Newbie Iksar SK

[Jimjam]

Bows do let you sling an arrow, then run round a corner or out of spell range before the target (spell caster) has a chance to begin casting on you. That said, I do find a bow to be a bit of a waste of a slot on a tank; generally I'd rather have the runed bone fork or the frosty book thing from ToFS.

The snare trick is great, I often use it on my ranger (obviously I have to zone or camp out and relog instead of FD), but the fact that I am willing to double zone/log to use snare split shows how awesome it is.

One note though; if you use a low enough % snare, the mob will still very slowly walk back. You'll need to use your second tier of darkness or better for full effect.

You can get by with really crappy gear in groups, especially as an SK. A set of banded and your spells for aggro will get you to your 40s, at which point you can start looting better gear (the Jar sath stuff in Karnor's castle is fairly decent, it will carry you until you can start getting crystal chitin in Velks or Plane of Growth rots).

[skarlorn]

Originally Posted by Jimjam [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Bows do let you sling an arrow, then run round a corner or out of spell range before the target (spell caster) has a chance to begin casting on you. That said, I do find a bow to be a bit of a waste of a slot on a tank; generally I'd rather have the runed bone fork or the frosty book thing from ToFS.

I strongly disagree with this mentality. While it is true that 90% of the time it is superior to have your RNGd slot with a Stat or Resist item, having a good bow and several stacks arrows can delineate a remarkable tank from an acceptable one. Tanking is all about having a variety of tools at your disposal and the presence of mind to use them. I know this is more relevant to the warrior class, but having "instant cast" "mana-free" pulls is really useful.

It's relatively easy to get a good bow. They rot very often (Bow of Huntsman, Spectral Bow). And with one of these, particularly Bow of Huntsman, you can do impressive DPS at early levels. (Ranged weapons do not have imposed damage caps even at low levels!!!!!)

Having a good bow and stack of arrows also makes the difference whenever you have to duel someone. Too many melee think that ranged weapons are useless until they've turned into a porcupine. When I duelled Guide Llandris, my bow destroyed him from afar and he had no means of dealing damage except for GM summons.

I ALWAYS keep a bow and arrows handy. Even if it's not used most of the time, when it is used, it makes a big impact.

[Lhancelot]

Originally Posted by skarlorn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I strongly disagree with this mentality. While it is true that 90% of the time it is superior to have your RNGd slot with a Stat or Resist item, having a good bow and several stacks arrows can delineate a remarkable tank from an acceptable one. Tanking is all about having a variety of tools at your disposal and the presence of mind to use them. I know this is more relevant to the warrior class, but having "instant cast" "mana-free" pulls is really useful.

It's relatively easy to get a good bow. They rot very often (Bow of Huntsman, Spectral Bow). And with one of these, particularly Bow of Huntsman, you can do impressive DPS at early levels. (Ranged weapons do not have imposed damage caps even at low levels!!!!!)

Having a good bow and stack of arrows also makes the difference whenever you have to duel someone. Too many melee think that ranged weapons are useless until they've turned into a porcupine. When I duelled Guide Llandris, my bow destroyed him from afar and he had no means of dealing damage except for GM summons.

I ALWAYS keep a bow and arrows handy. Even if it's not used most of the time, when it is used, it makes a big impact.

Skarlorn has explained why a good SK would at least have a bow at their disposal as well as an assortment of skills to use with said bow.

Sure, for typical situations you probably won't need a bow, but you never know when the time may arise when having a bow could prove useful.

I always like to have a bow on all my melee toons, because I find it fun shooting arrows when I pull. The bow is faster than spells, and looks cool firing and sounds neat too! It also saves mana.

I recall on my pally how a group marveled at my pulling prowess with a bow, even commenting on how they never seen a pally with a bow until I came along. This brought great pride to me!

Don't be a boring one dimensional SK, find yourself a bow and be all that you can be!

[Danth]

Originally Posted by Lhancelot [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Skarlorn has explained why a good SK would at least have a bow at their disposal as well as an assortment of skills to use with said bow.

No, he didn't; he explained why a good Warrior might want to carry a bow, then proceeded to name as examples two bows that Shadow Knights can't even equip.

Siphon Strength costs 5 mana and casts fast. It doesn't miss and pull targets the user doesn't intend to pull, and doesn't require ammunition that occupies valuable bag spaces. In 5 years-plus at level 60 on my Shadow Knight, I've only ever used my bow for fluff or as a joke....mostly it collects dust in the bank. By all means use a bow if you really want to use one, but if you don't you'll most probably never have reason to care.

