Guild Wars 2

I already have a lvl 80 Guardian and a lvl 64 Engineer but I decided to reroll a Ranger (lvl14 at the moment)

I wanted to focus on the Longbow because it looks awesome and in my opinion is the right weapon for the ranger.
Sadly I discovered that the Longbow can’t get near as much damage output as the Shortbow even if I always try to attack from maximum range.

Are there any plans on fixing the signature weapon for the Ranger or should I reroll a warrior while still at low level?

In my opinion, the regular attack damage on the bow is lowish / situational because the barrage ability puts out a huge amount of damage, even on a single target. I find it an ideal weapon to have on switch for dynamic events, because of this and the easy to use utility skills.

But yeah, from my experience in raw 1v1 damage the shortbow outclasses it by far.

another thing to note is the scrolling combat text and the combat log text do not match up for rapid fire , since mobs don’t have health bars its hard to tell which ones pulling the right numbers .
there’s a big difference between hitting for 2000 damage (scrolling text ) and 200 damage ( combat log )

I hate the longbow and believe me i tried but i cant use it, i tried using longbow in PvE since bleed max stack is 25 and during huge boss fight your damage will suffer but i couldn’t. SB is faster and does more damage, have more abilities, mobility i just love it more. Now that i am 80 i am shortbow/ axe horn

I personally have a level 35 Ranger and use the Longbow as my main, secondary I change all the time.

I love a Longbow, Ill be honest with you, Shortbow is pretty good as it is a lot faster but the Slot skills it provides are lackluster compared to the Longbow which has incredibly strong, powerful and strategic weapon skills. To each their own but in a PVE setting, Longbow is superior because of the distance and the Weapon skills are far superior in a PVE setting. Also, Slotting the correct Utility skills make Longbow a deadly weapon from any range, Not only that but slotting, Ex: Sharpening stone, A trap, Blessing of Lyssa.

If you slot those with a Longbow, Remember, thats only an example. You can place the trap near the enemy, then run back a bit and Barrage right at the edge of the Circle, So that when the enemy starts running at you, The Barrage covers a better area and the trap will do its job once the enemy runs into it.

Most enemies dont even get to me with a longbow, Even without resorting to Traps.

BUT of course, to each their own, Shortbow is great for PVP, just because the Weapon slot skills are more suited for that kind of an enviroment. But with the right utility skill mix, Both Bows are seriously damaging.

Hope it helped.

I have been using the longbow in wvwvw (lvl 35 atm) and have been slaughtering people with it.
The vulnerability is amazing, especially if you have a group with you. The range is great. Rapid Fire obliterates people. Lastly, the gtaoe is ridiculous in keep defenses and zerg fights.

It has problems once people get on top of you, but thats when its time to swap weapons and get the F out of there. I’ve found that the longbow is amazing if you are not being targeted, but is sub-par if you have to constantly evade and kite.

The biggest problem the Longbow is facing is the #1 ability – it fires way too slow and does sub par damage, even at max range. #2,3,4,5 are all great abilities and I wouldn’t change them.

I was just thinking of a great way to change the #1 ability – being able to control the rate of fire by holding down the button for max damage (charging the ability and releasing at max charge).

Would love it if the “1” of longbow got some love. Currently run a longbow/greatsword build, and longbow is amazing for story missions/dynamic events but the autofire is pretty much useless to me.

To add another suggestion/fix:
Allow piercing to negate the distance damage debuff.

Longbow is a phenomenal weapon with 4 excellent skills and 1 completely naff skill that is, unfortunately, the auto attack, which leads to a lot of people losing their minds and pronouncing that Shortbow is OMGBBQ by comparison, as if all anyone ever did was sit around auto attacking from the flank. Realistically, with cooldown reduction, you will spend very little time auto-attacking with your longbow anyway.

I will say it’s primarily a PvE/WvWvW weapon though, that’s where it’s easiest to mitigate its weaknesses and capitalize on its strengths.

