Guild Wars 2

TLDR: So I field tested the longbow for 3 days straight using 2 different builds and I hate it. I seriously don’t get how this weapon is supposed to work. Maybe I’m doing it wrong. If so, please explain why I fail at longbow.

So I’m a huge fan of the rifle secondary. Used it exclusively up to 80. For the past 3 days I’ve been using the longbow instead to try and learn how to use it. Three full days of longbow usage… and I honestly hate it. It feels so weak.

The #1 ability is by far the worst ability in the warriors entire arsenal. The projectiles are as slow as kitten. The rifle auto attack by comparison can actually sustain itself DPS wise so you don’t feel like you have to swap out once you put all the skills on cooldown. Rifle auto attack also has synergy with both power/crit and condition builds. The longbows auto attack on the other hand is very bad damage period, so it doesn’t feel like you’re doing anything useful.

I don’t understand whats going on with the #2 ability. Since fire damage doesn’t tick over the targets head I can’t tell whats really going on with it. I know if you hit a target at pointblank range with it you’ll stack up to 6 seconds worth of burning instead of just 2 seconds, but my swords auto attack bleed stacking does way more damage than what this skill does for less effort. I also find it extremely counter intuitive for this ability to be even worth using, you have to be at pointblank range. Not saying I have a problem with pointblank range abilities on ranged weaponry, but every other pointblank range ability is also a CC of some sort and is designed to get you back into range (this goes for other classes as well). I’ll say it again. My swords auto attack does it better and requires way less effort. If I am not specced for condition damage, this ability is freaking useless and does pathetic damage.

The #3 ability is actually pretty sweet… if you can manage to successfully land it on a group of targets. The projectile moves so ridiculously slow that its really a bad idea to aim it at anything further away than 300 yards. Any further and the mobs will have most likely moved out of the way. The cooldown is also a big limiting factor of this ability so its not very effective for AOEing down a group of mobs. Honestly, axe skill #5, sword burst skill Flurry, and rifle traited for piercing does it better. The combo burst ability is another problem I have with this ability. If you time this ability with the Combustive Shot burst skill you can lay down Area Might, but only if you’re standing right in the middle of where the arrow explodes. Otherwise you get nothing. I don’t know if this is bugged or by design but for a ranged weapon, it doesn’t seem right to need to use everything at pointblank range to gain combo finisher boons.

The #4 ability is ok I guess. You can’t go wrong with a well timed AOE blind. However, this ability needs to do way more damage. Especially since the bow is supposed to be the AOE ranged weapon for warriors. Its damage is utterly pathetic and does even less damage than the #1 auto attack.

The #5 ability doesn’t make any sense. This is the AOE weapon. Why is this ability only single target? It does you absolutely no good to root one mob out of a group when the purpose of switching to this weapon was to hit that whole group of mobs with explody fire and burning doominess. If this ability was meant for you to kite the odd single target, then I hate to say it, but rifle #2 does it way, way better. Longbow’s auto attack simply does not have the sustain damage output to even bother trying to kite anything with it. Again, the damage is also a joke.

The burst skill actually kinda cool, but suffers from all the same problems as the #3 skill and the #2 skill combined. I have to say that I do like the combo field, but there is something wrong with it. Even though the field is showing this huge area, the actual field itself is only as big as the #3 skills targeting ring at the very center. So if you’re outside of the very center of the field, you won’t trigger any combo field finishers. Probably a bug I’m sure. Also, if you’re not condition specced, this ability is simply not worth using for its damage. I see it mainly as a combo field generator in this case.

Also, I feel naked without my rifle. Its kinda like those dreams where you suddenly realize your naked and there is this huge crowd of people around you, but up until this point it was a really good dream. So now you’re faced with the prospect of forcing yourself awake to save yourself the embarrassment, or stay in the dream knowing you’ll feel humiliated for the rest of the night.

