Bow, this is the great guide to greatbows (pun intented)

I will quickly go over the greatbows and arrows in the game, even tho this guide might be bit late.

Summary

Hello, I am Prof. Mikuelify Oak and I am usually referred as "person who is too kind to play this game" in dark souls community because of my habit of friendly invasions. But that isn't the topic today. Today, we discuss about not too used weapon class, the greatbows. Why greatbows? Because they are totally underrated, darn useful and look epic. I will try to cover the good and bad sides of each bow and then I will even explain the arrows. Without delay, let us proceed with the guide!

Overall pros and cons

Pros:
+Greatbows look (most of time) cool.
Do I really need to explain this? You are carrying huge bow and firing arrows those could be small lances. If that isn't cool, I don't know what is.
+High damage/shot
This is especially true if you manage to land headshot. I have been able to shoot person to the head in pvp and cause them to lose more than third of their health. Body shots also deal nice amounts of damage,
+Great crowdcontrol
Wait, bows have crowdcontrol? Yeah, these do. When firing at anything player sized, hitting them to upperchest has very good chance of knocking them down to their back. Giving you time to either ready another arrow or do something else. shot to head is always flinch or knockdown. Shot anywhere always causes them to flinch or studder bit.
+c-c-chain kd
yup. Exactly what it sounds. If you play it smart, you can keep firing your arrows so that you will be able to knock your foe down as soon they get up. Reguires nice timing and so tho. And enough stamina regen.
+Can break objects other bows can't.
Statues in shulva and black gulch? Breakable. Doors? One or two arrows needed. Chests also get broken in two shots so don't use greatbow to check for mimics.

Cons:
-Heavy
They aren't THAT heavy but if you compare them to normal bow, weight issue gets pretty clear. Lightest greatbow is still 8.0 units of weight, heaviest being whopping 15 units.
-Slow rate of fire
If you miss your shot, you are pretty much screwed. Or then you have to swap your weapon. While the firerate isn't abyssmal, it is still pretty slow and you can't chain kd them if you miss. Shame.
-Use of stamina
These things drain your stamina brah. I have about 40 endurance and I can't shoot two full stamina shots in row even when I have third dragon ring on.
-Cant move when arrow is drawn
Yup, once you decide to shoot, you will be stuck at that spot until you cancel (take weapon to one hand) or shoot. No moving with these fellas.
-Costly arrows.
Cheapest arrow is 120 souls. Not that much at the but still...
-Arrows are big
Why is this bad? They can get stuck to walls and such bit easier than basic arrows.
-limited arrow types.
You only have 4 different types of arrows. Shame.

Greatbows and their info.

Now to the actual stuff, the greatbows. I will include small summary at the end of this section if you do not want to read it all.

Alonne Greatbow
Okay, this is probably the first greatbow you find... At least it is the one that will introduce you to greatbows. Reason is this is to-go weapon of most alonne captains in Iron keep and they just love shooting you with them. Method of obtaining is pretty simple also. Just go and kill those captains, eventually you should get this as drop. There is also one upgraded to +5 in Crown of old iron king dlc but seeing that this is upgraded with normal titanite, I don't think it is too big of a deal.

Alonne Greatbow is the basic one, only requiring 20 str and 25 dexterity to use it, tho because you two hand it, 10 str might be enough. At max upgrade, it has C/C scaling and 260 base damage. And as I said before, this bow upgrades with basic titanite. It is also the lightest greatbow at 8 units of weight. So if you want to try using greatbows but aren't sure which one is for you, try this. It has nothing bad in it, outside the basic greatbow flaws.

Dragonslayer Greatbow
Last of the original greatbows in the game and pretty much my favourite. It is bit heavier than Alonnes (Alonne is 8 units, Dragonslayer is 10) and it is slower. It is also crafted from old king soul and upgraded with petrified dragonbones... Which is kinda sad and hinderance to most peeps. Sorry, there is no way around this.

This doesn't mean it is bad bow though. While it requires 30 str and 20 dex to wield, at +5 its base damage is 30 AR more than Alonne at 290 and it has higher scaling in str with B/C. Meaning no matter the situation, if you have max upgraded Dragonslayer and Alonne Greatbow, Dragonslayer will deal more damage. But as I said, it is slower. Reason? Unlike other Greatbows, you have to "place" it on the ground before firing (if you look closely, you might see small spike at bottom of this bow. That is the thing you put into the ground). You have to also replace it between each shot. This "placing on the ground" causes each shot take about half a second longer than Alonne and while in shooting only once this isn't big thing, if you want to shoot multiple arrows in row the time adds up.

Possessed Armor Greatbow
Sorry, couldn't find better pic. But anyways, the third and the first DLC greatbow is Possessed Armor Greatbow, obtain by killing Possessed Armors in second dlc. It is rare drop tho so prepare to spend some time there.

As for its stats, Possessed Armor Greatbow is one meant for you dexterity mains. Upgrading with basic titanite, this fella decided to require 25 STR and whopping 40 dexterity to be usable. Wait, what? Dex dedicated bow needs more str than the balanced one? Yup, thats right. This fella wants you to invest for it. And it also weights 10 units. You might ask, what do I get in return? Well, you get D/A/C scaling at +10. Wait, there is third scaling? Darn right there is. Possessed Armor Greatbow at +10 deals on top of its base 200 physical damage a nice 60 dark damage. The last scaling there is your dark scaling. I haven't really toyed with this fella to see if you should infuse it or not... But hey, its not bad. Might win you some matches.

