Short vs long

[Tsar]

I started putting this in the balance thread but moved it here as it's not really about balance issues (which is what that section describes itself as), I just wanted to get peoples views on the short and long bow skill trees.

To me it seems the balance is always in favour of long bows. Certainly my experience is most archers are opting for medium speed long bows these days. I can't recall the last time I saw dual shot used.

Shouldn't the sacrifice of the extra range in long bows 35m +20% be balanced by the short bow user getting additional damage or defence? I'd prefer the latter, given short bows require fighting at closer quarters.

Compared like for like the long bow tree has range bonus, damage bonus (passive), dexerity bonus, and break apart (superior to the short bow equivalent which doesn't have the -const effect) and now shield piercing (which I've seen doing hits over 1,000). I know it will be nerfed but I bet it will still be doing in the 600-800 range when twinned with dex buff and cold blood.

Grounding arrow is low level, so any good archer can skill it up (as they will probably have points in the short bow tree for the dex passive) to level 1 or 2 (even after 1.10) and be able to switch bows in flight. It isn't the duration that makes the difference with GA but the immediacy of a spell which gives the user a seconds' advantage, maybe to gain the 5m needed for ambush.

Rapid shot? Yes, but combined with most short bows the damage output is still low to get a good buzz. Do short bows, pound for pound, do the same dps?

I'm a fan of using short bows (on hunter and marks) but is there enough in the skill tree to cause archers a dilemma when deciding which way to go?

[-Zed-]

Well both sb and lb are equally important. The tree comes in play depending on some factors -

1- you play with pet or w/o pet
2- got any dmg ring or amu
3- your playstyle


Can't say anything further as i havent tried new skill trees yet but what's ur playstyle ?

[_Enio_]

I agree. I was thinking about that too. I dislike that you get higher damage from lb then from shorts, it should be the other way around.

In the context of the latest changes i would probably switch the lb Dex buff with the sb dex passive, bring specialist lower in the lb tree and reduce the cooldown of Rep shot and Projectile rain. One could also consider bringing parabolic shot higher in the tree.

The lb and sb lvl 19 spells should both be reworked though. Projectile rain kind of same as Fire rain just much worse (not full dmg to all targets, higher cooldown) and repshot kind of similar to needle blast, just less damage but much higher Cooldown.

[MedicAlert]

If i might add,
Both short and long bow trees have their own pros and cons.
SB: Rapidshot, lightness, groundarrow, adaptability, tear apart.
LB: parabolic shot, manuver, shield piercing, specialist, break apart.
Now on contrast to these spells,
Most archers prefer LB category more because it's more safe to attack/strafe by keeping your range..
With the RNG soo f*ked up at the moment that any resists is a death sentence using SB because you need to get very close to the enemy.
Furthermore, Archers are supposed to be a "ranged" class not a semi mage ranged class.
Best,

[Robasiewicz]

i have lb tree skilled to get specialist(4) and then skill sb tree to get lightness (1) and rapid shot to maximize dps. please nothe that you'll get better dmg with specialist than with lightness (even with WM passive, as it does not affect dex from items/skills).

i often run with both avasive tactics and rapid shot, which resoults in ~90 hit chance, but this does not matter since evades dont even work and this also makes duelist useless

[Tsar]

I think that skill trees apart I don't see a 25 range short bow giving more damage than a 35 range long bow, so why bother with a short bow?

Comparing medium speed bows, if nothing else, long bows have a 5-10m advantage over short bows, which means a short bow carrier sacrifices a least 2-3 hits (2-3 x 250-450) on an enemy due to loss of range, no?

Do the dmg stats of a short bow or the skill tree compensate for the difference? I don't think so.

[71175]

Originally Posted by Tsar

I think that skill trees apart I don't see a 25 range short bow giving more damage than a 35 range long bow, so why bother with a short bow?

Comparing medium speed bows, if nothing else, long bows have a 5-10m advantage over short bows, which means a short bow carrier sacrifices a least 2-3 hits (2-3 x 250-450) on an enemy due to loss of range, no?

Do the dmg stats of a short bow or the skill tree compensate for the difference? I don't think so.

2-3 hits with parabolic shot, less than 1 without, in case of hunter ofc. on marx, numbers extend to ~3 and exactly 1 respectively. Also, the irony of situation is that short bows do less damage even on same speeds and less range than respective lb.

[Robasiewicz]

Originally Posted by Tsar

I think that skill trees apart I don't see a 25 range short bow giving more damage than a 35 range long bow, so why bother with a short bow?

Comparing medium speed bows, if nothing else, long bows have a 5-10m advantage over short bows, which means a short bow carrier sacrifices a least 2-3 hits (2-3 x 250-450) on an enemy due to loss of range, no?

Do the dmg stats of a short bow or the skill tree compensate for the difference? I don't think so.

truth be told i'll be dropping sb tree once i get a decent lb.
the only reason to use sb is to get an additional hit on cold blood thanks to rapid shot. that's about it