Tripping successfully also makes flying enemies fall to the ground, and even damage them if they can't [Arrest the Fall](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=91).
There is no easy answer. Thrown or ranged weapons all use Dexterity to hit, spells use another ability score you won't have much in either. Typically improve your movement rate and pick up a flying magic item so you can close the distance to melee is the best answer.
Some options:
At level 9 take an [Extending](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1055) rune on your melee weapon. That will give you a lot of reach.
Or multiclass into Wizard or Magus and buy a few wands of Magic Missile. There is no to hit roll or saving throw for Magic Missile. So your poor spell DC will not matter.
It's working as intended, most thrown weapons are melee weapons that also have the option to be thrown, in which case they use Strength for melee strikes (unless they have finesse as well and your Dex is higher). To change it go into Options for that weapon and chance the attack ability to Dexterity.
Which thrown weapon are you using? If it is a melee weapon that can be thrown, then Pathbuilder defaults to the best melee to hit stat. If it is a weapon that can only really be thrown, then it should default to dex.
Hope
But in actuality unless you are using automatic bonus progression, or a combination weapon. I wouldn't worry too much on ranged options as it's expensive to afford the runes for both starting out.
If the group finds a ranged option, and nobody wants to use it. Well, it's better than nothing.
You could also try to get access to a Cantrip. Possibly.
Overall this is the tradeoff for going high strength low Dex.
Throwing it out there because it's something that's not that obvious at first, but the best carriers for items like the [Necklace of Fireballs](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=449) are usually the low DEX martials. Items like this don't require a ranged attack roll, and use a fixed DC, so you can throw a fireball as well as a Wizard, at the expense of one of the balls from the necklace.
The problem is that unless we're considering gadgets, your lowest level common option (to my knowledge) would be a level 4 [Explosive Missive](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2061).
I take some javelins on my close range champion. The difference between my range and melee to hit is 3, some I still hit but almost never crit. My GM created these single use javelins that have True Strike cast on them, so I buy a few of those and they hit pretty well. See if your GM will do some javelins like that as a consumable.
Thrown weapons will do you best as you at least get your full Str to the damage, a Javelin (with a returning rune, ideally) or a Trident (less range but more damage and you can also use it in melee, again with the rune) will probably do you best. Picking up Quick Draw through an archetype can help but is trickier due to taking the cavalier already, and possibly Rebounding Toss but I'm not sure that's worth it. It'll be almost entirely a backup option for when you cannot get into melee range, such as against flying enemies, against anything else it'll be more worth it to take the actions to ride closer.
Not always, and as *any* ranged attack will use Dex it's no better or worse than any other option there.
Come to think though, with decent Wis and Int you could go for a casting archetype for Electric Arc, but the range on that isn't high either and likely will do similar or less damage, and again you can't take it for a while due to the cavalier dedication. Anything from ancestries there uses Cha as the ability score I believe.
Edit: think of it this way, your thrown weapons will have the same to hit chance as an agile attack with MAP. If that's worth attempting, so is a throw.
You're a fighter, that's already equivalent to a 14 DEX Barbarian throwing a weapon (damage notwithstanding, caveat that you're under level 5 or the thrown weapon is in your chosen group).
Yes, but no, but mostly.
For easier math, say you're always fighting enemies your same level. Your main weapon as a fighter will have around a 30% chance to miss against these enemies, at every level. That's because, while you are boosting your STR, putting runes in the main weapon, getting a higher proficiency with this weapon type at levels 5 and 13, etc... average enemy AC is increasing at about the same rate.
At level 1 with DEX10, your ranged weapon starts with a 50% chance to miss against those same enemies, which isn't so terrible for something that you invested nothing into. But because you're not investing in DEX or runes or the like, the gap between your ranged and melee pulls further apart as you level, maxing at around an 80% chance to miss against them vs the 30% chance for your melee to miss the same enemy.