Depends on here you use it. In PvE and dungeons, bow falls horridly short and the rifle is by far the superior weapon to use. in PvP it all depends on your style. In WvW I love it. Arcing shot is great while attacking towers and the like as it does heavy damage to anyone and anything in the AoE range. The burst skill does wonders for keeping people out of an area and making them less likely to advance. The multi-shot burn is good for shooting into crowds and I do actually bull charge some people and kill them with it as well. Immobilize is a great way to set up a combo for some real damage from better weapons, and do to the fact you are already closer range than the rifle, its an easier switch.

As for the slow movement speed of the shots, I like it. It almost forces people to dodge everything. I’m sure you know that people have limited endurance so after dodging the bow twice I’m essentially free to destroy them with the great sword.

Well I really dislike the rifle and LOVE the longbow, so I guess it just doesn’t fit with your playstyle :P

I’m still far from level 80 but I like to use it as a support weapon. Usually I use the rifle when playing solo unless it’s a mission where I have some NPC’s that can tank and hold the enemies in one location for awhile. In that case I use the bow and only use #3 and F1 abilities, switch to my greatsword and go to work from there. I definitely wouldn’t use the bow as a primary weapon, just something that’s nice to pull out for a bit of AoE damage before charging in. With the healing signet if I get damaged really bad I can get away, let my allies take some aggro and throw down some AoE while I regenerate.

arcing shot, combo with leap and whirlwind, massive deaths.

I do like longbow a lot, but mostly just because I prefer bows over rifles. I do agree the longbow should live up to the rifle, not be the same but be equally powerful at what it does. The auto attack is far too weak, or too slow, either one, though I feel a big warrior bow should be slow and very damaging, especially if you fire two arrows at once, so the extremely low damage doesn’t make sense.

At first I also didn’t like the longbow, but for me it’s really shined in dungeons. You really do some pretty good damage on groups of monsters, use the burst skill as soon as it is off cooldown and you have enough adrenaline, don’t wait to reach 3 adrenaline. And the #3 skill I use only to combo off the burst skill’s fire field, they both have around the same cooldown and I am constantly giving area might to everyone in my party and allowing them to also combo off my field, giving them fire auras, burning projectiles etc. When you take all of those into account the damage adds up quick. Even against single targets I find the longbow does more damage if you use the burst skill as soon as possible and combo off it, you should try it, you will be surprised.

The 2 major downsides of the longbow are the auto attack… but then again when you have a weapon that has the only combo field for warrior and the advantages that it brings to groups asking for a strong auto attack on top of that would be a bit unfair.

And second, although you are using a ranged weapon, to be able to efficiently use your combo field and finisher skills you will have to be somewhat close to the enemy, not right on top of them as if you were meleeing but I would say I am always at medium range from the enemy. That is where the rifle shines, survivability and range, but it doesn’t come close to the damage you will be contributing to your team from popping your combo field/finisher everywhere on the field.

I really like the longbow in WvW, for AoE and for the arching shot. It is useful for harassing keep walls, where rifle requires someone to be dumb enough to stick thier head out.

I decided to do some testing on the longbow, so I wanted to make a few clarifications.

Kravick.4906:

I don’t understand whats going on with the #2 ability. Since fire damage doesn’t tick over the targets head I can’t tell whats really going on with it. I know if you hit a target at pointblank range with it you’ll stack up to 6 seconds worth of burning instead of just 2 seconds.

The tooltip is wrong. Each arrow only causes 1 second of burning. I’ve reported it.

The #3 ability is actually pretty sweet… if you can manage to successfully land it on a group of targets. If you time this ability with the Combustive Shot burst skill you can lay down Area Might, but only if you’re standing right in the middle of where the arrow explodes.

Nope! The boon radius is slightly larger than the ability’s AoE.

Additonally, the tooltip says it inflicts 3 seconds of burning (it doesn’t). Reported that as well.

The #5 ability doesn’t make any sense. This is the AOE weapon. Why is this ability only single target?

