'THE' Silver Bow

[scampb]

I just created my Arcane Archer last night. I was lucky enough to have a couple decent bows packed away from a previous Ranger build that stalled that I can use at level 4. I also have 'THE' Silver Bow. A buddy gave it to me when I first created my Ranger as he did not like the play style so much. I feel extremely lucky to have it since I keep reading so much about it. I know it has the 19-20 crit range and with IC: will be 17-20. My question is this; How long would you use this bow and with what would you replace it with? I know that I need to look for a Paralyzer bow and others eventually but in the event I cannot find them or have the plat to buy them, how long do I plug away with 'THE' Silver bow? Do I keep using it because of the crit range? Is it fine because I will be able to use all the +5 arrows I want with it? Are they that rare that I should bind to my character to avoid damage or will it be taking little damage anyway since it is a ranged item I should be hit less while using it? Please share your thoughts and opinions on bows for Arcane Archers.

[00Danny]

I still use mine as my main bow at lvl 18 (almost 19.) Mainly because I couldn't find anything better and also because I never picked up IC: ranged. (before anybody yells GIMP! I should mention that I do also melee some.)

[grodon9999]

Both my rangers are still using it at level 20 as there main bow, along with a Wounding of Puncturing. When my 20 was still an AA I crunched the numbers and only a lightning II Green Steel bow would beat it.

[grodon9999]

I still use mine as my main bow at lvl 18 (almost 19.) Mainly because I couldn't find anything better and also because I never picked up IC: ranged. (before anybody yells GIMP! I should mention that I do also melee some.)

If you're an AA pick up that feat immediately. if you're a tempest don't worry about it, I really regret not being able to fit it in any of my tempests builds.

[Visty]

only tier3 greensteel and an epic bow can outdamage the silverbow. well, maybe a +5 holyburst of greater bane too, but those are **** hard to get

[Emili]

it's Damage is a 1d10 aside from the 19-20/x3 crit range and holy damage... As Visty stated only Epic upgraded, GS (and not all GS) and something like a burst of greaterbane outsine it... all my rangers still carry that bow ... along with wops and some greater banes... only one of my rangers have a GS bow - the other two are tempests.

[tunabomber]

Yep keep using it,it rocks.

[Judo]

still use mine for DQ epic...

now what does it tell you that bow existing at head start is still
the best a ranger can get endgame

(excluding lightning bow vs devils, and the obvious +5 gb etc.)

[Club'in]

It won't take much damage, and is easily replaceable. Don't bother to do the binding ritual on it.

[Zenako]

You can keep using it until they pry it from your dead decaying fingers...:)

Seriously, it is that good for pure DPS situations. I use a W/P on lots of trash since you can shread them perhaps a bit quicker, and when you stun them with stat drain you nail auto crits.

I keep GOOD Greater Banes for special circumstances (like Dragon Hunting) (Icy burst/Holy burst of GB can do some serious hurts on Red Names).

As an AA, you can eventually make +5 arrows anyway, so the base +bonus of bow no longer matters and it is MUCH easier to find +1 burst of GB...

[Gnorbert]

Yes.. a +1 burst of greater bane would be easier to find... but if you then use your ammo for the purpose of bypassing DR then you are no onger rocking the free +5 bonus.

[JeffreyGator]

My AA wizard uses the silver bow, a frosty WoP and frosty Paralyzer.

A question I have for AAs is even with the IC ranged Silver bow is the flameburst arrow better than the acid touch arrow?

[Maxelcat]

I've been rocking with my +1 acid/good bow with the force arrows, though my AA is still low level.

[Draccus]

I pulled it out of the bank at level 6 and won't put it back until I have a Lightning II. If you take into account the concept of "wasted DPS," you could argue that the Silver Bow out damages a LitII.

[grodon9999]

I would play epic "Church and the Cult" to upgrade this bow :)

[geoffhanna]

this bow, a w/p bow, and a variety of arrows are the only bows you need.

[Delacroix21]

this bow, a w/p bow, and a variety of arrows are the only bows you need.


A Lit 2 bow is also an amazing bow that just cant be left out.


I cant wait for the day for ranged to be viable 100% of the time. Switching back and forth to meele is tedious.

[KingofDiamondz]

I have a lvl 20 tempest ranger str build that when ranged calls for still uses this bow. Combined with the right arrows for the right situation it still can do some awesome DPS even without being an AA or having IC:ranged

Other bows like others have mentioned from greensteels to Greater Banes are also good. Metaline PG bow is also good to have, along with perhaps a bow that has destruction or greater destruction on it if you plan to run epics to help you and your melees score more hits since some AC's tend to be pretty high. Unwavering Ardency that drops from Ascension Chamber is also a nice bow, but a little harder to obtain (2d12 dmg, fear immune, cursespewing, slowburst)

[vettkinn]

:eek: OMG :eek:

I looted this like 3 months ago and never really bothered with it and ended up selling it for about 50k gp :eek:




Vettkinn is now a sad comrade :(

[AylinIsAwesome]

:eek: OMG :eek:

I looted this like 3 months ago and never really bothered with it and ended up selling it for about 50k gp :eek:




Vettkinn is now a sad comrade :(


If this was on Cannith, my Arcane Archer loves you for it! ;)

[Fratricide]

There are lots of good bows, but every archer should have a silver bow.

