Heavy attack vs. Snipe; Sealth opener

BvB__3425

I run a max Stamina build completely focused on high burst damage in PvP, and I was wondering what the best option would be for highest amount of burst damage as a Bosmer NB bow user opening from stealth, a fully charged heavy attack, or snipe. Also take into consideration the range differences, I do not know the exact numbers but I know that Snipe can hit from a further range then a regular heavy attack, how much of an impact does this have due to the range passive for bows that increases damage based on how far you are from the target? I have read somewhere that regular attacks have a bigger stealth bonus then abilities, does this make a big difference as well?
I am asking mostly because I have always opened with Snipe from stealth, but looking at other people's builds I see that a lot of people open with a heavy attack. Is this truly the better way to go? When opening with snipe I am usually able to get two in due to the arrows travel time, before the opponent even realizes they're being attacked. Wouldn't a heavy attack cause them to be alerted quicker and throw up a shield, or reflective scales before I can follow up with a snipe? Another point is that if an opponent was hit with a heavy attack, they may very well heal up before the snipe makes contact due to the travel time. If I'm running Poison Arrow, applying the healing debuff initially would prove to have greater results in overall damage, am I wrong?

Reeko

Why not Lethal Arrow? I feel like Snipe (and it's morphs) hit harder than a heavy attack would. If not in pure damage then for sure in the fact that, due to travel speed, you can squeeze off a few more shots before the initial arrow hits. Have you tried using both yourself?

BvB__3425

LOL my bad, yeah I confused poison arrow with lethal arrow, that's what I meant to say with the healing debuff and all that

BvB__3425

But anyways, I realize that the travel time of Snipe and its morphs makes it possible to get multiple hits in all at once, that's why I have always used it, but I guess my main question was if heavy attacks really hit harder, or got a larger stealth bonus then snipe

chevalierknight

BvB__3425 wrote: »

But anyways, I realize that the travel time of Snipe and its morphs makes it possible to get multiple hits in all at once, that's why I have always used it, but I guess my main question was if heavy attacks really hit harder, or got a larger stealth bonus then snipe

Heavy attacks hit harder yes in the cp tree you can boost heavy attack damage that with the 3x damage from stealth means heavy attack>snipe

BvB__3425

Hm, I see. Thanks for that info @chevalierknight .

GreenSoup2HoT

BvB__3425 wrote: »

Hm, I see. Thanks for that info @chevalierknight .

I feel opening with a 2h heavy is way way stronger then opening with a Bow heavy tho.

I can one shot Sabre cat's in riften with 2h stealth heavy. Bow is like 3/5 of the damage.
.
.
.
Most of the time tho, im opening with a bow heavy and using poison injection right after since i have a master bow. Then i jump in ambush/soul harvest etc.

BvB__3425

Yeah I see what your saying @GreenSoup2HoT , but I play more as a glass canon, and I'm talking very fragile glass. Simply because it's a PvP devoted character that I always run with my Guildmates, so we always got a medium sized group going. I let them engage first while staying in stealth a bit further away, then snipe/mark/poison injection and either kill off or apply pressure and debuff enemies. I think if I charged in trying to sneak a 2h heavy then follow up I'd be roast

BvB__3425

Yeah I see what your saying @GreenSoup2HoT , but I play more as a glass canon, and I'm talking very fragile glass. Simply because it's a PvP devoted character that I always run with my Guildmates, so we always got a medium sized group going. I let them engage first while staying in stealth a bit further away, then snipe/mark/poison injection and either kill off or apply pressure and debuff enemies. I think if I charged in trying to sneak a 2h heavy then follow up I'd be roast

GreenSoup2HoT

BvB__3425 wrote: »

Yeah I see what your saying @GreenSoup2HoT , but I play more as a glass canon, and I'm talking very fragile glass. Simply because it's a PvP devoted character that I always run with my Guildmates, so we always got a medium sized group going. I let them engage first while staying in stealth a bit further away, then snipe/mark/poison injection and either kill off or apply pressure and debuff enemies. I think if I charged in trying to sneak a 2h heavy then follow up I'd be roast

I do exactly what you do. However i sneak to the back and make sure no one will see me take out that one guy. As soon as i kill him, i cloak and re-stealth. It work's very well because i can kill them so fast. I'm also 100% weapon damage glass cannon.

The point is to take them out 1 by 1 from behind and get a train going before anyone notice's your back there.

BvB__3425

Ah I see.. I'm actually going to try that out, I do see that 2h NB's are very common lately. Thank you for the tips