Why does the Rifle’s #4 ability deal vulnerability when that doesn’t help with bleeds? Why is its cast time so long that it actually reduces your damage output?

It’s more an ability that helps your allies more than it helps yourself. 3 seconds of immobilize is a great incentive for your teammates. In fact, unlike the Rifle’s #4, it actually synergizes with your skillset, because you can lock down a player in your AoEs.

I tend to use the longbow as a situational weapon in WvW. It’s the only weapon warriors have that can reliably hit enemies on top of walls. It gains adrenaline very quickly because it fires two arrows at once, so you can constantly fire off your burst skill to keep the pressure up on enemies on arrow carts and oil pots. It also works with banners; a fast warrior can get 9 stacks of might out of the burst skill with a single banner.

As many PvP’ers have noted, longbow shines in PvP. In non-dungeon PvE content, longbow #5 is quite useful during those “stop mobs from stealing/doing X” dynamic events. The more you can keep the items you’re guarding close together, the better.

Having said that, though, as one who prefers hammer for close-quarters combat I’m more likely to F1 onto a mob or hammer #4 or #5 to stop it in its tracks.

Longbow is absolutely awesome and is my main toy in WvW. The damage it does in rams is just awesome.

I’d be really happy if they fixed Dual Shot to do a respectable amount of damage so that it stops being a wait for arcing shot to cooldown though…no need to buff the damage it does to rams, but seriously,hitting players for 200 to 500 at best(with both shots,not each) is a bit dissapointing.

Not to mention that it’s bugged and if you have the longbow traits,it will still not auto-attack when focusing someone between 900-1200 range.

I really like how warrior has skills that could make him/her a viable archer,but there’s still work to be done.

Nope! The boon radius is slightly larger than the ability’s AoE.

Are you sure? It happens to me on a consistent basis. Any combo finishers I use don’t trigger unless I activate them near the center of the field. If my leap doesn’t go through or land in the center I don’t get the fire aura. If I leap stops short of the center or goes through the edge, nothing. Same for my whirl combos on Axe #2 and #5.

epiphany: not all weapons are used solely for dps

shocking!!!

But seriously, longbow shines in pve dunegons for aoe and mild cc on bosses. You’re doing it wrong if you’re trying to single target dps.

Kravick.4906:

Any combo finishers I use don’t trigger unless I activate them near the center of the field.

We’re talking about two separate issues here. The first issue, which you’re talking about, is where you have to aim the finisher to get the combo. Yeah, your shot has to be firmly inside the combo field in order for the combo to trigger. Aiming the center of your #3 inside the area’s edge doesn’t count. It’s pretty frustrating.

The second issue, which I thought you were talking about, was the range for the boon. If the combo works, everyone inside and nearby the combo finisher gains 3 stacks of might. I’ve gained the might stacks while being on the outskirts of the combo field by aiming the finisher close to me. Does that clarify things?

I hope they change the abilities to match the tooltips. More burn damage will do wonders to bring the longbow on par with other weapons.

epiphany: not all weapons are used solely for dps

So then why is the longbow the only one that does this? The mace and hammer are both CC/defensive weapons, yet both still have a respectable damage output. Not as high as the axe, sword, or GS, but they both still carry their own weight damage wise. Why can’t I expect the same out of the longbow?

Don’t treat longbow like a ranged weapon. Stand inside the fire, use arcing shot at point blank range, then follow up with as many blast finishers as you have time for. You’ll stack a lot of might for yourself and anyone nearby.

I’ve been using this build over the weekend and I’m really loving it:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIAQJATSjgOJvNP2OMxBCkiqwFjiiIe1D7AH5A

This is an adrenaline management build where you are able to use both bursts back to back on cooldown. With Sigils of Battle (might on weapon swap) you are looking at 100% uptime of fury and a steady 25 stacks of might.

@kandolo

What type of armor and gems/runes are you using for that build? That actually looks rather interesting. I’d like to give it a try.

