Ranged Emergency Weapon: Difference between revisions

While most [[Emergency Weapon|Emergency Weapons]]s are close-ranged melee weapons in the hands of characters who normally fight at long range, sometimes the inverse happens and a character who specializes in primarily close-range fighting lands in a situation that cannot be resolved without ''some'' manner of long-range striking ability.

The [['''Ranged Emergency Weapon]]''' is generally not very effective as an attack (it's usually not an actual gun or bomb), but it may be enough to, say, flip a door switch behind that open mesh grate.

* In [[Ryu ga Gotoku|Yakuza:Dead Souls]] the Pistol has infinite ammo, making it the [[Ranged Emergency Weapon]] for most characters. The only exception is Akiyama, whose primary weapon is a pair of pistols, which serves to ease the player into the game (since Akiyama is the first playable character).

* The video game version of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' gives Gimli throwing axes. They're by far the least effective of the characters ranged weapons (with the possible exception of the hobbits knives in the ''Return of the King'') and are slow to throw, but they're useful for dealing with archers or enemies who are a long way away.

* Many melee specialists in ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]: [[Dawn of War]]'' have a ranged weapon or an upgrade that gives them one.

* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' all ranged weapons are this for all classes except Hunters. They consist of guns, bows, crossbows and throwing knives for warriors and rogues and wands for mages, priests and warlocks. The most common use of them is ''initiating'' battle from a distance in order to lure mobs to a more favourable position.<ref>Technically that's the most common use that actually involves ''using'' said weapon. For most classes it's just another slot's worth of stat-bonus-granting gear.</ref>.

** Most [[WoW]] or ''[[Lineage 2]]'' inspired [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMOs]] have ranged weapons serve this purpose for melee characters. In the case of the [[An Adventurer Is You|Party tank]], a solo ranged pull is often safer than running into the middle of the room with the Taunt key held down as it allows the player to control how much aggro he gets and what mobs notice him.

* This sort of thing used to be ridiculously common in ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'', before Fourth Edition. In all earlier editions, the main factor in hitting with a weapon is your Base Attack Bonus (or [[THAC 0]]THAC0, in AD&D), which is the same value for melee and ranged attacks, so an otherwise melee-focused character could still probably hit with a bow or a thrown weapon if the situation called for it. Most characters would carry around a backup weapon, "just in case". In Fourth Edition, a character won't possibly hit with any weapon outside of that character's narrow focus, so the rules give most classes abilities that let them use their main focus somehow at range (often relying on the rule that any thrown weapon immediately reappears in the attacker's hand after it does damage, so the fighter would just gain abilities to throw his [[Infinity+1 Sword]] in the off case that he can't get up and beat someone down with it directly). Spellcasters, who would previously carry a crossbow in case they ran out of spells, are instead incapable of running out of spells.

[[Category:Ranged Emergency Weapon{{PAGENAME}}]]