So how good are bow builds compared to magic?

[Nemerlight]

Finished game as mage and it was pretty fun. Was wondering how good are bows compared to magic?

[KingOfFriedChicken]

On a new game can be hard on NG+ with all the arrows you need bought before starting actually pretty good if you do it right not nearly as strong as magic though lol

[The Black Baron]

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

On a new game can be hard on NG+ with all the arrows you need bought before starting actually pretty good if you do it right not nearly as strong as magic though lol

Or just find all the cookbooks to craft all the arrows your heart desires :) you keep the cook books in NG+ (even though they are key items).

[impuretrash2878]

nowhere near as good as magic but they help a lot regardless. I definitely wouldn't try using a bow as my main weapon though.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by The Black Baron:

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

On a new game can be hard on NG+ with all the arrows you need bought before starting actually pretty good if you do it right not nearly as strong as magic though lol

Or just find all the cookbooks to craft all the arrows your heart desires :) you keep the cook books in NG+ (even though they are key items).

I dont like crafting i have no crafted any item that wasnt the co-op items haha but yeah if thats something you can stand its an option.

[The Black Baron]

Originally posted by impuretrash2878:

nowhere near as good as magic but they help a lot regardless. I definitely wouldn't try using a bow as my main weapon though.

Yeah even with high dex and the two corresponding arrow / bolt talisman the damage is not going to quickly kill any boss. Maybe some great bows, but probably only with a new char not in higher NG++ cycles.

[Emily Mewens]

From all the research ive done on bows, and after playing extensively with a mage
If you exclude the stupid broken op spells like Azure Comet, id say that the bow is a pretty solid choice if built correctly.
How do you do that? feck if i know X'D But theyre apparently pretty good.

[Dollmaker]

Not even close, and it sucks that you cant buy feathers for some stupid reason.

[Emily Mewens]

Originally posted by The Black Baron:

Originally posted by impuretrash2878:

nowhere near as good as magic but they help a lot regardless. I definitely wouldn't try using a bow as my main weapon though.

Yeah even with high dex and the two corresponding arrow / bolt talisman the damage is not going to quickly kill any boss. Maybe some great bows, but probably only with a new char not in higher NG++ cycles.

Lets be honest though. most builds arent really viable in the upper NG+ modes.

[Amereth]

pretty sure you can do stuff with a bow that you can't with magic...

opposite is true too.


but bow is the king of cheesing in my opinion.

[The Black Baron]

Originally posted by Amereth:

pretty sure you can do stuff with a bow that you can't with magic...

opposite is true too.


but bow is the king of cheesing in my opinion.

The extra holy cheese.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

Originally posted by Emily Mewens:

Originally posted by The Black Baron:

Yeah even with high dex and the two corresponding arrow / bolt talisman the damage is not going to quickly kill any boss. Maybe some great bows, but probably only with a new char not in higher NG++ cycles.

Lets be honest though. most builds arent really viable in the upper NG+ modes.

Well most things are able to take one condition or another so a stock of bleed arrows should handle most fights, I would say rot arrows but i dont think there is an easy way to get those.... and with rapid shot on something like the black bow and sleep arrows as well you can stack up conditions pretty easy like poison then sleep them and walk away xD

Or so i heard from a video i watched on it, i also summoned a guy once that was bossing with just Rahdans greatbow he was dope and we were late game on NG so it seems possible if not requiring extra effort i might actually attempt it.

[The Black Baron]

Originally posted by KingOfFriedChicken:

Originally posted by Emily Mewens:

Lets be honest though. most builds arent really viable in the upper NG+ modes.

Well most things are able to take one condition or another so a stock of bleed arrows should handle most fights, I would say rot arrows but i dont think there is an easy way to get those.... and with rapid shot on something like the black bow and sleep arrows as well you can stack up conditions pretty easy like poison then sleep them and walk away xD

Or so i heard from a video i watched on it, i also summoned a guy once that was bossing with just Rahdans greatbow he was dope and we were late game on NG so it seems possible if not requiring extra effort i might actually attempt it.

But bleed is just cheese :/ It is not fun to bleed everything, it is boring.

[Amereth]

Originally posted by The Black Baron:

Originally posted by Amereth:

pretty sure you can do stuff with a bow that you can't with magic...

opposite is true too.


but bow is the king of cheesing in my opinion.

The extra holy cheese.

i see , a man of taste and knowledge.

[Homeless.]

trash

[Sirius]

Originally posted by Dollmaker:

Not even close, and it sucks that you cant buy feathers for some stupid reason.

This is my biggest gripe.

It's bad enough running around buying all the arrows that you *can* buy and shoving over the runes for them (and they *do* more damage than crafted ones, sigh), but all this running around gathering stuff, especially for the higher end things like rot and bleed arrows takes a good chunk of your play time.

At least he basic materials should be bulk-buyable so that you only need to farm the special stuff - it's already bad farming the actual runes as it is though.

In the end, being an archer is about dedication and patience - kinda like the real thing I guess, but for different reasons.

Currently mid(ish) game on a 'pure' archer, and you just need a sidearm for when things get sticky or you run out of arrows.

It is, quite frankly, more novelty than actually viable I feel.
Still super fun when you are geared up, but every boss (likely) means grinding out the next batch of arrows again.

Some of them eat the fricking things like candy.