Best Gear for End Game Bow DPS

Elijah_Crow

I have a friend who is going to build for end game bow DPS and he will be VR 16 soon.

I understand the challenges in making bow viable for PvE DPS, but would like some advice on sets to get him as high as possible.

VR16 Bosmer Nightblade Bow PvE DPS: Crit Chance over 50% with Sharpened Trait on Bow and Shadow Mundus I believe is the best.

Now how would you gear? Thanks for the assistance.

SirAndy

The Kyne's Flight Set has some nice stats for bow users but i don't know what the max level for the set is.

Elijah_Crow

My understanding is that this only drops up to VR5. If I am incorrect, please let me know. Looking for solid end game knowledge for this. Thanks.

Kuratius

There's a vr14 bow set that decreases bow skill cost by 5 % and increases bow skill damage by 5%, can't remember the name though. That set+master bow might be good.
Edit: It's hawk's eye.
http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Hawk's+Eye+Set

Alternatively, agility gear+ essence thief maybe?
Or maybe hunding's rage, I dunno. Just look up builds on tamrielfoundry.

Bhakura

SirAndy wrote: »

The Kyne's Flight Set has some nice stats for bow users but i don't know what the max level for the set is.

v16, you can get it from pvp rewards, but i looked at it and its really not that good ... well, not that good for my build. I dont know what you are exactly or what bowyer you are. Mine is stam sorc build on crits so kines will kill my critchance and power alot, 5th bonus is utter crap to begin with as you can just bombard endlessly and root enemies endlessly (probably a bug that should and will get fixed ... *cough*)
if you are not a critter, no pun intended, it might be good?
Im using 5 hundings rage and 3 nightmothers, 15-20k dps depending if its undead or daedra.

SirAndy

Bhakura wrote: »

SirAndy wrote: »

The Kyne's Flight Set has some nice stats for bow users but i don't know what the max level for the set is.

v16, you can get it from pvp rewards, but i looked at it and its really not that good ... well, not that good for my build. I dont know what you are exactly or what bowyer you are. Mine is stam sorc build on crits so kines will kill my critchance and power alot, 5th bonus is utter crap to begin with as you can just bombard endlessly and root enemies endlessly (probably a bug that should and will get fixed ... *cough*)
if you are not a critter, no pun intended, it might be good?
Im using 5 hundings rage and 3 nightmothers, 15-20k dps depending if its undead or daedra.

I only use the bow as backup for PvP where the snare from the 5 piece bonus is pretty useful.
My build is a stamina NB geared more towards dps and the bonus crit/regen/max work OK for me.

My main weapons, in order of usage, are 2H/DW/1H/BOW

Elijah_Crow

At this point I'm thinking 5 PC Hundings and 3 PC Ashen Grip and 3 PC Agility Jewelry. Anyone suggest better?

jdmad1911

Go with Night Mother'S Gaze in place of Ashen Grip.

Elijah_Crow

jdmad1911 wrote: »

Go with Night Mother'S Gaze in place of Ashen Grip.

Ah. I see they changed the set bonus for crit and weapon damage. Agreed.

tangy.citrus

5 piece sheer venom
2 pc nerienths
master bow - sharpened


4 piece sheer venom
1 pc molag kena
3 piece Ashen
master bow - sharpened

Id say one of these is your best bet. Both options will have high dps, and it depends most on your play style and stuff to which one will be more effective and will increase your dps more. Option 1 will proc nerienths often with the way the bow is, and the 5 pc sheer venom is practically made for bow users, along with its weapon damage - it can give you some sweet dps in a long fight.

Option 2 boasts the higher raw weapon damage and you wont be counting on any equipment procs for more dps, it can give you a nice and stable high dps for both short and long fights.

