Curse

Riot Narita · May 14, 2008, 03:17 PM // 15:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Washi

Yeah but why would you use RtW when you can use preparation that actually does something?

Because then you can use a Flatbow :-P
Max range, max damage/sec, and almost no chance of missing (we're talking about PvE, right?). Small price to pay, and it adds +damage.

Also:
a) +damage from Read the Wind is armour-ignoring, making it frequently more effective (damaging) than other preparations whose damage is reduced by armour, or is negated by enemies that remove conditions or are immune to them.

b) By "preparation that actually does something", I presume you refer to your later mention of Apply Poison. Apply Poison was great back when Prophesies first came out. But 3 years on, we have skills and builds that will do VASTLY more damage per second than poison, or ANY amount of degen. There are other preps that have their uses, but I'd say RtW is about the best general purpose one there is.

c) Read the Wind is under Marksmanship. So you don't have to spend attribute points in Wilderness Survival just for your prep. You can use them instead to boost Marsksmanship and/or Expertise and/or Beast, or an attribute from your secondary profession. Don't tell me you need Wilderness points for Troll Unguent -_-

For me, Flatbow most of the time, Recurve sometimes, Shortbow very rarely, Hornbow/Longbow never.

Fire The Nutter · May 14, 2008, 03:27 PM // 15:27

I'd say
Recurve
Flat
Longbow
Shortbow
Hornbow (hardly ever used last two)

I did for a while run RtW purely on the basis, as you say that it adds nice amounts of damage. However poison does have something going for it because we are talking about PvE. Just pop poison on 2-3 or more targets and you suddenly have the Monk AI running about like a loon clearing those conditions rather than healing. Im not saying its a complete justification for using apply poison (as I agree re attribute splitting) but as this thread is all about PvE its a slightly different argument.

Red Sand · May 14, 2008, 08:32 PM // 20:32

I think that Shortbows are under-rated and with a Vampiric mod on them are the best choice for close combat. From a previous thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Sand

If I was unable to swap out weapons, I would take only a Recurve. A Recurve is like an adjustable wrench: whatever the job, you can probably make it work.

I bring a Recurve for most of my archery duties, a Flatbow for when I need to reach out and touch someone, and a Short bow for when they get in my face.

I agree that if your target is not moving, base dps on a flatbow is exactly the same as that of a short bow at short bow range. Additionally, the flatbow has the obvious advantage of superior range.

However, I'll bet that if you go to the Isle of the Nameless and practice archery on the Master of Healing, you'll score considerably more hits with a shortbow than you will with a flatbow, at shortbow ranges.

The shortbow's advantages of medium arc and short flight time make the arrow that much harder to dodge. If the arc and flight time were not important, no one would use recurves.

My flat and my recurve have poison mods, my short is vampiric, for increased dps at very close range.

Your mileage may vary.

Age · May 14, 2008, 09:02 PM // 21:02

What about crippling on a recurve and flat bow?

Tyla · May 14, 2008, 09:10 PM // 21:10

For Cripshot, yes.
But Cripshot is more PvP oriented.

Riot Narita · May 15, 2008, 03:22 PM // 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire The Nutter

I did for a while run RtW purely on the basis, as you say that it adds nice amounts of damage. However poison does have something going for it because we are talking about PvE. Just pop poison on 2-3 or more targets and you suddenly have the Monk AI running about like a loon clearing those conditions rather than healing. Im not saying its a complete justification for using apply poison (as I agree re attribute splitting) but as this thread is all about PvE its a slightly different argument.

Just as I use RtW for immediate direct damage, against monks I again prefer the direct approach: interrupts and dazing instead of making them heal their comrades.

I note that Apply Poison is a good cover condition for dazing, but there is also the less sustainable energy cost. RtW costs 2 energy if you've pumped expertise to 13 and that's easy if you haven't put points into Wilderness. Apply Poison can be quite a drain (10 energy @ 9 Expertise) if you are using a lot of other energy-intensive skills as well.

So I still put Flatbow + RtW (or favourable winds on a hero) as my most-frequently-used choice.

Having said all that, since PvE-only skills... my Ranger typically runs with a spear and shield these days... BONKERS amounts of damage-per-second*, 590 health, 86 armour vs physical, 116 armour vs elemental, 126 armour vs 1 chosen element, buffs party damage, and distributes damage across my pet and summons, enemy knockdowns.

Ebon vanguard Battle Standard of Honor
Heket's Rampage
Elite Spear attack eg. Cruel Spear, Stunning Strike,
Paragon Shout eg. GftE!, Anthem of Weariness
Ebon Vanguard assasin Support
Summon Ruby Djinn
Charm Animal
Comfort Animal

10+1+1 Beast
8+1 Expertise
9 Spear
9 Command
Consumable scrolls for res. Zealous spear. Shield with +10 vs 1 element.

*Over 80 damage-per-second according to Master of Damage, sustainable indefinitely as long as I can hit things, under "normal" conditions. Well over 100 damage-per-second under "exceptional" conditions (ie. position myself differently to keep pet and summoned assassins within the Battle Standard).

Luminarus · May 16, 2008, 07:00 AM // 07:00

Recurve for interupting, general play.

