Curse

Dutch Masterr · Dec 21, 2006, 12:38 AM // 00:38

its like any profession that uses weapons (not staves/wands as much)...if you can, get a bow for every situation youre likley to be in. like on my warrior, i have 2 hammers, axes and swords. one of them is sundering of fortitude and the other one is elemental damage of foritude...elemental damage mainly for other warriors.

lennymon · Dec 21, 2006, 02:40 AM // 02:40

Heh, and mods opens up an oft beaten dead horse, but suffice to say, lots of options and lots of opinions to be nice. I am kind of like Imelda Marcos when it comes to bows, let your storage (closet space) be your guide on just how extensive you want to accesorize when it comes to bows.

Thom Bangalter · Dec 21, 2006, 03:12 AM // 03:12

Yeah, my inventory gets pretty nuts on characters I care about. 10 bows here, I think? I just salvaged one recently for the health mod and it broke though

Anet has been nice about making a green bow for just about every single gvg build available though, so just check the list, look over a build you might be playing, and go spend some cash.

Program Ftw · Dec 21, 2006, 03:24 PM // 15:24

I believe the Longbow is also far from being the best type of bow, the Recurve bow is in my opinion the best all around bow, I only use the long bow where the Recurve can't reach, this is rare.

If you want to say I'm not a good ranger "in your oppinion" then;

I have played as Ranger for over 3,000 hours.

I have earned well over 200 champion points as Ranger.

Thanks,
Program~

LazyLink · Dec 23, 2006, 12:20 AM // 00:20

I like Elswyth's Recurve Bow as the best all around bow, but I also have Ironwing Longbow for pulling and when I need the range

T N Player · Dec 23, 2006, 01:32 AM // 01:32

a sunder bow is good for any build but if u want builds for energy, go with a zealous bow (i mostly use for barrage for the energy)

recurve bow is my fave, it has good refire (fast dmg), accurate (good hits)

Orinn · Dec 23, 2006, 01:40 AM // 01:40

As you can see, there's a wide difference of opinion as to the "best" bows. I usually have 4 bows equipped on my ranger: Chkkr's Flatbow for normal range fighting. a vampiric longbow for tougher fights (the extra +5 lifesteal helps against high-armor targets), Benwah's Recurve bow for straight interrupting, and a sundering shortbow (I need a vamp string for it) for REALLY tough fights where withdrawing is going to be difficult. Keep in mind, my experience is almost exclusively PvE.

Ideally, I use vampiric bows for barraging, since the object is to get as much damage in as possible to a clump of mobs. Zealous swaps in if I get low on energy. I pull with the flatbow, but if I have to retreat a bit, I switch to a longbow for extra range (flatbows miss a lot if the opponent is moving)

The recurve bow as my interrupting bow is easy: high refire rate with medium range and low arc. It lets me get the shots in when I need them to, but still stay back far enough to stay out of trouble. And when things hit the fan, and retreat isn't an option, the shortbow for close-in fighting. Fast refire, low arc, but you need to be in close. I consider it my hold-out weapon.

DeathandtheHealing · Dec 23, 2006, 01:59 AM // 01:59

Recurve bow is a good overall bow, decent range, excellent accuracy, decent fire rate.

You wont always be using Read the wind and Favorable Winds, so you must have different types of bows,

Having only one bow ie a longbow/flatbow is ignorant. I love it when I see a moron in Ab using a flatbow... easy as pie to avoid

m4rk6 · Dec 23, 2006, 02:55 AM // 02:55

It's pretty much been said, but a Ranger's strength lies in his versatility.
I use a longbow for pulling, switch to a recurve to deal with the spellcasters/healers (for easy interrupts), switch to a shortbow for melee mobs.
Different situations call for different bows, imho. If I know I'm going to be facing a lot of stupid melee mobs, then I'll probably bring a flatbow and a spirit or two for barrage. If I'm spiking in a group then I'll most likely include a hornbow for added damage.

Jetdoc · Jan 02, 2007, 10:00 PM // 22:00

Wow - this thread is a godsend to a relatively new ranger.

So, in short, the three most favored bows...

Recurve Bow - best generalist bow, great at interrupting.
Flatbow - best bow when using Favorable Winds or Read the Wind, great for Barraging.
Shortbow - great for melee fights and when aggro has been broken.

And the two least favored bows...

Hornbow - great for spiking due to very slow refire rate, but great 1st attack.
Longbow - good in retreat situations, better for pulling that flatbow.

That helps a ton.

Sir Mad · Jan 02, 2007, 10:08 PM // 22:08

^

Hornbows should be prefered when using spamable attack skills (skills you can use every attack, such as barrage) when you have an IAS active.

Flatbows with their higher arc are better than longbows for pulling as you want to have time to retreat (especially if you have a pet, since you will send him to attack the foes you're trying to lure if your arrow strikes before you have moved back) - with a skill to reduce the arc, it doesn't make any difference of course. But of course, it's quite possible to lure (including with a pet) even with a recurve bow (I generally don't bother switching to a flatbow for luring actually, but still in theory, it's the best bow for that).

Amy Awien · Jan 03, 2007, 11:56 AM // 11:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Masterr

i just think its silly to bring a preperation like read the wind just to use a flatbow, when you could be using something like apply poison or a more worth while preperation.

You don't bring RtW just to use the flatbow, it adds damage and it's a Marksmanship preparation, meaning you could have fewer points in Wilderness Survival. And poison isn't that usefull against pve critters, they just die to fast anyway.

Lyphen · Jan 03, 2007, 02:58 PM // 14:58

Alright! Here's my new list of bow inventory, I keep the recurves and hornbows in my storage, and pop them out when my build requires. All are greens.

Drago's Flatbow (General Use)
Ironwing Flatbow (When I'm Savage Shot spamming)

Bolten's Recurve Bow (Crippling Shot build)
Rotwing Recurve Bow (Burning Arrow/Poison build)
Shaushali's Recurve Bow (Broad Head build and Rotscale farming)

Vah's Hornbow (To switch to in PvP)

glaz · Jan 04, 2007, 01:54 AM // 01:54

my fave has always been and will always be my elswyth recurve. i have a flat and a short that i rarely use.

@lennymon: i love that whole "imelda marcos" thing. lol

Falconer · Jan 05, 2007, 11:29 PM // 23:29

My preferences....

Recurve: my GP bows, admittedly I never leave home w/o an interupt or two either though.
Shortbow: red-haired stepchild of the bunch, I find it's a better pick than the flatbow when rate of fire is the goal... read DPS. Also since it forces you to stick close it's still relatively usable for interupts. Also if somethings running and I find myself kiting after it, a quick switch to recurve is a great way to get off that last shot or two which most likely won't miss.

Long & flatbow... little to no preference. On one hand if I miss one out of every 5 w/ the flat I've pretty much matched performance w/ the long. Generally at the extreme bow ranges arrows aren't reliable to hit w/ either.

As has been oft retorted, if you have RtW/FW up... no brainer... but many builds don't leave space for these, especially in PvP making the long a better 'cheap shot' option than the flat. On the flipside, there's been a few cases where the flatbows high arc has allowed me to hit things the longbows flatter arc wouldn't let me hit. EG: some NPC's on ramparts in GvG... so it's something you should have just in case.

Horn: as others have pointed out, only really a good option for certain very specialized arrangements. IAS + Barrage, ranger spike, machine gunning (quickshot&needling shot).

Mods: At the very least, you should have vamp and zealous, an elemental string. Also any other strings pertinent to the build... EG: crippling or poisoners being the big two there. Grips... +30 health first, +5 armor a close second, and the +20% enchantment for some niche builds (EG: judges insight).