Spear better than Longbow?

I did a little math, any input/constructive criticism is welcome:

Long Bow:15-28 (15+28)/2=21.5 average dmge
Average dmge/attack speed=dmge/second
21.5/2.4=8.96 DPS

Spear:14-27 (14+27)/2=20.5 average dmge
20.5/1.5=13.67 DPS

Note: All starting figures were taken from guildwiki and are accurate.

Obviously, 13.67 dps>8.96dps so the spear is inherently better than the longbow (not taking into account skills and extra dmge added from them).

Longbow has long firing range, doh.

True, the long bow is great for distances and can't be beaten but I reckon the OP has a point if you compare the Spear to a Shortbow.

Spear isn't that much better even if you compare it to a shortbow.

Heck...you can't even compare them just because of their damage. Bow can use broad head arrow to do unconditional daze, while spear need to charge up adrenaline first. If you have a short bow, that only makes broad head arrow easier to hit.

Each weapon have their advantages, just looking at their dps is a very bad way of comparing them.

The Spear has a slightly higher DPS maybe, and it is one-handed, but where it lacks is effective skills that capitalize on it.

Which makes the spear a great choice for people that just need the weapon to chuck it for adrenaline and such (Like the Paragons used nowadays) or as +5e 20% longer weapon instead of a Sword or Axe wich are melee range.

What he said ^

A bow might not have as much DPS straight up, but with the right skills a bow can pwn.

You can easily dodge spears.

Indeed. Spears may do a little more DPS than bows before skills are taken into account, but spears don't have bow preparations (well, apart from Apply Poison), Barrage, or any of the other damage multipliers that bows get.

...yes, the two weapons are nearly identical disregarding that one needs adren to daze and the othe ruses only energy! ...I love pve.

What are you talking about, Spear mastery has a bleeding, burning, unblockable, stance breaking, penetration and other nice attacks that aren't that much adrenal. You have to also take into context that you can use other paragon skills to Deep Wound, gain energy back, set on fire etc. Dazed don't work on warriors as well as burning works on both. Yes bow does have an attack now that causes burning, but it's elite and costs 10 energy where as, the Paragon's attack costs 7 adrenal which is almost the same considering the recharge time of the bow attack.

So if anything they are really very close in capability.

Thanks for the viewpoints guys. AlthoughI've been playing this game since the release of prophecys, obviously I can still learn much more.

@LiamR- Most bows have longer range and arch than spears so imo that would make it easier to dodge a bow than a spear.

I agree with that. Still though, I think they are both beneficial in their own ways.

Paragon is a pure buffing class for the most part so really dps from a spear doesnt matter as the only thing its used for is powering adreanal shouts and chants.

Spears are slightly better damagewise, because they're pretty slow and easy to dodge.

Range has nothing to do with it, unless the arc time is very long. RtWind + Flatbow is just as good as a recurve bow, I think. I may be wrong, I don't have the math/measurements in front of me.

While I am not questioning the calculations of the OP, I must disagree on the reasoning. The OP used the longbow fire rate. The range for a spear is the same as a recurve bow. Thus, the calculation for bows should use 2.0, not 2.4. The recurve bow will win simply from having higher numbers (15-28) compared to (14-27).

No, I don't know why, but it is so easy to doge a spear. I think arrows go far faster.

Now thats just stupid.

I agree. You must meet two conditions with Broadhead Arrow: having 15...8 (dependent on expertise) energy and it must hit (which is less likey with the increased arc).

I think the moral of the story is that they're both equal in separate ways.

No guys, the moral of that post is that broadhead basically sux and the paragon one sucks too. That was the point of MY post as well, but then someone brought up burning and I just thought... again... got to love pve.

The two are not comparable as a good ranger will have a shortbow, longbow, hornbow, and composite bow all with different ranges, accuracy and refire rates. A paragon will have a shield and a lot more armor. I could go on about how teh classes generally function totally differently but apparently people still see a lot of worth in Broad arrowhead so i won't waste my tired little fingers. =)

Rangers are mostly offensive, Snares, Conditions, Slow high hitting damage. Rarely do the bows matter when it's upfront fighting, Recurve will interrupt faster, but any other bow besides Hornbow with RTW should interrupt just as fast as a Recurve without RTW. You also have spirits that, that's the part helper. Damage changing, Less energy, Faster recharge at expense of more energy..more health and armor, more health per enchant. Healing Spring as well.

Then you have the Paragon, who can do a multitude of things. Go totally offensive with Conditions and Slow semi high hitting damage. Spears usually don't matter to greatly, 10% adrenal will help more than 20/20 and things like that. But you have a vast number of party helpers, ranging from all sorts of things like...Damage reduction, increased armor, healing, faster speed..etc. They're On Fire with Anthem of Flame or a Searing Flames Ele is great help. Stand Your Ground! with it's 24 armor if you stay in the same place. Those other Chants that heal when you use a Skill or Spell, or the next time you take damage. Increased chance for critical hits, then doing a Deep Wound on critical hit. Good for Assassins and pretty much any attacker. There is Condition removal at a cost that isn't that much if you have RC monk etc.

My Paragon just hit the mainland although I got him to Droks, he's level 17 with 80 armor. But those 1-2 Ice Imps and Pinesoul outside of it, well with my Level 20 Ranger I soloed the group. When I was getting my run, I soloed them also, at level 17, so Paragon is almost a Ranger with Warrior type abilites/Monk abilities. I try to carry one in my party when I can. Because they are very beneficial with the right skills, most of which I have yet to get.

This is ridicolous its like comparing a Assasin and a Warrior , just because they are both fighting up front, get my idea? Its not the same right, same thing here, its not fair to compare these 2 weapons by just looking at one of the many things they can do.