How are bows in NE?

[jasta85]

how are bows (regular bows not crossbows) in NE.  I only tried bows a little bit in native and stopped after a while due to everyone that I was fighting carrying shields, and in the swirling melee of major battles I usually ended up killing a couple a couple of my own soldiers (bad for moral).

I want to try going back to bows as I've tried just about everything else except quarter staves (someone tell me what it's like to use those).  I even tried just using daggers, which were actually very good 1V1 with a decent shield but a nightmare when fighting more then one (especially sieges).

With the new armor that's out and the proposed changes to armor coming out, how good are bows?  And how do you stay effective in joined battles when soldiers are jostling all over the place?  Even when I did kill the occasional soldier here and there I don't see how they can stand up to using a jeweled sword and just slaughtering 1 soldier with each swing.

 

[Zephilinox]

how are bows (regular bows not crossbows) in NE.  I only tried bows a little bit in native and stopped after a while due to everyone that I was fighting carrying shields, and in the swirling melee of major battles I usually ended up killing a couple a couple of my own soldiers (bad for moral).

I want to try going back to bows as I've tried just about everything else except quarter staves (someone tell me what it's like to use those).  I even tried just using daggers, which were actually very good 1V1 with a decent shield but a nightmare when fighting more then one (especially sieges).

With the new armor that's out and the proposed changes to armor coming out, how good are bows?  And how do you stay effective in joined battles when soldiers are jostling all over the place?  Even when I did kill the occasional soldier here and there I don't see how they can stand up to using a jeweled sword and just slaughtering 1 soldier with each swing.

if you get an accurate bow (80+) and good arrows (the best are ivory) you can quickly take down half a dozen low armour troops, such as most archers, you will need good horse archery skills if you wish to be accurate on horse, though, and power draw helps quite a bit in taking out troops with medium armour, you should also try aiming for horses as they are a big target, and cavalry is a huge threat to any army. it's also very good at backshooting fleeing enemies.

 

[soulmata]

how are bows (regular bows not crossbows) in NE.  I only tried bows a little bit in native and stopped after a while due to everyone that I was fighting carrying shields, and in the swirling melee of major battles I usually ended up killing a couple a couple of my own soldiers (bad for moral).

I want to try going back to bows as I've tried just about everything else except quarter staves (someone tell me what it's like to use those).  I even tried just using daggers, which were actually very good 1V1 with a decent shield but a nightmare when fighting more then one (especially sieges).

With the new armor that's out and the proposed changes to armor coming out, how good are bows?  And how do you stay effective in joined battles when soldiers are jostling all over the place?  Even when I did kill the occasional soldier here and there I don't see how they can stand up to using a jeweled sword and just slaughtering 1 soldier with each swing.

Bows in NE are generally more powerful than their native counterparts. There are also more high-class bows available, and more powerful ranged weapons. As of the latest beta, all missile weapons have been through a rebalance - and along with the armor upgrades, you'll find that missile weapons are very effective, if you're willing to invest in the skill to use them.

I always found that mass herds of arbalestiers/ivory sentinels was just about the best siege force, capable of slaughtering most defenses or most small to mid size armies before they ever reached you.

Definitely give the beta a try - I'd love to hear your thoughts on bow performance, but make sure you take the time to actually experiment with the higher class bows. Take a look at the public item spreadsheet to see where bows lie: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtQHmEa--keBdDM3MU1nODdzVkN1SnFnRjlXTmpKRlE&hl=en_US#gid=7

Also note the last stage of the item rebalance will be one-handed melee weapons, the only category left to do - and just like other items, they'll be made to conform.

I *believe* bows, with the rebalance, and decent skill, should match up well against all light to medium armored foes, and be effective against heavily armored goes, but be much less effective against soldiers with the heaviest armors and/or large shields.

