Overhauling ranged weapons

[PenguinNinja]

Original post

Now, essentially, my suggestion is this - Make all ranged weapons have unlimited ammunition.

Now, before you toss this out completely, hear me out. As it stands, playing a ranged character is expensive, you can make your own arrows, but even making bundles of Damask arrows takes a bag of Damask Arrow heads (2 coal, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 casting mold, and 1 steel ingot, 23 crafting points) and arrow shafts (3 softwood, 10 crafting points) and then it takes 84 crafting points to make. Eighty-four! All for the grand prize of, 5 sets of arrows that only do 3 more damage. Most definitely not worth it.

Archers have always been behind the times, what with them being useless unless you're a rogue or an AA, and with Arelith changing further toward convenience over grueling reality, they're getting left behind even moreso. As it stands, spending 117 crafting points (more if you count the ingredients) to make only 5 bundles of arrows that don't boost your damage worthily, and not only that, having to then spend around 15-30 grand any time you want to apply a permanant essence to one of those bundles, and then more for temporary essences that won't wear off before you finish using that whole bundle that you spent 15-30K on, and about 5 hours of wait time, and more gathering ingredients.

Essentially as it stands, the current arrow system is expensive, unwieldy, and inefficient. Now, what I propose is not as drastic as it sounds. The bows could use some tweaking, but for now I think we need to handle the cost issues, and needless wasting of essences.

Each bow tier will have unlimited ammo of each arrow type. All regular bows will have regular ammo, Masterly will have Iron, Powerful will have Steel, and Grand will have Damask. Also, add the ability to apply essences directly to the bow itself. I know it can be done, I've seen it on Prehistory. This way, you aren't wasting your essences constantly, and temp essences can be applied to the unlimited bundle and last the whole time through.

Now, obviously, this would upset the economy by there suddenly being no point in buying arrows, or bolts. To combat this, the presence of new crossbow, bow, and sling types could be introduced, new, more powerful weapons that have incredibly high creation costs and DC's that offer unique arrow types and more variety, giving more selling potential to ranged weapons beyond ammunition.

As it stands, carpentry suffers from the similar fate that Alchemy does, in that there is no point in increasing it beyond about 35, as the highest DC to craft is the Masters Staff, at DC 37, and while yes, it allows diverging into other crafting types, it gives no benefits for those who would want something extra from going more, or even the full path into carpentry.

Either way, I'd like you to read my post over completely and think about it before discarding it out of hand.

I feel something this big requires the input of the whole community.

[RangerBuffWhen]

AAs aren't behind the times, they're just more annoying and harder to play due to their squishiness. Most of their damage comes from their class arrow enhancements which suffice for PvE, while busted 1d6 1d4 +3 damage arrows can serve for PvP.

Bows Only crossbows recently just got a buff as well.

[One Two Three Five]

Did bows? I thought just crossbows.

Now, I like the 'putting essences on bows instead of arrows' thing, but that'd chomp on people who do triple-essenced arrows. (quad? Is that possible?)

Also, instead of infinite arrows, I've seen this elsewhere: 'Quiver' items that can be used to copy an arrow type (say, you use the item on a damask arrow), and then used again to spit out that type of arrow, in a 99 stack, for a gold cost, x times per day. Make it something reasonable and I think that'd be better than having to constantly be making arrows with forging. Combine it with essences on bows, not arrows, so you don't have to worry about people with infinite triple essenced damask, I guess.

Also, arcane archer only crafted arrows seems like a fun idea.

[AnselHoenheim]

But there is a path of the archer that does that, a free bundle each day in benefit of taking away two-handed feats from the ranger, which, for an AA, it's not really useful at all, so in case you want free arrows, there is that possibility.

[Trunx]

Ranger AAs are bad, though.

[Durvayas]

Crossbows just got a buff to be brought up to speed with bows due to their innate inferiority. Now they're actually worth using, but only the new light crossbow (The large drow crossbow is underwhelming and actually has penalties, so nobody is going to select it over a gonne... ever.)

As for the arrow economy...
What arrow economy?

The only people who sell arrows are ranger path archers who can generate bundles for free. Overall, the cost of a good set of 99 arrows is well beyond what people are willing to pay for them.

