In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, darts were the best weapons in the game, as Fighters could do a lot of damage in a single round.
The warriors of Dungeons & Dragons have no problem picking up the sword, the spear or the bow, but the most feared warriors were those who took down enemies with a pack of arrows.
Fighters had a hard time in the early editions of D&D. Paladins and Rangers had much more interesting abilities on the battlefield, even though they had stricter restrictions on alignment and race. Everything changed in the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, where Fighters have achieved a ridiculous amount of achievements, making them one of the most versatile classes in the game. Fighters are still a popular class in Dungeons & Dragons, which is helped in part by the fact that they are the most open when it comes to a character concept. Barbarians, Paladins and Rangers have built certain archetypes into their design, but Fighters can really be anything or anyone.
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Arrows also has an impressive history in D&D, as they were especially known as one of the few weapons a wizard could use in the old editions of the game. However, the majority of wizards did not ignore arrows in favor of the quarterback staff or snare. What many players at the time did not realize is that the softest class can become extremely powerful when combined with the most boring weapon in the game. When Fighters used darts AD&D, they have become a force to be reckoned with.
How overwhelming D & D’s arrows actually were
In Advanced dungeons and dragons, Fighters were the only class with weapon specialization, which enabled them to carry out more attacks per round than other warriors. The basic rules for arrows say that three of them can be thrown in a single attack, but a fighter who specializes in arrows can throw up to six if it rises in height. On their own, arrows do only 1d3 damage, which is not much, but Fighters add their strength modifier to the hit. As Dungeons & Dragons players are lucky enough to have a fighter with 18/00 strength, then that’s an extra six point damage per hit. Weapon specialization will add a further two points per arrow, and a fighter under the effects of Hurry can attack twice per turn, which is a potential twelve arrows per round. If the fighter can inflict magic arrows, they can increase the damage even further.
Fans of fantasy literature and table RPGs have certain images in their minds when they think of mighty battles taking place. People think of knights with swords and shields, samurai with katana, elves with bows and arrows, and dwarves with axes. Arrows are not the most amazing of weapons to see in battle. If anything, let their fans think of bar games and drinking nights with their buddies, not epic adventures. It’s hard to imagine Gandalf defeating the Balrog by throwing arrows in his face. It’s also hard to argue with the results, and arrows were an incredibly powerful weapon in the old days of Dungeons & Dragons, for those brave enough to use them.
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