Archery? Does it get better?

[Ivory]

So, I've been trying to figure out the secrets with archery!!!

Now, from the very beginning it has been reported that dex helped with the damage bows do. But from my experience, that doesn't seem to be happening (i'm at 219 dex unbuffed). Instead it is just more attack rating.

I also read that bows don't get damage bonus like weapons do.

Basically, will a trueshot bow (20 damage) always be hitting for about 20-22? From level 1 to level 50? (Using basic arrows)

[Daywolf]

Dex for damage, crits, and proc. Use a weight reduction quiver for haste (e.g. tailored quiver minimum). Using a trueshot at what lvl? hrm get a rain caller, man, just do the quest as trueshot is a prereq (wont need fletching). Trueshot is really just meant for low/mid lvl rangers until you can do the quests... unless you've been a big bad faerie hunter :D But gives a little extra range which may mean more shots off.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Archery
http://wiki.project1999.com/Rain_Caller

Then maybe get some other bows?
http://wiki.project1999.com/Windstriker
http://wiki.project1999.com/Bow_of_the_Underfoot
http://wiki.project1999.com/Efreeti_War_Bow

I just use a http://wiki.project1999.com/Shaped_Darkwood_Compound_Bow most of the time, then 150 range arrows (150+150). Bows really didn't come into any serious usage until AA apart from range pulling and added dot style damage if you root and spell dot to soften a target.

[Ivory]

Oops, yea, I meant I use rain caller :)

Dex for damage? My damage seems the same as before with my 219 dex unbuffed....i tend to hit for 20 or 22 most regularly.

[Daywolf]

Oops, yea, I meant I use rain caller :)

Dex for damage? My damage seems the same as before with my 219 dex unbuffed....i tend to hit for 20 or 22 most regularly.
Ah ok. Yeah rain caller adds a little range. Still a good bow. I edited in alternative links that provide more damage. Maybe time for a trip to plane of sky? :)
Then of course arrow damage, ya know?

[Ivory]

I mean...besides just getting a better bow.... does dex or levels increase the damage being done?

[Daywolf]

I think it can only go higher with crits regarding the bow itself, . Bow + arrow damage + bow haste? Should be doing more than 22 in total and cumulative with the haste. Then a bow like windstriker has 45 damage on the bow and 100 on effect. No, dex won't turn like a hunting bow into a fierce killing machine hehe ;) But you'll get it's ~max damage more often with high dex.

[blondeattk]

I mean...besides just getting a better bow.... does dex or levels increase the damage being done?

yes you muppet. you hit for max damage more often. if your too thick to see this use a parsing program.

archery has always been streaky for damage......the min to max damage range is huge, even the AA extra damage, didnt solve the very wide variance in archery damage.

archery is kinda broken on p99, cos the developers are too dumb to fix rangers. Its on record that they have NO expereince of the class and ignore fixing anything that takes some thought.

Archery is best used with trueshot, rest of the time get haste item and a good ratio 2hander if you want big hit numbers.

Sadly in the end, you will realise that rangers are sub par on p99.

[Arclyte]

this guy is edgy as fuck

[Fanguru]

Most answers are in the wiki archery link.
tl;dr:

higher dex, higher archery skill, , better bow, better arrows, atk buffs and worn items = better damage
ranged atk not displayed != melee atk displayed
no damage bonus on range slot
archery sucks, even after 55
good for pulling, sometimes useful for soloing


It's fun to shoot an arrow or two while running back to the dragon or hairy blob after eating a fear, apart from that, meh.

[Daywolf]

archery has always been streaky for damage......the min to max damage range is huge, even the AA extra damage, didnt solve the very wide variance in archery damage.
Post-PoP it did with AA, for a time at least, as far as for pvp rangers had a good edge, mostly speaking of the arena. Bows were ok by then, though not as a replacement for melee, by far. But yeah, before then, it was just a good pulling tool. Best you could do is root and dot then fill the target full of arrows for added damage. The game just lacks good bow's for the most part.