Basic arrows are occasionally sold, but only because the arrowheads are a loot drop now.

Actually making arrows from scratch is an aggravation.
You need to get the clay, make the mold, make the ingots, make the arrowheads. collect 9 softwood, make the shafts, pray you don't roll a 1 anywhere in the creation process, then spend 100+CP on a bundle which you then need to essence(anything less than a +4 or 1d6 us a waste) and slap on a temp essence. to generate duel essence arrows. If you aren't generating them by pulling them out of your back pocket as a ranger, they simply aren't worth the effort to sell because anything not top of the line simply won't sell at all. There just aren't enough archers willing to pay.

[Trunx]

The large drow crossbow is underwhelming and actually has penalties, so nobody is going to select it over a gonne... ever.)

It definitely has its uses, and the penalties don't matter for those.

[CragOrion]

But can't you just repair damask bundles indefinitely for infinite arrows? Kinda makes all those resources and time you put into making the bundle worth it

[Nitro]

Can you repair bundles? I was under the impression that you couldn't.

[One Two Three Five]

You absolutely can't. Just checked.

[livingNPC]

As an archer that makes my own arrows, I would suggest rather placing more charges in a bundle of arrows, instead of the infinite suggestion.

I really don't mind all that effort crafting arrows, as it's an experience in it's own, the payoff is just a little lackluster, is all.

[Mr_Rieper]

My suggestion isn't really related to the OP, but still related to the topic.

Remove gonnes, remove heavy crossbows. Put a new heavy crossbow in that functions like a gonne. Long reload time, shoots with an ability that consumes the whole round, big damage numbers.

There are a lot of Terry Pratchett references on the server, some of them are subtle and great, others are rather in-your-face. The gonne is one of them. It would be more interesting to see high-powered wound crossbows that can be fired slowly but with a powerful effect.

Alternatively just keep the gonne in and rework the heavy crossbow to function like a gonne as well. That would be cool too.

Historically I'd say the heavy crossbow fits the role that the gonne is trying to fill. They were given to peasants to use because it didn't take a lifetime of training to fire them properly. They pierced armor and made even heavily armored nobles worry about their life choices. Some of the lighter and more modern versions were easier to reload, but the type I'm referring to is the mini-ballista, basically. The same crossbow used in the Stronghold games, that had to be rewound before firing.

If people are worried about it being too easy for people to get in place of the gonne, just put a penalty on equipping/unequipping it, to discourage using it as a quick damage boost.

[Iceborn]

Gonnes are a tragically required weapon in Arelith, and the solution to many problems that may appear otherwise insurmountable. IE: Cheesepale masters

[gilescorey]

Gonnes are a tragically required weapon in Arelith, and the solution to many problems that may appear otherwise insurmountable. IE: Cheesepale masters

Or set epic electrical traps, now that shadow conjuration wand summoned shades are no longer immune to electrical damage, and as a bonus - traps drop in chests or as loot a lot more.
Or a warlock.
It's debatable, but a mage (probably just sorcerers) could be considered a counter also if they have enough missile storms to bust past -pray.

PMs just turn things into a "ha ha you can't hit me :^)" memefest if the opponent is based on standard attack rolls. Get around having to facedesk their AC, and in practical terms they're just normal fighters with less HP, really bad AB and stun immunity.

[hated for what you are]

As someone else who also plays an archer making their own arrows, the process takes more time in the gathering of materials than in the actual crafting of. Personally for me it gives my character reason to go out and delve into random caves and mines looking for a new source. I have used the archer path on others to have unlimited arrows and loved it though it is a mild frustration to watch it done now while my toon works her bum off. The only real issue I have with the crafting of my own is that to be able to provide her with arrows ~and~ low grade perm essences is that she will never be good at one craft nor will she even be able to have better than iron arrows until epic lvls, having spread craft points so thin to make both. No one sells +2 or +3 perm essences and 1d4 are priced insanely high. Making these bundles split by 8 instead of 5 or lowering a few of the craft DC's would be a blessing.

[yellowcateyes]

First of all, archer setups can be very powerful. The notion of archers being "behind the times" and "being useless" aren't universally embraced, to say the least. But let's put that aside for now as discussing it would derail the thread.

