A experienced ranger question

Hello pros, i wanted to ask something that till now no one in-game have been able to, and, if you don't like to discuss details to take the best out of everything in-game please don't bother look at this question(or better saying, these questions), you will probable think they're pointless. Thanks for the ones who will join me and answer my doubt.

People i've met usually wear flatbow or longbow for barrage builds, but i've been wondering: Why not hornbows?

I've checked the bow attack delay and the barrage skill delay, and for what i've seen, it seems their delay(barrage skill and hornbow) matchs better than any other bow, and plus this bow have, like you already know, the 10% armor penen. mod.

I've heard flatbows are faster, but if you check out people who goes barrage, they will probable spam it, and the bow attack recharges faster than the skill, so when they're about to shoot an normal arrow(no skills) they use barrage and "recharge" the arrow, witch means there's a certain delay and time loss for each time they spam it.

For Longbows, ive heard of their range(indeed, theres a 0.2 range dif), and then i wanted to ask, does that really save you from a mob? I've heard in-game theire better because of this. About the delay time, i noticed they have a little dif between the skill recharge and the bow attack, but then comes another question, what would be better, the +10% penen armor or the 0.2 range?

Thanks for the trouble reading this, and hopefull, thanks for a answer you might have, i'd also mention I'm sorry for any gramatical error or not being clear at any part, this is not my native language so please take it easy!!

P.S: If possible say your preference about the barrage bow mods as well!(string, grip and if is 15^50, stance, etc, i'd really apreciate that).

Im not a pro, but this is what I generally use.
The bow type matters as far as recharge time. I use a Drago's flatbow, a vampiric longbow, and a zealous longbow. The bow recharge time is just about the same as Barrage recharge.
I generally start with Dragos, then switch to the vamp when the mobs are bunched up.

I typically use flatbow for range/refire (same range as longbow - same fast rate of fire as shortbow just a high arc this is where the favorable winds comes in), and shortbow for door to door, but there is no reason why a hornbow won't work well. For mods I generally prefer zealous, but there are cases where vamp will be better, or elemental so there's no real 'best' but like I said, my personal preference is for zealous under 'normal' circumstances. The grip I tend to prefer +5 armor, but in reality I don't think this mod matters so much, so my recommendation is use what you have and don't worry so much about this one. For bows in general 15^50 will always be the best, here's why: if you have under 50% health what should you be doing, standing there shooting, kite or heal. There are instances and builds where stance or enchantment mods are better, use them then.

I dont consider myself as a pro either (tbh i hate that word). I dont even know all bow details by head. But i love barrage and i usually use flat- and longbows too, mainly for the distance... i have plenty of bows (atm 8 different ones) and i pick the bows on the kind of scenario's that i expect to get. Usually rangers (barragers) play from a range... the bigger the range, the lower the chance you get hurt. In that part a flat- and longbow come in handy as they do longer distances (20%??). When the enemy is close then i may switch to a shortbow or hornbow.

I think the "best" bow is the one you feel most comfortable with... if a hornbow is working for you, why change?

QFT

I use Flatbow/Longbow, Recurve, and Shortbow. All depends on the situation. I usually start with a Longbow/Flatbow and as the foe get closer I switch to shorter distance bows. Usually ending up with a shortbow.

Mods - Zealous or Vampiric strings and Defense grips are what I use.

I recently aquired a fairly nice hornbow and as soon as I get some time I am planning on doing some test to see if it will replace my recurve.

Recurve bow and Hornbows are better then flatbow, and longbows are the worst, you are right about that.

For barrage I use a collector's hornbow 15%<50 with a sundering string and fortitude grip. But I switch to a vamp hornbow for B/P in TotPK. You can really see the difference in damage which makes up for skill refresh/ attack speed/ arc...etc. One other thing I noticed, hornbows don't seem to boost damage with R/E Conjure Fire builds...damage seems to stay the same as with any other bow.

I do on occassion use a shortbow for tight areas like Urban areas in Factions.

But I always keep a longbow handy for pulling or sniping silly targets like Ether Seals.

That's really what the ranger class is about, versatility and utility.

preference is all really. atm i use a draogs, strom, zodiac, and eternal bow for my barrager. i don't know why i guess its just skin really lol

for mods its good to have zealous or vamp
for the dmg mod it doesnt really matter , unlike most weapons, if you use a 15% -10 while attacking becuase you should be in the back anyway.
but 15^50 is still the best imo (you might be able to pull off a 15% -5 e but idk..druids is enough energy + zealoous to get you thorugh)

Thanks a lot for all the answers people, glad i can count on all your help! I'll be starting one last thread about this, hopeful you can answer that as well