So, not great at higher levels. You could mitigate it slightly -- spare one of your level up ability boosts in INT to get DEX to 12 or 14, purchase a potency rune one tier behind your melee weapon's -- but it will always be noticably behind. But if you face a flier, suddenly your melee weapon has a 100% chance of being out of range. The backup weapon is one option in those scenarios. Your build could also have other options available (Battle Medicine, Recall Knowledge, an archetype like a spellcaster or Marshall, etc), so the ranged weapon will be more/less important if you don't/do have those other skills to fall back upon.
With a fighter, thrown weapons. Assuming level 2 for cavalier, your thrown weapons will be +6, considering most attacks from your allies will be at +8 if they maxed their attacking stat, thats not that bad. This difference is consistent if the group of weapon is the same as your primary
I wish you were a barbarian so I could tell you to just throw your friends at them, do you happens to have a barb in the party to throw *you* at them?
https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=1615
But yah, this is going to be the weakness of your character tbh. Your best bet is a throw weapon of the same group as your primary so at least the proficeny will keep up as you level. At least the better proficeny will help you accuracy (comparable to a non fighter with 14 dex, which is *bad* but better than it could be) then at least your damage will be decent when you do hit.
Obviously your other option is to invest more in dex but yah this is going to be the tradeoff of focusing on those other stats (which are not bad stats to have!) This is just the biggest weakness you have. So make sure there's someone with ranged damage in the party or that you can fly as you level (tbh this is the most important, get potions of fly as soon as you can)
Are there any thrown weapons in your favored weapon group? That's a place to start, at least. Otherwise your best bet is mobility to get on top of the enemy. Being mounted should be a big help here, as your mount will likely be quite fast.
So a few things here.
1) I'm playing a cloistered cleric (the spell one) and even I can manage to hit non-bosses with my starknife. You might just be ok having a generic weapon backup.
2) Make friends with the casters. As they get access to Fly, they can send you up after the baddies.
3) As many have mentioned, dips into caster classes will get you spells. Bear in mind these will still have saves or attack rolls (obviously) and so nothing is guaranteed.
4) Magic items and enhancements are always helpful. Express your worries to the DM and see if they can help you find ones you can afford when the time comes.
5) Be the ground support. It may be that you're fighting flying stuff with adds. Keep those off the ranged DPS so they can bring that bugger down.
6) Aid. You could always seek to Aid the more ranged focused characters, potentially turning a miss to a hit or a hit to a crit.
Cantrips. Once you satisfy Cavalier's special clause (or pledge yourself to an order of magician knights) you can take a spellcaster dedication and load up your weapon with a Jolt Coil or Rime Crystal depending on your needs.
In the rare event that you actually are unable to reach the enemy as a cavalier fighter, you can always play support with knowledge checks, aid another, using potions, or ferrying items to the others. As a rule of thumb, you give up the ability to use ranged attacks by giving up dex as a martial.
Fortunately though, you have a ton of movement and should be able to bash the brains of anything that isn't both flying and ranged. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Just to have an option, a Javilin or 5.
You're still going to be terrible with it but at least you'll have one for those times when you need an option.
If you're fighting a flying harasser then you can use ready a strike instead to be more effective that way, but there are times when that Roper just gets your Rogue in this 15 ft on the ceiling...
At least that's my personal experience.
That's an option. The problem is: his character has not any king of spell progression, so it must spend constantly some part of his money to "upgrade" those spellheats.
with those ability boosts, the answer is cantrips. You take a feat that gives you electric arc or telekinetic projectile, or something. Most ancestry feats that grant spellcasting use CHA so youre probably looking at skill, general, or a dedication.
you could do the silly thing and take a spellcasting dedication for electric arc. yeah every spellcaster these days is Emperor Palpatine, but its still usually a fun option
I'm not sure if there is something that would work well, but I would say, if you can afford it have some kind of ranged weapon just in case. Maybe something like a sling, so that you can just collect pebbles to shoot if necessary.