Gilliamtherogue

I've actually done a lot of number crunching to help out a few guildies who were interested in sticking to the bow build, despite it falling out of favor recently due to un-updated sets and bugs. If you've been up to date with the "top 1%" at all, you're probably aware of the old 5 piece Morag Tong, 5 piece Hawk Eye, and Precise Master Bow setup from patches 1.5 - 1.6. I stumbled across this setup a long time ago back when Morag Tong was a 3 piece, and was getting updated to a 5 piece in update 1.4. I made the set on PTS and decided I'd get it in 1.5 once lethal arrow got it's cast time fixed and poison injection got a 50% execute. The build was truly the first step through the door of competitive DPS back then for stamina builds, and still is quite viable today. Unfortunately it IS stuck at v14, meaning you'll be bottle necked on stats. Here is the value of the entire 5 piece before passive amplifications/etc. Here are the top 3 contenders for the gear options I explored. You'll notice 5 piece Hundings/ Night Mother's, etc are not in here as well as no other undaunted set than Kena. This is because in a min/maxed situation none of these are favored over the listed sets below. Either they are not feasible (resource restrictions) or simply out shined by their counter parts. In the following reportings, we'll ignore the efficiency of a Precise Master Bow because it remains BiS, thus can be considered a constant when comparing the sets. All recorded values are set to their max quality obtainable.

5 piece Hawk, 5 piece Morag
Enchant values = 664 stamina x3, 268 stam x4, 133 weapon damage x3
Set bonus values = 126 weapon damage x3, 945 stamina x3, 15% poison damage after hitting target for 6 seconds (pretty much permanent), and 5% damage and cost reduction with all bow attacks.
Jewelry values = 800 stamina x2, 860(?) health
Trait values = Bound to Well fitted x7 :c

Since this build uses morag, Lethal Arrow and Acid Spray are mandatory. This entire set translates to a 2491 lethal arrow tooltip increase, as well as a 15% damage increase on lethal, acid spray, and poison injection, as well as a 5% increase with all bow related attacks.

2 Kena, 5 Essence, 3 Agility
Enchant values = 868 stamina x3, 351 stam x4, 174 wep damage x3
Set bonus values = 129 wep damage x2, 193 wep damage x1, 1451 stamina x1, 967 stamina x2, 516 wep damage + 33% cost increase, 15% chance on LA to increase damage by 12% for 10 seconds and return 4300 health+stam.
Jewelry values = 860 stam x3
Trait values = Divines x7 optimal

This is not bound by a particular damage amp, thus any morph choice is available. Ideally you'd take Focused Aim, Poison Injection, and Acid Spray. Currently I do not know if the 5 piece essence proc is based on the target's origin, or the wielder's origin. If the 5 piece procs based off the target's origin it is less desired, as it would require you to sacrifice long shots passive to obtain it, but would not effect you if it is based on the wielder. Due to the high stamina cost of this build because of kena, a high CP pool is suggested. The entire set translates to a 4044 lethal/focused TT increase, as well as a 33% increase in ability costs, and the 15% chance to gain 12% damage + 4300 health/stam.

2 Kena, 5 Kyne's Kiss, 3 Agility
Enchant values = 868 stamina x3, 351 stam x4, 174 wep damage x3
Set bonus values = 129 wep damage x1, 967 stam x1, 147 stamina regen, 688 weapon crit, 1451 stamina x1, 193 wep damage x1, 516 weapon damage and 33% cost increase, and 10% chance on all NON DOT bow attacks to return 1202 health and stamina.
Jewelry values = 860 stam x3
Trait values = Divines x7 optimal

Again this setup is not bound to a certain damage amp, so any morphs are usable, but it follows the preferred morphs of the previous set. Kyne's Kiss is less overall damage than Essence Thief, but instead focuses more on guaranteed resource management for those who have a harder time with Kena's cost increase. This setup translates to a 3675 lethal/focus TT increase, 147 stam regen, 3.2% crit and 10% chance on non DoT bow attacks for stam/health return.

Honestly my opinion is that Morag/Hawk remains BiS due to its raw damage increase from both 5 pieces. While the tooltip may seem lower than with Kena+Essence or Kyne's, the damage amps (15% and 5%) offer a tremendous efficiency gain. Let's say your base tooltip with Morag/Hawk is 12000 while your buffs are up, Morag gives a 15% efficiency increase which is 1800 additional damage. That bumps Morag/Hawk's efficiency from a paltry 2491 TT increase to a 4291, putting it ahead of any of the previous mentioned sets. Not only that, but Morag's efficiency only increases as your champion points increase, since you have a % amp. Essence Thief also increases in efficiency, but is not up 100% of the time, and also may have issues if it is target bound rather than caster bound.

