Guild Wars 2

I really would like to use the longbow (new build, perhaps )but no matter how I put the numbers together or read what others say about the LB I simply end up staying with the short bow after all. I read that even with a non-condition build, SB deals more dmg than LB.

So, I really would like to hear from those who use LB as main weapon on this matter. Only pve, dungeon and www oriented!

- What made you choose LB instead of SB?
- How do you use it?
- Do get more dmg compared to SB when traited with longer range/ 5% more dmg?
- Is it only a www preferred bow?
- If you are a prec/crit dmg build, what would be the best option (LB / SB)?

I think I’m kind of looking for a salesman to “sell” me the LB :-) Because I feel really comfy with my SB and can’t leave my home without it!

i use LB in wvw for its synergy with pet (im 30 in BM as well) and huge long range burst. with you pet and piercing arrows u can stack 20 vuln on multiple targets which is huge for my cat’s dps and my group. i use SB in spvp and am a huge fan of it, but LB outperforms it in every wvw situation.

i find piercing arrows + LB + QZ disgusting. if youre good at lining up your shots, u knockback or burst down multiple targets.

SB remains the superior condition/close quarters weapon. in wvw, u dont have the luxury to stack conditions and most engagements occur in open areas.

Yea I use the longbow and shortbow as my primary weapons switch between the two. I run all dungeons and for me personally LB is viable but definitely needs some fixes. The shortbow is more of a close range kiting weapon and I use it specifically for that. LB I use when I have a team that can draw and contain aggro so I hit from long range and have like 1400 crits i’m nowhere near close with that on my shortbow. Barrage + Rapid Fire (QZ) really stacks on damage fast. Dungeons like SE require situations like that (SE path 1 and 2) where while the shortbow gives bleeds the LB just hits much harder especially at range. TA also comes to mind where I can sit back and hit targets while my team holds aggro. Again it all comes down to situational issues there is weapon switching for a reason and I get fury + swiftness + might on switch so no reason for me not to switch between both. LB though does need either a shorter cast time or some fix to make it more viable overall (I posted a suggestion). But to those who say LB isn’t viable at all in the game are wrong. Although in PvP i prefer shortbow and only use LB for the rapid fire + QZ.

LB/SB here and though not optimal it works if that’s the playstyle you want to pursue

I like the look of the longbow a lot more then the shortbow, that’s why I use it.

The only restriction that the longbow has is the #1 skill, which is why I would never use the longbow without the trait Quick Draw (skills recharge 20% faster). If all my longbow skills are recharging and I’m forced to auto-attack, I usually switch to greatsword to avoid the longbow #1 skill. Besides that I have three different quickness sources; Quickening Zephyr, Zephyr’s Speed (trait), and Rage (sigil), that each help get the most dps out of the longbow.

I haven’t made a longbow vs. shortbow test. I kill things fast enough with the set up I use, that’s all I need to know. Whether or not I could do it 0.234 seconds faster with a shortbow, I don’t really care to know.

I’m not sure why some people say the longbow is an WvW exclusive weapon. I think people tend to forget that it’s only the #1 longbow skill that’s restricted by range. All other skills deal the same amount of damage regardless of range.

I would never pick a shortbow for a critical build, simply because it has horrible direct damage. I mean, the last three shortbow skills only deal 85 base damage each..

A lot of people seem to hate the longbow but I think it is a great weapon at least in WvW. The 1500 range is awesome and makes more of a difference than it would seem.

One of my favorite things to do is put a hasted Barrage on someone that was downed when people are coming to res them. I am built pure glass cannon so each hit of the barrage can do 1000-1500 damage…with 12 possible hits the damage adds up fast. Plus you can line up so your rapid fire hits multiple people with the piercing trait pretty easily when they are trying to res…plus this can happen while the barrage hits are still occuring. It is pretty common for me to down a couple other people using this method once 1 person goes down. Your pet swap is always available when barrage is off cooldown so you always have a 2 second haste available to do this trick.