I only just started a warrior, but I love the longbow, it does exactly what I want it to do, whereas, the longbow for ranger was just plain kitten for my playstyle. The Burst-skill is just <3. When the burstskill is used up, I switch to dual swords to bash whatever is still standing..

warrior longbow is very, very weak compared to rifle. It sucks so much that it feels like im playing another class. Definitely needs a boost. The skills are slow to cast and do lousy damage

Longbow is for AoE. #2 and #3 and burst are aoe. Also its one of the few/only? ways warrior can put down a combo field. #5 is basically throw bolas which if you pvp, is very nice. The biggest problem with it imo, is that its base range is 900 whereas rifle is 1200. You have to spec a trait to get it to 1200, which sucks, because i’d rather use that trait on something else (ie cripple gets +1 sec root duration is so good for WvWvW.

Kravick:

The only weak spot I’ve ran into so far is incoming condition damage, so as long as you’ve got a lot of vitality you should be good to go. You’ll want at least one Sigil of Battle. Two is a bit overkill so I use a Sigil of Intelligence on my hammer. I’m using Dolyak runes, but Celestial seems like it could be a better fit. Focusing on condition damage could be interesting too (with 25 stacks of might you’ll probably be at the top of the condition damage list).

Think of the Longbow as a Warhorn or Shield. On its own, it’s weak and inconsequential, but paired with other weapons and traits it really shines.

You just can’t use the longbow like a ranger. Use it like a warrior. Rain fire on your enemies while charging in, switch weapons and go to town. Just make sure you have 15 points in discipline so you’ll never have to use the longbow’s terrible auto-attack.

Build adrenaline, Swap to Longbow, Blind, Burst, Blast, Swap back.

kandolo:

What stat grouping do you have on your armor/jewelry? The armor category on the build you linked doesn’t show any so I’m not sure what stats you focus on.

i used my bow since level 1 and havent removed it since,i use it for aoe damage.Burst+#3 crazy damage and aoe might.Then i switch to my GS,whirlwind into fire and hundred blades.Its actually really cool though underestimated.

Kravick.4906:

kandolo:
What stat grouping do you have on your armor/jewelry? The armor category on the build you linked doesn’t show any so I’m not sure what stats you focus on.

Linking jewelry in the build calculator breaks the link on the forums because it adds a semicolon.

Because bursts restore energy, if you love dodging between interrupts you could forego defensive stats. I’ll probably wind up going all celestial as this build really is a jack of all trades and has a solid crit base with fury up.

It also depends on your playstyle. You really only need the 30 points in Discipline. You can also go support by swapping out the stomp with a banner (also comes with a blast finisher when summoned and on its #5) and going full tactics with banner regen. Then you’d want some healing stats. You can actually push out a lot more blasts & might with a banner than you can with stomp… but stomp is a lot more fun.

I only use it for events with a lot of people. With axes or greatsword, by the time I get close enough to use an AOE, they are usually dead.

i only use LB in dungeons or group events where AoE is needed. Otherwise, i agree with you. Seems weak compared to other weapons. It’s broken too, as the weapon skills don’t really do what the tooltips suggest (an idication that the LB was probably once pretty powerful, but has since had the nerf bat applied to it many times over by the devs).

I was going to offer up a few ideas, but kandolo has done a nice job so far. It’s very much a weapon you use to compliment your own abilities (either blasting for Might or using the Axe’s whirl-forever ability on top of a group), not as a self-sustaining form of damage.

I have a question, which stats are desired for a longbow? Beserkers? Knights? Is the Condition damage worth it?

I think it comes to what your full other weapon set it. Rifle gives bleeding which is the same as swords. Rifle and sword build just stacks bleeding on bleeding. I recently moved to longbow and sword/shield, now I have bleeding and burning. I can give myself an AoE flame field and then switch to swords and then savage leap into it giving myself a flame shield.

