Thoughts on dual wield? Especially on a ranger (finesse weapons)

[A]

Are bows better than dual wielding? Or will DW work? I was hoping to do gloomstalker ranger on my release playthrough. I tried a bit of ranger with 2 scimitars and it's not half bad with hunter's mark. I'm assuming hunter's mark procs per weapon?

Assuming this is finesse dual wielding, won't you be fine at 10 strength?

[Recjawjind]

Hunters mark does indeed proc on every weapon swing.

You can totally dual wield, though seeing as the archery fighting style is so good and makes your hits so much more consistent, I'd still lean ranged over melee.

[katzenkrimis]

You need to go heavy on Strength and Dexterity.

10 isn't good enough.

Rangers primary ability is Dexterity, their saving throw proficiencies are Strength & Dexterity.

[Recjawjind]

Originally posted by katzenkrimis:

You need to go heavy on Strength and Dexterity.

10 isn't good enough.

Rangers primary ability is Dexterity, their saving throw proficiencies are Strength & Dexterity.

Why would you go heavy on strength unless youre playing a 2 handed weapon ranger? Strength is hardcore dump stat for the majority of ranger builds.

[seandeven]

...or dual wield and use a bow at range?

Might not be optimized but it makes for a good all-arounder with Hunters mark proccing on the range hits.

[The1Kobra]

I usually like going 12 STR for carry capacity if nothing else, but if you're DEX based, then you can get away with having an 8 STR in combat since you'd always be using DEX weapons.

I usually prefer having a shield to dual wielding, especially when you get more attacks per round. The AC bonus is really nice.

Though you CAN dual wield hand crossbows for a ranged weapon and still get the AC bonus with a sword/shield.

[Recjawjind]

Originally posted by seandeven:

...or dual wield and use a bow at range?

Might not be optimized but it makes for a good all-arounder with Hunters mark proccing on the range hits.

Issue with dual wielding in 5e is that it takes pretty large amounts of investment to be decent/comparable to single weapons.

[dolby]

dual wield needs a feat support and at minimum let us use off had special attacks*after all you have two weapons) or they would need to remove GWM/sharpshooter. to make it ok..

[seandeven]

Originally posted by Recjawjind:

Originally posted by seandeven:

...or dual wield and use a bow at range?

Might not be optimized but it makes for a good all-arounder with Hunters mark proccing on the range hits.

Issue with dual wielding in 5e is that it takes pretty large amounts of investment to be decent/comparable to single weapons.

Agree. Player has to weigh whether the investment of a feat or two fits the gamers style.

[Kobe Tyrant]

A dual wielding ranger is a perfectly fine and even common build. Dex, Con, some Wis of you're using spells.

[Recjawjind]

Originally posted by Kobe Tyrant:

A dual wielding ranger is a perfectly fine and even common build. Dex, Con, some Wis of you're using spells.

Its definitely not uncommon, but dual wielding isn't exactly what id call good or optimal, which is basically what OP asked about.

[Kobe Tyrant]

Originally posted by Recjawjind:

Originally posted by Kobe Tyrant:

A dual wielding ranger is a perfectly fine and even common build. Dex, Con, some Wis of you're using spells.

Its definitely not uncommon, but dual wielding isn't exactly what id call good or optimal, which is basically what OP asked about.

OP never said anything about optimal. Only if it was viable. And it is.

[Indure]

Dual wielding at level 1 is probably better, but bows will very quickly surpass it.

Also for ranger, hunters mark is a bonus action, which will block your offhand attack every time you switch targets.

[A]

Originally posted by seandeven:

...or dual wield and use a bow at range?

I'm dumb, and yes I've played the game but bear with me. For a class like ranger who uses finesse weapons, switching between bow and melee doesn't matter in terms of damage, right? Considering bow and melee rely on dex? Basically, it's not as problematic as trying to hit with a crossbow consistently as a str barb who needs to focus on getting close right?

[ShayRey]

I mean, I play a dual wielding Paladin. It's actually rather strong considering the level 11 feature of a Paladin that gives a 1d8 of Radiant damage per swing. Plus with Divine Smite being able to be used whenever, you become a Radiant Blender of Death like that.

So yeah, this sounds like a good build idea to me.

[Recjawjind]

Originally posted by Kobe Tyrant:

Originally posted by Recjawjind:

Its definitely not uncommon, but dual wielding isn't exactly what id call good or optimal, which is basically what OP asked about.

OP never said anything about optimal. Only if it was viable. And it is.

"Are bows better than dual wielding?"
They are clearly asking about the comparison of bow vs dual wielding.