Hi - I'm thinking about a (good-aligned, for a change) Skald character to take with a full party through BGEE and am thinking about proficiencies, I think on the melee front I'm likely to go Staff > Two-handed fighting > Halberd (or maybe halberd first), but am not sure about the ranged choice.
The light cross bow of speed would be ideal, as it gets 2 APR and is faster than even the +2 shortbow (useful if I want to "song twist" and get in some ranged shorts before my song ends, then resume singing), but I was wondering if there are any non-drow (i.e. not disintegrating) crossbows with >1 APR in BG2? This is especially important for a Skald, as they get +1 damage with *all* attacks, so it's useful to have a high APR (though I don't want to take darts, until maybe the Cloak of Stars in BG2). I'm likely to take Imoen at the start of BGEE (who has shortbows) and Kivan and/or Coran on longbows.
The light cross bow of speed would be ideal, as it gets 2 APR and is faster than even the +2 shortbow (useful if I want to "song twist" and get in some ranged shorts before my song ends, then resume singing), but I was wondering if there are any non-drow (i.e. not disintegrating) crossbows with >1 APR in BG2? This is especially important for a Skald, as they get +1 damage with *all* attacks, so it's useful to have a high APR (though I don't want to take darts, until maybe the Cloak of Stars in BG2). I'm likely to take Imoen at the start of BGEE (who has shortbows) and Kivan and/or Coran on longbows.