[alsa]

after level 51, your bow will do "double damage" against a none moving and not rooted mob. If you are a ranger that is.

[am0n]

Archery gets better when Luclin is released.

[fadetree]

For damage, it never stops sucking until AA's, so that means never here. Sometimes, if you are REALLY patient, you can take down a mob with it that you couldn't otherwise. If root holds, its good for finishing things off too. It's great for pulling. That's about it.

[Troxx]

Post-PoP it did with AA, for a time at least, as far as for pvp rangers had a good edge, mostly speaking of the arena. Bows were ok by then, though not as a replacement for melee, by far. .

Starting in luclin with archery mastery 3 and endless quiver, bow damage eclipsed not only ranger melee damage but most other classes in general for dps.

Rangers with the relevant aa were in high demand for raids and groups in luclin and PoP. By plane of time gear, melee ratios started to catch up enough that meleeing became an option. In later expansions, archery fell back to sub par damage outside of true shot.

Prior to luclin it was pretty bad dps but did have some utility for soloing. It would allow you to damage them without them hitting you which cut down on downtime and might let you solo something that you otherwise could not.

Luclin made rangers what they should have been from the start.

[Daywolf]

I never used endless quiver, I had near max fletching by then and opted for range and/or damage. But yes, PoP was good for rangers, for a time anyway. Rangers in the there and then were like bards in the here and now; flooding the newbie zones especially in gfay.

[Daldaen]

PoP archery was ridiculous for a few reasons.

The 2nd/3rd/4th best bows were all tradeable (EP Tradeskilled bows). The PoAir and PoWater bows that dropped from raid mobs were post PoP additions, they didn't exist in PoP 1.0, the only better bow dropped in P4 PoTime.

As a result of this, you could save up and afford basically a raid quality bow. Whereas every other classes needed to raid EPs or PoTime for access to this quality of weaponry.

Furthermore, Archery calculated hate incorrectly. Archery hate was essentially 1 point of hate per arrow, or perhaps it was calculated based off arrow damage or something. Anyways, a Trueshot discing ranger would be critically for 1000 per hit and would be generating less Hate than the bards just singing songs, all the while being able to out range most AEs and require almost no buffs or other gear.

/autofire didn't exist until LoY or GoD I believe, so you still needed a stack of quarters to chain fire your bow but man it was still OP as hell.

[fadetree]

Starting in luclin with archery mastery 3 and endless quiver, bow damage eclipsed not only ranger melee damage but most other classes in general for dps.

Rangers with the relevant aa were in high demand for raids and groups in luclin and PoP. By plane of time gear, melee ratios started to catch up enough that meleeing became an option. In later expansions, archery fell back to sub par damage outside of true shot.

Prior to luclin it was pretty bad dps but did have some utility for soloing. It would allow you to damage them without them hitting you which cut down on downtime and might let you solo something that you otherwise could not.

Luclin made rangers what they should have been from the start.

I spent 3 solid months grinding AA's soloing in...er that wierd place off of Umbral with the little aliens that was mostly empty. totally worth it, I felt like a badass for the first time in EQ.

[Daldaen]

Maiden's Eye.

Excellent zone for swarm kiting the PHers to VT key shard. Useless beyond that though.

[fadetree]

Nah not that, lemme go see...Ahkeva ruins, was off of Maiden's eye, not umbral. Anyway was a great place to solo. The aliens would go 'Whickie whee!' when you hit them. Nobody was ever there.

[Fanguru]

SoL archery was ridiculous for a few reasons.



Fixed it for you. PoP archery was still awesome, but AM3 early in Luclin was god mode and was nerfed later.

[fadetree]

Anybody remember 'UZI Day', when they broke archery delay for like 8 hours? EQ/AM3 Rangers were god-like machines of destruction.

[Pan]

For damage, it never stops sucking until AA's, so that means never here. Sometimes, if you are REALLY patient, you can take down a mob with it that you couldn't otherwise. If root holds, its good for finishing things off too. It's great for pulling. That's about it.

Truth. Straight from an oldest of the oldschool Rangers of the Glade!

/salute Sunmoon