I used Cumaeth, which you get ~level 65 in Mirkwood from an epic quest. Even when I hit 75, I used that for quite some time, until a kinnie made me an Ornate Great River Bow of Precision.
By far indeed--I agree. In fact, it should be mandatory for all DPS Champions, and I sigh every time I see a Champion with good gear otherwise who don't equip it.
The most depressing thing is seeing champs with Drakesplitter or something. Throwing out a lower level bow with good stats for a shiny teal lvl 75 bow with zero useful stats? Yuck.
But yeah, the Precision bow is boss. I use Cumaeth for tanking though.
Historically the crossbow was the weapon of amateurs. Trained warriors actually complained the crossbow was unsportsmanlike because "any peasant can be trained to use one in a few days, or use one very well in a few weeks...
The longbow took years to master, and constant training to keep the skill up. Hence the mandatory monthly "yeoman's bow" practice on the village green... In the hands of an expert the longbow could do marvels a crossbow couldn't...
So what is the logic that champions, who put most of their practice into melee weapons, would carry the LONGBOW instead of the crossbow as a ranged weapon? I have appealed this to the Mods so many times since Beta I almost gave up... it was with no little surprise I finally got an answer a few months ago or so...
It went something like;
"Our research indicates you are correct, BUT there are so many champions who have chosen specific longbows for specific traits, if after some future update none of them could equip their longbow... let's just say it wouldn't be one of our most popular updates... We cannot simply exchange the skill & existing Champion crossbows for long bows, because the bows were intentionally developed for different attributes, and making all bows the same effect means the difference becomes just art. We looked at it seriously for the Champion update and it cannot be done."
We SHOULD be crossbows, not longbows... but it's not going to change soon.
Historically the crossbow was the weapon of amateurs. Trained warriors actually complained the crossbow was unsportsmanlike because "any peasant can be trained to use one in a few days, or use one very well in a few weeks...
The longbow took years to master, and constant training to keep the skill up. Hence the mandatory monthly "yeoman's bow" practice on the village green... In the hands of an expert the longbow could do marvels a crossbow couldn't...
So what is the logic that champions, who put most of their practice into melee weapons, would carry the LONGBOW instead of the crossbow as a ranged weapon? I have appealed this to the Mods so many times since Beta I almost gave up... it was with no little surprise I finally got an answer a few months ago or so...
It went something like;
"Our research indicates you are correct, BUT there are so many champions who have chosen specific longbows for specific traits, if after some future update none of them could equip their longbow... let's just say it wouldn't be one of our most popular updates... We cannot simply exchange the skill & existing Champion crossbows for long bows, because the bows were intentionally developed for different attributes, and making all bows the same effect means the difference becomes just art. We looked at it seriously for the Champion update and it cannot be done."
We SHOULD be crossbows, not longbows... but it's not going to change soon.
Swandiver of Gladden
I have to disagree. Champing is more often than not dealing as much dmg in as little time as possible. Now, a crossbow can be devastating and penetrate a suit of armor with ease. It is, however, really slow to reload and if you're in the middle of a fight there's no chance whatsoever to reload a crossbow unless you stay at a distance (which any self respecting champ wouldn't do). Using longbows, while still cimbersome, allows us to get the occasional ranged attack in as well. Now something that COULD be done to add some realism would be to add horseback bows for melee classes instead of the longbow.
We cannot simply exchange the skill & existing Champion crossbows for long bows, because the bows were intentionally developed for different attributes, and making all bows the same effect means the difference becomes just art.
Which leads me to wonder when their ethos changed considering the stat differences between:
I have been wanting to find a good bow myself. However my level is far to low for any of those options. I keep running across bows that have stats obviously geared towards Hunters. So any good suggestion for level 45 or less?
I have been wanting to find a good bow myself. However my level is far to low for any of those options. I keep running across bows that have stats obviously geared towards Hunters. So any good suggestion for level 45 or less?
