Curse

boontheloon · Sep 10, 2005, 01:52 PM // 13:52

Hey i was just wondering what bow would be best for PVP im halfway to tombs with my ranger and want to know what bow would be ideal, Also with what mods I.E poisen? Lightning dmg? that sort of thing

Thx in advance

Boon

p.s Im a ranger/ele

White Designs · Sep 10, 2005, 04:01 PM // 16:01

PvP Bow

Vampiric Short of Defense in most situations.

boontheloon · Sep 10, 2005, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Ok ty

Shinsei · Sep 10, 2005, 05:02 PM // 17:02

Use 2 bows. Use a shortbow 15>50 when in range, and a flatbow 15>50 when you need more range. Depending on your build, you want either vampiric (5-1) or zealous prefixes (make sure to switch to an empty slot when you're not shooting). For suffixes, you pretty much just want defense (+5).

boontheloon · Sep 10, 2005, 05:40 PM // 17:40

And how much would these bows likely cost? lol

Tulkas the Breaker · Sep 10, 2005, 06:00 PM // 18:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by boontheloon

And how much would these bows likely cost? lol

Pvp weapons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinsei

Use 2 bows. Use a shortbow 15>50 when in range, and a flatbow 15>50 when you need more range.

Not flatbow, it sux as hell. Longbow is the only good way in range attacks.

boontheloon · Sep 10, 2005, 06:19 PM // 18:19

With the PVP (green) weapons you dont get vamp do you?

Ender Ward · Sep 10, 2005, 06:26 PM // 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tulkas the Breaker

Not flatbow, it sux as hell. Longbow is the only good way in range attacks.

Longbow has a crappy rate of fire. Flatbow has the same range but has the fastest possible rate of fire for a bow (and accuracy issues are dealt with by Favourable Winds and/or Read The Wind, depending on one's build).

Shinsei is absolutely correct. Flatbow when firing outside spell range distance, Shortbow/Half Moon when inside it.

Quintus · Sep 10, 2005, 06:26 PM // 18:26

PvP weapons (weapons that you select for Pvp-only characters) are white, not green. These weapons are all clean max damage weapons with 9 requirement, but you can put any weapon upgrades that you have unlocked on them. (ie. 5-1 Vampiric or Zealous and Defense.)

boontheloon · Sep 10, 2005, 08:03 PM // 20:03

o no sorry im a pvm that is going to be pure pvp at end (need skills etc)

id0l · Sep 15, 2005, 07:20 PM // 19:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinsei

Depending on your build, you want either vampiric (5-1) or zealous prefixes (make sure to switch to an empty slot when you're not shooting). For suffixes, you pretty much just want defense (+5).

I don't see how you can make such a generalization. I tell you this, I wouldn't want either vamp or zealous on my [specific] ranger build. However, the +5 defense suggestion is an all-around thumbs up...a +7 Shelter would be rockin' as well (as Rangers already have 100AL vs. Elemental attacks minimum, so no dire need to increase Ele. AL)...however, you could go either way on a ranger, so +30hp wouldn't be a bad choice either. A little bit more protection vs. degens and the like, but more expensive, too.

My advice?

Put on the upgrades YOU think is best suited to your playing style and build.

As far as Flatbow vs. Longbow, it's a toss up IMO...each could be enhanced with a "better accuracy spirit" or an "increased firing rate spirit." Or none at all. Just pick one that compliments your skills, you most likely won't be that far out of range for very long anyways. I prefer a Composite/Recurve for poison control (short bow if I'm already close enough) because it won't miss, has the "medium" firing rate, and "medium" range (still outside agro circle). And of course a short bow/half moon for the ensuing battle.

This is just my 2 cents, take it or leave it.

Ensign · Sep 15, 2005, 08:40 PM // 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by id0l

I don't see how you can make such a generalization.

Yet your advice is no advice at all?

The best combat mods for a bow are Vampiric and Zealous. If your Ranger is primarily a damage dealer, you'll want to have one of each of those to switch between as needed.

If you're playing a Ranger with several important non-combat functions, like trapping, you'll want to grab a bow without a drawback - a Poisoner's, Sundering, or Elemental as needed. Poisoner's if you use poison, otherwise just grab an Elemental or Sundering - neither is anything special so it's pretty much a wash.

The best suffixes available are +30 health, +5 armor, and +7 armor vs. physical. The armor mods are a bit of a toss up at the moment - +5 armor is clearly the stronger mod, but the defense against elemental isn't too significant given your already high AL against it, and the relative lack of elemental damage these days.

+30 health is preferable if you're piling on the -health runes, as it gives resistance to spike and a bit more protection from all the degen that's flying around.

For bow selection, Short Bows are the best combat bows, hands down. Best refire and good accuracy, it's exactly what you need against dancing Monks. Secondary bows are a bit more flexible. A Flatbow gives you both a good refire rate and something with a lot of range - the accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, though, making it worse than a short for combat, and poor for getting off things like pins. Longbows are weaker combat bows still, but can get in those long range Pins or Oath Shots with consistency. Composite bows are almost always worse than Longbows and should be avoided - Horn Bows should only be considered when you're using skills that ignore your attack rate, and lots of them, otherwise they're just awful.

