Bows.

[Dante.1508]

Which would people believe is better these days?

Longbows

• 1. Dragonhunter.
• 2. Warrior.
• 3. Berserker.
• 4. Ranger.

Shortbows

• 1. Renegade.
• 2. Ranger.
• 3. Thief.
• 4. Deadeye.

And why, also do people believe these weapons could do with fixes or overhauls at this point?

[Strider Pj.2193]

All thief users of short bow should come with the dreamer animations and the sound effects.  

[Ashen.2907]

Is there a reason for leaving out soulbeast and druid?

[BobbyT.7192]

16 minutes ago, Ashen.2907 said:

Is there a reason for leaving out soulbeast and druid?

Me thinks its because warrior/thief vs berserker/ deadeye change certain aspects of thier range weapons. burst/sneak attack in this case.

Where as there is no difference between a long bow for core Ranger compared to either soulbeast or druid.

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by BobbyT.7192

[DeanBB.4268]

26 minutes ago, Strider Pj.2193 said:

All thief users of short bow should come with the dreamer animations and the sound effects.  

I do. You're welcome.

@OP: Better how? Kinda vague. Highest DPS, best looking animations, most fun, best | worst skills...?

Edited April 26, 2022 by DeanBB.4268

[Bollocks.4078]

4 minutes ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

I do. You're welcome.

@OP: Better how? Kinda vague. Highest DPS, best looking animations, most fun, best | worst skills...?

 

OP can clarify if I'm wrong, but I think it's pretty obvious they mean most effective so DPS.  Most fun and best/worst skills would tie into that.  Having worst skills wouldn't be fun.  Not being effective wouldn't be fun.

[DeanBB.4268]

Fun is subjective. I enjoy a thief shortbow build even though it is not the highest DPS. Plus of course... Unicorns. 🤪

[Tails.9372]

1 hour ago, Dante.1508 said:

do people believe these weapons could do with fixes or overhauls at this point?

For thief: SB skill 2 and 4 are a bit to similar for my taste (especially since thief uses the ini instead of a CD based system) so I wouldn't mind exchanging either of them (preferably 2) for some "Rapid Fire"-esque skill to cut down the redundancies within the weapon set.

[Strider Pj.2193]

15 minutes ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

Fun is subjective. I enjoy a thief shortbow build even though it is not the highest DPS. Plus of course... Unicorns. 🤪

Right back at ya!  

[Andy.5981]

To the OP, what are your thoughts on your own questions?

Edited April 26, 2022 by Andy.5981

[DeanBB.4268]

1 hour ago, Tails.9372 said:

For thief: SB skill 2 and 4 are a bit to similar for my taste (especially since thief uses the ini instead of a CD based system) so I wouldn't mind exchanging either of them (preferably 2) for some "Rapid Fire"-esque skill to cut down the redundancies within the weapon set.

I would agree with this. In general, I dislike weapon sets, such as thief short bow and necromancer staff, where most skills must be aoe targeted. I can enjoy them for a while, but eventually grow weary of always having to do the two-step targeting.

[notebene.3190]

My Renegade has a sling shot. Doink-ka-doink-ka-doink.

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

I can only speak for Ranger, since that's the profession I main and pretty much the only I play 🙂I think both the longbow and the short bow are pretty good weapons in terms of DPS (power for longbow and condi for short bow), plus they're super fun to play (in my opinion). 

All the times I leveled other professions and used the bow (e.g. longbow for Warrior and short bow for Thief) they always felt underwhelming compared to Ranger: the longbow for Warrior was still fun and did good damage though, but I never tried it again with a fully geared lvl 80 Warrior, so I can't really say. I did try the short bow for Thief once I reached lvl 80, and it never felt as strong or as fun as other weapons (e.g. rifle or daggers). 

For Dragonhunter and Renegade I would expect the weapons to be good enough to be viable, since they were added as the elite spec weapon, but no idea if that's the case. 

So my final vote goes for Ranger 🙂 Not just because I think the weapons are stronger, but also because they're not tied to any elite spec (like the ones for Dragonhunter and Renegade), meaning you have many more options to play them.

