Why people love Bow and Arrow so much?

Æterny · August 2018

I am 30 yo atm, and a VERY experienced MMO/RPG player. And one thing i could notice is that every single game that gives the player the option to use a bow, the majority of the players take it.
So, the point of the topic is: Even having multiple different choices, like various types of magic casters, close combat fighter, stealth gameplay and so on. WHAT MAKES BOW SO ATTRACTIVE?
Specially at ESO, that it feels sooooo boring to play with this kind of weapon.
Let me know how you feel about it!

StamWhipCultist · August 2018

Bow make them feel safe, sniping you from behind, sniping you from the walls, sniping you from their zerg.

YamiKuruku · August 2018

well alot of people here come from skyrim
and in skyrim you always play a stealth archer XD
maybe its also just that people dont wanna go active in a fight and being "deadly" from afar

Drakkdjinn · August 2018

B/c they played ez mode [removed inappropriate term] bow users in skyrim, and they're confused as to why ESO isn't skyrim.

Undefwun · August 2018

whooo boy... I don't even know where to start and stay within forum rules...

all I know I hear that a bow sound in a BG... and I get red tunnel vision for the [snip]... and yes there will /spit at the end... especially prior to sloads nerf...

EDIT: I should have mentioned in PvP I can't stand it. PvE it is needed for top DPS, except that Legolas/Robin Hood in your random normal that pulls half the trash mobs and then runs half way back to start of instance.

[Edit for inappropriate comment.]

Jack_Of_Shades · August 2018

I love it outside of the game. I love it in other games. However, I have been using it less and less due to the fact it's a "support" weapon in eso. If it was a main weapon option, I'd enjoy it more in-game.

hakan · August 2018

i dont use bow mainly. only for poison injection.

if i choose an archer character, its because it looks good with a good looking bow. but in this game when you equip it, you suddenly grow a hunch on your back.

i love the look of a bosmer with horns, stealthed with a bow in their hands.

Cadbury · August 2018

I see alot of mag players run bow. Go to a random dolmen and you'll see someone hardcast crystal frags and spam light bow attacks. And I'm not talking low level players either.

They even show in pugs. I ran WGT recently and had a 340 Templar healer with double bows...

Narvuntien · August 2018

Skyrim. I ran through most of the caves in skyrim with a bow and killed every enemy without any of them seeing me.

Finviuswe · August 2018

Bow has a lot of uses in this game so it makes perfect sense to use it.

Essential for stam PVE DPS, has a number of uses in PVP, thus that is why a lots of people are taking the bow

Vahrokh · August 2018

Legolas

Judas Helviaryn · August 2018

I grew up with a couple bows. Archery's something that just fits for me, it's personal, fun, and generally more immersive from my standpoint.

Judging by the comments, this community will hate on literally anything they don't understand.

Uviryth · August 2018

For ESO: Because its Staminabased and Magickagameplay is godawful. Plus you need the DoTs from the Bow to do any kind of Stamina-Damage in PvE.

For other games: Because its the weapon of the Light Infantry, usually the most intriguing Metaclass in Fantasysettings.

In Real Life: Because firing a Bow is a delight. Its so elegant and clean. Unlike firing a gun, which is just loud and dirty.

Heimpai · August 2018

StamWhipCultist wrote: »

Bow make them feel safe, sniping you from behind, sniping you from the walls, sniping you from their zerg.

Or because we prefer a gap closer against the magic casters that are hiding the same way as you just mentioned

Plus i learned to use one long before using a gun

Judas Helviaryn · August 2018

Uviryth wrote: »

For ESO: Because its Staminabased and Magickagameplay is godawful. Plus you need the DoTs from the Bow to do any kind of Stamina-Damage in PvE.

For other games: Because its the weapon of the Light Infantry, usually the most intriguing Metaclass in Fantasysettings.

In Real Life: Because firing a Bow is a delight. Its so elegant and clean. Unlike firing a gun, which is just loud and dirty.

I guarantee if you pick up a flintlock kit and make your own out of it, you might develop an interest in black powder rifles/pistols.

With any tool, half of the mystique, the romanticized soul of the object, is in the creation of it.

Blacksmithing, woodworking, all of our roots come from craftsmanship, and that's, in my opinion, what imparts the love of the object, because of the trade (and challenge) it represents.

StamWhipCultist · August 2018

Heimpai wrote: »

StamWhipCultist wrote: »

Bow make them feel safe, sniping you from behind, sniping you from the walls, sniping you from their zerg.

Or because we prefer a gap closer against the magic casters that are hiding the same way as you just mentioned

Plus i learned to use one long before using a gun

idk about gun but Id gladly use stamwhip, if zos give us one.

Koensol · August 2018

Undefwun wrote: »

whooo boy... I don't even know where to start and stay within forum rules...

all I know I hear that a bow sound in a BG... and I get red tunnel vision for the [snip]... and yes there will /spit at the end... especially prior to sloads nerf...

EDIT: I should have mentioned in PvP I can't stand it. PvE it is needed for top DPS, except that Legolas/Robin Hood in your random normal that pulls half the trash mobs and then runs half way back to start of instance.