Basically the combo abilities I can do with a longbow and sword make it work. Considered on its own, rifle just rocks. It’s really situational: If you are assuming a back line roll because you have too many guardians around longbow is my choice. If I am on a big Champion fight I’d rather have a rifle. If I am in a Zerg I’d rather have the longbow so I can get AoE damage in and try to tag more than one monster. In the end I’ll carry both, if I’m heading in to a large event or a Champion I’ll probably switch to the Rifle. For standard adventuring the longbow gives me more options.

Also to note. The warrior’s only combo field is combustive shot (fire) . This requires Longbow. So, if you plan on starting any combos, you need to use longbow.

For me rifle is far superior in every facet of the game, bar some WvW sieges

kandolo.2574:

Kravick.4906:

kandolo:
What stat grouping do you have on your armor/jewelry? The armor category on the build you linked doesn’t show any so I’m not sure what stats you focus on.

Linking jewelry in the build calculator breaks the link on the forums because it adds a semicolon.

Because bursts restore energy, if you love dodging between interrupts you could forego defensive stats. I’ll probably wind up going all celestial as this build really is a jack of all trades and has a solid crit base with fury up.

It also depends on your playstyle. You really only need the 30 points in Discipline. You can also go support by swapping out the stomp with a banner (also comes with a blast finisher when summoned and on its #5) and going full tactics with banner regen. Then you’d want some healing stats. You can actually push out a lot more blasts & might with a banner than you can with stomp… but stomp is a lot more fun.

So what do you use then? Berserker’s? Knight’s?

I want to use a longbow so badly, but it just let’s me down. Having less range and no knock-back vs the rifle is a bad start.

I like the longbow just because I enjoy the weapon itself more than as opposed to how it works in the game. I don’t really understand why anet decided to make the bow shoot its arrows so slow without dragging out a much more fitting animation. The #3 skill would need much more arc to make sense going so ridiculously slow, and the autoattack at longer ranges has the arrows flying way too slow. As if there is no power behind the shot and can be swatted away like they are pesky flies that are annoying you. Hell, if there was a catch action, I’m sure you could just catch the arrows mid air.

IMO: speed up the animations, add more arc if necessary to drag it out a little, and keep the damage as is. Having firing arrows out of a bow requires force. If force isn’t put into your shots, nothing will come of it. Make the weapon seem powerful, dont just give it crap animations and put huge aoe numbers on the screen.

I’ve been playing with this weapon in WvW more and it’s growing on me. I’ve found the key to using this is to have signet of rage but don’t use it.

Your power from this weapon is going to come from dropping burst→arcing arrow (3) → multi burning shot (2) on a group of unsuspecting opponents.

Keeping signet of rage off cooldown allows you to quickly build back up adrenaline to do the combo again.

The range talent is also almost mandatory for use in WvW. The damage talent, however seems somewhat lackluster.

I find longbow’s quite effective, anyway I beat all those veteran mobs and skill challenges with longbow.

1. You don’t have to specifically trait the longbow, because it’s skills are very strong.

All I do is spread burst skill + #3 you will see mobs die instantly with blast. #2 is just for adrenalin building. #4 & #5 pretty good in 1v1 situation.

Longbow has its uses, and I run with it quite often in WvW. I still think it could use a little work. I’d like to see auto-attack projectile speed increased, thus increasing DPS as well. Adrenaline gain should remain the same, so it would have to be lowered slightly on a per-shot basis to make up for the increased attack speed. That’s one of the things that makes Longbow good after all, frequent use of Combustive Shot. Keeps defenders away from the walls or harasses gate-crashers in sieges.

It’s definitely easier to get a kill with a rifle (a single target at a time), but I’m sure that’s the point. Longbow could use some buffs not to make it on par with rifle’s killing power, but simply to make it a little more competitive while still counting everything else it brings to the table.

So, increase #1 and #3 projectile speed to improve DPS, maintain quick adrenaline gain for frequent Combustive Shot and I think that would make longbow fairly competitive but sufficiently differentiated. (lolz big wordz so I must know what I’m talking about)

The rifle is next to worthless in PvE, if you’re actually trying to be efficient about it.