I can delve deeper into explaining ability, race, class, and CP options if you are interested.

Elijah_Crow

tangy.citrus wrote: »

5 piece sheer venom
2 pc nerienths
master bow - sharpened


4 piece sheer venom
1 pc molag kena
3 piece Ashen
master bow - sharpened

Id say one of these is your best bet. Both options will have high dps, and it depends most on your play style and stuff to which one will be more effective and will increase your dps more. Option 1 will proc nerienths often with the way the bow is, and the 5 pc sheer venom is practically made for bow users, along with its weapon damage - it can give you some sweet dps in a long fight.

Option 2 boasts the higher raw weapon damage and you wont be counting on any equipment procs for more dps, it can give you a nice and stable high dps for both short and long fights.

@tangy.citrus

Sheer Venom looks like a viable option but will take some runs to achieve. Something to work towards while in Hundings and Ashen. Is there a bow attack that's considered an execute that I've missed?

Elijah_Crow

Gilliamtherogue wrote: »

I've actually done a lot of number crunching to help out a few guildies who were interested in sticking to the bow build, despite it falling out of favor recently due to un-updated sets and bugs. If you've been up to date with the "top 1%" at all, you're probably aware of the old 5 piece Morag Tong, 5 piece Hawk Eye, and Precise Master Bow setup from patches 1.5 - 1.6. I stumbled across this setup a long time ago back when Morag Tong was a 3 piece, and was getting updated to a 5 piece in update 1.4. I made the set on PTS and decided I'd get it in 1.5 once lethal arrow got it's cast time fixed and poison injection got a 50% execute. The build was truly the first step through the door of competitive DPS back then for stamina builds, and still is quite viable today. Unfortunately it IS stuck at v14, meaning you'll be bottle necked on stats. Here is the value of the entire 5 piece before passive amplifications/etc. Here are the top 3 contenders for the gear options I explored. You'll notice 5 piece Hundings/ Night Mother's, etc are not in here as well as no other undaunted set than Kena. This is because in a min/maxed situation none of these are favored over the listed sets below. Either they are not feasible (resource restrictions) or simply out shined by their counter parts. In the following reportings, we'll ignore the efficiency of a Precise Master Bow because it remains BiS, thus can be considered a constant when comparing the sets. All recorded values are set to their max quality obtainable.

5 piece Hawk, 5 piece Morag
Enchant values = 664 stamina x3, 268 stam x4, 133 weapon damage x3
Set bonus values = 126 weapon damage x3, 945 stamina x3, 15% poison damage after hitting target for 6 seconds (pretty much permanent), and 5% damage and cost reduction with all bow attacks.
Jewelry values = 800 stamina x2, 860(?) health
Trait values = Bound to Well fitted x7 :c

Since this build uses morag, Lethal Arrow and Acid Spray are mandatory. This entire set translates to a 2491 lethal arrow tooltip increase, as well as a 15% damage increase on lethal, acid spray, and poison injection, as well as a 5% increase with all bow related attacks.

2 Kena, 5 Essence, 3 Agility
Enchant values = 868 stamina x3, 351 stam x4, 174 wep damage x3
Set bonus values = 129 wep damage x2, 193 wep damage x1, 1451 stamina x1, 967 stamina x2, 516 wep damage + 33% cost increase, 15% chance on LA to increase damage by 12% for 10 seconds and return 4300 health+stam.
Jewelry values = 860 stam x3
Trait values = Divines x7 optimal

This is not bound by a particular damage amp, thus any morph choice is available. Ideally you'd take Focused Aim, Poison Injection, and Acid Spray. Currently I do not know if the 5 piece essence proc is based on the target's origin, or the wielder's origin. If the 5 piece procs based off the target's origin it is less desired, as it would require you to sacrifice long shots passive to obtain it, but would not effect you if it is based on the wielder. Due to the high stamina cost of this build because of kena, a high CP pool is suggested. The entire set translates to a 4044 lethal/focused TT increase, as well as a 33% increase in ability costs, and the 15% chance to gain 12% damage + 4300 health/stam.