Edited April 26, 2022 by TheLadyOfTheRings.9148
forgot to add something

[Strider Pj.2193]

2 hours ago, Tails.9372 said:

For thief: SB skill 2 and 4 are a bit to similar for my taste (especially since thief uses the ini instead of a CD based system) so I wouldn't mind exchanging either of them (preferably 2) for some "Rapid Fire"-esque skill to cut down the redundancies within the weapon set.

I guess what would be the ‘blast’ option then?  

[Sobx.1758]

Why would anyone feel the need to think one is better than the other? Each weapon is different for each class anyways, trying to group them and then proclaim x > y seems pointless. Can someone explain the point here?

Edited April 26, 2022 by Sobx.1758

[Strider Pj.2193]

4 minutes ago, Sobx.1758 said:

Why would anyone feel the need to think one is better than the other? Each weapon is different for each class anyways, trying to group them and then proclaim x > y seems pointless. Can someone explain the point here?

While you are completely correct in my opinion, that question (what is the point here) could apply to 90% (and yes, hyperbole FTW) of the forum posts.  🤷‍♂️

[Dante.1508]

9 hours ago, Ashen.2907 said:

Is there a reason for leaving out soulbeast and druid?

Because they are still Ranger specs.

8 hours ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

I do. You're welcome.

@OP: Better how? Kinda vague. Highest DPS, best looking animations, most fun, best | worst skills...?

All of the above i'm just trying to gauge why most players no longer use them in open world or WvW these days, maybe its speculative but i've not seen a bow player in a few years in GW2.

7 hours ago, Andy.5981 said:

To the OP, what are your thoughts on your own questions?

I personally believe these days shortbow wins out due to the resurgence of condi builds, but i wondered what others think, i feel shortbow has even fallen to the way side some what.

Very seldom see Longbow players.

8 hours ago, Bollocks.4078 said:

 

OP can clarify if I'm wrong, but I think it's pretty obvious they mean most effective so DPS.  Most fun and best/worst skills would tie into that.  Having worst skills wouldn't be fun.  Not being effective wouldn't be fun.

Yes some what along those lines yes.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Dante.1508

[Ashen.2907]

4 minutes ago, Dante.1508 said:

Because they are still Ranger specs.

All of the above i'm just trying to gauge why most players no longer use them in open world or WvW these days, maybe its speculative but i've not seen a bow player in a few years in GW2.

Sorry, the only reason I asked is that you listed elite specs separately for warrior and thief.

 

For Longbow Soulbeast is a fantastic option. By far my favorite of the options available. 

For Short Bow I am torn between Renegade and, again, Soulbeast. I enjoy playing both and someone wanting to focus exclusively on archery could do very well with a shortbow in both weapon slots to benefit from weapon swap traits and sigils.

[Ashen.2907]

8 minutes ago, Dante.1508 said:

Because they are still Ranger specs.

All of the above i'm just trying to gauge why most players no longer use them in open world or WvW these days, maybe its speculative but i've not seen a bow player in a few years in GW2.

 

9 minutes ago, Dante.1508 said:

Because they are still Ranger specs.

All of the above i'm just trying to gauge why most players no longer use them in open world or WvW these days, maybe its speculative but i've not seen a bow player in a few years in GW2.

I roam wvw on a shortbow ranger. Usually soulbeast. I have run a shortbow + dagger/torch build for instanced content to decent effect as well.

I have run a shortbow + mace/axe renegade for instanced content as well. Very effective, solid dps, fun to play.

I love archery. Real world as well as in game, so I try to make archery work for me in whatever game I am playing. 

[Dante.1508]

6 hours ago, TheLadyOfTheRings.9148 said:

I can only speak for Ranger, since that's the profession I main and pretty much the only I play 🙂I think both the longbow and the short bow are pretty good weapons in terms of DPS (power for longbow and condi for short bow), plus they're super fun to play (in my opinion). 

