Longbow viability - Which class for various game modes?

[ruben p teles.8421]

Hi there!

What class can make the best use of longbow currently? I play mostly open world content but would like to throw some instanced content once in a while. 

Any recommendation is welcome. Thank you! 

[Eekasqueak.7850]

Ranger is probably your best bet, Guardian with Dragon Hunter isn't bad either. 

[Panda.1967]

From my experience longbow effectiveness is in this order:

1. Warrior

2. Guardian

3. Ranger

 

The warrior has a very hard hitting Longbow that works great on both Power and Condi builds. Its got a fair spread of single target, AoE, and utility making it quite a versatile weapon.

Guardian longbow isn’t the best for actual damage, but it does have a lot of utility and survivability built in. What it lacks in power though it makes up for in support.

Ranger longbow by all rights should be an amazing weapon… its a pure power weapon while Warrior’s is a Hybrid Condi/Power weapon and Guardian’s is a Hybrid Support weapon… you’d think it would be the best longbow… unfortunately it has a massively crippling disadvantage. Rangers longbow losses effectiveness the closer you are to your opponent and its most damaging skills can both very easily end up doing only a tiny fraction of their total damage. Ranger’s longbow does only one thing, Power Damage, and it doesn’t do it very well.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Panda.1967

[Lightseeker.7839]

On 12/7/2023 at 1:21 AM, Panda.1967 said:

Guardian longbow isn’t the best for actual damage, but it does have a lot of utility and survivability built in. What it lacks in power though it makes up for in support.

They have buffed Dragonhunter's longbow and it's actually a great pick if you are running a Dragonhunter. Good damage, has nice cleaving capability, most of the skills pierces through foes. It still have a supportive side, yes. Vigor granting symbol, and a rain of arrow that creates fence around foes affected, effectively locking weaker foes inside for a while. The downsides? I feel like their shots are way slower than ranger's but still faster than warrior's. And some skills can be easily interrupted if you move or use another higher priority skills (True for rangers as well).

If you have a spare character slot, I do recommend to try each longbows. Create a new character and go to PvP lobby, there you should be able to have every specs unlocked allowing you to have a feel on each longbows. But be wary as skills in PvP might have different cooldowns and power compared to their PvE counterpart.

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Lightseeker.7839
Changed some words

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Ranger has the best Longbow in the game. Warrior Longbow is used only because it is one of two MH/2H condi weapons on warrior. The only really good skill on it is the Primal Burst.

[Cuks.8241]

I'm not sure about the current meta status but both Ranger and Guardian LB have very good feel about it and work nicely in open world but are rarely the best weapon for instance content. Ranger longbow is generally a good weapon for pvp modes only not in large squads in wvw. I say rarely because these things change over time.

Warrior LB is probably the best meta choice for instanced content right now but is a primarily condition weapon and like many warrior skills feels a bit clunky. So slower ramp up due to condition based dmg and a bit clunky - doesnt feel as good. Condition berserker is very good lately in all game modes and the latest patch was I think very good for berserkers in general (havent played much lately so not 100%). But this can always turn around.

 

[Gaiawolf.8261]

Ranger longbows are probably best for general use. Decent burst and mobility keep it feeling good for most content.

Guardian longbows are okay for general use and have some utility, but the self-rooting just feels bad. It can be a problem in WVW roaming if you don't time it right. Guardian longbows are great for zergs though. Every skill is useful for damage, cc, and support. Piercing really helps, and self-rooting is less of an issue there.