Weapon Class

Unless you and the companions you choose all wield magic and are skilled nap-takers, you'll need to familiarize yourself with all manner of Weapons in order to survive adventuring across the Sword Coast. Fortunately, there are many to choose from, all with various advantages, disadvantages, and restrictions:

Weapon type table

All melee weapons scale their THAC0 and damage with Strength.

Melee Weapons	Handing	Strength requirement	Damage	Damage Type	Speed Factor	Usable by*
Dagger	1	3	1-4	Piercing	2	F,D,W,T,B,S,M
War Hammer	1	9	2-5	Crushing	4	F,C,B
Club	1	5	1-6	Crushing	4	F,C,D,T,B,M
Short Sword	1	5	1-6	Piercing	3	F,T,B,M
Flail	1	13	2-7	Crushing	7	F,C,B
Mace	1	10	2-7	Crushing	7	F,C,B
Throwing Axe (melee)	1	4	2-7	Slashing	4	F,B,S
Throwing Hammer (melee)	1	6	2-4	Crushing	4	F,C,B
Throwing Dagger (melee)	1	3	1-3	Piercing	3	F,D,W,T,B,S,M
Battle Axe	1	10	1-8	Slashing	7	F,B,S
Long Sword	1	6	1-8	Slashing	5	F,T,B,M
Scimitar	1	10	1-8	Slashing	5	F,D,T,B,M
Wakizashi	1	5	1-8	Piercing	3	F,T,B,M
Ninjatō	1	5	1-8	Slashing	4	F,T,B,M
Bastard Sword	1	11	2-8	Slashing	8	F,B
Morning Star	1	11	2-8	Crushing	7	F,C,B
Katana	1	6	1-10	Slashing	4	F,T,B,M
Spear	2	5	1-6	Piercing	6	F,D,B,S
Quarterstaff	2	5	1-6	Crushing	4	F,C,D,W,T,B,S
Halberd	2	13	1-10	Slashing/Piercing	9	F,B
Two-handed Sword	2	14	1-10	Slashing	10	F,B

All ranged weapons scale their THAC0 with Dexterity. Additionally, a few throwing weapons scale their damage by Strength, whereas the other ranged weapons don't scale their damage at all.

Ranged Weapons	Handing	Strength requirement	Attacks per Round	Damage	Damage Type	Speed Factor	Bonus to Hit	Damage Scaling	Usable by*	Range (ft)
Dart	1	0	3	1-3	Missile	2			F,D,W,T,B,S,M	20
Throwing Dagger (thrown)	1	3	2	1-4	Missile	2		Strength	F,D,W,T,B,S,M	30
Sling + Bullet	1	3	1	2-5	Missile	6		Strength	F,C,D,W,T,B,S,M	40
Throwing Hammer (thrown)	1	6	1	2-5	Missile	4		Strength	F,C,B	30
Throwing Axe (thrown)	1	4	1	2-7	Missile	4		Strength	F,B,S	75
Shortbow + Arrow	2	3	2	1-6	Missile	6			F,T,B,S	75
Longbow + Arrow	2	6	2	2-7	Missile	7	+1		F,B	100
Light Crossbow + Bolt	2	8	1	1-8	Missile	7			F,T,B	100
Composite Longbow + Arrow	2	18	2	3-8	Missile	7	+1		F	100
Heavy Crossbow + Bolt	2	12	1	3-10	Missile	10			F,B	100

*Fighter (also Ranger and Paladin), Cleric, Druid, Wizard (Mage, Sorcerer), Thief, Bard, Shaman, Monk.
Note: These are the values for the Enhanced Editions of each game, and will thus differ slightly when compared to the vanilla games. Two significant changes relate to damage types; 'bludgeoning' has been been redefined as 'crushing', and missile weapons with all their various damage types have been relegated into a fourth - 'missile'.

