First combat on ship - Caesar sometimes has bow equipped and other times he doesn't

[FroBodine]

I have played this first battle a few times, trying to not get incapacitated. Sometimes the battle starts with Caesar holding the bow, and he can attack with it.

Other times he starts with nothing in his hands, and he has the "Aid" skill.

Why is this, please? Why is he equipped differently in the exact same combat, especially the very first combat of the game?

How do I equip or unequip something during combat, so I can use the Aid skill if he has the bow equipped?

[Threnody]

Hit Q to swap weapon sets, which should put the bow back in his hand, or alternately remove it to give you access to 'Aid'.

[Gaius]

This. You have 2 weapon sets, and he has aid because his 2nd set is bare hands. You actually can have up to 3 skills per set, and still use Aid as long as you just have a main hand weapon equiped.

[FroBodine]

Oh wow, thank you! This was NOT explained in the game in the first battle. I haven't played any more, but this really needs to be explained in the tutorial!

[Gaius]

Originally posted by FroBodine:

Oh wow, thank you! This was NOT explained in the game in the first battle. I haven't played any more, but this really needs to be explained in the tutorial!

Indeed. It took me a while to find it. Actually it's prety standard in turn based RPGs, so I felt somewhat silly after discovering it, maybe this is why the devs missed the need to explain it in the first battle.