Danth

[Snaggles]

Originally Posted by Danth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

No, he didn't; he explained why a good Warrior might want to carry a bow, then proceeded to name as examples two bows that Shadow Knights can't even equip.

Siphon Strength costs 5 mana and casts fast. It doesn't miss and pull targets the user doesn't intend to pull, and doesn't require ammunition that occupies valuable bag spaces. In 5 years-plus at level 60 on my Shadow Knight, I've only ever used my bow for fluff or as a joke....mostly it collects dust in the bank. By all means use a bow if you really want to use one, but if you don't you'll most probably never have reason to care.

Danth

This has always been my experience on live. I switched between siphon and clinging depending on if I wanted a bit of a head start. I eventually got a bow but just for stats since there were some good ones in POP.

Getting a 180+ range bow for a SK isn’t easy or cheap. With store bought arrows and a runed oak bow your spells have longer range. If you want to fletch you can make cheap 150 range ones (275 total with that bow) but that’s only like an extra 25 reach over casting.

IMHO, get a bow if you are a warrior or a ranger.

[Snaggles]

As for the other questions I’d stick in field of bone TIL like 12/13 and Kurns until stiff greens out. Then off to Oasis probably. Getting a decent 2h like a Nathsar is good til 20, then find a harder hitting one when the cap lifts at 20 and 30. The Deathbringer Rod is great and cheap as is the Jade Green Halberd. The nerfed Cos is a great tip, Invis at 20 is money.

Have fun [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Lhancelot]

Originally Posted by Danth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

No, he didn't; he explained why a good Warrior might want to carry a bow, then proceeded to name as examples two bows that Shadow Knights can't even equip.

Siphon Strength costs 5 mana and casts fast. It doesn't miss and pull targets the user doesn't intend to pull, and doesn't require ammunition that occupies valuable bag spaces. In 5 years-plus at level 60 on my Shadow Knight, I've only ever used my bow for fluff or as a joke....mostly it collects dust in the bank. By all means use a bow if you really want to use one, but if you don't you'll most probably never have reason to care.

Danth

Dude, SK can use a bow just as a warrior uses a bow. I aint an expert on the SK class, but it's fairly elementary to recognize how a bow can find use by a SK.

No one is purporting the bow is the ultimate weapon and pinnacle of the SK class, but proclaiming it completely useless is wrong.

Some people play the game differently, and all this thread does is proves that.

By all means as a SK it's fine to never use a bow, but just because you never do doesn't mean others have not found uses for a bow or enjoyed using a bow as a SK.

You sound like the same people that tell everyone you have to be an Iksar to play a necro. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Snaggles]

Originally Posted by Lhancelot [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

No one is purporting the bow is the ultimate weapon and pinnacle of the SK class, but proclaiming it completely useless is wrong.

I think the poster was honing in on the fact that two bows were mentioned that cannot be used by a SK. The cheapest “decent” bow for SK’s is the Runed Oak (like 200p) and it has 125 range so unless the OP wants to fletch it’s quite marginal as a pulling tool.

Yes though, plenty of ways to play this game. Prob the OP should focus on levels, buying spells, a decent weapon, and filling slots with budget HP gear.

[Danth]

Originally Posted by Pheer [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

pulling multiple mobs at the same time that arent close enough to/wont social agro, cast agro spell on one then immediately fire off an arrow at the other one

Thanks for responding. I figured something like that, but wanted to be sure. That's the type of use I regard as fluff: Doesn't hurt to do it this way, but isn't necessary either.

Originally Posted by Lhancelot [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I aint an expert on the SK class

This is obvious. Trying to say hybrids can use archery like Warriors can is akin to trying to tell a Druid he can melee like a Ranger because both of them can hold weapons. Take a look at hybrid skillcaps for archery and you should quickly see the difference. Archery on a hybrid gets used mostly for fluff like Pheer's post where he uses it mostly because he doesn't want to wait a second. No need to get up in arms...I ain't telling people not to use archery if they really like slinging arrows, I'm telling 'em that if they don't feel like using it they don't need to and likely won't notice the difference.

Originally Posted by Snaggles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The cheapest “decent” bow for SK’s is the Runed Oak (like 200p) and it has 125 range so unless the OP wants to fletch it’s quite marginal as a pulling tool.

I have a Bow of the Underfoot, which works well enough on the rare occasions I take it out of the bank. Can't buy it in East Commons though. I don't use the thing often enough to bother finding anything better.

Danth