One big issue with balancing ammo costs is that they use the same permanent essences that apply to melee weapons. The archer needs to make the same expenditure on a finite resource that meleers make on something enduring and permanent. This isn't an ideal situation, as balancing costs for meleers would have a lopsided effect on archers, and vice versa.

I don't agree that ammo should be made infinite, as the crafting and sale of consumables is good for the player economy.

That said, I do agree the system could use a rework. Namely, the costs of producing essence'd arrows should reflect their finite nature, and that Carpentry should be made more desirable.

Suggestions:

1) Carpentry recipes that use Arrow/Bolt Bundles as an ingredient, and produce that same bundle with +X elemental damage added. Costs can be tailored to be fair to archers, and using existing bundles as an ingredient makes this a viable option for both those who picked the Archer path and those who craft/buy their arrow bundles.

2) Allow rogues/assassins/BGs to use weapon-based poisons on arrow stacks. Or adopt the above approach and have Carpentry recipes that use bundles and crafted poisons as ingredients, to produce a wider variety of poisoned arrow bundles.

3) Thrown weapon bundles, plz.

[If Valor Were Inches]

I don't think overhauling is required.

I've noticed that some of the new weapons are themed from Baldur's Gate. Why not add a rare drop of a short bow with unlimited ammo? A +3 or 4 Attack Short bow for example with unlimited some sort of element ammo, balanced by lacking might and the extra crit/dex bonus the other shortbow has.

[msterswrdsmn]

Bear in mind; if a weapon has the unlimited ammo property, you can't use crafted arrows. Unless its firing off really good unlimited arrows, you'll be doing considerably less damage.

[Nitro]

Artefact bows with unlimited arrows and +4 ammo enchantment already exist in the loot matrix, very sought after and usually selling for more than a million.

[Cerk Evermoore]

Even if you got that bow it would be pretty terrible because rainbow arrows are literally the difference between archers being op and terrible. With the implementation of 1d8 temporary essences this gap widdens.

[If Valor Were Inches]

Even if you got that bow it would be pretty terrible because rainbow arrows are literally the difference between archers being op and terrible. With the implementation of 1d8 temporary essences this gap widdens.

The damage would not be great, agreed. But not every encounter needs good damage, and just being able to hit with decent arrows consistently would be useful.

[Dalenger]

Why not just make bundles repairable? It doesn't make ranged any more powerful, and removes the annoyance of having to spend an hour hunting the supplies. It'd be less extreme than having all bows have infinite ammo, but still fix the problem.

Also, bolts.

[The Kriv]

personally, I think archers need a little bit of love. I really appreciate the +3 damage bonus my sniper gets, and that those 3 points bypass DR and all.. but ultimately, being a non-Arcane Archer, I'm at such a disadvantage in PVP I don't even really bother with it.

I'd like to see the "Sniper" path of rangers be a little beefier in regards to a high-level Sniper's ability to crank out some damage and be at least marginally able to defend myself against melee attacks, or death attacks by rogues.


How about something that makes the Sniper Path more utilitarian,
@6+ levels in Ranger/Sniper can toggle a "Called Shot" effect vs. legs for every arrow shot (without having to select a target ... how many archers have crit-killed a friend because they targeted them accidentally in the mad foray of a crowded battle?? - Sniper Path eliminates this

@12+ Levels in Ranger/Sniper acquire +d8 piercing Damage w/ bows -bypasses DR

@18+ Levels in Ranger/Sniper can activate unlimited True-Shot (w/ 1-2 min cool-down)

@24+ Levels in Ranger/Sniper acquire +3d8 piercing Damage w/ bows -bypasses DR

@30+ levels in Ranger/Sniper-path (Epic Sniper) is granted true-seeing while a bow is equipped


Make the Sniper Path something REALLY Desirable for a party to WANT to have in their group. Make them the ULITMATE Scout. Give it something not to just be a 'dip' into, but worthy of heavily invested. Make it like the Ranged Weaponmaster.

Make the Sniper-Path be the Bane of Roguey-Assassins... unsneak-up-able.

