: first, you have more levels to compound the bonuses you get, and second, you get enough CON to push you into the stat levels that have accelerating returns (starting at around 18/60). Going from 12 to 18 CON gets you 1.45HP more per level; going from 18/50 to 18/100 CON gets you 2.25HP more per level.

[PowerDiver]

For any of the half-casters, by which I mean those with 5% minimum failure rate, it makes most sense to start with 16 in Str, Dex, Con, and spell stat [INT for a ranger]. If you think you would prefer a particular stat at 17, it is fairly likely that you will find a potion that boosts that stat at the cost of a random other stat in the early game.

The main reason not to do this is to start with a total Dex value of 18/10, including race and class bonuses. That makes a big difference in melee. Otherwise go with four 16s until you realize that you have lost a game due to your choice of initial stats, and you feel the need to adjust.

Archery is too annoying to rely upon it, in the sense that the UI requires many more keypresses, and there are some other issues. Optimal ranger play involves a *lot* of melee. If you don't plan to make strong use of spellcasting, you will have more fun playing a warrior. If you do cast spells, the spell stat matters.

[ghengiz]

Archery is too annoying to rely upon it, in the sense that the UI requires many more keypresses, and there are some other issues.

yep, but there is a shortcut for one of them: the 'h' command, which is equivalent to f0'

of course, if you want to fire a different quiver ammo, and/or not at the nearest enemy, you are out of luck and need to explicitely use the 'f' command