2 Kena, 5 Kyne's Kiss, 3 Agility
Enchant values = 868 stamina x3, 351 stam x4, 174 wep damage x3
Set bonus values = 129 wep damage x1, 967 stam x1, 147 stamina regen, 688 weapon crit, 1451 stamina x1, 193 wep damage x1, 516 weapon damage and 33% cost increase, and 10% chance on all NON DOT bow attacks to return 1202 health and stamina.
Jewelry values = 860 stam x3
Trait values = Divines x7 optimal

Again this setup is not bound to a certain damage amp, so any morphs are usable, but it follows the preferred morphs of the previous set. Kyne's Kiss is less overall damage than Essence Thief, but instead focuses more on guaranteed resource management for those who have a harder time with Kena's cost increase. This setup translates to a 3675 lethal/focus TT increase, 147 stam regen, 3.2% crit and 10% chance on non DoT bow attacks for stam/health return.

Honestly my opinion is that Morag/Hawk remains BiS due to its raw damage increase from both 5 pieces. While the tooltip may seem lower than with Kena+Essence or Kyne's, the damage amps (15% and 5%) offer a tremendous efficiency gain. Let's say your base tooltip with Morag/Hawk is 12000 while your buffs are up, Morag gives a 15% efficiency increase which is 1800 additional damage. That bumps Morag/Hawk's efficiency from a paltry 2491 TT increase to a 4291, putting it ahead of any of the previous mentioned sets. Not only that, but Morag's efficiency only increases as your champion points increase, since you have a % amp. Essence Thief also increases in efficiency, but is not up 100% of the time, and also may have issues if it is target bound rather than caster bound.

I can delve deeper into explaining ability, race, class, and CP options if you are interested.

Thanks. Will dig into this more tomorrow. Solid info there.

Egonieser

Elijah_Crow wrote: »

tangy.citrus wrote: »

5 piece sheer venom
2 pc nerienths
master bow - sharpened


4 piece sheer venom
1 pc molag kena
3 piece Ashen
master bow - sharpened

Id say one of these is your best bet. Both options will have high dps, and it depends most on your play style and stuff to which one will be more effective and will increase your dps more. Option 1 will proc nerienths often with the way the bow is, and the 5 pc sheer venom is practically made for bow users, along with its weapon damage - it can give you some sweet dps in a long fight.

Option 2 boasts the higher raw weapon damage and you wont be counting on any equipment procs for more dps, it can give you a nice and stable high dps for both short and long fights.

@tangy.citrus

Sheer Venom looks like a viable option but will take some runs to achieve. Something to work towards while in Hundings and Ashen. Is there a bow attack that's considered an execute that I've missed?

Poison injection deals increased damage to enemies below 50%, the damage over time i mean. It actually hits very hard with ticks of up to 5k damage on my NB. It's especially good in pvp - enemy gets low on health and flees, thinking he's safe, but not realising he is poisoned and it kills him quite fast. Works even better against mobs, the damage over time are like extra light/medium attacks on top of what you are already doing.

Elijah_Crow

Egonieser wrote: »

Elijah_Crow wrote: »

tangy.citrus wrote: »

5 piece sheer venom
2 pc nerienths
master bow - sharpened


4 piece sheer venom
1 pc molag kena
3 piece Ashen
master bow - sharpened

Id say one of these is your best bet. Both options will have high dps, and it depends most on your play style and stuff to which one will be more effective and will increase your dps more. Option 1 will proc nerienths often with the way the bow is, and the 5 pc sheer venom is practically made for bow users, along with its weapon damage - it can give you some sweet dps in a long fight.

Option 2 boasts the higher raw weapon damage and you wont be counting on any equipment procs for more dps, it can give you a nice and stable high dps for both short and long fights.

@tangy.citrus

Sheer Venom looks like a viable option but will take some runs to achieve. Something to work towards while in Hundings and Ashen. Is there a bow attack that's considered an execute that I've missed?

Poison injection deals increased damage to enemies below 50%, the damage over time i mean. It actually hits very hard with ticks of up to 5k damage on my NB. It's especially good in pvp - enemy gets low on health and flees, thinking he's safe, but not realising he is poisoned and it kills him quite fast. Works even better against mobs, the damage over time are like extra light/medium attacks on top of what you are already doing.

You sir are correct. I don't know why that didn't register to me as an execute but it should proc.

