Best ranged weapon?

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This can include any projectile (considering that some weapons have a secondary ranged attack option).
If you mention some sort of launcher, also please include the projectile used (arrow, bolt, etc.).
Please take into consideration: damage, chance to hit bonuses, special abilities, enchantment (what it is capable of hitting), etc. Thanks!

 

Azuredge for its undead-smiting ability. It's also very cheap, especially for a +4 throwing axe. You should always make sure someone in your party can use this bad boy.

Tuigan's a great early pickup too, and magical arrows of all types are fairly numerous in the game, especially with the inexhaustable Quiver of Plenty from Watcher's Keep.

I was also surprised to find I liked the Sling of Everard. No ammo needed, and it hits as a +5; purchase it from the bonus merchant Joluv in the CC and you can take down Kangaxx pretty early if you've a mind to.

 

Tuigan's one mean bow in the right hands. That would be Mazzys. She has ***** in short bows and haste as a special ability, so that one extra attack the bow gives will pay off and the feeble +1 isn't any burden.

 

Throwing dagger +3: Firetooth
Does 5-11 damage + fire damage + strength bonus and gives 2 attacks/round.

 

Darts. Plain, simple darts. Three attacks per round, they dwarf the damage done by arrows or bullets each time they hit and can be used by all classes (druids, bards, mages, thieves) one wouldnt have melee anyway, enabling them to deal out some considerable punishment without casting spells or something. Plus, I think there is a strength bonus. IIRC, my Avenger does more than 20 damage with a critical hit. Neat.

Sadly, they are the least spectacular to use, as the PCs dont brandish fancy luminous weapons with darts equipped. Also, in an unmodded game I dont remember an enchanted returning dart being available.

 

There's the Crimson Dart in Watchers Keep, which is a returning dart. Find it from the first level...

 

Bah! You got me.

 

I'm rather fond of Bolts of Biting fired from the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy. Nice way for Keldorn to open up in many battles. Nice too that everything you need to turn him into the Crossbowman of Doom can be found on the quest in which you enlist him

 

Firetooth +3 throwing dagger and Gesen's bow +3 shortbow. Firetooth has been already mentioned, so I'll blather on about Gesen's bow. It gives 20% resistance to electricity, fires its own arrows and can hit those pesky adamantite and iron golems when you don't want to close melee.

 

Because there's all kinds of ammo in such abundance in this game, I like to equip ammo on weapons that don't need any, and here's why: if you shoot +2 arrows on Gesen Bow, yes it only hits as +2, but you get the "to hit" bonus from *both* the bow and the arrows (+5 in this case, instead of getting just Gesen's +3), and still do the electrical damage too. This strategy is good for characters like Nalia or Imoen, who don't have a great Thac0 of their own.

My favorites are probably Bolts of Biting fired by the Crossbow of Accuracy or Giant's Hair Crossbow, and Darts of Wounding. I like poisoning things.

 

Bullets also stack with a sling's bonus, so Everard's Sling with +2 or +3 sling stones is +7 or +8 to hit. Only 1 attack/round is a big drawback though.

 

Gesen's hits as a +3 to my knowledge. Somebody else can double check it but the only things I've never been able to hit with it are things that need +4 or better. It's got a natural +1 on top of that to hit and it has a special affect that it does 2 piercing damage as well it's electrical damage. The only things I've never been able to hit are the same types of things that you can't hit with things like Celestial Fury. Toss a couple stacks of arrows of biting and +4 arrows on for rare or nasty times and go to town. For the rest just leave it empty and let it work under it's own power.