what is your prefered "all purpose" bow and why?

[Reikai]

Well, I've been having some trouble with choosing my "all purpose weapon", well, not exactly all purpose, but you know what I mean, something I can use as my "main weapon"...

anyway, i just wanted to know what you guys prefer, and why? thank you.

[Tesco]

storm bow for its looks

[ChuXXX]

For the looks.... lol.

From the information I have seen the short, rune, and flatbow do the most damage per minute.

The lack of info on this very elaborate game kills me though. :(

Awesome game none the less.

[UberDigerati]

I have seen the short, rune, and flatbow do the most damage per minute.

Personally I prefer Longbows. I'm only level 12, but I like to set myself out as a Sniper. With a Long bow I can take out a single target of equal, or lesser level in a few seconds. It's nice for that high end healer in the back of the enemy ... I can put him out before the melee's can reach me.

Read the Wind > Flaming Arrow > Power Shot > Dual Shot > Power Shot

or if the enemies are clustered around my target

Read the Wind > Flaming Arrow > Dual Shot > Power Shot > Dual Shot
to get in a little AOE on the cluter with my Flaming arrow on Dual Shot

Pretty much wipes a single foe out. then if I am Solo I just use my haste to hightail it until they lose me, or if I am in a party I then concentrate on mopping up, or any other left over spellcasters.

Anyway ... I think the personal choise of most people is going to be tailored to their playing style.

I would look at your playing style, and then evaluate which bow (based on Range, Damage, and Delay) will suit your style best.

Hope this made sense ^^

[TerraHero]

Still wanna know what the best bow is?

stat wise aswell :p

so far the best stats for a bow i seen was 16-28...or 15-28..i forgot.

Anyway..personally i prefer the longbow seeing as it has the longest range.

U can always add atributes to a weapon with the upgrade components.

But i'm also curious on what a good combination of upgrade components would be.

[omniviper]

Still wanna know what the best bow is?

stat wise aswell :p

so far the best stats for a bow i seen was 16-28...or 15-28..i forgot.

Anyway..personally i prefer the longbow seeing as it has the longest range.

U can always add atributes to a weapon with the upgrade components.

But i'm also curious on what a good combination of upgrade components would be.

i dunno, i still like using ithas' bow and a short bow/half moon combi. lure for ithas then use half moon for short range damage. i swaer by the chicken method

[Nairax]

Short bows have good fire rate and medium flight-time but short range.
Flat bows have good fire rate and long flight-time with long range.
Composite bows have bad fire rate and very short flight-time with medium range.
Long bows have bad fire rate and medium flight-time with long range.

The arc of a weapon is directly proportional to its flight-time. A longbow has less arc than a flatbow. The composite bow has the smallest arc (almost nonexistant - practically a straight line).

More flight time = more chance to miss when target is moving (a composite bow almost never misses)
More range = obvious
More arc = more ability to shoot over *some* obstacles

As far as I've been able to tell, all the fancy storm/etc bows are all derivatives of these types.

And for the record my favorite bow types are longbow and composite bow. Short bow's range is too short and flatbows are very difficult to hit with if the target is moving. I would say my composite bow is my 'all-purpose' bow, but I often need to switch to the long bow when the target moves out of range.

If my target is trying to get away then I almost always use the composite bow because the longbow misses a fair amount. I almost never hit moving targets with my flatbow.

[Nitro]

<- long bow best bow for range (longist range bow and good arc) its slower then the rest of the bows but hits like a mac truck and if ur a ranger and dont like range ur playing the rong class

[Reikai]

what about the recurve bow. What do you guys think of that?

[Nitro]

its bin posted b 4 i just coppy and pasted so hear u are

He's some information someone hooked me up with..

This stuff is very VERY hard to find so you might want to write this down or copy it to a notepad

sword: 1.33 sec/attack
axe: 1.33 sec/attack
hammer: 1.75 sec/attack

Composite 2.5 seconds 80' 0.5 seconds
Dead Bow 2.5 seconds 80' 0.5 seconds
Flatbow 2.0 seconds 100' 1.0 seconds
Half Moon 2.0 seconds 70' 0.65 seconds
Horn Bow 2.7 seconds 80' 0.75 seconds
Ivory Bow 2.7 seconds 80' 0.75 seconds
Longbow 2.5 seconds 100' 0.75 seconds
Recurve 2.5 seconds 80' 0.5 seconds
Shortbow 2.0 seconds 70' 0.65 seconds

Staff 1.75 seconds 80' 1.0 seconds
Wand 1.75 seconds 80' 1.0 seconds

[ChuXXX]

So much miss info about bows. I found on one guys site who knows though.


• Flatbow - 2.0s - Long
• Longbow - 2.4s - Long
• Composite - 2.7s - Longest
• Dead Bow - 2.7s - Longest
• Recurve - 2.7s - Longest
• Ivory Bow - 2.7s - Longest
• Shortbow - 1.8s - Short
• Halfmoon - 1.8s - Short
• Sword - 1.33s - Shortest
• Axe - 1.33s - Shortest
• Hammer - 1.75s - Medium
• Staff - 1.75s - Medium
• Wand - 1.75s - Medium

[Arienrhode]

I use a Poisoning Half Moon of Fortitude as my primary and a Shocking Longhow of Fortitude as my secondary. I just love the half moons, near flat tragectory and high rate of fire.

