Favorite Bow

[Malo]

Just wondering what everyones bow of choice is, and why? I have been using a Massive Bow of Swiftness for a long time now and I just ran across an Eaglehorn. I like the stat boost, and not having to fix it all the time, but I'm not sure if I can get used to the slowness of it. I really wish I could get my hands on a Windforce to try out, I think the knockback effect would definatly be a nice feature against blood knights and the like.

[Yogi_Baar]

I've only been able to find a Vicious/Swiftness LWB, but I've had it for a long time and with plenty hidden shrines that got the durability to 160, I don't have to go to town for repairs during a H/H clear. It's definitely my favorite bow.

Windforce IMHO gets really annoying really fast. While it may be fun against melee opponents (especially for (ARC)s), using it against ranged ones (especially mages) will quite possibly drive you mad.

[Hammerskjold]

>I have been using a Massive Bow of Swiftness for a long time now and I just ran across an Eaglehorn. I like the stat boost, and not having to fix it all the time, but I'm not sure if I can get used to the slowness of it.

It just seems slow. Especially if you compare it to any bow that has a "Of Swiftness". But it's fast enough, it's certainly enough to put any advocate type monsters in stunlock. If you have enough stun damage at least.

>I think the knockback effect would definatly be a nice feature against blood knights and the like.

This seems to inspire a lot of love\hate response. So I'll try to be impartial to the best of my abilities. (Knockback!!! W000!)

Knockbacks bows are great when:

- You have sufficient to-hit, but don't have enough stun damage with a bow.

- Used against King Leoric.

- Used against Diablo.

Not so great when:

- Used in multiplayer. Knockback doesn't work vs Players. And it can screw up your team mates playing style if they're not used to it. (Ie: "Why did you knocked back my target?")

- You've reached minimum stun damage. Most players prefer having the target stay put in stunlock than knocked around.

>Just wondering what everyones bow of choice is, and why?

For D1 classic, a Red LWB of Plenty for my Low AC Rogue. I like the name, and I like the look. A Strange LWB of Thunder for my no-magic Warrior. Same reason as previous.

[NiteFox]

Just wondering what everyones bow of choice is, and why?

My Rogue would give up her left leg if it meant keeping her precious bows. Two LWBs, a Meteoric/Heavens and a Crystal/Heavens.

The C/H was present pretty much between the clvls of 16-25 and has seen extensive use. It saved her life countless time, and though it is essentially reduntant now (Gotter nulls the Crystal pref) she still keeps it, because to do otherwise means parting with an essential part of that character's history. Besides, the character that found it (My semi-retired warrior) bust a gut scrounging the cash for it.

And now her present bow: The M/H. There are harder-hitting bows, and there are faster bows, but this is her bow and she loves it.

[diablo1ks]

Just wondering what everyones bow of choice is, and why? I have been using a Massive Bow of Swiftness for a long time now and I just ran across an Eaglehorn. I like the stat boost, and not having to fix it all the time, but I'm not sure if I can get used to the slowness of it. I really wish I could get my hands on a Windforce to try out, I think the knockback effect would definatly be a nice feature against blood knights and the like.

I have always like the eaglehorn but since reading http://www.claudiospage.com/ i was put off a bit. I'm no expert but i would rather have a Massive Bow of Swiftness than any bow.

May i just add (I strongly dislike windforce !)

[diablo1ks]

Just wondering what everyones bow of choice is, and why? I have been using a Massive Bow of Swiftness for a long time now and I just ran across an Eaglehorn. I like the stat boost, and not having to fix it all the time, but I'm not sure if I can get used to the slowness of it. I really wish I could get my hands on a Windforce to try out, I think the knockback effect would definatly be a nice feature against blood knights and the like.

I don't know why but http://www.claudiospage.com/ really dislikes eaglehorn, there is even a whole page of the con's of the eaglehorn.

I'm no expert but in my opinion Massive Bow of Swiftness is much better than windforce (or maybe i just really dislike windforce !)

