Bow vs Dual Wield

Targanwolf · June 2014

I started this game with a wood elf...night blade.....bow centric character.This was to be my main character. I soon began to learn that using the bow to kill npcs was growing increasingly difficult.The main story quest line makes that excruciatingly obvious.20 levels over the quest level was the minimum for actually fighting with a bow and killing my targets.I was forced to mele and chose dual wield for short range fights in order to move the main quest line forward. The difference in fighting effectiveness is stunning...Dual Wield is far far superior to what a bow can do.My current bow skill is around 43 and its killing power can not come remotely close to matching my 26 level dual wield killing capabilities. Frankly that disparity vs dw is more than disappointing and needs to be addressed.I will not even get into the issue of comparing these skills to other strong classes.

Sharee · June 2014

You need to keep the enemy at a distance with a bow. Magnum shot, bombard, things like that. Look up some videos.

Aeradon · June 2014

I assume you have yet to try Two Handed? Or staffs?

The disparity is not that great between bow and DW. Maybe you have to sneak attack and leverage on your magnum shot for bow single target damage and survivability. Remember to take out one by one if you're using bow.

I play NB and mainly depend on DW/Bow for 1-50 btw.

Adramelach · June 2014

I agree. Actually, I have Staff/Bow on my sorcerer, and haven't been stingy with the points, either. Wear a mix of light and medium armor, have many bow and medium armor passives - I was really trying to make bow my secondary-but-strong go-to weapon when my magicka was running low, etc.

Well, much like you see, the difference between bow and staff is of course huge. My only real use for the bow at this point is to use Magnum Shot to hold off a tough opponent for a few seconds, while magicka rebuilds, and then switch back to my 'real' weapon to continue the fight.

Luckily, that one use is pretty handy, so my bow "Bar" is pretty much just that - Magnum Shot - and the rest are class abilities, since they all beat Bow pretty easily for the most part.

I just wish I hadn't spent all the points on the armor/bow passives just for that one use. I guess I can respec and shift all that over to my useful skills, though, if I get motivated.

Dealdrick · June 2014

Right now stamina builds are very sub-par. DW can work, but its certainly far less optimal than a staff build. Bow needs some serious attention. Props to you if you want to stick with it though

aipex8_ESO · June 2014

I switched from DW/bow to DW/DW because I just couldn't get the bow. I was always backing away from my targets into other groups of mobs and stupid crap like that. LOL. I fully admit that my lack of bow skill is down to me not learning to use the abilities correctly though.

Adramelach · June 2014

aipex8_ESO wrote: »

I switched from DW/bow to DW/DW because I just couldn't get the bow. I was always backing away from my targets into other groups of mobs and stupid crap like that. LOL. I fully admit that my lack of bow skill is down to me not learning to use the abilities correctly though.

Well, perhaps, but I think it's a common problem. I have to be very careful too... I picked the morph that "Magnum Shots" me right into other mobs if I'm not careful about what's behind me when I fire, and in the heat of battle, kiting around, it can be hard to know that at all times.

Quaesivi · June 2014

Only problem I have with the Bow is that for some reason, despite being a 2-Hander, it has the weapon damage of a 1-Hander. Other than that, I can solo a pack of 3-5 mobs with a Bow, I definitely can not do that with DW, so it is purely about how you play, however, Venom Shot/Bombard/Volcanic Rune should be more than enough to not get hit, unless you are in a tight spot or unfortunate enough to fight Flyers/Non-CC.

Targanwolf · June 2014

There is noting like a "focus shot" hitting from half a mile away to start a fight.Single Targets don't make it to me.Now taking out 3 targets in 25 seconds,like my dual wield can...just ain't going to happen with a bow even with magnum shot.With dual wield there are some healing fighting skills.I have yet to find a bow shot that heals.

Fleymark · June 2014

If you think DW is superior to Bow then you probably aren't doing it right. Especially if you are pre-50.

And this is coming from a VR4 dw/bow wood elf nightblade.

Obviously, play whatever fits your playstyle best and you are entitled to your opinion. But pre50 pretty much anything works. Melee takes a dive on effectiveness in the VRs because the mobs hit too hard and have too many HPs. Range is about the only way to survive some encounters.

Plus, a lot of us are getting really tired of people, particularly preVR people, not using skill lines to their fullest or synergizing them properly and then declaring them broken or inferior when they aren't.

I, personally, love my Archery and find it superior in every way to DW with one possible exception and I haven't come to a conclusion on that specifically yet.

Fleymark · June 2014

Targanwolf wrote: »

There is noting like a "focus shot" hitting from half a mile away to start a fight.Single Targets don't make it to me.Now taking out 3 targets in 25 seconds,like my dual wield can...just ain't going to happen with a bow even with magnum shot.With dual wield there are some healing fighting skills.I have yet to find a bow shot that heals.

Again, you aren't doing it right.

If you open with a snipe hidden and behind a mob you can often one shot them, turning a 3 pack into a 2 pack with the opening shot. You increase this chance I'd you have the right passives and gear. And if you use mark target. This game isn't about individual skills doing things..Its about stacking it all up in the direction you want your build to go. Snipe doesn't suck because you aren't built properly and don't use it properly to make it crit. If you aren't one shooting caster mobs a significant portion of the time, and close the rest, you aren't doing it right.

The heal on the dot effect from the basic DW attack is a joke. Use Strife > morph for heals weather you are DW or Bow. It can be easily woven with bow attacks at range. Which is why archery doesn't need a healing ability. Combine this with the knockback and leeching strikes and you can endlessly reverse kite any mob, including bosses, that isn't immune to the knockback. But you have to do it right. Lol

I'm sorry but in terms of efficiency, survivability, and overall effectiveness, DW just doesn't even compare to archery. Which works out because you need range post50 anyway.