Bow VS Rifle VS Flaregun: Which is best?

[Rundoggie17]

Depending on the type of game you intend on playing, this will affect the best kind of weapon for you to dwelve into. I'll cover the 3 weapons below in pros and cons. This is based on the most recent version of TLD (v.393)

Rifle:

Pros:
- Best bet for start-offs and short duration games like challenges or personal goal sandbox ventures
- Best satisfaction for point-shoot accuracy
- Can fire crouched from beginning of game
- Can be cleaned to maintain condition
- More powerful than bow in beginning stages of games
- Books available for researching to increase firearm skill
- Decent reload speed
- Depending on difficulty, many spawn points within popular map locations

Cons:
- Loud when fired, may attract bears, scares other nearby wildlife
- Heavy (8.80 lbs. when fully loaded)
- Rounds are lost after being fired

Bow:

Pros:
- Best in long-term games
- Silent firing, undetected by other wildlife
- Light (1.10 lbs.)
- Craftable, same with arrows, arrows can be harvested for heads and feathers so weapon ability is incredibly long lasting
- Improved bleedout with skill increase compared to rifle
- Reloading not awful

Cons:
- Not as accurate or powerful as rifle in game beginnings, takes time to get good at aiming
- Cannot repair, breaks after enough use
- Cannot use crouched until skill is maxed
- No research books on archery
- Draw-release mechanism somewhat slow
- Not many spawn locations

Flaregun:

Pros:
- Light (not sure on weight, but small)
- Flare round burns bright, if doesn't hurt or kill will often scare wildlife
- Flares may stick to target, illuminating them for extended period of time

Cons:
- Very limited rounds and spawns (pretty sure only locations are strictly summit of TM or in Desolation Point)
- Not very harmful, can be effective at close range
- Slow reload
- Once again, not many rounds...not great for hunting


For me at this point having played 130 days in Voyager, the bow reigns supreme. The biggest difference compared to older versions of TLD in terms of weapons is now skills. I just got my archery skill to 5 the other day AND IT RULES.
Taking time to level up archery pays back 10x. It's not even that difficult to level up since you gain experience by also constructing arrows in addition to landing shots on targets. Improving firearm use is also not bad, but practicing with the bow and making the effort to collect saplings to construct new bows and arrows can give you purpose in sandbox games.
Traveling to Desolation Point and now Forlorn Muskeg to craft arrowheads can make a HUGE difference in long games. To have an improved archery skill, 3 bows, and 20 arrows is the way to go in my book.

[canis39]

I found a flare gun and some shells down in the lower part of the Ravine.

[coze]

I had my differences with the bow, but I'm fine with it now. Currently I only take my rifle with me when I'm going for bear hunting. It's not worth wasting a bullet on any other target IMHO.

[wutduh]

Bows: I am on Voyager at Skill Level 1 and it has been challenging. Any suggestions at this skill level for building skill level? Also, how many arrows is optimal to have on person at any given time? So far I only have 2, but have materials to visit forge. Is it worth it at this stage?

[Selfless]

Once I have 4 arrows any others just get stuffed in a drawer. But making them gives you skill, so, that.