The main weakness of the bow is the auto-attack doing poor damage when people are close. But none of the other skills are effected by range…so they still do their full normal damage. Rapid fire does nearly identical damage to the shortbow auto attack and more if you lead with hunter’s shot first.

The knockback is a pretty nice oh kitten button too if a thief pops out right next to you so you can create some seperation.

Yea, I really want to like the longbow, but there are only two situations where I use it:

1) WvW

2) Sometimes I use it as a secondary weapon in dungeons when I run a shortbow build since the knockback and AoE come in handy.

I would never give up my longbow. I do all forms of gameplay (mostly WvW) and I use longbow/greatsword.

I think piercing arrows is a must if you are using longbow. Longbow has low dps because of auto attack, but you shouldn’t be using auto attack on longbow. Switch to your other weapon if you find yourself doing this.

Longbow is a good defensive/offensive weapon. I am talking mostly about point blank shot and barrage. Use the knockback to stop an ally from being stomped or when chasing down an enemy to knock them on their butt.

Use barrage to slow an incoming enemy force or to stop an enemy from running away.

It is a great weapon!

I used to run with SB and Axe/Horn build before it was nerfed or “fixed” as some would put it. After many hours of WvW and currently 9k+ kills under my belt this is why i ditched my SB and went LB/GS.

The SB for the most part forced me to get to close to enemies and be singled out easily, when there is a Warrior next to you or a Guardian enemies tend to go for the ranger first (especially thiefs and dagger ele’s). With the LB I have a great view of the fight and a good distance to decide my next move and I’m usually to far away that I only expect one arrogant enemy to stereotype me and try to sneak up on me, but I’m already waiting to switch to my GS.

In wvw I use my LB to AoE siege on keeps, and you WILL always be attacking a tower or a keep so being able to play a big role is awesome. I always run with my LB especially to get the first few hits in, but I use my GS to do the main fighting and switch back to LB to kill anyone trying to escape.

For PVE, I actually use the same build and it still works very nice. I just try to remember to keep my distance and then I burst in with my GS and QZ and deal a good chunk of dmg then I retreat and back to my LB. You’d be surprised how many people close in on enemies in PVE with their LB and don’t take advantage of the distance you can have.

As for condition ranger build I advice againts it unless your doing spvp. I won’t elaborate on that too much unless you want me to when I get home.

And for berzerk gear personally I’d use LB, you’d be to squishy that if your SB fails to do the job you are probably about to die lol. Before using my current build I was desperately trying to replace the SB/QZ combo and in that I found out that LB/QZ with skill number 2 can actually sum1 with medium/light gear just in that one go, and if you fail to kill, then you still have enough distance to run away.

I run into mostly SB rangers in WvW and they are always an easy kill compared to my LB, and when I do face a smart LB ranger, they keep their distance and decide if to engage fully or retreat.

I’m at work so thats all I can gather atm but I’m thinking of posting a LB video soon just not sure if the interest is there yet lol.

I had a nice long answer and I got logged out, so gotta retype this…

I’m a glass cannon build and I use both Short Bow and Longbow. For the record, I have no other weapons on my toon, I don’t like melee combat, I like archery. I have two sets of armor, glass cannon armor set, and magic find armor set.

I prefer the longbow over the short bow with the exception of the autoattack. the #1 skill on the longbow is just horrible, it feels like it’s got the longest delay then any other weapon in the game. This is the reason why I carry the shortbow, to be my #1 ability weapon. I use all abilities, #2-#5 on my longbow, they are all great and useful, on my short bow I only use autoattack #1. Depending on the situation, I will use shortbow #3-#5 in unison with the longbow (3 for the dodge/evade, and 4&5 to help me slow down the runner’s so I can use longbow #4 ability on them to knock them to the ground). But to this day in WvW I haven’t been able to win a fight using only longbow or using only Short Bow. I’ve needed both in order to win the fight. Maybe I’m just a bad player or something I don’t know.

And for farming in PvE, you can’t say no to the area effect of the longbow, it is very handy.

I use Longbow for PVE/Dungeons and WvW. I don’t SPVP, but if I did, I wouldn’t use Longbow. I use it simply because I find it more aesthetically pleasing than a Shortbow.