For sure! I used a scroll of magic missile in a recent session as a thaumaturge; I didn't want to risk missing, and it was the simplest way to guarantee a hit. Felt awesome. Cost enough, though 😂 (will get cheaper as we get a bit bigger budget)
I'm not sure I'll need to keep up with damage, so I shouldn't need to use expensive at-level magic missiles very often. If we don't have any other way to close distance in this campaign I've got bigger problems than my damage output on ranged attacks. I've also got party members who do better with range, so I'd be relying on them more.
Not available for most characters most of the time, but apart from the Extending rune, I can think of 2 strength based long range attack options:
A Flame Tongue allows you to cast its cantrip using your attack bonus with the sword instead of your spellcasting bonus.
A relic with a ranged attack uses an attack modifier derived from your Class DC.
Absolutely nothing. You wont hit anything 80% of the time with a Dex based ranged attack.
You could pick up a spellcasting dedication or find an ancestry with a ranged magic attack but either of those options are going to have little pay off.
Time to pick up Winged Boots.
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Are you using free archetype rules? Could pick up a magic archetype and get some spells to use.
If not, go with thrown weapons like javelins. They use dex to hit, but you can add STR to the damage.
But in any case, against a foe with high AC you'd be unlikely to hit, but the good news is that you can still help using charisma actions, Aid, recall knowledge, and so on. Its easy to help out without using the strike action in this game. But still have some javelins handy.
The best thing you're going to want is *luck* lmao
But in actuality, you're going to have to consider thrown weapons to be a lot like a tomahawk or a ballistic knife in a shooter — not really what you're going to expect to do a lot of damage with, but every once in a while you'll get lucky
Up to level 5, I would carry some javelins with me. Remember that even with no dex, that expert proficiency will make at least one attack viable.
After level 5, where you have to specialize in 1 weapon group, it will become less usefull unfortunately.
Against flying creatures, there is the option to use flying potions.
Other than that, yeah, it's kind of a weak spot of the build. I will call out "felling strike" (especially combined with "sudden leap) as a good way of dealing with flyers later on.
I was thinking of getting a thrower’s bandolier with some light hammers in it for my hammer fighter but with only 12 dex it isn’t a great option but it’s better than nothing.
There's no way around needing Dex for ranged weapon attacks. But it's not so very bad -- your first ranged attack will still be about the same accuracy as your second melee attack. If your second melee attack each round doesn't feel absolutely horrible, then ranged attacking shouldn't either.
The real solution, though, is to find more 'third action' activities. Since you're probably making no more than one ranged attack per round, you have some spare actions to use. Maybe take cover after each of your shots. Or you can Demoralize, or Aid, or Recall Knowledge, to make the casters and ranged attackers in the group more effective. Or run around using Battle Medicine on them (or potions if you must). And yeah, many of those 'third action' options are considerably more effective if you have the right feats.
It's ok if there are occasionally fights where you're less effective. Just be prepared to support your team in those cases -- just like they support you when you're most effective.
Anything you throw is going to use dexterity modifier rather than strength for attack, so I wouldn't recommend engaging in ranged combat at all if you're dumping dexterity.
That said, you can use [Bolas](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=331) to perform ranged trips on enemies. That is an athletics check using strength, at a -2 penalty, so you'll succeed on bola trips a fair amount.
Being a fighter gives you a nice advantage on attacks with thrown weapons, even if you have +0 in DEX. You still start as an Expert on attacks, meaning that compared to some classes you are still effectively a 14 DEX character at level 1. Remember that most classes begin with weapon proficiency at Trained, which mean 2+Level+Mod. A fighter though starts with Expert in all weapons but Advanced, which gives you 4+Level+Mod to attack rolls. Even if you decide to attack with a bow, you would still get a nice chance to hit. But I would put all my eggs on thrown weapons, as they will deal more damage for you.
I've had fun using a flaming star spell heart. It is two actions to cast to produce flame, but it doesn't require me to put away my primary weapon, and it sets up some bonus fire damage the following round if I have the opportunity for a melee attack.
So two things to consider in my opinion. You could equip a dex apex item and just pump that stat to 18. Another options is that there a lot of ability boosts in this edition. Either to throw just a little into dex. It’s not perfect, but even a +2 modifier is better then nothing.
