-=Introduction=-

Crossbows have not seen widespred use in my games nor did I ever met anyone who could be convinced of the Cleric's "I can't see blood" ethos. Luckily, there are plenty of remedies to choose from at this point. However, after delving into some overhauls (starting back then with the now retired Scales of Balance) I recognize that these can be a bit much at times while the light weight options available today now feel incomplete. I hope to provide here a middle ground for when you want to stay in touch with the vanilla experience just without the irrational - if not punishing - limitations.

-=Components=-

[100] Universal ammunition

• Original classes could holster only ammo for which they could also use the launcher, later additions do not face such limitations.
  

This pure quality of life component allows everyone to treat the ammo slots like an unrestricted inventory extension

[200] One-handed light crossbows

• Makes all light crossbows one-handed weapons, which allows them to be used with a shield
  

This idea makes perfect sense, but I could not find it anywhere without being deeply entangled in a complete overhaul
     !  So here it is - mandatory (logical) basis for all the following components

[300] Enable Mages and all their kits to use and become proficient with light crossbows

• Mages may only use the following weapons: dagger, quarterstaff, CROSSBOW, dart, sling.
  

    ~ Strangely, mages could only use ranged weapons benefiting from high strength.
Crossbows on the other hand would seem to be natural choice for someone less physique focused
(and puts an halt to the indignity which was archmages throwing pebbles at each other...)

The following components are mutually exclusive. Pick which range of weapons your Clerics feel most comfortable with.

[410] Moderate expansion: Enable Clerics and related kits to use and become proficient with light crossbows and darts

• Clerics may only use the following weapons: war hammer, club, flail, mace, quarterstaff, CROSSBOW, DART, sling.
  

Warrior multiclass clerics can also use heavy crossbows
     ? Pick this if you only want more ranged options to keep the number of proficiencies in line with Druids or Thiefs

[420] Generous expansion: Enable Clerics and related kits to use and become proficient with light crossbows, darts and straight blades

• Clerics may only use the following weapons: LONG SWORD, SHORT SWORD, DAGGER, war hammer, club, flail, mace, quarterstaff, CROSSBOW, DART, sling.
  

Warrior multiclass clerics can also use heavy crossbows, bastard and two-handed swords
     ? Pick this if you want to have fun with dual and multi classes


Extract the mod archive directly into your game directory. Launch the WEIDU installer "Setup-SCI-Blades+Bolts.exe" and follow the instructions on screen. To change or uninstall the modification start it again and select the corresponding actions.

-=Compatibility=-

This mod is developed for the EE games under windows. It provides native support for English and German.

It will detect the following features dynamically and should be installed after any mod making changes to them:

• Additional weapons
• Additional Mage or Cleric kits
  

(Mage or Cleric kits using different proficiency rules will be detected and remain safely in their original state)
Hence, it belongs into the early stages of the tweaks section of an extended modification.


The mod should not be installed after any proficiency system overhaul if it changes any of the proficiency classes targeted by this mod. Strictly speaking, I don't see why it should be incompatible with any other mod. You can still look into further proficiency mods or even overhauls and while there can be redundancies it shouldn't spoil the final result.

-=Known quirks=-

All item and class descriptions get properly updated. There is, however, a limitation in the EE's automatic item usability description which assumes that all clerics would be the same. Hence, differences between single and multi class Clerics may not be correctly displayed. The actual item usability is not affected by this.

-=Support=-

For general discussion visit the Beamdog Forum
For technical modding discussion visit the Gibberlings Three
For discussion in German visit Kerzenburgforum
For collaborative work on source files visit GitHub

I use the following alias: AvA in BG forums, Essenceweaver on Nexusmods, DataForInfinity on GitHub.


First and foremost my utmost gratitude to the wonderful modding community which transcended this game into an unparalleled masterpiece over the decades.

Technical inspiration for this mod was drawn by the original Scales of Balance mod from SubtleDoctor.