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Ranged Attack

When you make a ranged attack, you fire a bow, hurl a handaxe, or otherwise send a projectile to strike a foe at a distance. A monster might shoot spines from its tail. Many spells involve making a ranged attack. (95)

  • Targets must be within a specified range. 

  • A ranged attack is more difficult when the target is next to you.

  • Walls, trees, and other obstacles can provide cover to a target.

When you make the attack, you make an attack roll.

A ranged attack can be made with:

  • A melee weapon with the thrown property.

  • An improvised weapon, such as a bottle, frying pan, weapon that is not intended to be thrown, such as sword, or a special item such as acid, alchemist's fire, or oil.

Ammunition:

  • Crossbows and blowguns have the loading property.

  • Use of poison on ammunition.

Or instead of inflicting damage you could:

More than one attack. Certain features, such as the Extra Attack feature of the fighter, allow you to make more than one attack with the Attack action. (93)

  • There are other ways to make more than one attack, but most of these involve a bonus action, or a special attack action derived from a class feature, or an additional action (non-bonus) derived from a spell. For example: Two-Weapon Fighting​the Hunter Archetype of the ranger, the haste spell, or ​the Action Surge feature of the fighter.

Tactics to consider during a ranged attack:

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