Pure Bow build viable for leveling?

winterbornb14_ESO · May 2015

Hello, I made a Wood Elf NB alt as a solo character when me and the wife are not able to play together. I want to go pure Bow even when I get my second bar (AoE/Single target) and don't really see how the class lines cater to this type of play.

So far it seems very limited solo and I was wondering if it is even worth leveling. Is this a viable path at higher levels and are there any tips until I get some more points etc. ?

Thanks.

pmacisback · May 2015

I think bow is one of the best leveling weapons, especially for nightblades. Slot mark target and its morphs for a nice self heal upon killing a mob. Bow has AOE, CC, a DOT and a hard-hitting ability(Snipe). Coupled with the escape abilities of the Nightblade and bonuses from stealth, bow can be very good. It's not a great main weapon for end-game, but is certainly useful in many stamina builds for it's range. You have a long way to go before then, but you will definitely smoke mobs 1-50 in the meantime. Good luck!

Gyudan · May 2015

You'd kill stuff much faster with a 2-handed or dual wield.

Jitterbug · May 2015

A bucket and a spoon is viable for leveling. Dont worry

winterbornb14_ESO · May 2015

So leveling it can work but it isn't a staple of end game use : (

From what little experience I have with the game almost every other weapon seems better suited for leveling. Two handed is great so far and the others seem like they have a use at higher levels, although Dual Wield has a learning curve while leveling solo.

danovic · May 2015

My wood elf uses nothing but bow on one bar and nightblade skills on other it works very well use bow 90 percent of the time but sometimes you just have to use fear and shadow but its extremely powerful once you get all 5 abilities on the bar if played right you can easily root 3 targets at time and knock them all back from you like a yoyo wile they die of poison. Never trained any siphon abilities at all only stamina abilities with teleport strike and shadow the only magic. Only stamina build is a must you don't have enough stamina if you use magic side stuff a lot.

Rosveen · May 2015

I've played a bow DK from level 1 all the way to v14. It's one of those builds that make little sense, but I liked it so I used it. I had sword&shield as secondary. I didn't start training dual wielding until I was in vet ranks. Now I'm questing mostly with s&s and dual wield, but some bosses are much easier to kill with a ranged weapon, so I swap occasionally. Bow isn't fast except when one-shotting from stealth, but it gets the job done pre-50. On the rare occasion when I go to Cyrodiil, I always use a bow.

Two-handed is currently king of stamina builds, though.

RavenSworn · May 2015

For levelling wise, you can do a pure bow build. Just set your bar as single target and the other as aoe. Reaper's mark, focused aim, impale spam while using Crippling Grasp is amazing on single targets, be it world bosses or otherwise.

Take bombard, venom spray and spam Lethal injection. Use mass hysteria, double take and Draining Shot to keep them at a distance.

The problem with this is that it is purely a levelling build and you need to have other weps to increase your damage output as a stamina build. It does not mean its not viable, just that its not as efficient as other builds.

Hope this helps!