[miesny_jez]

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT and maths! Skimm to the bottom for full conclussions

Having been playing a character which was: 1) Not an Arcane Archer, 2) Not a Rogue, 3) Not a Ranger, 4) Crafting his own arrows.

I have to agree with a lot of points on this.. but would also like to add a more unorthodox point of view to the subject:

Why do we have the notion of identifying the AA as the definition of a ranged character?
Of course its a class that boosts the ranged damage, but sometimes from the discussions about ranged damage I am getting the impression that no other character is considered as worthy in the ranged department. The discussions more often fall into the line of.. boost AA damage, AA arrows, AA, make more weapons for AA... etc etc.
Whereas I would rather say that it is not the AA that needs any kind of boosts as it already has enough class boosts to ranged damage.

I think the current notion of considering Rangers AND AA as the only capable ranged-combat characters is really limiting to possible characters concepts. Its like saying the only ones capable of fighting in melee are WMs so lets buff WMs.

Therefore I would say WE DO NOT NEED class-restricted (Ranger/AA) ranged weapons. We rather need something which is available to everyone. Class and racial restrictions serve only to limit the possible character concepts which You can come up with which will make possible RP bland over time.

In terms of bows/crossbows/ranged weapon subject:
Regarding the ranged weapons we have to be rather careful here.. You do not risk anything like a melee character, You just stand in the back and pellet Your target with chosen ammunition usually without any risk at all.
Therefore why a ranged character should be on par or outdamage a melee character in the first place? Its not like Your character is swinging a two-handed sword which can cut in half Your foe.. You should need a considerable more hits from arrows to put down even an average human then sword swings. Therefore I think that damage from ranged weapons should be always lower then melee weapons - less risk = less gain.

There is also another thing regarding ranged characters builds in general - they can be squishy. When Your building a ranged character You do not concern Yourself too much with survivability because You most often stand in the back. The general trend to build a ranged character is max focus on AB because You can afford the risk of that. If a melee character would be allowed to build like that the server would be filled with WMs/Clerics with 10 CON but they can't because on a melee character You have to think about staying face-to face.. thus You have to sacrifice AB for that. The ranged one does not need to take such a sacrifice - meaning more focus on AB.

The ranged characters will always have higher AB (thus hit more often), so having the same damage capabilities as melee characters, plus no limitations, is asking for troubles in terms of module monsters design.

So do I think we have enough power on the ranged weapons? Let's do the maths:
(Assumptions: Reasonable expenditure, Hasted, Full buffed, all attacks hit, Rapid Shot available, average build statistics, sneak attack not considered, average numbers, no crits):

Damage Per ROUND list ranged:

• LCrossbowsD: 5* (4.5 (base)+ 3 (mighty) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 70
• LCrossbowR: 5* (4.5 (base)+ 3 (mighty) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 80
• HCrossbowsD: 5* (5.5 (base)+ 3 (mighty) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 75
• HCrossbowsR: 5* (5.5 (base)+ 3 (mighty) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 85
• SBowD: 6* (3.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 72
• SBowR: 6* (3.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 84
• LBowD: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 78
• LBowR: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 90
• ThrowingAxS: 5* (3.5 (base)+ 5 (mighty) + 2 (steel) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 70
• ThrowingAxD: 5* (3.5 (base)+ 5 (mighty) + 3 (damask) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 75
• SlingD: 5* (2.5 (base)+ 3 (mighty +4?) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 60
• SlingR: 5* (2.5 (base)+ 3 (mighty +4?) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 70

Damage Per ROUND list limited melee with 4/5 attacks hitting:

• MDamaskSword: 4* (4.5 + 8 (st mod) + 6 (m damask) + 3.5 (perm) + 3.5 (temp)) = 102
• MDamaskGSword: 4* (7 + 12 (st mod) + 6 (m damask) + 3.5 (perm) + 3.5 (temp)) = 128

Lets compare ratios:

• LBowD/MDamaskGSword: (78/128)*100 = 61%
• LBowR/MDamaskGSword: (90/128)*100 = 70%
• HCrossbowsD/MDamaskGSword: (75/128)*100 = 58%
• HCrossbowsR/MDamaskGSword: (85/128)*100 = 66%
• LBowD/MDamaskSword: (78/102)*100 = 76%
• LBowR/MDamaskSword: (90/102)*100 = 88%
• HCrossbowsD/MDamaskSword: (75/102)*100 = 73%
• HCrossbowsR/MDamaskSword: (85/102)*100 = 83%

