Bow Guide

[LordKalkin]

OK, so I am a level 5 Elven Ranger, right now I have a +2 Longbow, and a +1 Longbow of Whatever (does sound damage). I have seen some shortbows.

Are shortbows worth the time, or just use longbows? I would think the answer is longbows, because of range.

Is there any post of a list of good bows? I mean I read stuff about Silver Bows/Lightning bow, upgrades to tier II lit, etc. But that is way off.

I will look at the definitive quest rewards to see what bows appear there.

I was wondering what else is out there, and what I should be looking for.
I figure I will not be buying bows, unless I see a paralysis bow cheap or something..

[Mr_Tank]

The silver bow is min level 6 so... that is all you need till you can craft greensteel. There is no range difference betweent a short and a longbow. They only have different base damage (d6 to a d8) and a few classes only get shortbow proficiency.

edit: The silver bow is the way to go b/c it has a higher base damage (d10) and it has an improved crit profile 19-20 X3. When you get improved crit ranged this will stack making it a d10 17-20 X3.

[GentlemanAndAScholar]

OK, so I am a level 5 Elven Ranger

I'm the bearer of bad news, fellow. All your ranged ranger activities must be suspended until Turbine fixes ranged combat.

[Mr_Tank]

He can pew pew, he should just understand that the wiz with masters touch and a great axe will do the same damage as he is.

[Tom318]

He can pew pew, he should just understand that the wiz with masters touch and a great axe will do the same damage as he is.

Except he will be half a mile away

[LOOON375]

For your level you probably should look for something that adds elemental damage. Flaming, frost, etc. Once you add a level or two you should be high enough to use bows that do Holy damage. If you are good aligned and of the previous damage types that I mentioned look for a bow that does Holy damage and 'pure good' damage. That will add up to 2-12 + 1-6 respectively.

Once you get a little higher in level, the best bow in game for lower levels is the Silver Bow. You can farm for it in the "Church of the Cult" quest in house Phiarlan.

Basic damage wise, long bows are much better in general than short bows. Distance doesn't really matter. I have used plenty of both and can hit the same targets with both types regardless of distance.

[Lornman]

Stat damaging bows are out there and quite nice, so are the paralyzers. In a couple more levels (it's a level 9 quest) you'll be able to run The Church and the Cult, and once you get the Silver Longbow you'll be using that for a while as your mainstay arrow chucker - note that the name of the bow does not mean it has the metal/alchemical properties of silver, it is simply a holy bow with increased damage and crit range. At lower levels the Nicked Longbow that can be gotten from the Sharn Syndicate quests end reward is nice to have. At higher levels the Unwavering Ardency from the Ascension Chamber quest/raid (Necro IV) is pretty tasty. Check out ddowiki.com and you'll find out about some other nice to have bows and were to find them.

[stille_nacht]

how does Holy Burst Icy Burst of Pure Good compare to silver bow?

Short bows are like longbows but with 1 less damage. So basically Add a mental +1 to longbows when comparing them, there are plenty of dirt cheap shortbows that are actually pretty terrific.

Two weapon fighting is probably your best bet at damage though, ranged is sort of low damage outside of manyshot

[Glenalth]

Assuming Improved Crit: Ranged, there is a breaking point where the Silver Longbow becomes better than any randomly generated bow in the game (including ones with added rituals) depending on the character's strength, damage bonuses, and seeker items vs non-fortified targets.

Unwavering Ardency is junk for most situations. It is very pretty looking though.

[Mr_Tank]

Assuming Improved Crit: Ranged, there is a breaking point where the Silver Longbow becomes better than any randomly generated bow in the game (including ones with added rituals) depending on the character's strength, damage bonuses, and seeker items vs non-fortified targets.

Unwavering Ardency is junk for most situations. It is very pretty looking though.

The man has spoken heed his words.

[Doop]

Bought a +5 Metalline Shortbow of Pure Good on AH for 230K. Worth it?

[hityawithastick]

Unwavering Ardency is junk for most situations. It is very pretty looking though.

I suggest using it on your wizard.

[Doxmaster]

Actually, ice burst wont factor into the equation often, so its basically 'holy burst, pure good, #'.

That said, a holy burst puregood bow is decent, especially if it has a high + to it, but Silver will still be a strongcompetitor. Larger crit range, better base damage.

[stille_nacht]

Actually, ice burst wont factor into the equation often, so its basically 'holy burst, pure good, #'.

That said, a holy burst puregood bow is decent, especially if it has a high + to it, but Silver will still be a strongcompetitor. Larger crit range, better base damage.

Ah, but i have a +3 Holy Burst Longbow of Pure good with icy burst...

also, i dont think the increased crit range cancels out the burst damage from holy burst, pure good and icy burst, but i may be wrong, havent done the mathmatics to it yet :/ (Also, it technically has the same base damage, +3 1d8= +2 1d10 )

[Ravoc-DDO]

Ideally what you need at L6, assuming you're good aligned:

Silver Longbow
+1 Elemental Burst PG bow
+1 holy righteousness blades x2
+1 elemental burst PG blades x2

[LordKalkin]

yeah, I found the itemwiki, and started looking at longbows.

Aside from what was mentioned, I saw

Petrifying LongBow (L12, attack on stormreach quests)
Tortured Livewood Bow (L12, Gianthold Tor, Acid damage)