The bow is basically an AoE machine, although you need the right build for it. Basically, you need to focus on keeping your adrenaline up, all the time. Either by traiting for it or using signets, etc. Combustive is the only combo field a warrior can make. F1+#3. Get used to that.

Also, it’s a longbow only in the sense that it has range if you need it. The damage doesn’t drop if you get close. You’ll want to use it at somewhat close ranges. Wrangle up about five enemies, strafe in a circle, firing, in your own combustive shot, firing that #3 skill, then switch to a melee weapon to finish them all off at once. #5 can be cute for trapping a veteran or some other pest in your AoE.

It’s a very good weapon for tagging enemies and wearing down very large groups. Your rifle can’t do anything to save you in a situation where you’re fighting fifteen enemies at once. The bow will, and it’s your only other ranged option. The rifle is mainly just there for bosses, or for when you’re sick of the bow (and I get sick of it pretty often).

Warriors don’t really have much diversity since our weapons don’t do too many cute tricks. Just damage with a couple conditions. Hence why you see so many greatsword+bow Warriors in PvE. It’s just the most efficient setup.

[edit]: HOWEVER. …The bow is probably still the Warrior’s worst weapon. The main problem is the speed of the projectiles, although you can remedy that by going “melee” with it. It’d be interesting if some aspect of it changed based on your range. Like you get more power at long ranges but your projectiles speed up a lot more at short ranges.

The bow is fabulous for the PvE dynamic events. It tags EVERYTHING for you to get xp off of and loot, no matter how many people are there.

Other than that it is pretty crappy.

Key to using the bow in PvE is to not use it at range, I actually go with a tanky build using the trait that allows you build adrenaline off of hits as well as signet of rage. The bow is customized for the F1 skill, the auto attack adds two ticks at a time, the #2 shot 3 ticks and up. The smoke field, again lots of adrenaline.

That combo field is great combine with three and when you shoot it at close range, the slow projectory speeds won’t matter. You can chew up groups of mobs rather quickly 8+ at a time dropping fields.

With the regenerating signet you can also kite til the cows come home without worry. Again tankish build, not a whole lot of dps but it takes a lot of kitten before I start worrying and thinking of an exit plan.

I used to run rifle/bow when I started, I ultimately wound up dropping the rifle because of how linear it was as a weapon. Currently am running with a hammer secondary, but I may switch to sword/x. Above posts mentioning a leeping jump of doom and it sounds fun. May grab the horn to further improve my support role I favor.

But that is just me.

I use longbow and axe/warhorn. Have 30 points traited in discipline.

Longbow Burst, #3, #2, #4. Swap, Axe Burst, #2. Auto attack till adrenaline is back or if I have to wait for swap cooldown.

Does really good damage IMO. But yeah…auto attack on bow sucks.

IMO if you are going to use the longbow as your ranged weap then you really should have an axe as your offhand for your alternate set for the whirl combo. The aoe damage will rival the GS but in a much larger area. For mainhand i suggest sword for the mobility and leap combo. Spec is variable but you need to generate adrenaline quickly and reduced weapon swap time can be important. IMO the bow alone is weak but pairing with an axe OH makes you an AoE beast.

I’ve finally figured out the longbow. My god, this weapon is insanely powerful. While the auto attack is absolute garbage, the burst is simply amazing. Thanks for your help everyone. Its probably best to think of longbows as a melee weapon that has a ranged root than to think of it as a ranged weapon.

@kandolo

Thanks for linking me that build. I used to think hammers were weak as well, but combining it with longbow = mass AOE devastation once you figure out the skill rotation. Now that I have also learned how to use hammer skills effectively on their own, I kinda think of the hammer as borderline OP in some situations. Hammers are slow, but they hit like a Mack truck. I think the highest auto attack crit I’ve seen so far was around 4k.

Now I hate greatswords and I think that weapon is crap.