So is it STR or DEX for Archery damage? (Ranger)

[Burmecia]

There are a few different sources of conflicting information out there. Which one is it?

[kaev]

STR effect on archery damage is very similar to STR effect on melee damage. DEX seemingly has no effect on archery other than increasing crit chance.

[Jibartik]

Is increased crit chance good for ranger? or is it just fluff in eq... I would have never imagined trying to pad that stat in EQ provides any measurable difference. Does it?

[Videri]

Strength. Unless they’ve made a major change since 2016ish. See the thread by Ivory about str affects archery damage instead of dex. I think someone bug reported it too.

[Baler]

https://wiki.project1999.com/Archery
Archery damage depends on DEX the SAME way melee attack damage depends on STR. STR has no effect on archery damage. (On p99 this is currently not true. STR operates the same for archery and melee weapons.)

This is what the wiki has...
Can anyone clarify if DEX should be, being used for archery damage during the p99 timeline? And if STR is in fact being used non-classically?
OR
Is it just a rumor/myth that dex is used which lead to mass confusion and STR is in fact always been the stat that's used.

[Videri]

Search the forums for "strength dexterity archery" and this bug report thread comes up second.
Archery uses STR instead of DEX!!!! (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242638)

Did anyone but me bother to search "strength dexterity archery"?

[Baler]

Search the forums for "strength dexterity archery" and this bug report thread comes up second.
Archery uses STR instead of DEX!!!! (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242638)

Did anyone but me bother to search "strength dexterity archery"?

I'd rather be lazy and ask questions than take all that time to search the forums for useful information ;)
Also you have posts in that thread since 2016, you already knew about the keywords :P

[Nomadic Plainswalker]

STR increases bow damage. DEX increases critical hit frequency. I've tested both extensively and am convinced.

[Nomadic Plainswalker]

Is increased crit chance good for ranger? or is it just fluff in eq... I would have never imagined trying to pad that stat in EQ provides any measurable difference. Does it?

It's not as good as it sounds as crit hits are often below an average arrows dmg. You would think that a critiical hit would ALWAYS be at the upper end of the damage range, or even exceed it, but it is not so.

[kaev]

My green ranger did most of 42 - 50 solo, and most of his damage output was by bow. Haste matters a lot, STR matters some, increased crit chance from DEX matters little. The Runed Oak Bow (21/43) was noticeably better than Raincaller (20/45, +6str, +6dex) over the time it took to chain kill mobs with 2.5k and 3.5k hp (SGs and NRo Freeport Militia, respectively). The occasional quality STR buff from a Shaman or Druid also had a noticeable effect over time. The occasional Augmentation + C from a passing Enchanter was huge.