Since normal attacks seem to be right out in this game, I'm not sure if it matters what weapons I'm using. I understand that the damage of my weapon affects the damage of my skills (for some bizarre reason) but beyond that nothing seems to matter.
For example, I seem to be able to equip bows, but I have no way to shoot them that I can determine! So, if I have a bow that does 10 DPS and a dagger that does 10 DPS (assuming my other hand is empty anyway for argument's sake) aren't these identical in everything but appearance?
Also, most of my skills seem to be elemental, so if I have an elemental damage weapon, how does that damage get applied? As what type? Again, should I just go for whatever is highest?
Sorry if this is a dumb question—I almost feel like the help text must have explained this and I simply missed it because this seems incredibly counterintuitive to me. (Searched and couldn't find any question that addressed this directly, but apologies if I missed one.)
Best Answer
Weapons have become accessories in Diablo 3. Since the game is designed to prefer magic skill attacks over melee, the weapons work like your pants or hat—they add to your stats and attributes, though you may never swing your weapon as a melee attack. You can set melee to a hotkey if you want, though. In your example, yes, the bow and dagger are equivalent. Elemental damage modifiers are added to normal damage. It's all about raising DPS unless you desire an attribute modifier.