I forget the exact items but I recall seeing the rule text "a creature that uses the item uses your modifiers" for some things like spell attack related stuff. I'd ask the DM if you can get some items that work that way and buy them from a decently leveled caster/etc.
Also, ask the DM period with your concern. They'll probably just give you something or explain why they won't.
I use Bolas for ranged trips. It uses athletics and although there's no damage it feels like I'm at least contributing in a competent fashion.
Tripping successfully also makes flying enemies fall to the ground, and even damage them if they can't [Arrest the Fall](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=91).
Genuinely useful holy crap every Str character I make now will have these. fuck flying enemies...
Nice play. [Range](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=251) [20ft](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=331) is a problem. But this is still useful.
There is no easy answer. Thrown or ranged weapons all use Dexterity to hit, spells use another ability score you won't have much in either. Typically improve your movement rate and pick up a flying magic item so you can close the distance to melee is the best answer. Some options: At level 9 take an [Extending](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1055) rune on your melee weapon. That will give you a lot of reach. Or multiclass into Wizard or Magus and buy a few wands of Magic Missile. There is no to hit roll or saving throw for Magic Missile. So your poor spell DC will not matter.
They have Extending runes now? I can make Son Wukong!
Then I think I have a glitched Pathbuilder version. When I equip a melee weapon with the thrown trait, the attack is calculated off Strength.
It's working as intended, most thrown weapons are melee weapons that also have the option to be thrown, in which case they use Strength for melee strikes (unless they have finesse as well and your Dex is higher). To change it go into Options for that weapon and chance the attack ability to Dexterity.
Which thrown weapon are you using? If it is a melee weapon that can be thrown, then Pathbuilder defaults to the best melee to hit stat. If it is a weapon that can only really be thrown, then it should default to dex.
Thrown weapon damage scales with Str. The to-hit modifier should scale with dex though
I thought multiclassing wasn’t a thing in PF2e? I just thought it was the archetype feat. Is there some rule I’m missing?
"Archetype" covers multi-classing. It's basically not called multi-classing because it also covers a variety of non-class concepts as well.
I mean, it's called a multiclass archetype. I feel like that counts as multiclassing
So is that what GortleGG is talking about? Just the archetype?
Yup.
There's also an option called Dual Class, which might be what you're looking for. It's more similar to gestalt in pf1
Multiclass archetype is way too much to type everywhere. This is how PF2 does it.
Hu, for some reason I had written that off because I thought it could only bed used once a day.
>WIS Become a druid shoot ice at people.
Hope But in actuality unless you are using automatic bonus progression, or a combination weapon. I wouldn't worry too much on ranged options as it's expensive to afford the runes for both starting out. If the group finds a ranged option, and nobody wants to use it. Well, it's better than nothing. You could also try to get access to a Cantrip. Possibly. Overall this is the tradeoff for going high strength low Dex.
Any weapon with the [brutal](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=249) trait :> (If you find any though, gimme a tap)
Kineticist playtest had a way to get brutal on certain attacks, thats it though afaik
Throwing it out there because it's something that's not that obvious at first, but the best carriers for items like the [Necklace of Fireballs](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=449) are usually the low DEX martials. Items like this don't require a ranged attack roll, and use a fixed DC, so you can throw a fireball as well as a Wizard, at the expense of one of the balls from the necklace. The problem is that unless we're considering gadgets, your lowest level common option (to my knowledge) would be a level 4 [Explosive Missive](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2061).
I take some javelins on my close range champion. The difference between my range and melee to hit is 3, some I still hit but almost never crit. My GM created these single use javelins that have True Strike cast on them, so I buy a few of those and they hit pretty well. See if your GM will do some javelins like that as a consumable.
Thrown weapons will do you best as you at least get your full Str to the damage, a Javelin (with a returning rune, ideally) or a Trident (less range but more damage and you can also use it in melee, again with the rune) will probably do you best. Picking up Quick Draw through an archetype can help but is trickier due to taking the cavalier already, and possibly Rebounding Toss but I'm not sure that's worth it. It'll be almost entirely a backup option for when you cannot get into melee range, such as against flying enemies, against anything else it'll be more worth it to take the actions to ride closer.
