Which bow to use for a solo Archer?

[Blytzz]

Which bow would be the best to use an archer planning to solo all the way thru ToB? Basically, which proficiency should I choose? Long bows or short bows?

[daan]

Tuigan Bow
And there's no point in saying other wise .. the tuigan-bow is best.
It deals most damage of all bows when playing an archer. Or maybe it was strong arm +2, but because the tuigan Bow has 3 shots per round, its still better to have ( disrupting mages and the like).
So its the tuigan Bow and strong arm +2 .. shouldnt be a problem getting them both. I think Dundee Slaytern is the pro on this subject ( and many others ), he might be more specific .. but I'd say Tuigan Bow.

You'll get it doing the Copper Coronet quest to expose Hendak and the like

Hope it helpz [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Legolas The Magnificent]

im currently playing soa using an archer (im with nalia and aerie) and it really rules the game specially youre side by side with two mages. the bows that rules are "heartseeker 3", "mana bow" and the bow you can avail from the trademeet (after completing the quest) market. i prefer using longbows than shrotbows because they have more damage (specially when you combine it with your hurricane ability). try it youll enjoy it.

[Cannibal Monkey]

Tansheron's Bow - you don't have to clutter up your inventory with ammunition

[Dundee Slaytern]

With the Ammo Belt and the Quiver of Plenty, what clutter?

daan is right. In the end, the Tuigan Bow will deal the most damage per round due to the extra rate of fire. In the beginning though, the Strongarm +2 deals more damage.

Bows you should also keep are the Tansheron Bow( perfect for Iron/Adamantium Golems) and the Gesen Bow( for those pesky Demi-Liches).

Acid arrows are good to keep, for disrupting Stoneskinned Mages.

[Kaltia]

if you have the patch from Baldurdash that grants an extra half attack for grand mastery, and the gauntlets that let you do a bit more damage, have a bonus to your THAC0, and another extra half attack per round, armed wityh Taralush+5 I was doing 20 damage a hit minimum and firing AT LEAST 3 times a round anyway.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

I like the Taralash +5 even though you get it a bit late.. If you have that to boost your movement rate and the Grandmaster's Armor to boost your speed, and perhaps the Boots of Elvenkind, you could be quite lethal. And you can be fast enough to keep running away to use the bow without being engaged in melee. Add the Quiver of Plenty +2 and you're ready to take on the multiverse.

[Morgan_Corbesant]

well, and archer can get an obscenely low thaco anyway, so a +5 weapon isnt needed. i like the elven court bow. i play as an elven archer, so that works fine for me. wear the boots of speed, and you are a machine-gun. get a good melee weapon, and you are good to go. i use a spear, simply because i hate going into my inventory if i want to equip a second weapon to dual-wield with. besides, just because im an archer, doesnt mean i HAVE to dual-wield, right? anyway, i say the elven court bow, or the heartseaker. both great bows, and you can get the elven court bow VERY early in the game.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Kaltia, you misunderstand. The Tuigan Bow has a base attack per round of 3. Normally, bows have a base attack per round of 2.

If you have 4 attacks per round with the Taralush, you will have 5 attacks per round with the Tuigan Bow, assuming they have the same number of proficiencies in their respective weapon-types.

With the Grandmaster Patch, a level 34 Archer will have...

Note, THACO is irrelevant, as an Archer will easily have a THACO in excess of -20 with practically any bow. So I will deal with the more important factor of damage.

Strongarm +2:
----
Bow adds +3 to damage
5* adds +5 to damage
Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialisation adds +2
Archer kit means +9 to damage at level 33+

I get 4.5 attacks per round( apr).

Base apr of 2
+1 apr from 5*
+1 apr from level 7 and 13
+0.5 from the Gauntlets

Normal, +1, +2 and +3 enchanted arrows all deal 1d6 damage, and we shall use them to factor in the calculation, as they are the most frequently used.

(1d6 + 3 + 5 + 2 + 9) * 4.5 = [min 90, max 112.5] damage per round

With Call Shot, [min 99, max 121.5] damage per round
________

Tuigan Bow:
----
Bow adds +1 to damage
5* adds +5 to damage
Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialisation adds +2
Archer kit means +9 to damage at level 33+

I get 5 attacks per round( apr), not 5.5, as 5 is the cap unless you factor in Whirlwind and Haste spells.

Base apr of 3
+1 apr from 5*
+1 apr from level 7 and 13
+0.5 from the Gauntlets

Normal, +1, +2 and +3 enchanted arrows all deal 1d6 damage, and we shall use them to factor in the calculation, as they are the most frequently used.

(1d6 + 1 + 5 + 2 + 9) * 5 = [min 90, max 115] damage per round

With Call Shot, [min 100, max 125] damage per round
________

If you do these calculations with the Taralush Bow, you will find it to be most disappointing compared to these bows. It gets even worse if you do not have the Grandmastery Patch, as the Tuigan Bow will still have 5 apr, but the Taralush and the Strongarm will only have 4 apr.

[whacky]

Grrr....I wonder if anyone has heard of firetooth +5 ?