[Yogi_Baar]

It just seems slow.  Especially if you compare it to any bow that has a "Of Swiftness".  But it's fast enough, it's certainly enough to put any advocate type monsters in stunlock.  If you have enough stun damage at least. 

I was always under the impression that a swift bow was necessary to keep advocate types in stunlock. :huh:

[Moldran]

I was always under the impression that a swift bow was necessary to keep advocate types in stunlock. 

No, a plain bow is sufficient. A Rogue is as fast with a plain bow as a Warrior is with a Speed/Haste sword.

Moldran

[Meshuggah]

I don't play rogues much, but fav-bows are emerald/heavens, jade/swiftness, and eaglehorn for LoL

[Elite]

Well as a result of cth added to a bow will make no different for a rogue. My favorite is the Massive Swiftness. An emerald Heavens would be the close second.

My absolute favorite bow would be the deadly killer (Did I get the name right?), however, with it being bugged and all, I'd find it useless.

[Az3ar]

Mine is Eaglehorn, very solid bonuses, I like it whith a high/maxed dex Rogue...

Windforce is another choise but I have yet to find one myself, so I'll stay whith Eaglehorn.

Deadly hunter could make a great choice but unfortunately it has a bug whith its damage vs. demons, dont know if it's fixed.......

As for bows, I would go for enything that increases damage, as the only archers I have are Rogues and they have killer dex, so to-hit isnt a problem.

I also saw a bow, it I dont remember the exact pefix and suffix but it was a damage adder in both of them, great for giving Diablo a beating........... :P

[Zenda]

Hello Malo,

In Diablo, a high speed bow and sufficient damage ensure you can hold (nearly) any opponent stunlocked until it dies. From that point of view, there can be no doubt: massive/swiftness is the best there is.

Still, I always preferred Windforce, for several reasons. First of all, I liked to use unique items. Secondly, I was, and perhaps still am, a lousy rogue player who needed the knockback to stay alive. Overcoming the awkward effect was a lesser challenge as certain monsters posed. Another reason was that a bear bow offered some mob control, eliminating the need to hit-and-run for each large group. Apart from all that, I didn't mind it was one of the highest damage bows around, and pretty easy to find.

Since long, I no longer look upon the bear effect as awkward. It turned out to be a versatile tool, which allowed for new tricks and tactics to explore. And once you got used to it, that 'knocking around' wasn't making things harder at all. I realized you no longer needed to kill the monsters immediately, as long as you had their walking path covered (with ranged attackers, you retreat a little to get them walking first, ofcourse). Yes, you do have to apply some skills for it to work, but most do not really differ from the basic skills for 'normal' archery you can find described on the better Diablo sites (like using shift, lining up and shooting along walls).

I'm not saying Windforce is better against certain opponents. A massive/swiftness bow can take out any single target faster. In fact, I'll admit that one type of monster can turn knockback into a nightmare: chargers. If they are not dead by the time they are pushed to more then 4 tiles range, they will charge you. And charging monsters are immune to everything. Monsters who don't follow, like mages, can be a little tougher then average. However, once you have them lined up and facing you, its usually over for them, the only drawback remaining that they might die far away against some wall.

In coop, knockback is just what you want it to be: hated or helpful. Shooting at monsters when they are about to be hit by your warrior partner, is seldom welcomed. Not unlike with fireballs, for that matter. But you can also use it to keep others from being overwhelmed, or to stall monsters so that others can have their share in the kill.

With Windy and some practice, you can control a large group of attackers almost as easily as one or two. That is where its strength lies: not in killing monsters, but in controlling them. And if you think such can be more fun then being the fastest killer, Windforce will surely be your favorite bow.

[--Pete]

Hi,

My "big" rogue used Windy for a large part of her career. The knock back was never a handicap and often a bonus. And the damage didn't hurt (or at least it didn't hurt me :) ).

The one thing I'd disagree with is using the shift key. For best effect, target the mob and learn about how many hits it takes to kill. That way you can "follow" targets better. The shift key seems to slow down the ability to get on target.