Understanding the tables

• Handing: Every character has two weapon slots; a primary (main-hand) and secondary (off-hand). The main-hand slot is for your weapon of choice, while the off-hand usually provides either an opportunity to bolster one's Armor Class with a shield, can hold a second one-handed melee weapon or can remain empty. Two-handed weapons will allocate the off-hand slot as well. Two-handed melee weapons have longer reach and thus can be used to attack an enemy with another ally standing in between, so you can have somebody with a one-handed melee weapon in the front row and the character with the two-handed melee weapon behind them and they can both hit the enemy. Ranged and melee weapons can't be mixed - with a one-handed ranged weapon in the main-hand, the off-hand can only hold a shield or remain empty.
• Strength requirement: Minimum strength a character needs to wield the weapon.
• Damage: The potential damage the base weapon can deal. This is represented in game with a roll of dice, and is affected by numerous variables, including a character's proficiency, abilities, and magical enhancement. For instance, if a War Hammer +1 is equipped (1d4+2) by a warrior with two proficiency points in Warhammers (+2) and s/he has a Strength of 18/80 (+4), the weapon should cause 9-12 damage upon each successful hit.
• Damage Type: The way each weapon damages its target is an important factor as various enemies respond differently to various types of damage, either regarding their Armor Class or having a resistance to a particular damage. For instance, a Skeleton is highly resistant to missile damage, as there isn't much a mere arrow will realistically accomplish vs animated bones, while a solid crushing weapon like a hammer or flail will be far more effective. On the other hand, a companion equipped with Chain Mail is essentially wearing Leather Armor vs crushing attacks, yet when considering slashing attacks, they have a better AC than if they'd equipped Splint Mail.
• Speed Factor: A weapon that has a higher damage might actually be less effective overall due to a significantly slower speed. The higher this number is, the more time that's required for the action, though a high proficiency and magical variants will often reduce the value.
• THAC0, Damage Scaling: Which ability scores the weapon scales with.
• Usable by: The quarterstaff and sling are two basic weapons that practically any class can use, though this comes at a price regarding their overall effectiveness. One should try to pair each companion's class with an appropriate weapon that the character can use well and is potentially unique to them; it would be somewhat foolish to have three characters all using a sling, when one could use a bow and another could use a crossbow. By example, Warriors can use any weapon, and Bards can use any weapon a Warrior can, with the exception of a Composite Longbow. On the other hand, Clerics don't use blades or bows, limiting them to various melee crushing weapons, along with just slings and throwing hammers in regards to range. High-level Thieves can learn to Use Any Item. Certain class kits have more restrictions than their base class.
• Attacks per Round: Particularly relevant to ranged weapons, this value represents the number of times per combat round the weapon may be used. By example, Darts can be thrown extraordinarily fast, though they have very low damage. On the other hand, Crossbows deal the most damage, and yet operate the slowest. Throwing daggers retain their 2 APR when used in melee.
• Bonus to Hit: Composite Longbows have an innate bonus of +1 to hit, even when they're not enchanted.

Version Differences

Main article: Weapon Proficiency

In the original game, all weapons are sorted into eight proficiencies. You can choose which categories Gorion's Ward will specialize in at the beginning of the game. However, Baldur's Gate II, as well as the Enhanced Editions of both games, have an updated proficiency system, so the updated proficiency system is widely used to categorize weapons, instead of the eight categories from Baldur's Gate. For a complete table and explanation, see the main Weapon Proficiency article.

Axes remain unchanged, including both Battle Axes and Throwing Axes.

Blunt Weapons were divided into its constituent weapon types:

• Clubs
• Maces
• Quarterstaves
• Hammers, including War Hammers, as well the Throwing Hammers introduced in Baldur's Gate II.

Bow Weapons were divided into:

• Longbows, including Composite Longbows.
• Shortbows

Large Swords were divided into:

• Long Swords
• Bastard Swords
• Two-Handed Swords
• Scimitars are joined by the new Ninjato and Wakizashi in the combined proficiency Scimitars/Wakizashi/Ninjatō.

Missile Weapons were divided into:

• Crossbows, both Light and Heavy.
• Slings
• Darts

Small Swords were divided into:

• Short Swords
• Daggers, including Throwing Daggers.

Spears remain, but Halberds are no longer included, becoming their own proficiency.

Spiked Weapons is renamed to Flails, but functionally remains the same, still including Morning Stars. The new category is often referred to as Flails & Morning Stars, for clarity.

Additionally, Katana proficiency is present in every version after the original Baldur's Gate.