Help understanding bow types,

Hello,

I am a recent newcommer to Guild wars, I just left World of Warcraft after playing that game since launch and growing tired of it.

I know this is probably asking alot, but would anybody be able to explain to me the actual difference in clear detail between the various bow types a ranger uses.

I.E. Flatbow, longbow, shortbow, recurve, hornbow.

I've read the charts at the wiki here http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Bow and I still dont exactly understand what everything in it means. I understand things like attack speed and armor penetration but a few questions I have are:

Why is Arc size important? What exactly does that number for "range" represent, and if you are able can you give examples for what situtations each bow type would be ideal?

Thank you very much in advance for reading this and helping a total newbie!

Welcome to Guildwars.

You should be able to find your answers in a few of the posts located within the Ranger forums:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/f...play.php?f=209

The posts that might be useful are:

Essential Ranger Bows-page 1(http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10254022)

Best Bow Type for PVE?-page 3 (http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10279070)

Hope you find the answers you need.

Ok, first thing I have to say is go to the Isle of the Nameless and check out the Master of Bows (or whatever he/she is called), that should explain the range of the bows and you can observe the arc.

Now, the arc:
The higher the arc the higher the chance that you will miss a moving target. A higher arc will increase arrow flight time making it easier to dodge. Also, the increased arc of a flatbow for example will make interupting spells and skill excessively difficult. A recurve bow who has the most "direct" arc is best for interupting and hitting moving targets as the arrow has minimum flight time.

Range is simply how far you can hit with the shot. Longbows and Flatbow both have the highest range, longbows don't fire as fast but have less of an arc. The Shortbow has the shortest range, it is equivalent (more or less) to your arrow bubble (on the radar). Simply put, range affects how far you can shoot. Isle of the nameless will be the best way for you to get a sense of range. Elevations affect range btw, if you are firing uphill the range is decreased and downhill range is increased.

Situations:
PvP as an interupting ranger or a cripshot ranger (attack skill causing the crippled condition), Recurve is best as the arc is the lowest meaning more direct and rapid flight.
PvP as a spiking ranger (a lot of damage), the hornbow will provide you with maximum damage, but keep in mind that other bows also work for spikes.
For PvE I recommend both longbow and recurve bow. You can also carry a flatbow if you are using the Barrage skill.

Honestly, shortbows aren't my favorite and you probably don't need one.

Edit: Arrows don't heat seek like in WoW :P

Arc type- Higher the arc better the chance to dodge is. Flatbow has the highest arc.

Range-How far away you can hit your target. Flatbow and Longbow have longest range, however flatbow has faster reload rate.

Flatbow and recurve bow are a couple of the best. Recurve bow(medium range, low arc, is best for interrupting, thats what alot of groups will be looking for in a ranger.

I find a flatbow to be great for barraging and aggro(luring monsters away from their groups). Shortbow only in extreme cases(ranger should not be that close to combat, as alot of groups will look to the ranger to call targets.)

I hope I don't get flamed too much. This is just in my limited experience <1yr ingame.

Hi.

The higher the arc size is the easier it is for foes to dodge you arrows. Flatbow has a very high arc and when you try shooting moving enemies with it you'll usually miss a fair amount of attacks.

In a GvG situation where a ranger engages an enemy npc archer he'll most likely use a flatbow since it allows the ranger to do the biggest amount of damage whilst staying outside npc aggro.

You might want to read more about ranger and bow-usage here.

The range of bows is measured in "aggro bubbles". That's the "translucent white circle" on your compass.

A short note about shortbows.....

You'll find many people (such as Hauk) suggesting that shortbows should only be used in extreme cases. This may be true when you start out, but as you gain experience as a ranger, you may find shortbows to be the way to go.
Shortbows have a shorter range than other bows, but it's generally the same sort of range as any spell caster. Also, unless the group is using a tank, you'll find that many targets end up within shortbow range anyway. You, therefore, are not in any more "danger" than practically anyone else, and you can help take some of the brunt of the damage off of other "squishies" - especially if you are using henchie monks.
Shortbows are also good at interrupting (once you are within range). I use my shortbow(s) almost exclusively, except while pulling.

Wow thank you all for your very kind and helpful responses!! I appreciate this a great deal. I'm going to soak in the things you said, and head off to this isle of the nameless place!

ty ty ty ty!

Here's what I know about bows, the long bow is good for pulling and if you don't want to get close. The recurve is good for interrupting.

I like pulling with a Flatbow myself - twang one off, and you're halfway back before it hits

Don't forget that arc size is lessened by the preparation [[read the wind] and the nature ritual [[fw] and increased (i think?) by one-off shots like [[broad head arrow].

when in doubt recurve out

The bigger the arc, the longer the flight time, the more likely your target will move before the arrow gets there.

It's measured in terms of "aggro bubbles" - that semi-transparent circle on your radar compass.

Longbow is a good general-purpose bow. Its shortcoming is a slow fire speed, which you can compensate for with a IAS skill. Also useful for pulling.

Flatbow is either garbage or great. If you use an arrows-move-faster skill (Read the Wind or Favorable Winds), it has no shortcomings whatsoever. Without such a skill, it misses too much because of the bad arc. Also useful for pulling.

Recurve Bow is for interrupting. The quick flight time makes sure your arrow gets there before the skill your trying to interrupt finishes casting. Since there's no way to compensate for the short range, you may want to think twice before adopting it as your general-purpose bow.

Shortbow is mostly worthless. At short range, the flatbow's arc matters very little, and they have the same firing rate, so you can just use a flatbow at close range to do everything a shortbow can do, plus have the option of firing from a longer range. The only reason to choose a shortbow over just using a flatbow at close range would be if you wanted the game to "remind" you to close in by forcing you to autorun up to shortbow range. (Not that I can think of too many reasons why you'd want to close in to that range.)

Hornbow is junk. Its stats are terrible in every respect and the 10% AP does not come anywhere close to compensating for it.

I think the Hornbow is for the element of surprise. You fire it straight at the enemy, and they think you've missed - until they get 10% of armor piercing straight through the top of their helmet

hahahah thats probably the best advice ever

One thing missing here: refire rate (damage-per-second):

Shortbows and Flatbows have the fastest refire rate, meaning highest damage output over time.

Also, Longbows and Flatbows have the longest range. So you can see, Flatbows have the highest refire rate AND the longest range. But they have the highest arc (flight time), so you use Read the Wind or Favourable Winds to compensate.

Flatbow + Read the Wind are my first choice for "general purpose" PvE play. I occasionally switch to another type, but it's not that often. If I played PvP though, I doubt I'd ever use a Flatbow. It would be Recurve bow, and Shortbow on switch for higher damage when enemies close in.