Don't get hung up about a bow at that level. If you find something with mitigations or crit on it, use that. You are really only use it to pull stuff and will out level the bow too quickly to focus on maximizing stats.
[QUOTE=Thorcar;6281832]Don't get hung up about a bow at that level. If you find something with mitigations or crit on it, use that. You are really only use it to pull stuff and will out level the bow too quickly to focus on maximizing stats.
Yeah at the moment I am mainly focusing on Questing in Forochel/Angmar. I just find it frustrating that almost every bow I have been running across recently is clearly for Hunters. Btw this is my current bow. http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Weapon:Cuneldor
Yeah at the moment I am mainly focusing on Questing in Forochel/Angmar. I just find it frustrating that almost every bow I have been running across recently is clearly for Hunters. Btw this is my current bow. http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Weapon:Cuneldor
Well, what did you expect? After all the Champ is not a bow centric class at all (as is the Hunter). I'm just glad they at least gave us something wortwhile at end level.
It's my opinion that bows are VERY situation specific for Champs. I'd suggest a solid 4-6 bows that could be argued to be "best" given a specific situation.
The OGRB of Precision is pretty solid for everyday use though...
Second Marshal Luc Brandenbuck ~Battlemaster~
Stalker's Enemy*Reaver's Enemy*Blackarrow's Enemy*Warleader-Foe*Weaver's Enemy*Defiler-Foe Champion:'The only thing our opponents can do that we care about is die.'-Graalx2
This doesn't help your DPS nearly as much as the Ornate Great River Bow of Precision, as the latter has crit (which is huge for your DPS, more than the same amount of mastery would be) AND physical mastery.
This doesn't help your DPS nearly as much as the Ornate Great River Bow of Precision, as the latter has crit (which is huge for your DPS, more than the same amount of mastery would be) AND physical mastery.
Without a doubt. I would never use it over the Ornate Great River Bow of Precision. I would even prefer the clicky of +90 morale over the +90 power on Cuithil.
@Spare_the_Rod: as you get higher, be sure to do the Epic Book epilogue quest at the Haunted Inn in Mirkwood. You can get arguably the best bow for champ tanking, Cumaeth.
I felt that this thread was worth a bump in the wake of Rohan.
I levelled from Mirkwood to Rohan pretty quickly and never upgraded my bow from Cúmaeth. Now that I'm trying to get a good endgame setup in preparation for the new instance cluster I was wondering what would currently be the best bow for champs.
For me the bow's dps doesn't seem all that important - we do better damage up close and personal - and I've only ever used it really to pull mobs. With that in mind, it is the stats that come with the bow that I feel are the most important and also the reason I haven't been in a hurry to replace my current bow (-10% induction, +Crit etc).
But if our target is too far away to hit him by throwing our twohander at it, and we're feeling lazy, it is not below us to do a little pew pew. Two can play that game.
Using the Piercing Bow of Éomer those little pew pews still go for up to 1,4k. But above all: you get those nice physical mastery and critical bonusses. Those are the one you want for your DW/2H DPS and that makes this the best DPS bow - not the damage the bow itself is capable of.
But if our target is too far away to hit him by throwing our twohander at it, and we're feeling lazy, it is not below us to do a little pew pew. Two can play that game.
Using the Piercing Bow of Éomer those little pew pews still go for up to 1,4k. But above all: you get those nice physical mastery and critical bonusses. Those are the one you want for your DW/2H DPS and that makes this the best DPS bow - not the damage the bow itself is capable of.
I carry a couple throwing axes for pulls that I can't avoid.
The axes are a decent enough way to level weaponsmiths before they can crit.
If you cannot get close to the target for whatever reason, a bow's DPS is still considerable. Just using auto-attacks and Let Fly, I can sustain somewhere around 500-600 DPS on a target. The physical mastery and crit on bows these days are also pretty substantial so the only reason you wouldn't use a bow would be if you're so heavy into RP that you'd willingly gimp your character's potential.