My favorites are the abbot bow (2d12 base damage ML14), Epic Thornlord, and my +3 Icy Burst Frost Holy Burst of Greater Evil Outsider Bane. Despite the crit range on the silver bow, I found that any lvl 6 or 8 elemental of PG with Frost and or Icy Burst on it outperformed the silver bow for soloing (where 1 or 2 non crit shots were needed to take down typical mobs)

GS Lit2 is nice as well

just my 2 cents

[butlerfamilywa]

I'd keep it till 20...
replace it with
+5 Greensteel Longbow (1d10, 20/x3) With Shock, +1d6 Electricity, Good Burst, +1d6 good, +4d6 vs non-good on crit - Chain Lightning (3/day), +2 Dexterity (Exceptional) - Lightning Strike (1-2% Chance of extra damage, ~600hp)

I put +2 exceptional dex on it for the extra +1 to hit. or you can grab some xtra damage off shocking BLAST, but honestly, thats negligable due to immunities.

throw silver arrows from house d into the lightingstrike bow, and you bypass DR (good/silver).. or you can grab cold iron arrows from house d and bypass demon queen dr (good/cold iron), adamantite for constructs, ect ect ect...

House D favor = great for any archer build/crossbow build

[QuantumFX]

Probably, the only bow you would replace it with is a greensteel longbow. Other than that you would pick up specialty bows. (Ex. Usually they're ____ Burst of Greater ____ Bane or Stat Damager.) My 2 favorites are Burst of Greater Elemental Bane and Anarchic Burst of Greater Construct Bane.

[Turial]

Yes.. a +1 burst of greater bane would be easier to find... but if you then use your ammo for the purpose of bypassing DR then you are no onger rocking the free +5 bonus.

Unless your bow has transmuting/metaline you have to use ammo to bypass metal DR.

[Velexia]

I stop using it at level 10.

Here's why.

The difference between 1d8 and 1d10 is this: 1 damage on average and,
Holy only works on 'some' things.

19-20 = 10%
17-20 = 20%

We will assume a 28 Strength with Bow Strength, and +5 Arcane Arrows.

So let's compare this to say, a +1 Holy Burst Longbow of Pure Good.
20 Shots, 1 Miss, and average crits for both (4 and 2). If you do not have a good strength, or +5 arrows, the Holy Burst of Pure Good pulls even farther ahead.

Silver
1d10+14+2d6 = 12.5 (+14) dmg avg x 15 Hits + 4 Crits = 715.5 dmg

HB Longbow oPG
1d8+14+2d6+1d6 = 15 (+14) dmg avg x 17 Hits +2 Crits (+4d6, avg 14 dmg) = 751 dmg

HB Shortbow oPG = 728 dmg


The Silver Bow is very nice for about 3 levels, but it is not the be-all end-all until Greensteel.

[AylinIsAwesome]

Velexia, how do those numbers change when you factor in Force Burst arrows from being an Arcane Archer?

[Xyfiel]

or when you factor in other means of increasing damage that the extra crits matter, like FE, inspire courage, rage, etc...

Just using a bloodstone and you are ahead of the hb of pg.

it is the end all be all till greensteel unless its a crit immune mob.

[grodon9999]

I stop using it at level 10.

Here's why.

The difference between 1d8 and 1d10 is this: 1 damage on average and,
Holy only works on 'some' things.

19-20 = 10%
17-20 = 20%

We will assume a 28 Strength with Bow Strength, and +5 Arcane Arrows.

So let's compare this to say, a +1 Holy Burst Longbow of Pure Good.
20 Shots, 1 Miss, and average crits for both (4 and 2). If you do not have a good strength, or +5 arrows, the Holy Burst of Pure Good pulls even farther ahead.

Silver
1d10+14+2d6 = 12.5 (+14) dmg avg x 15 Hits + 4 Crits = 715.5 dmg

HB Longbow oPG
1d8+14+2d6+1d6 = 15 (+14) dmg avg x 17 Hits +2 Crits (+4d6, avg 14 dmg) = 751 dmg

HB Shortbow oPG = 728 dmg


The Silver Bow is very nice for about 3 levels, but it is not the be-all end-all until Greensteel.

Your numbers are wrong. Don't forget your +14 FE bonus at 20th level and if you get a Bloodstone it's another 18 on a crit. I've done this in excel, even at a 24 base STR the Silverbow beat HG/PG, even without the bloodstone.

[Zenako]

Your numbers are wrong. Don't forget your +14 FE bonus at 20th level and if you get a Bloodstone it's another 18 on a crit. I've done this in excel, even at a 24 base STR the Silverbow beat HG/PG, even without the bloodstone.

Let me add some more things to the mix

if you are an Elf and take more Archery Enhancements for more base damage as well.

I think Velexia is underselling the amount of BASE damage that is fairly readily achieved, and with each increase in the BASE, the advantage of the higher Crit range becomes more pronounced. As others mentioned, Bard Songs, Rages, Rams Might, etc all can pump up the base.