Longbow for pulling

Hornbow for spiking

Shortbow for any build where u are gonna get close range anywayz

Flatbow for barrage, or when [Favourable Winds] is around

Age · May 16, 2008, 10:41 PM // 22:41

Why a silencing bow string so good?it would seem to me that it would be more usefull for BHA and Cuncussion Shot to inflict daze.I don't often use those BHA as my elite.I switch between Punishing.Burning,Magebane and Prepared Shot.

Grammar · May 17, 2008, 08:39 PM // 20:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Age

Why a silencing bow string so good?it would seem to me that it would be more usefull for BHA and Cuncussion Shot to inflict daze.I don't often use those BHA as my elite.I switch between Punishing.Burning,Magebane and Prepared Shot.

A Silencing bowstring is used for BHA on bosses, because conditions only last 1/2 duration on them. Without the silencing string, you would be unable to keep a caster boss perma-dazed, because the dazed condition would expire before BHA recharches.

But if you don't use BHA or Concussion Shot, you obviously have no need for a silencing bow.

MasterSasori · May 17, 2008, 11:30 PM // 23:30

Recurve for basically everything just because it IS that good.

Flatbow/Longbow for pulling. Maybe Shortbow if you want damage.

Divinity Sword · May 19, 2008, 04:02 AM // 04:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Washi

Yeah but why would you use RtW when you can use preparation that actually does something?

On topic: Recurve bow ftw.

FTR, RTW does extra damage.

I use a Flatbow with RTW as my main, Longbow for pulling, and a hornbow for lulz. Recurve bows really aren't my thing.

Melek · May 26, 2008, 04:56 PM // 16:56

If the aim of your build is to spread degen & conditions([Apply Poison] for example) then a recurve is probably best. If you're using a build for doing damage (say with [penetrating attack] and [sundering attack]) Rate of fire is what matters. So use a flatbow if you have [read the wind] or [favorable winds] but a shortbow if you have a different prep/are without the spirit (say when using [glass arrows])

Rhamia Darigaz · Jun 07, 2008, 01:30 AM // 01:30

well im extremely fond of the cripshot build for rangers, and recurves are generally the best bow evar unless ur pulling, so id recommend a crippling recurve bow of fortitude with 15^50

. if ur into using greens it just so happens the forgotten recurve bow (end game green for nf maybe? i forget) is exactly the bow i mentioned iirc.

Fangclaw · Jun 08, 2008, 02:00 AM // 02:00

Is there anything new that I can actually add at this point?

Recurve for general use/interrupting
Flatbow for pulling/barraging *or with RtW/FW
Longbow for pulling
Shortbow for condition spread/whatnot
Hornbow for noobs

Sundering mods are only effective if you use [[judge's insight], but then it drains way too much energy to be effective. Thus bringing you to the better Zealous mod, and therefore ruining your sundering build.

Vampiric, Zealous and condition lenghtening mods FTW

Elite God · Jun 24, 2008, 02:07 AM // 02:07

Okay, so I was looking into getting a Tormented Recurve Bow for my Ranger as soon as I get the rest of my destroyer weapons in my HoM...

Anyways I was thinking what mods should I put on it, I mean this is gonna be a special bow (Probably my last

)

So I want to make it versatile...

Of course 15^50, +30hp, but what do you all add to your recurve bows?

My Deld. Recurve I use for AB, but yah...

So any ideas?

Kyomi Tachibana · Jun 24, 2008, 02:20 AM // 02:20

Put a bowstring in you that you don't have another bow for, simple as that.

If you already have a Crippling bow, put in something else.

Already got Poisonous? Find something else.

Wanna be like every un-intelligent ranger out there? Put in Sundering.

Since we don't know what bows you already have, you shouldn't be asking us, you should look at your collection and make the decision based on what you already have, or what you want to replace.

Bauholz Kerbe · Jun 24, 2008, 02:37 AM // 02:37

I mainly want to know what bow will work the best, and i've read the articles on wiki about fligth time, arc height and blah blah blah, please tell me which you like best and why, skins don't amtter to me, i'm jsut looking for the most efficient bow, thanks looking foward to the feedback

Improvavel · Jun 24, 2008, 04:09 AM // 04:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Red Messenger

it depends on your build.

are you using interrupts, single target damage, or AoE shots?

Nope. Its always recurve bow with flat/long to pull.

Hornbows had/have limited uses on pvp spikes but we can leave that out.

Konig Des Todes · Jun 24, 2008, 04:39 AM // 04:39

I personally always like flatbow. thats mainly because it shares the longest reach with longbow, and it shares either the fastest or second fastest firing rate. Imo, its best for when you run multiple bow builds.

TheDragonmaster · Jun 24, 2008, 06:59 AM // 06:59

Duh, people don't come with nuances anymore... one bow is never "best"... that said, my ranger (PvE) uses the following:

Icy Longbow for pulling (icy to have something to trigger spinal shivers).
Sundering Flatbow for turret ranger/glass cannon/pure damage builds.
Vampiric Recurve Bow for Barrage, and possibly Volley builds.
Silencing Recurve Bow for BHA and general interrupting.

I guess if I played a lot of PvP I would add a Crippling, a Barbed, and a Poisonous bow to the lot.