As players hack and slash their way through the re-release of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, they are likely going to want to do a bit of shooting as well. In the player's inventory, they can equip both a set of melee weapons and a set of ranged weapons, but it isn't entirely clear from the get go how to switch between these two options. Despite this, it's very important for players to know how to do this, especially as they get into the later areas of the game or if they are playing the Magic Archer Vahn.

The sudden re-release of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was a welcome surprise among fans of the game, and it has subsequently transported players back to 2001. Unfortunately, since 20 years have passed since the game's initial release, even veteran players are having trouble remembering some of the game's controls. The ability to switch back and forth between melee and ranged weapons is no exception to this.

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To equip items, players simply need to enter their inventory and select the item they wish to equip. As previously mentioned, players should have the option to equip a set of melee items like a sword and shield as well as a set of ranged items like a bow and arrows. Once both sets are equipped, switching between them is as simple as pressing left or right on the directional pad. Players won't need to go back into their inventory in order to swap weapons unless they want to change what melee weapon they have equipped or use a new bow.

While the early portions of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance may be mostly simple, it doesn't take long for things to get a little more challenging. Players will want to use everything available to them in order to complete their quest, so it's important to not forget about ranged attacks. Obviously, some classes rely more heavily on ranged weaponry than others, particularly Vahn the Magic Archer, but any character can equip and used ranged weapons.

That's all there is to it. Presumably the controls will be similar on the Nintendo Switch, although it likely uses the directional buttons on the lefthand side of the control since it doesn't have a traditional D Pad. Since the Switch version of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was postponed a few days, players will have to wait to find out for certain. For players that don't like this control scheme, there should be an option in the main menu that allows players to remap different actions to whatever button the player wants.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is available now on PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, and later on PC.

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