[bznotins]

The Flatbow is my all-purpose bow. It has the reload speed of a shortbow and the range of a longbow. So in close encounters it is just as good as a shortbow, and for long-range it has the range of a longbow.

The problem is arrow flight time. With moving targets you can miss quite often.

To be more accurate, moving targets aren't a problem as long as they keep moving in the same direction during arrow flight (the bow compensates). If the start or stop moving after firing then you're likely going to miss...

[ChuXXX]

Short bows have good fire rate and medium flight-time but short range.
Flat bows have good fire rate and long flight-time with long range.
Composite bows have bad fire rate and very short flight-time with medium range.
Long bows have bad fire rate and medium flight-time with long range.

The arc of a weapon is directly proportional to its flight-time. A longbow has less arc than a flatbow. The composite bow has the smallest arc (almost nonexistant - practically a straight line).

More flight time = more chance to miss when target is moving (a composite bow almost never misses)
More range = obvious
More arc = more ability to shoot over *some* obstacles

As far as I've been able to tell, all the fancy storm/etc bows are all derivatives of these types.

And for the record my favorite bow types are longbow and composite bow. Short bow's range is too short and flatbows are very difficult to hit with if the target is moving. I would say my composite bow is my 'all-purpose' bow, but I often need to switch to the long bow when the target moves out of range.

If my target is trying to get away then I almost always use the composite bow because the longbow misses a fair amount. I almost never hit moving targets with my flatbow.

Well said, let me interject.

Flat bow is better up close than long bow is and long bow still misses. ROF is more important up close and you WILL find your self in that situation alot.

[ChuXXX]

ack double post....

[smedge]

Ebon short bow causes major damage fast. Quick refire rate and it seems most players are not very resistant to earth damage.

[PvtSnowball]

i have to agree with the composite bow being the all rounder. I use it to poison and bleed people in a double whammy. I use apply poison then hunter's shot while they are moving since it almost never misses(poisoner's composite bow btw), then quickly switch to my zealous shadow bow for the higher rate of fire and reasonable range. Allows me to spam more skills than my other bows. So i just use what ever bow depending on the situation. Hey thats what the F1-F4 short keys are for :winking47

[jaynatch]

Anyone know approximately what the shadow bow is like in terms of air time, firing speed, and range?

[PvtSnowball]

from my experience its either the same as a composite or a shortbow, but my gut feeling is its more like the short bow coz of the ROF

[LWjd]

My order is:

shortbow (75% of the time)
composite (when I am concentrating on interupting)
longbow (for pin down/pull)

Note that it is VERY hard to interupt with any bow that has a high arc. You can interupt most classes with shortbows. If your trying to interupt a monk or a mesmer, however, composite is key.

[Advalorem]

Like many rangers, I tend to use two different bows:

Fiery Longbow of Fortitude - long range, Barrage.
Zealous Half Moon of Marksmanship - short range, Tiger's Fury.


I tend to lure and provide support fire with the longbow, but if it gets intense and close up, I switch to the half moon, whack on tiger's fury, and start blasting at the nearest target until it drops. With the zealous string combined with fury, you can really keep your fire rate up without losing any energy, which is always nice. Throw in the odd barrage when using this bow, and your energy actually goes up :).

[sangalang]

^yep same here i use
poisoner's composite bow of fortitude for poisoning and bleeding them from a distance then get up close with my shocking flatbow of fortitude

[Orestes]

I just one use all around bow, maby I should change that..

I have a 15-28 Shadow with a Fiery Bow String and a Grip of Marksmenship. Works pretty good

Should I look for a 15-28 Short?

[Markheim]

Well admittedly I'm no expert and have no interest in analysing statistics on firing times and arrow speed, but I would say what I've observed in the game.

Last night I was on a mission with another ranger. I was using a halfmoon while he had a longbow. The reason I had a halfmoon was because I'd read it had a faster firing rate; however in the game I actually saw no difference. Several times I stood next to the other Ranger to compare firing times and even over extended periods he got just as many shots in as me. The only difference was that he managed to get a shot or two off while I was still out of range.

So, WTB Longbow/Flatbow :lol:

[trafalgar-zero]

it's still useful to have a short range bow though.

Did the other ranger use Tiger's Fury, Lightning Reflexes, Flurry, or Frenzy?

[hahnsoo]

I think you can get by with using a Longbow or Flatbow as far as interrupting if you use the arrow speed increasers (Favorable Winds, Read the Wind).

I personally have a Fiery Longbow of Fortitude and a Shocking Half Moon of Fortitude. I use the Fiery Longbow against far away targets, luring enemies, and things that are weak/neutral against Fire. I use the Shocking Half Moon when I'm close range, or against things that are weak/neutral to Lightning.

[Anthrax]

How about a HornBow ? didnt see anyone mention these yet. Is it any good at all ?