In addition, I feel like I actively use my Longbow skills as opposed to Shortbow (where I let my auto attack do all of the work). Shortbow has too much CC on it for my tastes, I hate how all of it’s damage mainly comes from auto attacking. It offers me boring game play. In PVP though, this is different.

I use LB since I do mainly WvW and I use it hands down because its the most distinct advantage a Ranger can have in such wide open places. Using a Heavy Glass DPS build I find myself pinging people off from ranges they can’t even hit me from for 2.5k crits and squishy people 3-4k. and just pelting them and watching chunks of their hp go down. Rather gratifying but also very helpful to my zerg or team or guild for that matter to be able to zone out people using barrage and slowly ping people off.

Now for general PVE….I would maybe lean towards SB as A.I mobs tend to simply run up to you and hug you like your grandma so its hard to get any distance between you and them to even reasonably use your LB. In those cases SB or even our more versatile weapons like s/d or something would be more effective. Dungeons….you can get away with LB more since you got people tanking for you so you can focus on dps and healing springs to support your team.

Overall it depends on the situation, but personally for WvW and specing to have 1,500 Range and a nasty LB crit attack…its definately viable. Just remember positioning is everything…don’t run around solo…don’t charge into groups….find spots you can allow yourself to still get away from and just play smart:)

LB is only weapon I use, sword and horn if really needed, bad dbs. As mentioned in up, some make 1200-1500dmg at max range, I get avarage off 1500dmg on closerange and high as 5800dmg, so why not spam #1 it’s best dmg y got! Whit max range off 1500 I hit opponent whit two arrows and downed, didin’t even see me comeing Hope I hit 6000 crit today, backitem upgrade will give me 119 crit dmg

Best hits sofar:

1. rabid fire: 18.200dmg hope to hit 20.000 after upgrade
2. barrage: 2000-2500/hit x10 that’s allready 20.000dmg total

SB rpm is double or so compared to LB, sb hit about 200-300 on #1 when crit and my LB will hit 1500 when crit at close range (my cc=65%) (attack=over 3500)
Someone calculate how mutch faster I kill y and if y run away…

Haakkelberg.2460:

LB is only weapon I use, sword and horn if really needed, bad dbs. As mentioned in up, some make 1200-1500dmg at max range, I get avarage off 1500dmg on closerange and high as 5800dmg, so why not spam #1 it’s best dmg y got! Whit max range off 1500 I hit opponent whit two arrows and downed, didin’t even see me comeing Hope I hit 6000 crit today, backitem upgrade will give me 119 crit dmg

Best hits sofar:

1. rabid fire: 18.200dmg hope to hit 20.000 after upgrade
2. barrage: 2000-2500/hit x10 that’s allready 20.000dmg total

SB rpm is double or so compared to LB, sb hit about 200-300 on #1 when crit and my LB will hit 1500 when crit at close range (my cc=65%) (attack=over 3500)
Someone calculate how mutch faster I kill y and if y run away…

What build and gear do you use?

I do not use LB. Bad wep IMO.

shotbow is just to little damage to slow so i never use it.
Longbow rapid fire with pet swap quickness or zephyr. Same for barrage. Knockback always useful.
With longbow rapid fire shooting in a 2 sec span i scare them off coz i do to much damage to quick. With shortbow i never ever scare them coz the damage is to slow.

Sb is nice if you enjoy long fights. LB is nice if you want your oponent to be quickly dealth with.

I hardly ever use lb autofire coz its just to slow, plus i’d need to take more distance while i prefer being reasonably close to throw my splitblade in their face, even though at a good distance ive seen shots of critting for 3k, usually 1.5k though.
I only use lb for rapid fire, barrage and knockback combined with petswapping quickness, fury from weapon swap, and zephyr. Then switch back again to my axe/horn.

