Guild Wars 2

Is it just me or does it feel that the numbers on long bow in terms of damage seem a little bit off ? If i compare it to the short bow, the short bow feels a lot more .. responsive and useful in terms of damage and utility.

Im still leveling and im around level 40, but even an inferiour short bow (stats/damage) seems to perform better than a long bow, even tho i like the skillset the long bow provides more.

I am confused :s ….

Yes, I noticed the same thing.

I went and shot at the training dummies in Lion’s Arch for a bit with same level short and longbow (both green, bot having same Power/Precision). I was level 36 or so at that time. (Was a few days ago)

Shortbow autoshot fired ever 0.5 seconds for 40 damage. Longbow Rapidfire shot 10 arrows in 5 seconds for 400 total damage.
So the autoshot does the same damage as the style, but doesn’t go on Cooldown AND usually adds a bleed which puts it ahead.
Longbow autoshot does more damage per hit, but it’s a lot slower, firing only every 1.3 seconds (23 shots in 30 seconds). Only when in the largest range (1000-1200) is its dps comparable to the shortbow autoshot. If you’re closer, you’re doing less. If you’re below 500 then you’re doing only about 50% damage compared to shortbow

Aside from the damage, they both have their advantages:
Longbow on the other hand has the AOE, which is unmatched by shortbow. Shortbow has a snare which is good in pvp I guess, but longbow has the knockback. The vulnerability the longbow can inflict is also nice.

Longbow at maximum range using rapid fire and barrage on cooldown can barely outdamage shortbow autoattacking from the front (so no bleed), but in other scenarios the shortbow easily wins.

Shotbow does much more damage, also with the crits chance to bleed it does even more than longbow because it crits more often. I use shortbow in both pve and pvp. For pve i use shortbow/longbow so i can do the aoe, i should probably just switch to shortbow ,axe/horn though.

I do take longbow for aoe in WvW where the weapon really does its best.

Longbow comes into its own once you’ve got the Eagle Eye trait – the extra distance makes sniping well worth it.

I have noticed that quite often you can hit targets despite the red bar under the skill showing. You just have to learn to judge the distance yourself because the UI doesn’t quite work it out correctly.

I’m lv65 and currently running Longbow/Shortbow and the combo seems to work great for me, as you can get a lot of damage on an enemy whilst they close you, then use the no4 push back skill, swap to shortbow and use the cripple and jump back to maintain mobility.

im a longbow ranger..and for all the people that said that longbow is weak its wrong..i just manage to find a way to decrease its weakness by a little tweak and its work really well..believe me..its never fail me..

Longbow is garbage is any form of PvP. The missile speed is too low, the damage is too weak, and you can’t apply any useful conditions other than vulnerability. SB>LB in every case. I would even argue that i can defend a tower wall better with a SB than a longbow because of the CC that longbow lacks. The aoe is easily avoided, takes too long to cast, and leaves you stationary for 2.75 seconds. However, if you play PvE, the SB is still better, but not by nearly as much.

I’ve played over 100 matches of sPvP as Ranger, played a great deal of WvWvW, and have been level 80 for some time. I’ve tried countless builds and find the LB the worst weapon available for the ranger for PvP. It is to the point of not needing a buff, but a total rework. Even with the recent SB nerf, it trumps LB every time.

This is my build with the longbow its use full for pve and for those who like the longbow,i finally manage to tweak a way to use the longbow to its full potential..the reason i choose the spider pet because of their immobilizing skill that is keep me save..and don’t forget to lay down traps before start of the fight..lay down the spike trap first before the frost trap because of its cool down..for those who is believe that short bow is the best weapon for the ranger..think again..enjoy my build..i hope u like it..for those who is a fan of the longbow weapon..i never switch weapon during battle because longbow is enough..unless i want to run against the group event monster..http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMEQNBjODbEpKuOvSzC1OAsesXfAyeYojP+K0aJX6J

Chrizasura.3172:

This is my build with the longbow its use full for pve and for those who like the longbow,i finally manage to tweak a way to use the longbow to its full potential..the reason i choose the spider pet because of their immobilizing skill that is keep me save..and don’t forget to lay down traps before start of the fight..lay down the spike trap first before the frost trap because of its cool down..for those who is believe that short bow is the best weapon for the ranger..think again..enjoy my build..i hope u like it..for those who is a fan of the longbow weapon..i never switch weapon during battle because longbow is enough..unless i want to run against the group event monster..http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMEQNBjODbEpKuOvSzC1OAsesXfAyeYojP+K0aJX6J

I’m sorry but there are severe flaws in your build. First, you choose Sharpening Stone (and Sharpened Edges trait) as a utility but deal no condition damage. Second, you have no stun breaker or condition remover. Third, you get grandmaster marksmanship but don’t use Signet of the Beastmaster. Forth, you use entangle (terrible in Dungeons and PvP). And I could keep going on and on.

If you want some advice (in traits), replace Trapper’s Expertise with Quick Draw in Marksmanship. Replace Steady Focus for Signet Mastery. Replace Malicious Training for Signet of the Beastmaster. (In Skills) Replace Spike trap with Quickening Zephyr. Replace Sharpening Stone with Signet of Stone (6 seconds of invulnerability), Signet of the Wild (Stability + Damage buff), or Signet of Renewal (Condition removal and stun breaker). Keep entangle if you want for leveling. You will notice much more useful skills and a strong dps increase while maintaining traps, longbow, and current pets.

@Indoles
Good advice!

@Chrizasura
I would also suggest replacing Heal as One with Healing Spring, but this is more of a play style thing ….

tq for your advice i will try soon…keep up the good work..

Entangle is awesome in PvP against most classes, especially those without a reliable way to remove immobilize.

I agree with most of the rest of what Indoles said for PvE though.

nldixon.8514:

Entangle is awesome in PvP against most classes, especially those without a reliable way to remove immobilize.

I agree with most of the rest of what Indoles said for PvE though.

My suggestion was fairly specific for PvE. I would never PvP with that build. Entangle is only good against people w/o stun breakers, and those people aren’t any good in the first place. Whenever I get entangled in sPvP I laugh, and proceed to destroy the ranger knowing that they just wasted their elite. I’m not knocking what you said, but I think every profession has the ability to cure immobilize by teleport or utility skill usage and all good players use these spells.

Indoles.1467:

nldixon.8514:

Entangle is awesome in PvP against most classes, especially those without a reliable way to remove immobilize.

I agree with most of the rest of what Indoles said for PvE though.

My suggestion was fairly specific for PvE. I would never PvP with that build. Entangle is only good against people w/o stun breakers, and those people aren’t any good in the first place. Whenever I get entangled in sPvP I laugh, and proceed to destroy the ranger knowing that they just wasted their elite. I’m not knocking what you said, but I think every profession has the ability to cure immobilize by teleport or utility skill usage and all good players use these spells.

Stun breakers won’t break Entangle. They either have to have a way to remove the immobilize or a condition removal and pray it gets rid of Entangle and not something else.

It’s also bugged and you can get trapped facing the wrong direction to attack the binding roots meaning you have to eat the full 10 second duration of the immobilize if you don’t have a way to remove it.

Entangle is way good.