The Fastest Bow in Tamriel

[OH]

I want a bow which I can use to turn my enemies into
walking pin cushions.

I'm not all too fussy about how powerful it is I'm just wanting to do it
for some fun...

Soo...
Anyone have any bows which can do the job?

[cfs111]

The fastest bows in vanilla are Auriel's Bow, Froki's Bow, Long Bow and Zephyr. They all have a speed rating of 1. Note that tempering a bow will increase it's weight therefore lowering it's speed. The highest DPS is the Bound Bow with the Mystic Binding perk.

Geek Alert:
Draw Speed

Firing a bow has three stages:
1.Nock the arrow.
2.Draw the bow.
3.Release the arrow and rest.

The nock stage appears to take about 0.4 seconds and the rest stage about 0.6 seconds regardless of bow or perks. The time required for a full draw depends on the bow, however; heavier bows tend to take longer to draw.

full draw time = 0.4s + 1.66s / (weapon speed * (1 + Quick Shot perk))

Bows made of better material tend to draw more slowly, but you can always choose to draw partially for heavier bows. Better material bows always have higher damage per second than lesser material bows, but weaker bows can stagger opponents more frequently, because it takes less time to fully draw them. Below is a chart displaying the damage per second of the base bows in the game. It is worthwhile to note that while the (Supple) Ancient Nord bow has the second highest DPS in the list, it can't be tempered, so it lags behind other bows as your Smithing skill improves. Bows with higher DPS fare better in close quarter scenarios. However, DPS is irrelevant when sneaking, as only base damage matters.

From http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Archery

[Lucien Lachance]

Tempering a bow increases its weight? Are you sure? I've tempered my bows and they didn't gain weight.

[OH]

So tempering a Longbow or a Hunting Bow and giving it say.. a powerful shock enchantment
would be effective for feeding people arrows?

[cfs111]

Well, not so sure it does either, or if so only slightly, but according to the UESP tempering a bow will decrease it's speed.

[cfs111]

No, not tempering a bow. Enchanting does not effect speed. The DPS is the big factor. Check the page I linked. If a bow does 5 DPS and you can shoot 3 arrows every 5 secs. Then another bow does 15 DPS but you only get 2 arrows off, the first does 15 damage in 5 secs. The second does 30 damage in 5 secs. Not real #'s just an example. The second bow will be the better choice. Even though you can pin cushion them better with the first.

[OH]

Originally posted by cfs111:

Say if I had a fire enchantment on my bow.. I'd be kinda wanting to continue the effect, less fumbling about with arrows and more speed, I want to play more of a scout and less of a sniper. Y'know?

[cfs111]

Yes, I do. Ranged Assassin is my favorite combat style!! But the enchant damage can change the numbers around. But again DPS is the deciding factor. Of course, sneak damage also has to be taken into account. You just have to do the math.

[DR. WHO]

destroyer bow one hit one kill pretty bad ass

[cfs111]

Yes, I love the Dan Predator Set from the Workshop (my only Workshop mod) it has both standard and OP bows.

The final damage is quite different than the DPS which only takes into account the Bow itself. The final damage would look something like this.
(Bow DPS + Arrow damage + enchant damage) x Sneak modifier = Final Damage x # of shots
The Dragon Bone speed of 0.75
(15 + 10 + 75) x 3 = 300 damage x # of shots

The long bow Speed 1
(6 + 10 + 75) x 3 = 273 damage x # of shots

The Bound Bow Speed .875
(21 + 10 + 75) x 3 = 318 damage x # of shots

The speed is so close you would still get off the same # of shots, unless you had time to put out a lot.of arrows!

[SpeedFreak1972]

I have 1 problem yes that are the fastest bows in skyrim .... however tamriel bigger then that. I mean who knows what they have for bows in Hammerfell or High rock, etc

[cfs111]

Originally posted by Mantve:

I like swords. Swords go slash. I don't like bows. Bows go pew pew...

Yes, but I can pew, pew, pew 3 guys in the time it will take you to get to them to start slash, slash.

[beans]

Originally posted by cfs111:

The fastest bows in vanilla are Auriel's Bow, Froki's Bow, Long Bow and Zephyr. They all have a speed rating of 1.

Doesn't Zephyr have an enchantment that increases its draw speed by 30%? There's no way it draws at the same speed as the long bow.

Actually, hold on:

"Zephyr has the highest base damage per second of any archery weapon in the game, firing an arrow every 1.58 seconds, compared to the fastest non-unique bow in the game, the long bow, which fires an arrow every 1.81 seconds."

Taken from http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Zephyr

Originally posted by cfs111:

Note that tempering a bow will increase it's weight therefore lowering it's speed.

I've never heard this before, but I've always wanted an ultra-heavy war bow. Is there a way to increase the weight of a bow in-game? If not, I could load up the CK and make a bow with high damage and extreme weight. I actually thought the long bow was slower than the hunting bow, but maybe I got the two mixed up; I used a long bow for an incredibly long time before switching out for a glass bow.

Both the wikia and uesp.net say that the long bow is one of the fastest firing bows, so I'm pretty sure I was the one that got it mixed up with another bow.

[cfs111]

Originally posted by PeggleFrank:

SNIP

The speed came from the UESP chart. This must be before the enchant is added in!! To be honest, I kinda skimmed through the page. My bad for not reading it carefully.

[beans]

Originally posted by cfs111:

Originally posted by PeggleFrank:

SNIP

The speed came from the UESP chart. This must be before the enchant is added in!! To be honest, I kinda skimmed through the page. My bad for not reading it carefully.

Ah, okay. That makes sense, since the enchantment isn't a factor of the base value.

[Percephere]

I reccomend using the Hydra Shot mod. It allows you to shoot multiple arrows at once using magicka. I can't say its extremely immersive, but it is pretty cool.