halflings and slings

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Halflings are described as being adept with slings and they receive a +1 bonus to hit with thrown weapons. However, a sling is considered a missile weapon not a thrown weapon. Does this mean that a halfling would not receive this bonus if he was using a sling? Or does the game consider a sling to be thrown as far as halflings are concerned?

 

I did a test and the game does indeed consider a halfling's sling to be a thrown weapon, but unlike with other thrown weapons his strength modifier is not added to damage.

 

IIRC the STR damage doesn't show up on the character screen but it is implemented in game. Have you tried hitting someone with that sling?

 

Last I knew, all slings in IWD2 did add the STR modifier to their damage.

 

The halfling I used in my test had 10 strength, thus no modifier. Because any character that I have ever had use a sling had low strength I have never noticed before if it had a bearing on the sling's damage. But if more experienced players say it does despite not being mentioned in the stats, I will take their word for it.

 

Slings DO add STR bonus to damage. That's also why a high-STR tank type should never consider using a bow or crossbow - unless, of course, the enchantment of the weapon plus ammunition together are larger than the STR bonus.

 

In BG2, most slings did not add any STR bonus to damage. However, in IWD2, adding the STR bonus to damage is standard for slings. Thus, slings are actually a good ranged weapon for stronger characters. If you have a weak character, arguably a short bow would be a "better" choice.

In IWD2, from the perspective of maximizing your damage potential, slings and traditional throwing weapons are best used by the strongest characters who will be able to add their STR to damage. And on the flip side, weaker characters seem to be best for using weapons that do not add any STR to damage and have a low STR prereq to use, like short bows and crossbows.

 

The feat Rapid Shot works with slings. Slings and darts are very good for strong characters (and you get magical bullets that make them even more effective).