Is a ranged weapon/spell essential?

[Vexedforest]

I've been finding it annoying to switch from my sword and shield to a bow, crossbow or destruction spell during combat.

 

How disadvantaged will I be without a ranged weapon?

 

I might just use the occasional shout, with the console command to remove the recharge (I won't just constantly spam it, of course. Heheheh) and this mod to improve their power.

 

Will this work? Any opinions?

Edited June 17, 2013 by Vexedforest

[GrimyBunyip]

Not really. Just get ready to tank more damage is all.

 

I never used bows for much other than a few sneak attack potshots in my playthroughs. And magic usually ends up getting used in close range and often runs out quickly anyways.

I rarely get more than a single kill before I'm spotted and out of magicka when I play on higher difficulties, so it's melee from thereon anyways. It probably wouldn't go all that differently if I meleed from the start.

 

The only issue might be the occasional monster that 1 shots you in melee range. But there's the difficulty slider for that.

[CasperTheLich]

I suppose it also depends on what mods you're using too. I find playing deadly dragons on higher game difficulties with the non-vanilla dd difficulty settings (ie expert or insane)... using only melee weapons with no ranged combat capability is a mistake. or maybe only extremely frustrating.

[Lord Garon]

My first couple of characters were "pure" melee guys; no bows, no magic. They did fine, but dragons and giants were a pain; it was hard to get dragons to land sometimes and giants up close are..., well, let's just say I didn't sign on to be an astronaut. Make sure you keep up with stamina when leveling; sprinting ability is nice when running down a bad guy or closing quickly with a ranged opponent.

 

But, I have to admit that there's some satisfaction in that long range arrow hit on a moving target. And filling a bunch of soul gems is much easier with a bow, though much harder on the deer and wolf populations.