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?