[Edit for inappropriate comment.]

Lol! You basically described the mental process of my brain when I hear the snipe sound. I will hunt that [snip] down even if it is the last thing I do. Idc if it loses me the match

[[Edit for inappropriate comment.]

Brrrofski · August 2018

Well for PvP...

People love snipe. There's always someone spamming that one button over and over in a fight.

It also gives you increased movement speed for 5 seconds after a roll dodge. Poison injection is a good skill too for added pressure.

In pve...
Endless hail is a SUPER powerful dot, especially with a maelstrom bow. It adds a lot of DPS.

firedrgn · August 2018

Cadbury wrote: »

I see alot of mag players run bow. Go to a random dolmen and you'll see someone hardcast crystal frags and spam light bow attacks. And I'm not talking low level players either.

They even show in pugs. I ran WGT recently and had a 340 Templar healer with double bows...

Ya cause dolmens u want to use spray tag targets get credit

Sharee · August 2018

1, Ranged attacks do not suffer from "target out of range" issues.
The speed characters move at these days combined with cyrodiil lag mean your target can cross the distance at which you can hit him with melee attacks in less than a second. Crossing the distance at which you can hit him with ranged attacks however is several seconds, giving you enough time to land an attack, even if it has a 1+ sec cast time.

2, Target selection. With a ranged attack, you can hit any target in a huge radius, without having to waste time on movement first.

3, Target awareness. Nobody will miss the fact you are attacking him in melee.

And if you want to play a stamina character, bow is your only option.

Artemiisia · August 2018

I blame the hunger games

Everstorm · August 2018

Stacking dots is the best way to reach high dps (for pve). Stamina builds have limited choices for dots, not using the bow for poison injection and endless hail is limiting your potential. If ppl could reach the beter results with a combo of dual wield and twohander (as example) they would use that.

Sparr0w · August 2018

Easiest way to get hate whispers

TheUrbanWizard · August 2018

Speed buff is nice

HappyLittleTree · August 2018

I play bow only on backbar because dmg

ArchMikem · August 2018

Drakkdjinn wrote: »

B/c they played ez mode [snip] in skyrim, and they're confused as to why ESO isn't skyrim.

[Edit for inappropriate comment.]

Dude I just enabled God Mode and put Spells in my hands. The Bow is actually kinda difficult to use properly in Skyrim.

The Bow is the only alternative to Dual Wield in PvE Stamina DPS, and once people get a taste of what a hard hitting Snipe can do from 28m away, of course they're going to use it in Cyrodiil too. You want people to stop relying on Bow so much, why not give us more Weapon trees.

red_emu · August 2018

I'm not sure, but I have always gravitated towards the bow or sorcery.

Baldurs Gate - I played a Wood Elf warrior-druid with a bow,
Diablo 2 - I played an Amazon,
Morrowind - I played a Bosmer Archer,
Oblivion - again, Bosmer Archer,
Skyrim - Nord hunter-archer type,
Assassin's Creed origins - bow, bow, bow

It's just my favourite playstyle I guess. And if I can be any sort of elf at the same time, it's even better.

Btw. My first ever character in ESO when I installed the game was an Altmer Stamblade with a bow

Undefwun · August 2018

Sparr0w wrote: »

Easiest way to get hate whispers

I never whisper bow users, that's what they want...

Whispers to me are reserved for saying GF and so forth..and poison injection/snipe kills while I am fighting other ppl.. doesn't count as fighting...

Koensol · August 2018

ArchMikem wrote: »

Drakkdjinn wrote: »

B/c they played ez mode [snip] in skyrim, and they're confused as to why ESO isn't skyrim.

[Edit for inappropriate comment.]

Dude I just enabled God Mode and put Spells in my hands. The Bow is actually kinda difficult to use properly in Skyrim.

The Bow is the only alternative to Dual Wield in PvE Stamina DPS, and once people get a taste of what a hard hitting Snipe can do from 28m away, of course they're going to use it in Cyrodiil too. You want people to stop relying on Bow so much, why not give us more Weapon trees.

Bow difficult in skyrim? Lol. 3 steps to victory:
1. Cast calm spell.
2. Enter sneak.
3. Heavy attack from behind.

That will net you ez mode kills on almost everything in the game. People come into eso expecting the same. That is why we see so many [snip] in cyrodiil sitting back chaincasting snipe. It is what they are used to.

[Edit for inappropriate comment.]

zaria · August 2018

YamiKuruku wrote: »

well alot of people here come from skyrim
and in skyrim you always play a stealth archer XD
maybe its also just that people dont wanna go active in a fight and being "deadly" from afar

Good point, all my characters ended up primary as archers in Skyrim

For eso its mostly for DoT, most people have it as default at you start rotation with it.
Well overland it ends there to as enemy is now dead.

agrr70 · August 2018

Latency in Cyrodiil means is a *** pain in the ass in melee,so ranged, and the hate whispers.......

.......................and my unrequited manlove for Legolas...........