Peace,
-CxE

id0l · Sep 15, 2005, 08:59 PM // 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

Yet your advice is no advice at all?

Well I wouldn't go that far.

I'm just saying to choose an upgrade that suits his build that's all...since he didn't list what kind of build he was using.

Good info from Ensign as always.

Edit: Hey Ensign, can you explain your dislike for Composites? Just curious.

carnivore · Sep 15, 2005, 10:18 PM // 22:18

i'd carry a 3 bow set. your basic damage dealing shortbow with vamp on it used for the DPs and any on hit interuption skills, a composite bow, and a longbow. why a composite bow? the arrow flight is far to tempting, a lot of times when i come up to a caster as a quickshot or interupter they'll go beserk and start running back and forth making even my shortbow miss, so for this whip out the composite and i also use the composite for when theyre far away but are moving to my left or right. i think there important here becuase pindown has a 15sec recharge, so i really dont want that arrow to miss. Longbows are just for the straight away runners or for poisoning.

id0l · Sep 15, 2005, 10:21 PM // 22:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnivore

why a composite bow? the arrow flight is far to tempting, a lot of times when i come up to a caster as a quickshot or interupter they'll go beserk and start running back and forth making even my shortbow miss, so for this whip out the composite

Good point, lol. I haven't encountered that situation [yet] but I could see how it could happen.

And yeah, the flight is tempting all right...fastest flight and lowest arc (highest accuracy). Yummy.

wsmcasey · Sep 15, 2005, 10:29 PM // 22:29

I prefer to use a combo of a Flatbow for range with rapid fire & my eternal bow for runners in pvp which has a slower rate of fire, but the flight time is cut in half. 1 second flight for flatbow vs. .5 for eternal. I use traps also, or i would probably use a short bow if was only focusing on a bow as my primary weapon with no traps.

Ensign · Sep 16, 2005, 12:59 AM // 00:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by id0l

Edit: Hey Ensign, can you explain your dislike for Composites? Just curious.

Well if I had infinite space for bows on my bar I'd use one just because it is another option and more options can't hurt, right? But in practice you have four bows to choose from in combat and I never want to use the Composite.

Basically if you're within Short Bow range it's simply the best bow in the game. Best refire, great flight time - there's simply no reason to use anything else. I like to carry multiple Short Bows because of this. Bow choice only gets interesting if you're outside of Short Bow range, so let's look at that.

You have two interesting types of targets outside of Short Bow range - stationary (when you're sniping), and moving (like runners, or when pulling). If they're stationary you want a Flatbow, and it'll perform pretty much like a Short Bow except you won't be able to interrupt a thing. Against a moving target, you want either a Long Bow, or a Composite Bow.

Now do you really want to carry two bows for the job of, say, pulling or snaring a moving target at long range? I don't. So it's either a Composite or a Long at range. So my problem then, is that the Composite barely covers more area than a Shortbow. In fact the Longbow covers 2.24x as much additional area as the Composite. Is that lack of utility made up for by the slightly faster flight time? I don't think so.

The Composite is the non-combat utility bow for targets just outside of Short Bow range. It is a niche, but not one that is nearly as important as short and long range combat bows, or long range utility bows. I'd consider taking a Composite along if I had five bows available, after a pair of combat shorts, a combat flat for ledges, and a utility longbow - but I'd switch to it so rarely that it wouldn't be worth the effort, when someone's running you just swap to the longbow and Pin. Basically it's a bow that does a bit of everything, but doesn't do anything well enough to really be worth using IMO.

Peace,
-CxE

romO · Sep 16, 2005, 01:14 AM // 01:14

zealous short bow of fortitude (or marksmanship, if you are not using a superior rune)

15%>50% of course

id0l · Sep 16, 2005, 05:06 AM // 05:06

Thanks for the insight Ensign. Let me ask you this - if you were to only take 3 bows into battle...which would you pick? I'm guessing 2 combat short bows and a longbow?

Reason being, for me, is that I find it somewhat discomforting to switch around 4 different bows. I simply don't have enough keys within fingers reach of my left hand to quickly swap. I suppose I could just assign two keys to cycle weapons left/right, but I don't know that it's really even worth the hassle. Anyways, I blame it all on my short fingers.

Scaphism · Sep 16, 2005, 05:16 AM // 05:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by romO

zealous short bow of fortitude (or marksmanship, if you are not using a superior rune)

15%>50% of course

Marksmanship (or sword, hammer, and axe mastery) upgrades are the worst upgrades possible. They only activate when using skills, and even then it's a trivial boost. Even sundering, a mod I don't particularly care for blows it away after the briefest comparison.

Suffix mods are mainly for defense. Rangers can often get away with two superior runes so I generally like Fortitude.