Elijah_Crow

@Gilliamtherogue

Managed to put together a Hawks and Morag Set with a VR16 Bow until he gets the Masters Bow.

What's the best champion distribution points for this build?

Am I correct that Mighty doesn't increase the bow damage as it is no longer physical damage?

Thanks for your help!

Gilliamtherogue

Elijah_Crow wrote: »

@Gilliamtherogue

Managed to put together a Hawks and Morag Set with a VR16 Bow until he gets the Masters Bow.

What's the best champion distribution points for this build?

Am I correct that Mighty doesn't increase the bow damage as it is no longer physical damage?

Thanks for your help!

Mighty will only increase the damage of your physical attacks, as it always has. With this build your only physical damage is going to be light weaving and caltrops if you use it (not really all that great, but its free dps if your tank doesn't use it). How much CP do you have, as that greatly alters your priority of point spending. For simplicity's stake I'll describe using ~360 CP since most players are somewhere around there. If you have more than that, I can respond with a more accurate guide.

Thief Tree; 30 into Mooncalf (to unlock Synergizer Passive) 90 into Warlord. Proceed to cap Warlord after, and then move back to mooncalf after Warlord is capped out. After these are both full, it becomes pure preference based on how you play.

Warrior Tree; 60 Hardy and 60 Elemental Defender. If you're in WGT or ICP you can move them all to one or the other tree, as WGT is all elemental damage and ICP is all mixed magic damage (magic, poison, etc) and then put the remaining in Thick Skinned. Otherwise Once you hit 90 in each Hardy/Ele you may want to start sticking into Thick Skinned. Things like Spell Shield and Armor Efficiency really don't offer much mitigation even in comparison to when Hardy/Ele reach diminishing returns. 660 armor/spell res = 1% mitigation, so you'd need a LOT of points in either of them to equal the same amount of mitigation that Hardy/Ele/Thick provide. After these 3 are capped, it boils down to preference.

Mage Tree; 90 in Thaum, 20 in Piercing Strikes, 10 into Elfborn. Since 90% of your kit is poison or magic damage, Thaum is your best bet. Be aware that Thaumaturge currently does not reflect on your tooltip, but DOES increase the damage done. This is merely a UI error. If you use a damage recorder like FTC, you will see the increase on your actual damage done.
Also since your kit is primarily poison/magic damage, that means Elfborn is going to give you crit hit damage, NOT Precise Strikes. Champion Point system is a completely unique stat base that does not follow conventional scaling rules. Just because it costs stam/is a weapon skill/etc does not mean it will use alike passives to effect them. Mighty only increases physical damage, not weapon skills. Elfborn only increases magical damage sources, and Precise only increases physical. However, all of your kit uses ARMOR penetration, not spell penetration, so you will continue to take Piercing Strikes and not Spell Erosion. The only ultimate that uses spell pen is Meteor, and is not worth you sacrificing damage of the rest of your kit just to make that slightly stronger. After these points are spent, your primary focus is to finish off Thaumaturge, then move into Piercing Strikes until you hit ~50, then move back to Elfborn till ~30-40, and then you'll transition to a 2:1 ratio. Every 2 points in Piercing, you put 1 in Elfborn. This is only after you reach 100 Thaum, 50 Piercing, 35ish Elfborn. This is the maximum efficiency of point spending for this build.

Elijah_Crow

Great info. Thank you!

drumbendrum_ESO

BUMP Looking for solid bow information going to be turning my stamina builds into bow users.

Anyone have any updated information regarding set items ?

Elijah_Crow

I can confirm that Hawks and Morag Tong (2 - 5PC sets) at VR14 Legendary along with poison morphs and champion point passives above is doing awesome end game DPS. Put together for two friends and they are loving it.

Took 2 weeks to buy all the parts for 2 full sets but easily doable. Highly recommend it for solely bow DPS. Great with 2H support bar for rally, vigor, etc.

TheBull

@Gilliamtherogue
Essene Thief procs off the target. A blue path shoots off of it about 10 meters and leaves a blue circle that the user must run over.

drumbendrum_ESO

Sheer Venom looks like a solid piece of gear but it seems to be pretty hard to collect as I do not have easy enough time completing Vet Dungeons.