LouDaCrisp
Active member
Asking for a friend.
Some reasons would be great too.
Some reasons would be great too.
Are Bows good?
- Thread starter LouDaCrisp
- Start date
Yes, bows are good. I prefer bow over inquisitive or repeater, partially because the sounds and animation are better to me than crossbows, but also I appreciate the utility that you can get with bows, and the greater per-shot and single target potential. Force arrows give you ghost touch, which can free up an item slot or augment. Metalline/Morphic secondary imbues are nice for breaking DR. Sniper shot is great. Bows just got a nice damage boost from U76.
They need to de-couple the scattershot charges from Manyshot, and give a greater chance for regenerating HW trance charges.
They need to de-couple the scattershot charges from Manyshot, and give a greater chance for regenerating HW trance charges.
Jack Jarvis Esquire
Well-known member
We had a car called Bows for 20 years. She was mostly good. 
RangerOne
Well-known member
Bows are good because you can damage and kill before they ever get to you. Ranger is an easy start because you get most of the ranged feats for free. I use AA tree and paralyze. Most of the those suckers never get near me and when they do a burst of glacial wrath in the face freezes them. Most points in Falconry for instant death to most mobs, rest in acid and paralyzing. Inferno Shot gives the cheapest AOE with the shortest cooldown. Combined with paralyzing you can target the mob at distance and immobilize them all at once.
Why do I use a bow?
I don't like to be touched.
Why do I use a bow?
I don't like to be touched.
Tharminator
Well-known member
crossbows are good. long/short bows are a slow omg where is the shot going to finally happen agony because the devs refuse to scale the attack rate appropriately and instead tried to give it higher crits. real life and 3rd edition rules this should have been crossbows as having a lower attack rate and harder hit. i'd recommend if you want to do longbows to level with a crossbow until end game and then switch as most feats are the same.
The Blonde
Catalogues Bugs
11/10 reply
Longbows have been crap in DDO for a long time but have gradually been getting better over time. It's hard to evaluate at this time bcs the IPS buff only just dropped, but I'd guess they're middle of the road being competent but not overwhelmingly useful.
That said, don't make the beginner mistake of thinking that Ranger is the best class for bows just because it has a bow for a class icon.
Bows can also be a bit boring in epics because the devs have, over time, removed most of bow / ranged weapon support from most epic destinies except one.
That said, don't make the beginner mistake of thinking that Ranger is the best class for bows just because it has a bow for a class icon.
Bows can also be a bit boring in epics because the devs have, over time, removed most of bow / ranged weapon support from most epic destinies except one.
Ying
5000+ hours played
Bows might be decent damage with the changes. And by decent, I mean they can compete with other ranged builds. Aside from some specialized ranged builds for niche circumstances, Dragon Disciple shuri is what you're looking to beat. It's got excellent movement (30% funspeed), excellent burst with 10k stars, but relies on poison spell damage a bit too much.
droid327
Hardcore casual soloist
Bows are "OK tier" compared to other ranged weapons. They work fine, but they arent going to be as generally strong as others
I'd say "Good" build are Repeater, Dual Xbow, and Shuriken (at cap)
"OK" builds are Bow, and maybe Great Xbow now
Dart is either "OK" or "Bad", not sure about that, but you dont see it talked about much
"Bad" is Shuriken (while leveling)
"Unplayable" is Martial Throwers
Bows gain a bit of value too if you're just talking about single-target gameplay (ie raids) since their lack of AOE is one of their big drawbacks
I'd say "Good" build are Repeater, Dual Xbow, and Shuriken (at cap)
"OK" builds are Bow, and maybe Great Xbow now
Dart is either "OK" or "Bad", not sure about that, but you dont see it talked about much
"Bad" is Shuriken (while leveling)
"Unplayable" is Martial Throwers
Bows gain a bit of value too if you're just talking about single-target gameplay (ie raids) since their lack of AOE is one of their big drawbacks
This has somewhat changed over time. It's still not always enough AOE, but most ranged builds will have 2-3 AOE attacks by now.
droid327
Hardcore casual soloist
They have more than they used to, sure - but the greater AOE potential of DXB and RXB is still what gives them a decided advantage in leveling
Its not just the amount of buttons you have, but also the value of each button. DXB and RXB get a lot more punch every 6 secs out of Shoot First than bows get every 5 secs from Exalted Shot.
But the AOE they do have now is why I'd no longer list Bow (leveling) as Bad tier, which it used to be
Not an expert on xbows by any measure. But you do also get Avenging Shot and Holy Retribution n KoTC (granted, it is T5) so you can fire several AOE shots in a row. Can also add Scattershot from HW if needed.
From the looks of it, both Ranger and Artis get a similar number of AOE shots (two). Is it just the fact that Shoot First hits multiple times?
Ying
5000+ hours played
But dies only half the time.
Yamani
Tyrannical Overlord
Jokes aside. Bows are the "slow heavy hitter" of ranged. Whereas the game is designed around mob density. So, they struggle with large packs of mobs while they can beat down a single target. They suffer from the lack of the ability to quickly switch between mobs like other ranged weapons can. They could've done something like give them a larger AOE radius or more AOE attacks to compensate for that but chose to increase the base damage instead. Not to mention when people build a bow build, they try to replicate other ranged styles, and they hurt themselves for that. If you are going to play a bow focus on its strength which is, its higher base damage and crits.