As to co-oping with Windy, yes it can be a pain for the partners. But only if it is in the hands of some ham fisted player. A good co-op partner can actually use Windy to help his melee partner with "crowd control". For instance, a warrior facing a large number of melee mobs can get next to the wall. Two mobs can then attack him from the "front". A rogue with Windy can easily keep the other mobs back by targeting the third one out (and those further out). The warrior's prey is never hit, just the "leakage from around the edges.

I quit using Windy just to get a feel for other bows. But, actually, any bow will do. Diablo is pretty hard when first learning the game, then it gets way too easy unless one intentionally takes on challenges. With any middlin' powerful bow, a clvl 35+ rogue is just too boring to play except as a social event ;)

--Pete

[Hammerskjold]

>Deadly hunter could make a great choice but unfortunately it has a bug whith its damage vs. demons, dont know if it's fixed...

Afaik, it was never fixed in any official version. The closest working thing to a DHunter imo, would be the Hellfire unique bow, "Gnatsting".

[Jane]

I have to agree that I did not like the knockback too much, although my rogue used windforce for a long time.
If anyone wants to give windy a try, you can always use one of mine. I have a few to spare lol.

I recently had a try with eaglhorn too, but I'm not tempted to give up my favourit bow yet.

I love the swiftness bows, but unlike most of you, i go for resistances in bows instead of extra damage.
Call me crazy but I like to see max on all my resistances. Until I find an +all res amu of dex or a +all res ring that beats the suffixes I have now, I will continue to use my amber (composite) bow of swiftness.

[Walkiry]

My favourite bow is the good ol' vanilla bow of nothing. It does the job just fine with a high-dex Rogue and doesn't take inventory space to carry over to the next game ;)

[Cytrex]

Obsidian/Heavens(I only wish I ever found an Emerald one) for High AC rogues and Massice/Swiftness for Low AC since I get the resists from my armor in that case.

[Moldran]

In Diablo, a high speed bow and sufficient damage ensure you can hold (nearly) any opponent stunlocked until it dies. From that point of view, there can be no doubt: massive/swiftness is the best there is.

Hmmm. There is no monster you can stunlock with a swiftness bow that you cannot also stunlock with a non-swiftness bow, I think. With swiftness, you can sometimes stunlock 2 monsters at a time, but these occasions are rare.
High-end +damage bows of the heavens probably deal more damage/time, so they are "better" than massive/swiftness. The main advantage of swiftness IMO is the coolness factor :)

Moldran

[Fragbait]

www.claudiospage.com

EDIT: search under:

Diablo 1

Information

Bow Comparison.

Voilâ.

[SteinHerz]

I have 15 CD MP Chars, which would include my primary über Characters, Storage Characters and Variants. Only one of them is a Rogue.

I haven't really experienced with this class nor have I enjoyed the so-called-versatility.

My Rogue did a 3@30 with good Low AC setup, because I was trying to learn something. Well, I guess I learned a lot. Died many times, bow damage was useless to stun critters and I had to SC 90% of them. Game was technically fun afterall.

Then I fully twinked her with an easier High AC setup. CC isn't my melee option at the moment because I might still have to buy ~100 DEX elixirs and the damage won't be that great whatsoever until clvl ~35.

Less DEX would grant less Damage. The current bow I am using is a Ruthless/Heavens +15 SWB, whose dream-setup equivalent would have been Savage/Heavens LWB ( because of higher average damage ).

Well, the damage so far didn't attract me at all. Perhaps due to low DEX, but I've calculated even with maxed and nice +All and +Str the damage won't be very satisfactory to me ( I'm used to bonecrushing Warrior's and Sorcerer's damage ).

So, I guess I will stick with a +Damage%/+Stats. After clvl 40+, a Resist Bow on some mixed levels perhaps. With my LAR 3@30, I've realized bows "Of Swiftness" fits best to this playing style.

EDIT: Minor sentence corrections