[Velexia]

Velexia, how do those numbers change when you factor in Force Burst arrows from being an Arcane Archer?

Force Burst adds 1d6/2d10, which is an average of 3.5 and 11 damage.

so, with Force Burst

Silver
1d10+14+2d6+1d6 = 16 (+14) dmg avg x 15 Hits + 4 Crits(+2d10, avg 11 dmg) = 942 dmg

HB Longbow oPG
1d8+14+2d6+1d6+1d6 = 18.5 (+14) dmg avg x 17 Hits +2 Crits (+4d6+2d10, avg 25 dmg) = 897.5 dmg

HB Shortbow oPG = 874.5 dmg

and with Slaying Arrows

Silver
1d10+14+2d6 = 12.5 (+14) dmg avg x 15 Hits + 4 Crits +500 = 1215.5 dmg

HB Longbow oPG
1d8+14+2d6+1d6+ = 15 (+14) dmg avg x 17 Hits +2 Crits (+4d6, avg 14 dmg) +500 = 1251 dmg

HB Shortbow oPG = 1228 dmg.

So, until you get Slaying Arrows, it is decent for an Arcane Archer (assuming you are fighting evil opponents), unless you already have a Greensteel Longbow, which, by around level 16-18, you should.

[Velexia]

Your numbers are wrong. Don't forget your +14 FE bonus at 20th level and if you get a Bloodstone it's another 18 on a crit. I've done this in excel, even at a 24 base STR the Silverbow beat HG/PG, even without the bloodstone.

The numbers are not 'wrong' they are simply not figuring in the Favored Enemy or Bloodstone. I have a Bloodstone, sure, but not everyone does. Not everyone picks Evil Outsider as their first Favored Enemy either. Also, not every bow user is a Ranger.

[dunklezhan]

*sigh*

I just wish there was a way to craft effects to existing items. I would so love to actually have 'silver' on my Silver Bow. Seems daft that its not there when you pick it up from a quest where the boss was a vampire...

[Visty]

*sigh*

I just wish there was a way to craft effects to existing items. I would so love to actually have 'silver' on my Silver Bow. Seems daft that its not there when you pick it up from a quest where the boss was a vampire...

wouldnt make sense either, why would anyone have something in their treasure which is needed to defeat him?
he would rather destroy it then leaving the chance for someone to grab it and kill him with it

[Grecan]

wouldnt make sense either, why would anyone have something in their treasure which is needed to defeat him?
he would rather destroy it then leaving the chance for someone to grab it and kill him with it
As a matter of fact, i looted the Silver Longbow from Church and the Cult, and the next time i did the quest (on a higher difficulty) i DID use it against the vampire :D it felt sooo nice :)
Despite the fact that i didn't use silver arrows, Manyshot and the Holy effect of the bow still managed to dish out some decent damage on him.

(edit: the Fragment of the Silver Flame you can loot there is also useful against the vampire, and so is the Bloodplate armor, since he uses insta-death spells...) ;)

[Mjoll]

wouldnt make sense either, why would anyone have something in their treasure which is needed to defeat him?
he would rather destroy it then leaving the chance for someone to grab it and kill him with it
From the "why would anyone have something in their treasure which is needed to defeat him" point of view there is at least one precedent: the named loot from Invaders (http://ddowiki.com/page/Invaders!) can be used to defeat all 5 bosses from the same quest.

[Buggss]

Without looking at the numbers like some have time to do I found that the numbers that appeared from using a +5 metalline LB of pg gave out better numbers for damage than the silver bow did with my ranger. Maybe I'll try them both again and look but I'm pretty sure I went back to the metalline for some reason.

[Xionanx]

Without looking at the numbers like some have time to do I found that the numbers that appeared from using a +5 metalline LB of pg gave out better numbers for damage than the silver bow did with my ranger. Maybe I'll try them both again and look but I'm pretty sure I went back to the metalline for some reason.

Probably for the same reason I use a Min level 4, +1 Frost, Acid, Pure Good Longbow I made during the Ice Games.

+5 Arrows makes the +1 Irrelevant
1d8+5 + 1d6 + 1d6 + 1d6 + AA Effect > Silver Bow + AA Effect

I've got IC Ranged, I've got a Bloodtone, I use the magical arrow stances.. and I still cant find a better bow then that Frost Acid Pure good one I made.:rolleyes:

Barring special purpose bows, banishing, disrupting, etc..

I "might" take the time to make a greensteele bow if I ever start to feel like archery doesn't suck.. but I'm still waiting on that, I'm currently level 16, so if this AA still sucks at 20 I'm reicarnating and not looking back.

[scampb]

So 'THE' Silver Bow drops as a named item in a specific quest then? That quest is Church of the Cult?

[Visty]

So 'THE' Silver Bow drops as a named item in a specific quest then? That quest is Church of the Cult?

yes

[Zenako]

yes

You can also get lucky and find it at a Broker (:D:D:D) had to have been an oops I suspect. (I also picked up a set of Silken Mail at the House K broker...sometimes...just have the luck...)

Sometimes someone lists one of the AH for reasonable coin as well, which is how I have a number of them on various characters now.