How well do bow builds do?

[VincentVolaju]

I see most ranged people using the musket or dual pistols ... but not many using a bow.

Are bows simply not as good as guns in this game?

[Naamtar]

Bows have higher sustained DPS because they don't need to go through the reload animation.

Guns have higher CC/stagger potential but have a long reload animation.

Both are viable.

[quesx]

fff

[kaffekoppen]

I have barely used them on my ranged build, and it's not because they are bad as such, but they are competing against some seriously good unique pistols and arquebuses. I think overall those categories have better uniques. On top of that, you can find the very first good unique pistol for free in the first area, and probably the best arquebus (One Last Trick) is also available pretty early.

For me, in the late game, guns are about stun, and they are really, really good at it. My main weapons at the moment are Magic Mistol and Caeroc's Pride. I combined these with multiple gunner perks (reload speed) and crit damage upgrades, as well as the abilities that give extra stun damage. I can stun some enemies in one double-shot. I have also been able to stun some bosses in two shots with an arquebus. That means you are constantly stopping them in their tracks and getting free, boosted damage shots on them.

[Viper]

Pretty good. Stay on the move. Dodge and shoot.

[townsgr]

I found the bow and musket weapons are useless and I mostly use magic.

[The Great Cornholio]

I have a character where I'm going to stick with bow the entire game. Very powerful so far.

[Viper]

Publicado originalmente por townsgr:

I found the bow and musket weapons are useless and I mostly use magic.

I have beaten every boss so far with a bow.

[Thane_Ragnar]

Near the End of my Ranger playthrough I consistently hit with a Musket for 7k per Shot (13k on a Stun shot). And if you invest in Dex the reload is really fast.

[BrutalGlory]

Publicado originalmente por Thane_Ragnar:

Near the End of my Ranger playthrough I consistently hit with a Musket for 7k per Shot (13k on a Stun shot). And if you invest in Dex the reload is really fast.

You don't even need dex. There's a skill in the ranger tree where the first point gives 50% weapon swap speed and the second reloads guns in your other loadout after 3 seconds when not active. You can pretty much go full-on 17th Century and rock to loadouts of flintlocks and shoot almost non-stop.

[TheOrigin]

Bows are really good if you play a stealthy approach. Arquebuses have much higher base damage though resulting in devastating crits and MUCH higher stun potential. I even oneshotted skull enemies with 2200+ dmg. (Stealth bonus, unaware bonus, crit bonus) with a purple upgraded Arquebus.

[Thane_Ragnar]

Publicado originalmente por BrutalGlory:

Publicado originalmente por Thane_Ragnar:

Near the End of my Ranger playthrough I consistently hit with a Musket for 7k per Shot (13k on a Stun shot). And if you invest in Dex the reload is really fast.

You don't even need dex. There's a skill in the ranger tree where the first point gives 50% weapon swap speed and the second reloads guns in your other loadout after 3 seconds when not active. You can pretty much go full-on 17th Century and rock to loadouts of flintlocks and shoot almost non-stop.

Whatever you prefer, I prefer to reload instead of always swapping.

[BrutalGlory]

Publicado originalmente por Thane_Ragnar:

Publicado originalmente por BrutalGlory:

You don't even need dex. There's a skill in the ranger tree where the first point gives 50% weapon swap speed and the second reloads guns in your other loadout after 3 seconds when not active. You can pretty much go full-on 17th Century and rock to loadouts of flintlocks and shoot almost non-stop.

Whatever you prefer, I prefer to reload instead of always swapping.

Yep, just thought it bore mentioning that the mechanic existed.

[kaffekoppen]

Publicado originalmente por BrutalGlory:

You don't even need dex. There's a skill in the ranger tree where the first point gives 50% weapon swap speed and the second reloads guns in your other loadout after 3 seconds when not active. You can pretty much go full-on 17th Century and rock to loadouts of flintlocks and shoot almost non-stop.

I went back and forth on the quick swap strategy and eventually settled on using gear with the Gunner perk. Makes it reload fast enough that there is no real need to switch. But both strategies are viable of course. I did test out if those perks stack, by the way, and they do.

By the way, one type of gear that puzzles me for ranged builds is +crit %. I am always critting when hitting weak spots, and it's super easy in this game. There's gear clearly made for ranged weapons that boost crit %, and I just don't see the point. Even the ricochets from One Last Trick are crits if the main shot is. If you're a bad shot, sure, but I feel it is better to take the time slow effect then.

[BrutalGlory]

Publicado originalmente por kaffekoppen:

Publicado originalmente por BrutalGlory:

You don't even need dex. There's a skill in the ranger tree where the first point gives 50% weapon swap speed and the second reloads guns in your other loadout after 3 seconds when not active. You can pretty much go full-on 17th Century and rock to loadouts of flintlocks and shoot almost non-stop.

I went back and forth on the quick swap strategy and eventually settled on using gear with the Gunner perk. Makes it reload fast enough that there is no real need to switch. But both strategies are viable of course.

By the way, one type of gear that puzzles me for ranged builds is +crit %. I am always critting when hitting weak spots, and it's super easy in this game. There's gear clearly made for ranged weapons that boost crit %, and I just don't see the point. Even the ricochets from One Last Trick are crits if the main shot is. If you're a bad shot, sure, but I feel it is better to take the time slow effect then.

See, i wouldn't give up movespeed gear for the world. I'd rather haul ass like a meth head because everything on the hardest difficulty hits like a truck.

[kaffekoppen]

Publicado originalmente por BrutalGlory:

See, i wouldn't give up movespeed gear for the world. I'd rather haul ass like a meth head because everything on the hardest difficulty hits like a truck.

Sure, I get movespeed, that's a smart choice.

I am only playing on regular difficulty on my first run, and it's not really much of a challenge even against higher-level enemies. I am wearing light armor, have a whopping 0 constitution, and I don't die at all. A few enemies like ogres hit hard, but I just root them with the starting ranger spell.