Talk:Bow

Who can tell us?

The bow types and official English names of Black Hawk's Lust, the Scorpion Bow and Scorpion's Lust are currently unknown. They are promotional items exclusive to Taiwan, Korea and Japan respectively. Surely, as the Official wiki, this information should be easily accessed and reported by us? I need to go away and read hundreds of talk pages I guess, to figure out who to ask. Fox (talk|contribs) 05:05, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

What do you want ideally in an arc size? Also regarding bows what do you make of this? File:Oh no.jpg

I think there are some skin types missing from the Prophecies section, most notably the Mursaat. Anyone others that seem to be missing? (Aeos 23:31, 7 September 2007 (UTC))

Is there any news about the Asian Promotional Types (Anonymous 18:54, 24 January 2010 (GMT +1))

How do you guys want me to upload the renders for bows?

Hi guys! I'm uploading BMP items, and I'm not sure how you want me to upload the bows. Would you like me to upload them vertically (which makes the infobox extend down the page more) or horizontally? -- Emily Diehl (talk) 01:43, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

If the size of the infobox gets too large, the image can always be resized, something like [[Image:image.jpg|50px]] with whatever pixel size works best. Personally, either horizontal or vertical is fine with me, but maybe others have an opinion on it. Tedium 02:16, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

Vertical looks secsier --Cursed Angel 02:17, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

I dont have a preference, but it will work best as long as the images are at least 150px wide. - BeX 03:00, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

Would it be possible to make them diagonal? If not, I think vertical works fine. - Tanetris 06:08, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

Specifications

Key:

L	Available as loot
C	Available from Collectors
W	Available from Weaponsmiths
P	Available from the PvP Equipment panel

Name	Attribute(lvl)	Damage type	Low	High	Salvage	Campaign	Avail
Amber Longbow	Marksmanship (10)	Piercing	12	22		Factions	L

Are there any bows that do not requirer that you have some rank in Marksmanship?

I want to keep the bow as my primary weapon but I don't not want to spend my attribute points on marksmanship (I don't use any marksmanship skills), is there any bows that require higher ranks in expertise instead?

yes, any bow found in low level areas may have no attribute. Be warned tho': those bows all have very low damage. The best you can do is probably a candy cane bow. Backsword 05:42, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Two-handed Hornbow "Longbow"???

Like that. I also got a Two-handed Flatbow "Poisonous Longbow". All these bows are loot. << horsedrowner | talk | guild >> 07:52, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Best bow?

What is the best bow type (for example, hornbow) in Prophecies, if you are a ranger as primary profession? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:83.183.127.178 (talk).

There is no one bow that can be pointed to as the 'best' bow. It all depends on your build and the foes you are facing.-- Wynthyst 08:20, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

By that I mean using three factors: range, reload time, and damage.--The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:83.183.127.178 (talk).

For me, Recurve bows have usually provided the best tradeoff between these factors: they're the usual choice for interupters because of the low flight time for example. I'm happy enough with recurve performance to equip all my ranger heroes with them. BramStoker (talk, contribs) 12:25, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Really, there can't be a single answer to this. Recurves are the obvious choice for interrupters, but if you're using anything that improves flight time, a shortbow might work to give you less time between shots to work with, too. If you tend to be in the middle of combat anyhow, short bows are a good choice, but if you've got anything in your build that increases your attack rate, again, it gets more flexible (hornbows might be a good choice). If you like to stay at range for whatever reason, the longbow or flatbow are obvious choices. I imagine you'll find some disagreement about which one is really a better choice. I expect most rangers carry more than one bow anyhow. I myself favor a combo of a fiery long bow and a set of short bows (fiery and barbed) because I travel with an Elementalist who has Mark of Rodgort and like Screaming Shot. I have a recurve on my Ranger hero because I load her up with interrupts. Honestly, the best thing you can do is experiment. --Xylia 03:41, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Personally I like the Flatbow the best, in Alliance Battles it's great because you can take out the NPCs and be far enough away where they can't target you.--Ja 04:44, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

shortbow is the best with a flatbow to switch to when you want more range, shortbow is fine for interrupting if you just move closer to your target JimmyB 11:52, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

This really depends on what you doing. Flatbows are great for barragers because of the faster attack time with maximum range. Shortbows also serve the same purpose with better accuracy and lower range. Hornbows are fabulous for using with point blank/ zojuns shot because its attack speed comes very close to matching those skills recharge. Hornbows are also fabulous with cast time skills because the cast time removes their primary drawback, namely an abhorrent attack speed. Longbows are great for range in pvp because their accuracy is significantly better than a flatbow, while having the same range. Flatbows are good with read the winds or favorable winds, but without those skills the enemy can dodge them by moving once they see you fire. Lastly, recurve bows are the absolute best bows for interrupting, and arguably spiking because they give the smallest flight time making the spike hard to react to. Anyways, to simplify this, For barrage I bring flatbows and shortbows. Read The Winds builds and some spikes can use flatbows effectively. For Penetrating/sundering/power shot/needling shot, and pointblank shot/zojuns shot hornbows are awesome. Longbows are good for max range interupts and you should probably always have one in your inventory in pvp. Lastly recuve bows are handsdown the best bows for interrupting since short bow attack speed does not affect interrupts. Kumlekar 20:42, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