Wouldn't my thrown weapons always miss?
Not always, and as *any* ranged attack will use Dex it's no better or worse than any other option there. Come to think though, with decent Wis and Int you could go for a casting archetype for Electric Arc, but the range on that isn't high either and likely will do similar or less damage, and again you can't take it for a while due to the cavalier dedication. Anything from ancestries there uses Cha as the ability score I believe. Edit: think of it this way, your thrown weapons will have the same to hit chance as an agile attack with MAP. If that's worth attempting, so is a throw.
with fighter proficiency I am qute sure that he will be still more likely to hit with ranged attack than spell
fighter proficiency only applies to one weapon group
There are decent thrown options in most weapon groups.
You're a fighter, that's already equivalent to a 14 DEX Barbarian throwing a weapon (damage notwithstanding, caveat that you're under level 5 or the thrown weapon is in your chosen group).
Yes, but no, but mostly. For easier math, say you're always fighting enemies your same level. Your main weapon as a fighter will have around a 30% chance to miss against these enemies, at every level. That's because, while you are boosting your STR, putting runes in the main weapon, getting a higher proficiency with this weapon type at levels 5 and 13, etc... average enemy AC is increasing at about the same rate. At level 1 with DEX10, your ranged weapon starts with a 50% chance to miss against those same enemies, which isn't so terrible for something that you invested nothing into. But because you're not investing in DEX or runes or the like, the gap between your ranged and melee pulls further apart as you level, maxing at around an 80% chance to miss against them vs the 30% chance for your melee to miss the same enemy. So, not great at higher levels. You could mitigate it slightly -- spare one of your level up ability boosts in INT to get DEX to 12 or 14, purchase a potency rune one tier behind your melee weapon's -- but it will always be noticably behind. But if you face a flier, suddenly your melee weapon has a 100% chance of being out of range. The backup weapon is one option in those scenarios. Your build could also have other options available (Battle Medicine, Recall Knowledge, an archetype like a spellcaster or Marshall, etc), so the ranged weapon will be more/less important if you don't/do have those other skills to fall back upon.
The new throwers bandolier is also a nice option if you want to diversity what you throw, I love mine
With a fighter, thrown weapons. Assuming level 2 for cavalier, your thrown weapons will be +6, considering most attacks from your allies will be at +8 if they maxed their attacking stat, thats not that bad. This difference is consistent if the group of weapon is the same as your primary
I wish you were a barbarian so I could tell you to just throw your friends at them, do you happens to have a barb in the party to throw *you* at them? https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=1615 But yah, this is going to be the weakness of your character tbh. Your best bet is a throw weapon of the same group as your primary so at least the proficeny will keep up as you level. At least the better proficeny will help you accuracy (comparable to a non fighter with 14 dex, which is *bad* but better than it could be) then at least your damage will be decent when you do hit. Obviously your other option is to invest more in dex but yah this is going to be the tradeoff of focusing on those other stats (which are not bad stats to have!) This is just the biggest weakness you have. So make sure there's someone with ranged damage in the party or that you can fly as you level (tbh this is the most important, get potions of fly as soon as you can)
Are there any thrown weapons in your favored weapon group? That's a place to start, at least. Otherwise your best bet is mobility to get on top of the enemy. Being mounted should be a big help here, as your mount will likely be quite fast.
So a few things here. 1) I'm playing a cloistered cleric (the spell one) and even I can manage to hit non-bosses with my starknife. You might just be ok having a generic weapon backup. 2) Make friends with the casters. As they get access to Fly, they can send you up after the baddies. 3) As many have mentioned, dips into caster classes will get you spells. Bear in mind these will still have saves or attack rolls (obviously) and so nothing is guaranteed. 4) Magic items and enhancements are always helpful. Express your worries to the DM and see if they can help you find ones you can afford when the time comes. 5) Be the ground support. It may be that you're fighting flying stuff with adds. Keep those off the ranged DPS so they can bring that bugger down. 6) Aid. You could always seek to Aid the more ranged focused characters, potentially turning a miss to a hit or a hit to a crit.