Obviously the reasonable (cost wise) damage potential of ranged weapons is lower then the melee ones (which is good). Though indeed Heavy crosbbows fall off quite heavily when compared to another two-handed melee weapon (58% and 66% damage potential of a GS).
I think the magical number we should be aiming at should be rather around 20% of lost efficiency when comparing damage potential of ranged/melee weapons. And 42% would be certainly an overkill.

In case of the LongBow and Shortbow we have to also take into consideration that those are the AA weapons which can add a flat +24 - +42 damage potential (33 average) so we would have:

• LBowD/MDamaskGSword: ((78+33)/128)*100 = 87%
• LBowR/MDamaskGSword: ((90+33)/128)*100 = 96%

Now let us consider situation that we add a flat +4 (from essence) to ranged weapons:
Our ratios jump to:

• HCrossbowsR/MDamaskGSword: (105/128)*100 = 82%
• LBowRR/MDamaskGSword: (114/128)*100 = 89%
• LBowR+AA/MDamaskGSword: (147/128)*100 = 114.5% - NOT GOOD

Conclusions I have after calculations are these:

• AA + Longbow - has too high damage potential
• Crossbows - are poorly itemized and need buffs
• no point of crafting Damask arrows/Bolts - Bronze+cheap enchant is far better

Suggestions:
I think that allowing flat +Essence on bows/crossbows is not the way to go as we could run into issues that AA will essentially burn easily through any encounter. This simulation assumes not even the highest grade arrows which can be produced but already AA overshadow in damage a dedicated two-handed user who takes considerable risk in melee. So I think that adding flat +essence on weapon should not be allowed.

Craft-able ammunition should get a buff in damage instead so that it is worthwhile to spend time/effort for that instead of simply going Bronze+Enchant in a basin. A nuclear option would be to turn off Bundles enchanting in the basin.. but I think this would be too much.
Cases:
DamaskBolt/Arrows +4:

• HCrossbow damage: 80
• LBows damage: 84
• LBows+AA damage: 117

DamaskBolt/Arrows +5:

• HCrossbow damage: 85
• LBows damage: 90
• LBows+AA damage: 123

DamaskBolt/Arrows +6:

• HCrossbow damage: 90
• LBows damage: 96
• LBows+AA damage: 129 - too much

Probably the +5 would be the best middle but they would be still weaker then simple enchanted bundles (+1d4 + 1d4) thus +6 would be the more appropriate one, but of course AA screws up everything with its flat + damage. So we either accept AAs being higher damage dealers with +6 arrows or limit the ammo buff to only bolts/rocks/axes.
Cause at this point crafting better arrows/bolts/rocks is nonsensical.

The Crossbow/Bow dilemma:
The crossbows are weaker without doubt and on top of that even more then the simple numbers above show up. The Mighty attribute being higher on crossbows will never contribute to the damage itself simply because ranged characters rarely have enough ST to make it count. The crossbows have less APR then bows and their crit modifier is weaker though they have double the range of a bow.
Besides.. a question why do we have mighty on a crossbow in a first place? Crossbows in RL do not rely on the trained strength of the user!

My suggestion is to put in a FLAT damage increase on all crossbows and remove the mighty property out of it entirely. Leaving the damage bonus dependent on the quality of the crossbow itself. I would even suggest putting up higher damage potential of a crossbow then a longbow - it would still be inferior to AA-boosted weapons but would deliver higher consistent damage (x2 crit) then the more "bursty" bows (x3 crit).