 

[jasta85]

thanks for the replies.  I'll try again, the other issue I remember having was it was a pain trying to skill up archery, especially when you start out.  The targetting reticle is huge so targets are hard to hit unless they are really up close (in which case they are probably beating on you).  Even worse if they have shields.  It just seemed more efficient to take a two handed weapon or sword and board.  By the way, what's a good backup weapon to take as an archer?  A good two hander?

I do know archers are very effecive, I love veigar ivory bowmen and khergit troops as a whole.  It's just very hard to get an archer leveled and skilled up as opposed to a melee weapon, espcially if I decide to do mounted archery as I need both power draw and mounted archery to keep my aim straight.

Anyway, i'll give it a try.  any other advice on archery in general will be appreciated.

 

[Zephilinox]

thanks for the replies.  I'll try again, the other issue I remember having was it was a pain trying to skill up archery, especially when you start out.  The targetting reticle is huge so targets are hard to hit unless they are really up close (in which case they are probably beating on you).  Even worse if they have shields.  It just seemed more efficient to take a two handed weapon or sword and board.  By the way, what's a good backup weapon to take as an archer?  A good two hander?

I do know archers are very effecive, I love veigar ivory bowmen and khergit troops as a whole.  It's just very hard to get an archer leveled and skilled up as opposed to a melee weapon, espcially if I decide to do mounted archery as I need both power draw and mounted archery to keep my aim straight.

Anyway, i'll give it a try.  any other advice on archery in general will be appreciated.

I may be wrong but I don't think power draw affects accuracy, archery profficiency does, personally I use a 2H sword a bow and 2 quivers, simply due to sieges, my personal favourite is one of the yew bows, 100 accuracy, 90 speed and 12 damage, along with the jeweled sword and ivory arrows.

 

[jasta85]

The manual says that if you only meet the minimum power draw requirement of a bow then you will have lower accuracy than if you exceed the power draw requirement.  In other words if you have 5 power draw and have a bow with 5 power draw and a bow with 3 power draw, the 5 power draw bow will be more powerful but less accurate than the 3 power draw bow.

 

[Pellagus]

Any points you can stick into archery and power draw will help, but it is a slow learning process.

This was done in Native Warband partly to try and balance issues in the original Mount & Blade. Many players found it too easy to become a ****-hot horse archer for what seemed like little effort. You could roll up on your charger in full plate armour and gauntlets, loose off thirty arrows into the approaching force from your longbow, then ride off into the sunset like some sort of medieval Robocop.

 

[Lord Samuel]

(...)
You could roll up on your charger in full plate armour and gauntlets, loose off thirty arrows into the approaching force from your longbow, then ride off into the sunset like some sort of medieval Robocop.

I kinda like that picture. 

 

[cardgame]

Many players found it too easy to become a ****-hot horse archer for what seemed like little effort.

Do you mean hot ****, or is this a special phrase of yours? 

 

[Pellagus]

I mean what I said.

I wouldn't want to meet a hot **** archer, that sounds like a really crappy job.

 

[SAAj]

I mean what I said.

I wouldn't want to meet a hot **** archer, that sounds like a really crappy job.

It's a thankless job, but those diseases aren't going to spread themselves.

 

[Ballacraine]

Would it be possible to have longbowmen, possibly only at elite level, able to deploy stakes as a defence against cavalry?

Balla. 

 

[soulmata]

Would it be possible to have longbowmen, possibly only at elite level, able to deploy stakes as a defence against cavalry?

Balla. 

I doubt it, but I will be looking into bringing back / fixing the spear wall system.

 

[Ballacraine]

Well, that would certainly be an improvement, especially if the archers could be ordered to skirmish rather than get involved in melee.

Balla. 

 

[danthegreat]

Ivory bow is badass along with ivory arrows its a bit slow to reload but it 1 shots most enemies including heavy elites and as long as you are patient you will be fine.

 

[Expressen]

I don't understand how i should be able to get my hands on a ivory bow..

 

[vasul]

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