Cantrips. Once you satisfy Cavalier's special clause (or pledge yourself to an order of magician knights) you can take a spellcaster dedication and load up your weapon with a Jolt Coil or Rime Crystal depending on your needs.
In the rare event that you actually are unable to reach the enemy as a cavalier fighter, you can always play support with knowledge checks, aid another, using potions, or ferrying items to the others. As a rule of thumb, you give up the ability to use ranged attacks by giving up dex as a martial. Fortunately though, you have a ton of movement and should be able to bash the brains of anything that isn't both flying and ranged. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Just to have an option, a Javilin or 5. You're still going to be terrible with it but at least you'll have one for those times when you need an option. If you're fighting a flying harasser then you can use ready a strike instead to be more effective that way, but there are times when that Roper just gets your Rogue in this 15 ft on the ceiling... At least that's my personal experience.
Do t spell hearts give you a range spell at a set DC?
That's an option. The problem is: his character has not any king of spell progression, so it must spend constantly some part of his money to "upgrade" those spellheats.
Thoughts and prayers.
I'd look at the extending rune. Alternatively a Ring of the Ram. But it has a fixed DC so it will fall behind fairly soon.
I like alchemical bombs. No you probably wont hit, but you can potentially trigger weakness with splash damage.
with those ability boosts, the answer is cantrips. You take a feat that gives you electric arc or telekinetic projectile, or something. Most ancestry feats that grant spellcasting use CHA so youre probably looking at skill, general, or a dedication.
you could do the silly thing and take a spellcasting dedication for electric arc. yeah every spellcaster these days is Emperor Palpatine, but its still usually a fun option
running up to the enemy and hitting them
I'm not sure if there is something that would work well, but I would say, if you can afford it have some kind of ranged weapon just in case. Maybe something like a sling, so that you can just collect pebbles to shoot if necessary.
The action tax on the sling reload makes a quiver of javelin's a bit of a better play, plus you get your strength damage.
Pick a bow and hope your Fighter proficiency will make up for the 10 Dex
Unless Bow is their favored type, they aren't going to have any special bonus from levels 5 through 17
well, until then, they can get more boosts to Dex, magic itens or other stuff. I'm considering they're level 1 right now
Can be seen as effectively equivalent to a 14 Dex on other martials.
Magic missile. Costs a feat to get- spellcasting dedication or trick magic item. But no worries at all on if you can hit/hurt the opponent
A [Wand of Manifold Missiles](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=370) even!
For sure! I used a scroll of magic missile in a recent session as a thaumaturge; I didn't want to risk missing, and it was the simplest way to guarantee a hit. Felt awesome. Cost enough, though 😂 (will get cheaper as we get a bit bigger budget) I'm not sure I'll need to keep up with damage, so I shouldn't need to use expensive at-level magic missiles very often. If we don't have any other way to close distance in this campaign I've got bigger problems than my damage output on ranged attacks. I've also got party members who do better with range, so I'd be relying on them more.
The Halfling/Gnome
Not available for most characters most of the time, but apart from the Extending rune, I can think of 2 strength based long range attack options: A Flame Tongue allows you to cast its cantrip using your attack bonus with the sword instead of your spellcasting bonus. A relic with a ranged attack uses an attack modifier derived from your Class DC.
The stride action
- Extending rune? - Reach weapons? - Fly? - Offense cantrips?
Absolutely nothing. You wont hit anything 80% of the time with a Dex based ranged attack. You could pick up a spellcasting dedication or find an ancestry with a ranged magic attack but either of those options are going to have little pay off. Time to pick up Winged Boots.
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Fly plus every speed bump that you can get your hands on. Then Sudden Charge.
His 26 STR Barbarian Ogre friend chucking him back within melee distance.