Toranova- The rapid fire skill splash numbers on the screen are a running total of the skill. i.e. it hits for 200 six times, would be 200/400/600/800/1000/1200.

Longbow autoattack skill (1) needs a base attack speed increase. With this, it would be much, much more viable. Currently it’s lackluster overall when compared to other weapon options.

orci.5019:

Longbow autoattack skill (1) needs a base attack speed increase. With this, it would be much, much more viable. Currently it’s lackluster overall when compared to other weapon options.

Pretty much sums it up there.

Shortbow from the front (no bleeding damage) kills a target faster than the longbow at max distance. (tested in sPvP on golems) That’s just sad…

Agreed here. I want to like the Longbow, and I do like #2-5, but #1 kills it for me. I still run SBow/LBow, but I only swap to LBow either as an opener or finisher, using #3 followed by #2, then switching ASAP.

shortbow/ axe horn here as well – longbow #1 skill does too little damage the other skills are great

Long/short here…I swap to shortbow whenever 2-5 are on cooldown.

Or when I feel like running around and making stuff bleed.

I’m at lvl 80 and my auto attack with long bow crits for 2.6k…. I think it’s pretty good…

Zethgryn.3507:

I’m at lvl 80 and my auto attack with long bow crits for 2.6k…. I think it’s pretty good…

It’s the attack speed that hinders the longbow #1, not the damage.

Yeah, but because it does so much damage, that speed has to be there, if you could one two three like the greatsword, or shoot like 3 times in 1second like shortbow, and retain that damage from 1200+ range, it would be borked. That’s the trade off.

The longbow deals way more damage then the shortbow

At max range, my auto attack crits for 3k easy with my gear
Am 80 btw

The the longbow should be played is to swap to the longbow>deliver all Cd’s>swap back to axe/horn or shortbow or whatever you use.

To be 100% longbow you gotta be 100% at max range.

Trust me, when you see a 3k hit from the Longshot you will say:
Wow, what was that.

And Hunter Shot>Rapid Fire
Omfg, so much damage

Lets not forget about Point Black Shot
There he goes ;D
Try it with piercing Arrows, i love it in pve

And Barrage is great to cover positions both in sPvP, WvWvW and PvE

Just big sky thinking here but might there be another aspect of the Longbow that could help shine skill #1 aside from damage/speed?

If the LB is meant to be a “heavier caliber” so to speak (flies farther, hits harder) – what about something like a decent chance for a tiny knockback or a momentary cripple that would give a smart Ranger a little better ability to keep distant targets at a distance? (or at least slow the rate at which a distant target can close the gap…)

Graevarg.4871:

Just big sky thinking here but might there be another aspect of the Longbow that could help shine skill #1 aside from damage/speed?

If the LB is meant to be a “heavier caliber” so to speak (flies farther, hits harder) – what about something like a decent chance for a tiny knockback or a momentary cripple that would give a smart Ranger a little better ability to keep distant targets at a distance? (or at least slow the rate at which a distant target can close the gap…)

That tiny chance is way to RNG based to be part of gw2

A skill chain for the Longbow like this would be more skillfull:

Long shot- like we have it now

Power shot- a long shot with only the last 2 range damage where the third damage requires less range

Melandru’s Shot- Deal the third damage without range requirement and IF hits a moving target, that target gets Knock Back

This would make the longbow much more

PS: i used GW1 skills names

Just building on some of the ideas here – adding secondary effects to Long Shot would be awesome:

Max Range Long Shot – Cripple the target
Mid Range Long Shot – Add a stack of vulnerability
Close Range Long Shot – Knock back?