Long bow +tanky pets is always a good option!

awe extender.1908:

Haakkelberg.2460:

LB is only weapon I use, sword and horn if really needed, bad dbs. As mentioned in up, some make 1200-1500dmg at max range, I get avarage off 1500dmg on closerange and high as 5800dmg, so why not spam #1 it’s best dmg y got! Whit max range off 1500 I hit opponent whit two arrows and downed, didin’t even see me comeing Hope I hit 6000 crit today, backitem upgrade will give me 119 crit dmg

Best hits sofar:

1. rabid fire: 18.200dmg hope to hit 20.000 after upgrade
2. barrage: 2000-2500/hit x10 that’s allready 20.000dmg total

SB rpm is double or so compared to LB, sb hit about 200-300 on #1 when crit and my LB will hit 1500 when crit at close range (my cc=65%) (attack=over 3500)
Someone calculate how mutch faster I kill y and if y run away…

What build and gear do you use?

umm, yea, I second that, what armor/weapons/runes are you using? If your not exaggerating Then I wanna be like Haakkelberg! (doesn’t have the same ring as I wanna be like mike…or am I showing my age again? Dohhhh!)

Main issue with LB in wpvp is dodges. If they dodge during your rapid fire, you lose a ton of dps. Same if you are forced to dodge while using it.

There is just too many drop offs of dps with LB in wpvp. Things are too fluid

Im not the biggest fan of its slow speed I respect its damage tho….. Besided even with QZ if they dodge during rapid fire your damage is hobbled

SB for me.

SB also works great for the people running from me love it.

LB in WvWvW is nice for long range static affairs like keeps and taking keeps… However for the PvP aspect of wvwvw, then the short bow or axe/horn combo or GS or Sw/something or really about anything else work better.

Gelltor.3015:

Long bow +tanky pets is always a good option!

or u can just use a jaguar and do 20k burst with cat, LB and QZ.

Longbow #1 firing speed is faulty and needs to be fixed. That’s 80% of the problem with it.

In a group, the best thing with longbow (imho) is #3 – Hunter’s Shot. 10 stacks of vulnerability = 10% more incoming damage to the mob from the entire group.
This skill alone blows the shortbow out of the water when it comes to total dps for your group.
With Sigil of Peril and the Quick Draw trait, you can almost keep it up nonstop. There’s no way the shortbow can make up for that in a group scenario, unless you have other classes stack vulnerability.

The only reason I use longbow……

Pure sheer stubbornness.

I don’t use a longbow because it stinks. Greatsword and axes are not only much more viable, but also much more fun to use.

I use LB exclusively, outside of spvp, which I don’t really do anyway cuz it sucks.
I like the look and feel of the LB more. Plus I like bigger damage numbers. Taking fewer shots to get the same damage is always a plus in my books.

I never really tried SB in end game and I don’t really care if it does out damages the LB over time because LB is more bursty. Burst is what wins PVPs generally. It’s way more threatening to take 4.5k off with one hit than it is having to fire 4 to 5 shots off to achieve the same thing because you’re giving your target more chances to mitigate the damage.

I run axe/horn in slot 2. Once I’ve stacked bloodlust fully, I switch to sword/horn.

Akisame.9508:

awe extender.1908:

Haakkelberg.2460:

LB is only weapon I use, sword and horn if really needed, bad dbs. As mentioned in up, some make 1200-1500dmg at max range, I get avarage off 1500dmg on closerange and high as 5800dmg, so why not spam #1 it’s best dmg y got! Whit max range off 1500 I hit opponent whit two arrows and downed, didin’t even see me comeing Hope I hit 6000 crit today, backitem upgrade will give me 119 crit dmg

Best hits sofar:

1. rabid fire: 18.200dmg hope to hit 20.000 after upgrade
2. barrage: 2000-2500/hit x10 that’s allready 20.000dmg total

SB rpm is double or so compared to LB, sb hit about 200-300 on #1 when crit and my LB will hit 1500 when crit at close range (my cc=65%) (attack=over 3500)
Someone calculate how mutch faster I kill y and if y run away…

What build and gear do you use?

umm, yea, I second that, what armor/weapons/runes are you using? If your not exaggerating Then I wanna be like Haakkelberg! (doesn’t have the same ring as I wanna be like mike…or am I showing my age again? Dohhhh!)