All the times I leveled other professions and used the bow (e.g. longbow for Warrior and short bow for Thief) they always felt underwhelming compared to Ranger: the longbow for Warrior was still fun and did good damage though, but I never tried it again with a fully geared lvl 80 Warrior, so I can't really say. I did try the short bow for Thief once I reached lvl 80, and it never felt as strong or as fun as other weapons (e.g. rifle or daggers). 

For Dragonhunter and Renegade I would expect the weapons to be good enough to be viable, since they were added as the elite spec weapon, but no idea if that's the case. 

So my final vote goes for Ranger 🙂 Not just because I think the weapons are stronger, but also because they're not tied to any elite spec (like the ones for Dragonhunter and Renegade), meaning you have many more options to play them.

I agree wholeheartedly. I have tried the other bows on Warrior and renegade etc and while they work somewhat they feel incredibly clunky to use for me the aoe on warrior is just really hard to place mid battle. the renegade skills feel weird to align with enemy mobs. I'm so busy trying to hit things with the bow i'm dead before i get to. Thief never really gelled with me great for moving around not much for damage sustainability.

Ranger longbow and shortbow do feel the best in my experience class wise.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Dante.1508

[Dante.1508]

3 minutes ago, Ashen.2907 said:

 

I roam wvw on a shortbow ranger. Usually soulbeast. I have run a shortbow + dagger/torch build for instanced content to decent effect as well.

I have run a shortbow + mace/axe renegade for instanced content as well. Very effective, solid dps, fun to play.

I love archery. Real world as well as in game, so I try to make archery work for me in whatever game I am playing. 

I am currently running a untamed axe/torch shortbow ranger at the moment but i seldom use the shortbow these days as the axe and torch seem far better.

Partially my reasoning on this thread.

[HonesltlyX.7164]

The only long bows I have used was on Warrior and Ranger. I didn't like Ranger long bow because most of it's damage relies on skills 2 and 5 that are both channeled. I like Warrior longbow more because it does more damage and the burst ability is nice. Especially for condi berserkers.

 

I like Ranger shortbow in conjunction with it's sword/dagger combo. It's fun to dance around the enemy, evading attacks and watching them melt.

Edited April 28, 2022 by HonesltlyX.7164

[Baby Goth.4983]

I don't have that exp in GW2  , just started playing this game in the last 3 months ,  and I recently used a full power build in my ranger ( soulbeast )  with the long bow ...  it's amazing 

 

Weapons ( long Bow , Greetsword )

full set of berserker , only the amulet & one accessory are valkyrie stats  

rune of pack 

sigils of force on the greatword 

sigils of celarity  ( if I miss spell it 😅  ,  i think you know what I mean )

 

,   press F5  , switch to long bow , use skill 4 then skill 2  ( and just set back and relax and enjoy the numbers going up )🤓

[DeanBB.4268]

6 hours ago, Baby Goth.4983 said:

sigils of force on the greatword 

sigils of celarity  ( if I miss spell it 😅  ,  i think you know what I mean )

You say "sigils" (plural), but I hope you only mean one. The same sigil does not stack.

[Chichimec.9364]

15 hours ago, Dante.1508 said:

...i'm just trying to gauge why most players no longer use them in open world or WvW these days, maybe its speculative but i've not seen a bow player in a few years in GW2.

I personally believe these days shortbow wins out due to the resurgence of condi builds, but i wondered what others think, i feel shortbow has even fallen to the way side some what...

Personally, I like the shortbow in both WvW and in open world pve. In WvW I've run a condi renegade with a shortbow for a while but currently am using a specter/deadeye, with both of those thief builds using the shortbow as the alternate weapon. The thief's shortbow is nice for clearing out npcs at camps and tower/keep gates as well as for tagging enemy players when going up against other zergs. And let's not forget the Lab. I love running a shortbow thief through the Lab, tagging everything in sight while going zoom, zoom, zoom.

My WvW condi renegade wields two bows and works well for me both in solo roaming and running with zergs. Atm, I'm doing yet another map completion with a different condi renegade alt, this one using mace/axe for up close melee and a shortbow for ranged as well as for mobs. It's a powerful, fun build for me to play and I really do enjoy it.