Let us consider flat +6 to crossbows:

• HCrossbowsD: 5* (5.5 (base)+ 6 (flat) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 90
• HCrossbowsR: 5* (5.5 (base)+ 6 (flat) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 100
• HCrossbowsNewD: 5* (5.5 (base)+ 6 (flat) + 6 (new damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 105

comparision with longbow:

• LBowD: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 78
• LBowR: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 90
• LBowNewD: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 6 (new damask a) + 3.5 (t essence)) = 96

now Longbow + AA:

• LBowD+AA: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 3 (damask b) + 3.5 (t essence)+5.5(AA avg)) = 111
• LBowR+AA: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 2.5 (perm1) +2.5(temp2) + 3.5 (t essence) + 5.5(AA avg)) = 123
• LBowNewD+AA: 6* (4.5 (base)+ 2 (mighty) + 6 (new damask a) + 3.5 (t essence) + 5.5(AA avg)) = 129

So .. even adding +6 keeps the crossbow in a reasonable state damage wise:

• HCrossbowsD/MDGSword : 90/128 = 70%
• HCrossbowsR/MDGSword : 100/128 = 78%
• HCrossbowsNewD/MDGSword : 105/128 = 82%

Its a very easy "fix" and from the numbers shown it could be applied to crafting matrix without breaking the balance of the ranged weapons


In terms of arrows/bolts/bullets:
The inconvenience of having ammunition for the ranged weapon is quite obvious to anyone who would play 5 minutes as a ranged character.. but at the same time if we would be building unlimited ammo weapons on a RP server.. how would You justify that? Ehmm.. Magic again?

The most annoying part of being a ranged character are:

• The need of dedicating a lot of inventory space to unbundled arrows
• Arrows being flipped automatically by the NWN system when Your quiver runs out, thus sometimes leading to random arrows being chosen (i know there is a way to prevent it but its tedious)

Lets make a simulation how many arrows a ranged character needs:
Assumptions: 3 RL hour game session, Actual combat: 70% of time, 6 APR.

Arrows per round: 6
Arrows per second: 1
Combat time : 7560 s
Arrows needed: 7560

Arrow stacks (99): 77 stacks

Arrow Bundles (it was 5 per bundle?): 16 Arrow bundles.

Crafting points needed: 117 * 16 = 1872 CP

If I am correct the CP resets every 12 in game hours so that gives us 2 RL hours.. so to craft arrows needed for a 3 hour killing session we need: 78 RL HOURS... well now something is certainly not right over here.

So the obvious conclusion is that what You gain is not enough for the work You have to put into it.

This is how an ideal bundle system would look for me:
Crafting side:

• A single produced basic bundle should be able to sustain an archer for an hour of RL life playing. Meaning it should have around 2000 - 2500 arrows
• The more points You have in Carpentry the more arrows can a bundle hold for You. Adding a modified of 0.5% per points in Carpentry would yield a maximum (70 points) of 3375 arrows. Which would be able to sustain an archer for 2.24 RL of constant combat time.
• Specialized arrows/bolts should be able to be crafted in stacks

User side:

• Each arrow bundle can spawn arrows only of the kind of the bundle (plus essenced of course) - aka Bronze bundle spawns Bronze arrows
• The player would have to "enable" a bundle with a dialog option, the enabled bundle automatically fills the arrow/bolt/rock slot of the inventory with 1 arrow. If the player character shoots the arrow its refilled automatically by the activated bundle as long as it has arrows in it.
• Poisons/PermEnchantments/TempEssences are applied to the bundle and the spawned arrows are automatically adjusted with the correct properties
• Using up the arrows in the bundle makes the bundle disappear with an overhead notification to the player
• Activating bundles can be done only when out of combat
• Bundles should be around 10 lbs each to limit cheese but still allowing reasonable choice and limit of carrying

FINAL CONCLUSSIONS/SUGGESTIONS:
1) Do not allow for perm essencing ranged weapons - due to AA going out of control
2) Change Crossbow Mighty into FLAT DAMAGE (+6 suggested) - does not brake the balance and makes crossbows on par with bows
3) Change Slings into FLAT DAMAGE - same case as Crossbows
4) Total rebuild of bundle system required
5) Buffing ammo is needed to justify crafting of better arrows instead of going bronze+basin

[If Valor Were Inches]

1): You can't. Only the ammunition.
2): You can't. Only the ammunition can get flat damage. I'm pretty sure the best heavy crossbow has mighty up to +4 or +6.
3): Again, you can't. Only the ammunition.
4/5): I agree that the ammunition could be more varied and strengthened.