Lothair.8942:

Just building on some of the ideas here – adding secondary effects to Long Shot would be awesome:

Max Range Long Shot – Cripple the target
Mid Range Long Shot – Add a stack of vulnerability
Close Range Long Shot – Knock back?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Skill-chain-for-Bows-skill-1-ranger-thief-warrior-wise-Suggetion

Post it here or make a new one at this topic

Thats also a great idea, but would fit more, max range shot to add vulnerability and mid range to add cripple

I really want to like the longbow but it just feels so weak compared to the shortbow. It should shine in long-range fights, but until you get to 80 and spec marksmanship the range is the same as the shortbow (I believe) and the auto-attack fires agonisingly slowly. Also in WvW the arrows travel so slowly that only 1 in 5 shots actually hit moving enemies and you can only get a few shots off before they move out of range. Obviously the 2-5 skill slots are very useful (love barrage) but the auto-attack is terrible and puts me off using the longbow apart from in static scenarios like keep defence where the relatively large damage-on-hit is quite effective at discouraging people from lingering near the walls.

Shortbow attack speed is just too much for longbow to overcome (shortbow regular attack is basically rapid fire on longbow). In addition, longbow requires range to have maximum effectiveness. Unfortunately, if you want raw damage, shortbow is going to win 90% of the situation. However, barrage and skill 3 are very powerful tools, and makes longbow a very good weapons when you are in a group (dungeons, large DE, WvW).

Thanks Addy , didn’t realize it was adding it up , that makes a big difference.
As for my long bow i usually have quickening zephyr on my utility’s , speeds up the cool down’s and attack speed briefly which makes the auto attack viable while skill 2 and 3 are cooling down

i really dont see how ppl say longbow dont have mobility, the only skill i have to stop to cast is #5, the others i can just shoot and walk.
my #1 skill is criting for 2k on 80 dungeon mobs with avarage hit 700-1k. and if you increase your longbow range you`ll have 500m range window to get your max hit instead 200 only. making your live way easier.
my #2 skill last hit is hitting for over 15k and the sum of all i think it reach arround 30k dmg EVERY 8s -.-
and come on, #3 is just what ranger needs.
i do use short bow as my second weapon for multiple close combat mobs and when my longbow skills are recharging. AND COME ON you only need to wait what? 6s to swap weapons? i never realized cause i just do my rotation and i can always swap back and do the other rotation just fine, gaing swiftness too.
the #1 skill on shortbow is indeed awesome specially if your pet can hold the mob and i can slow the mob and to a lil step back with #3.
so for me longbow/shortbow ftw
the only exotic thing i have is my bow, my set is just a zerk rare and i think my dmg is juuuuust fine.

Lothair.8942:

Just building on some of the ideas here – adding secondary effects to Long Shot would be awesome:

Max Range Long Shot – Cripple the target

I asked for this also during the beta. It makes perfect sense that LB should have another cripple aside from barrage. If you require the ranger to be at max range to get optimal damage, then you should give them the means to take subsequent shots.

Currently, the target can just walk away or towards you and they’ll be out of that killzone, and there’s no guarantee that when you hit someone at max range that attack will actually crit. So basically you only have one moment in time to crit which is why crit builds are kind of pointless.

None of the pets have CC that’ll work at 1500 range either and the trait to cripple only works at 25% hp with a cool down. I don’t see why the ranger shouldn’t get a chance on cripple on skill 1 when the rifle can bleed and cripple.

The Longbow is just fine, but I also use the shortbow so switch between the two of them constantly, using all of the skills needed to keep the target at bay, so to kill it before it reaches me.

Mobility with the LB seems fine to me too, Ashe.

Ah… if the Long Bow could go back to being what it was like in BWE1.. sigh

Toranova.2560:

another thing to note is the scrolling combat text and the combat log text do not match up for rapid fire , since mobs don’t have health bars its hard to tell which ones pulling the right numbers .
there’s a big difference between hitting for 2000 damage (scrolling text ) and 200 damage ( combat log )

The way rapid fire works is it shows you total damage done with the numbers on screen and the combat log shows you individual damage hits.

So, a bit too many post to read through. So my two cents …

The filler attack should cast about 10-15% faster, or alternativly do something interesting like ignited arrows in GW1. Speaking of, maybe just add Utility preparation skills? That could be even better, due to the lack of decent utility choices on LB. I usually just take traps to offset the alt set of axe/horn.