He’s probably running full zerker gear, Divinity rune with ascended rings crystaline and RROD while using squash soup. That should get you to around 118 crit dmg.

I’m not convinced divinity is better than Scholar though. Because if you use steady weapon in the mist, Scholar out damages Divinity even without the 10% bonus.

thief runes are best actually.

nerva.7940:

thief runes are best actually.

Not for LB it ain’t.

Its my go to for zerg fighting because of the insane range. Otherwise axe horn GS for PvE, dungeons etc.

I repeat: Long Range Shot’s refire speed is faulty and needs to be fixed. That’s 80% of the problem with it.

florence.1674:

The only reason I use longbow……

Pure sheer stubbornness.

^ The most honest response so far, haha!

- What made you choose LB instead of SB?
I choose both but Long bow is good when distant if you have friend/people/team cover your place long bow is powerful weapon.

- How do you use it?
Shoot to enemy face.

- Do get more dmg compared to SB when traited with longer range/ 5% more dmg?
No but1200>1500range make more effective when in WWW.
And same answer as I say you MUST have people cover your position.

- Is it only a www preferred bow?
It just what did u prefer or pick up.
Long bow is good to make open fire on enemy or rain arrow on DEF line or cover your people when fall back or Make anoyying people on wall force them to leave from position.
Shot bow is good small talking in mid-shot range(not too close)Fast shot make condi
Stop/interrup target and spam arrow to victim untill death.Good for hunt 1by1.

- If you are a prec/crit dmg build, what would be the best option (LB / SB)?
Both and I just what u need I play condi type and can use LB/SB and I can make them good both bleeding to death.
If am pre/cri
LB QZ+rapid is make more crazy DMG in shot time ca make enemy lost20-80%HPin4sec.If u got them right.
SB Shapenting stone + cross fire oh u said Pre/cri right ok forget that
Combo with trap?MuddyT? pure shot?or QZ anything just shot.

Aridia.3042:

Akisame.9508:

awe extender.1908:

Haakkelberg.2460:

LB is only weapon I use, sword and horn if really needed, bad dbs. As mentioned in up, some make 1200-1500dmg at max range, I get avarage off 1500dmg on closerange and high as 5800dmg, so why not spam #1 it’s best dmg y got! Whit max range off 1500 I hit opponent whit two arrows and downed, didin’t even see me comeing Hope I hit 6000 crit today, backitem upgrade will give me 119 crit dmg

Best hits sofar:

1. rabid fire: 18.200dmg hope to hit 20.000 after upgrade
2. barrage: 2000-2500/hit x10 that’s allready 20.000dmg total

SB rpm is double or so compared to LB, sb hit about 200-300 on #1 when crit and my LB will hit 1500 when crit at close range (my cc=65%) (attack=over 3500)
Someone calculate how mutch faster I kill y and if y run away…

What build and gear do you use?

umm, yea, I second that, what armor/weapons/runes are you using? If your not exaggerating Then I wanna be like Haakkelberg! (doesn’t have the same ring as I wanna be like mike…or am I showing my age again? Dohhhh!)

He’s probably running full zerker gear, Divinity rune with ascended rings crystaline and RROD while using squash soup. That should get you to around 118 crit dmg.

I’m not convinced divinity is better than Scholar though. Because if you use steady weapon in the mist, Scholar out damages Divinity even without the 10% bonus.

Zerker yes, but runes gone bad, so bad stats on both off them

I feel like I’m on shrooms when using LB, the animation looks ‘to me’ like its on slowwww moootionnnnnn…….

Hate the weapon, makes me hate playing the game when I use it.

Cempa.5619:

I feel like I’m on shrooms when using LB, the animation looks ‘to me’ like its on slowwww moootionnnnnn…….

Hate the weapon, makes me hate playing the game when I use it.

You’re correct. It’s the same problem as with Thief Pistol and a few other #1 skills. There’s an animation ‘bug’ in the game causing some of these attacks to fire much more slowly than they’re supposed to.

It’s such an obvious problem and it’s so obviously the cause the of all the “xxx is weak” threads that I’m amazed more people aren’t aware of it.

awe extender.1908:

Do you use Longbow?