Elevation

Research done by User:Binary, compiled and analyzed by your's truly. From the highest point of the Isle of the Nameless, Binary was able to achieve 2x the max damage of his bow. However, that was the highest damage, and he couldn't "crit". At that point all his damage was doubled. I surmise that height adds a damage rating to attacks. However, that damage rating can exceed the damage rating from a crit. At that point, it uses the highest damage rating (height) instead of the crit. More research needs to be done, but based on the previous observation, it seems that crits from lower elevation have the same damage as at even elevation. Perhaps it's overriding the -damage rating from lower elevation. --JonTheMon 20:38, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Crits from lower elevation have the same damage as on level. It appears that elevation can only do up to 200% of base damage --JonTheMon 04:28, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Flight Time

As I understood it, the flight time is how fast it takes the arrow from the time it leaves your bow to hit your target. My question is does this affects how fast your arrow travel using a bow attack? Or does bow attacks have same speed regardless of bow type? – Barinthus 13:11, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Within the same bow attack (i.e. not comparing one that increases or decreases your inherent flight speed), the bow should impact flight time. I've never gotten out a stopwatch or anything, but I know that the range is still impacted, so the flight speed should follow the same logic. Freedom Bound 13:19, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

This is jokingly easy to test. Take a flatbow and a recurve and fire them at a target. The flatbow launched attack skill will take FOREVER to arrive. This is why rangers use recurve bows to interrupt in PvP. Misery 13:21, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

And also why Read the Wind and Favorable Winds are used. Flatbow+RtW is win when using Melandru's Shot in AB and CM. Mediggo 13:26, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks guys and @Misery, yeah it did occur to me to test it out on that island right after I posted. Haven't gotten around to it yet due to RL issues. – Barinthus 07:59, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Inherent bow abilities

Hey, why isn't there a chart displaying inherent weapon (bow) abilities? Almost every bow you can get, loot or crafted, has an inherent ability that's there without upgrading it. I've done limited research with longbows that can be crafted, and this is what I got:

Serenity Temple- +1 dmg vs. Charr, Piken Square- +1 dmg vs. Charr, Lion's Arch- +3 dmg vs. Undead, Henge of Denravi- +15% dmg while health is above 50%, Amnoon Oasis- energy + 5, Droknar's Forge- +15% dmg while in a stance

There are others too, like condition duration reduced 33% and stuff. This would be good info to have. It's not just bows, it's almost every weapon you can pick up or craft. There should be lists of all the inherent abilities of weapons. It's especially prevalent with staff-like weapons. 208.92.184.201 11:28, 1 November 2009 (UTC)Zeke64

So, you mean inscription-like inherent modifiers, or inherent modifiers? --JonTheMon 17:57, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I do mean inherent modifiers.208.92.184.201 19:16, 1 November 2009 (UTC)Zeke64

arrows?

i was in a mission and after shooting a while i found myself HOLDING the arrow can someone explain to me why that happend or is it just a bug or somethinglike that? — The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.81.24.86 (talk) at 15:28, 29 March 2010 (UTC).

Bow's underpowered? Comments?

14-28 damage every 2.7 seconds with a flight time of between .45 to .88 seconds depending on your bow. The flight time for a longbow is .66 seconds while for a spear it's .60 seconds. I didn't know a person could throw a spear at 120 miles an hour? Many major league pitchers have trouble throwing a baseball at 100 miles an hour. Talk about a spear with almost 15x the mass... --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 99.140.217.22 (talk).

I bet pitchers should equip Glyph of Swiftness too. Maybe even throw some Faintheartedness on the batter. I mean come on, man, I think we can easily establish that GW is not a realistic game.184.56.243.170 07:46, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Yeah seems like bows are abit underpowered but nothing that some1 can't cope with. Sure it doesn't make sense why a spear can be throwen a 120 miles per hour. But, just saying, sense i don't use spears i would't care

A bit underpowered in PVE...horrifyingly so in PVP. I've never understood their irrational paranoia regarding ranger spikes, especially since spear chuckers can do precisely the same thing, only with stance removal and deep wound and better defense.--173.55.48.60 04:28, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

This Page "Flatbow"

states that the attackinterval for Flatbow is 2.0 seconds. anybody REALLY know? or should I buy a stop watch? ~~>03.07.12 H2L --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.17.36.194 (talk).

→ moved from Talk:Flatbow#Attack interval

THIS (http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Bow) page states 2.025 for attack interval. Anyone REALLY know? or should i buy a stopwatch? ~~>03.07.12 H2L --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.17.36.194 (talk).

For some reason, the attack intervals listed at Bow is inconsistent with what is listed at the respective bow pages and Weapon page, except for Hornbow. The Bow page lists three decimal places whereas the respective bow pages list one decimal place. Flatbow and Shortbow both list 2.0 seconds while the Bow page lists 2.025 seconds for those bows, which makes sense if it was rounded to one decimal place. However, Longbow and Recurve Bow list 2.4 seconds while the the Bow page lists 2.475 seconds for those bows, which is reduced to one decimal place without rounding. --Silver Edge 19:24, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

I believe the numbers have different sources (GuildWiki uses the same 1-decimal table). I'm not too bothered by the rounding up/rounding down discrepancies, since most people tend to round inconsistently. On the whole, I think we can stick with the 1-decimial figures until/unless someone unveils their research that shows 3-decimal accuracy and accounts for lag. For 99% of players, the 1-decimial tables are sufficiently accurate and easier to read. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 01:15, 4 July 2012 (UTC)