Twin-Headed Greatbow
Fourth and also second (and last) of DLC greatbows is this behemoth called Twin-Headed Greatbow. It is obtained from "puzzle" at ivory kind dlc and is upgraded with twinkling titanite. Why I called it behemoth? Read on and I will explain.

First of all, this thing weights whopping 15 units. 15. Units. Not something you want to be carrying "just in case I need greatbow" on your back. Second, it requires 45 STR and 15 DEX. 45 STR mates. If this doesn't tell it is meant for strength build, its scaling will. Being Twinkling Titanite item, it goes to +5 and at +5 it has 260 base and S scaling in strength. Its like kings UGS of greatbows. It also happens to have highest range of all greatbows (60 while other Greatbows have 50). Downsides besides its weight, requirements and looking fugly? It is also slowest of all greatbows. Even slower than Dragonslayer. Stamina cost is also higher. I would suggest that if you use this bow, you aim at the head, shoot once and then swap to something else. It is made to deal one strong attack. So make it count.

TL:DR section:
Alonne Greatbow: Basic one, good for everyone. Nothing bad. Basic Titanite.
Dragonslayer Greatbow: Stronger, bit slower version of Alonne. Petrified Dragonbone and Old king soul.
Possessed Armor Greatbow: Dexterity specialized, has some dark damage in it. Basic titanite. DLC BOW
Twin-Headed Greatbow: Str specialized. Slowest and highest stamina cost. Made to shoot once or twice. Twinkling titanite. DLC BOW

Arrows

You have chosen your bow, now to choose your arrows. First of all, Greatbows can only fire Greatarrows. And there is only 4 different greatarrows in the game:

Iron Greatarrow
This is your basic one, mcduff sells them at 120 souls each. They have 200 damage. Yes, 200 damage. Kinda explains the cost eh?

Destructive Greatarrow
This one has changed... At first it was only 100 damage but now its 250. Apparently, it deals extra eguipment damage in pvp but I have never bothered to check that. Also, at least before its dmg buff, destructive greatarrows ignored portion of enemys defenses. After their damage increase, I am not sure. Probably not tho. Anyways, they are sold by Head of Vengarl and Royal sorcerer Navlaan at 180 souls each.

Fire Greatarrow
The Boom arrow. Why boom? Because it causes pretty explosion when it hits something. It comes with 100 physical and 200 fire damage each arrow, head to navlaan to buy them for 180 souls each. I haven't used them too much but the explosion is sure to be handy :3 Causes some extra knockback, you know?

Lightning Greatarrow
Who ever made these decided to add lightning spear to greatarrow. And it works just like that. It causes extra damage if opponent is in water or wet and sends sparks :3 It also has 100 physical and whopping 250 lightning damage each arrow. Who needs magic, you got this beauty. Sadly, only merchant selling them would be Navlaan again, for the same old 180 souls.

Hints for using greatbows

First of all, do not be afraid to use jumping attack in some cases with greatbow. People never expect it and it will leave small dent to their skulls. Just don't spam it. It can help you deal that last hit but otherwise its useless.

In pvp, if your opponent knows what you are doing and you have arrow ready, you might want to wait till they roll. If you shoot bit after they start their roll, they will get hit. Tested and approved by me and few others.

In Pve, decide if you want to shoot or swap when enemy is closing. You can beat most of enemies by just standing still or backpedaling bit after each shot and shooting your arrows pretty fast. While the damage isnt as high as it could be (not enough stamina= weaker shot), the knockdown effect usually means you got free hit in. You can also shoot some enemies down to ground middle of their jump attack or so. Just remember, if its close to your size, you can knock them down.

Experiment with arrows and bows to find your favorite combination.

Closure

Well, I have listed all the bows and all the arrows... Not much I can say anymore. Expect this is probably late seeing that Scholar of the first sin is out but anyways, I hope you enjoy. If you have suggestion or so, feel free to message me or comment here.

[IronVines]

cool guide, found everything i needed

[snkzy]

/rant

[snkzy]

Its not that they don't know how to dodge them idiot, its this thing called lag
When vsing a greatbow, all they have to do is let go of the arrow when the enemy comes OUT of there roll, and garenteed hit. The lag is so bad it is very hard to just "roll" out of a greatarrow.
They run the hell away from you'r stupid cheese tactics taking advantage of shitty hitboxes, just like any dark buffed katana fag

[tundador]

greatbow+illusory rings=power

[Karamell]

Good guide. I've used the Alonne Greatbow and it's my favorite because speed means everything. Sure, more damage is nice but when you're in PvP- even heavy hitting people dodge fast. So you'll need a fast hitter / reloading weapon to be on par.

Although to be honest, i've seen crossbows do better for PvP. However, invasions with the Greatbow is the funnest thing ever. Unlike magic or pyromancy, people don't know how to avoid an arrow especially when they're close up. It's priceless to see em run from a RANGED weapon. Regardless, well said.