No.

I run with SB and LB usually, with LB being used for a quick use of QZ with #5 and #2, and usually switch to SB from there in order to start kiting a charging enemy. Rarely will I use #3, and I only seem to use #4 in W3 in order to launch people off cliffs (it’s hilarious). However if I find myself about to fight enemies that reflect projectiles, I take off the LB for a Greatsword.

Yes, Longbow is my main weapon. I use it in Dungeons/WvWvW.

Reasons why I use it :

• Even though Shortbow does more damage, I can’t stand the idea of pressing #1 all day for my main source of damage. Auto attack, auto attack, auto attack. I find it’s gameplay very boring for Dungeons.
• I prefer to see the “overall” picture with Longbow. Example, I know Shortbow will do X amount of damage in the time it takes me to finish my Rapid Fire channel, but I still find it more amusing to see 10-15k+ at the end of my Rapid Fire and 2.6-3k auto attacks.
• I love the aesthetics of a Longbow.

What I do like about Shortbow though, is how “fast” it feels. It’s so fast, that when I switch to my Longbow, I feel like a sloth. That’s the only thing I really like about Shortbow. In addition, I use my Longbow with a power/prec/crit damage build.

But yes, I know I’m “gimping” myself and Longbow needs a little bit of TLC to make it on par with Shortbow -glares at Anet-. However, I still thoroughly enjoy it.

I find the longbow is far more useful in WvW and it tends to be what I use for range unless I find my self in a lot of zerg v zerg battles in which I usually just use the axe for it’s bounces. The shortbow may do more damage to a single target but I find the utility of the longbow skills and the superior range when traited makes up for it.

Nurse.1085:

Reasons why I use it :

• Even though Shortbow does more damage, I can’t stand the idea of pressing #1 all day for my main source of damage. Auto attack, auto attack, auto attack. I find it’s gameplay very boring for Dungeons.

Huh? Both the longbow and short bow both do max damage when you just use skill 1 on autoattack. The only exception is if you’re not at max range with the longbow, in which case, it actually benefits to use rapid fire.

BUT and a huge one, is that if your target dodges or you have to dodge you lose all your dps on rapid fire .. And in pvp you dodge a ton. Or they dodge ..

Plus you are rarely at max range and in ideal range for auto attack.. Sure there are times, but a ton less chances then using Shortbow.

florence.1674:

The only reason I use longbow……

Pure sheer stubbornness.

Same reason I use it. Its problem for me is its boring really. I want a charge up skill like wintersday scout, idc if it replaces rapid fire.

Rapid fire tracks through stealth. One of the many reasons I still use longbow. Shortbow can’t do anything against stealth.

Indoles.1467:

Rapid fire tracks through stealth. One of the many reasons I still use longbow. Shortbow can’t do anything against stealth.

True, thats the only reason to use it really, or to build 10 stacks of might for pet.

Indoles.1467:

Rapid fire tracks through stealth. One of the many reasons I still use longbow. Shortbow can’t do anything against stealth.

Don’t forget Barrage when it comes to stealth. If you use quickness and then hit Barrage, followed by Rapid Fire, the Thief will be dead before the channel on his stealth skill is complete..

i have all was use the LB but all i do is wvw so i cnt say mush abort pve but in wvw the LB is the best i have not lost 1 vs 1 with it yet the dps is so gd and the ranged u can do on it its gart for towers and its gd crit damgers as well but u can spec in to it like i have so lets me do bleeding like the sortbow but its how u play at the end of the day m8

Kasama.8941:

Indoles.1467:

Rapid fire tracks through stealth. One of the many reasons I still use longbow. Shortbow can’t do anything against stealth.

Don’t forget Barrage when it comes to stealth. If you use quickness and then hit Barrage, followed by Rapid Fire, the Thief will be dead before the channel on his stealth skill is complete..

Only if he stands in it. I tend to cast barrage on myself to ward off melee attackers, either they run or they die.

I prefer Longbow playstyle over Shortbow, though I agree it needs some polishing.