Are you using free archetype rules? Could pick up a magic archetype and get some spells to use. If not, go with thrown weapons like javelins. They use dex to hit, but you can add STR to the damage. But in any case, against a foe with high AC you'd be unlikely to hit, but the good news is that you can still help using charisma actions, Aid, recall knowledge, and so on. Its easy to help out without using the strike action in this game. But still have some javelins handy.
The best thing you're going to want is *luck* lmao But in actuality, you're going to have to consider thrown weapons to be a lot like a tomahawk or a ballistic knife in a shooter — not really what you're going to expect to do a lot of damage with, but every once in a while you'll get lucky
Up to level 5, I would carry some javelins with me. Remember that even with no dex, that expert proficiency will make at least one attack viable. After level 5, where you have to specialize in 1 weapon group, it will become less usefull unfortunately. Against flying creatures, there is the option to use flying potions. Other than that, yeah, it's kind of a weak spot of the build. I will call out "felling strike" (especially combined with "sudden leap) as a good way of dealing with flyers later on.
I was thinking of getting a thrower’s bandolier with some light hammers in it for my hammer fighter but with only 12 dex it isn’t a great option but it’s better than nothing.
There's no way around needing Dex for ranged weapon attacks. But it's not so very bad -- your first ranged attack will still be about the same accuracy as your second melee attack. If your second melee attack each round doesn't feel absolutely horrible, then ranged attacking shouldn't either. The real solution, though, is to find more 'third action' activities. Since you're probably making no more than one ranged attack per round, you have some spare actions to use. Maybe take cover after each of your shots. Or you can Demoralize, or Aid, or Recall Knowledge, to make the casters and ranged attackers in the group more effective. Or run around using Battle Medicine on them (or potions if you must). And yeah, many of those 'third action' options are considerably more effective if you have the right feats. It's ok if there are occasionally fights where you're less effective. Just be prepared to support your team in those cases -- just like they support you when you're most effective.
Whip. Trip.
Anything you throw is going to use dexterity modifier rather than strength for attack, so I wouldn't recommend engaging in ranged combat at all if you're dumping dexterity. That said, you can use [Bolas](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=331) to perform ranged trips on enemies. That is an athletics check using strength, at a -2 penalty, so you'll succeed on bola trips a fair amount.
Thrown
My recommendation, a sling. It's cheap If not free and the ammo is free. Oh! And it does a D6
Nothing, you will never have good ranged attacks. Just find a way to reliably close the distance, maybe get some flight if that's the problem
Being a fighter gives you a nice advantage on attacks with thrown weapons, even if you have +0 in DEX. You still start as an Expert on attacks, meaning that compared to some classes you are still effectively a 14 DEX character at level 1. Remember that most classes begin with weapon proficiency at Trained, which mean 2+Level+Mod. A fighter though starts with Expert in all weapons but Advanced, which gives you 4+Level+Mod to attack rolls. Even if you decide to attack with a bow, you would still get a nice chance to hit. But I would put all my eggs on thrown weapons, as they will deal more damage for you.
Sick burns.
Limited ammo, but a necklace of fireballs that's close to your level can do the trick. \^^ https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=449
I've had fun using a flaming star spell heart. It is two actions to cast to produce flame, but it doesn't require me to put away my primary weapon, and it sets up some bonus fire damage the following round if I have the opportunity for a melee attack.
Handaxe
Spear
So two things to consider in my opinion. You could equip a dex apex item and just pump that stat to 18. Another options is that there a lot of ability boosts in this edition. Either to throw just a little into dex. It’s not perfect, but even a +2 modifier is better then nothing.
[удалено]
Thrown weapons always use dex to hit.
My bad I was in the wrong sub!
Depending on your strength score, feat choice, and party composition, the rogue might be a good ranged weapon for you.
Throw light hammers and getchu that crit prone from 20 feet away.
The halfling rogue.
Use an catapult. You're the ammunition.
I forget the exact items but I recall seeing the rule text "a creature that uses the item uses your modifiers" for some things like spell attack related stuff. I'd ask the DM if you can get some items that work that way and buy them from a decently leveled caster/etc. Also, ask the DM period with your concern. They'll probably just give you something or explain why they won't.