Last updated 12/08/14 (DD/MM/YY)

Bow (without Twin Swords) does not clear grinding dungeons in the current content cap as quickly as other classes. I'll be writing a Bow / Twin Swords guide in around three weeks, as I'll have the time then. I'll minimize the redundancy in the new guide by excluding lower level equipment and focusing on top-tier skills, and try to provide graphs and charts if possible.

Contents

1. Why Bow? [Pros and Cons]
2. Who are you? [About Me]
3. How to Spec? [Status Point Distribution]
4. What to Choose? [Equipment]
5. Which Skills? [Skills]
6. I have questions! [FAQ]

Why Bow? [Pros and Cons]
No enemies will stand before me, for they have fallen ahead of me.
Swift to dispatch even the toughest enemies before they even have a chance at attacking, Bows are the safest of all weapons. Yet, their strength is also their downfall. Most Archers find themselves in the predicament of wittling away at a large group of enemies levels ahead of them while their durability depletes and eventually runs out. Don't be fooled, Bows can deal with packs of enemies, just not as effectively as most other weapons.

Pros wrote:

• Whopping 14+ meters of range
• Able to tackle most dungeons at lower levels than other weapons
• Dex-based weapon = Crit
• Beginner-friendly
• Bows look cool

Cons wrote:

• Less viable AoE skills compared to other weapons
• Durability intensive except against weaker enemies
• Doesn't hit that hard
• Skills aren't flashy

If you don't like playing from a distance, Bows might not be for you.



Who are you? [About Me]
I'll find something to replace what was once here. Got lazy updating my gear.


My reasons for using Bows originates from Dragon Nest where I was once for a short time one of the best PvP Bowmasters in the SEA server Springwood (before quitting because of the amount of people complaining every minute during a match). For anyone interested, http://i.imgur.com/lOsxGN4.jpg



How to Spec? [Status Points]
I'll explain this in a roundabout way so that it can be fully understood. Note that this calculation may not be completely correct, but I'm going to use it for my calculations for now.

Assumed Damage Calculation wrote:k*(SkillElement%)*(BaseAffinity*(1+Affinity%)+MagatamaAttack+WeaponAttack)*(1+Attack%)*(1+Element%)*(1+SkillForce%)

Enemy variables such as Defense and their Element are excluded as they don't have an effect on how much the variables that are alterable from a player's standpoint affect overall damage and are included in k which also includes other constants within the calculation of damage. The terms I used refer to:

• SkillElement%: Percentage of the skill that is of a certain element. For example, Exorcist Arrow is 50% Holy and 50% Pierce, so the holy damage it deals would have a modifier of 0.5 as %SkillElement, while the total damage dealt would be the sum of the holy damage and pierce damage that it deals.
• BaseAffinity: Refers to the Affinity granted by Dex and Pow. The values can be found here.
• Affinity%: Refers to the percentage Affinity granted by all equipment. If your Title gives 20% Bow Affinity and your Magatama give 15%, 25%, and 35%, you would have an Affinity% value of 0.95.
• MagatamaAttack: Flat Attack granted by Magatama such as Mushiro.
• WeaponAttack: Damage granted by your weapon.
• Attack%: Percentage Attack granted by Magatama like Burai or the +100 weapon enhancement bonus which we don't have.
• Element%: Your element divided by 100. If you had 38 Pierce Element and you're calculating the Pierce component of a skill, the value of this would be 0.38.
• SkillForce%: Your Total Skill Force. If you had 22% general Skill Force from a Taisai Magatma and 46% Bow from a Pineapple Magatama, the value of this would be 0.68.

Based off this extrapolation of a graph of Affinity against Dex (or whatever main stat) graphed using the earlier table, Max Affinity (3000) is reached at between 135 and 140 Dex. In addition, the Hosokawa Yuusai Title grants 20% Affinity, and as there are no titles (in EN currently) that grant Pierce or Skill Force, or Flat Attack for that matter, the 20% Affinity is the best offensive title you can get. This lowers the amount of Dex required to about 120-125, which can be reached at level 80 through the 5 Dex that comes with the Title, as well as the bonuses you get from Daring or Cautious. Of course, level 80 is sort of far away so some Affinity Magatama is still required to reach the Affinity cap, although Skill Force still gives more damage overall, as it affects the bonus damage from your weapon as well. Hence, Skill Force is better than Affinity in terms of damage most of the time- 50% Affinity will definitely win 20% Skill Force as long as the 50% doesn't cause your Affinity to exceed 3000 by too large an amount. Although Element% boosts damage in a similar way to Skill Force, it isn't as effective when applied to Skills with multiple Elements, such as Icicle Arrow or Cursed Arrow. However, as most Bow skills use the Pierce Element, Pierce can be considered superior to Affinity% as long as your skills use primarily Pierce (Like Rapid Shot, White Peacock and so on) and not other elements (Exorcist Arrow, Aqua Needle, etc). If your Affinity will exceed 3000 by too large an amount it should be replaced by either Pierce Element or Skill Force. I have excluded MagatamaAttack from this analysis as most Magatama that give raw attack also come with disadvantages, like the Counterattack Magatama or Snail Pace Magatama. WeaponAttack comes purely from weapons- in other words there is no opportunity cost. However, it does affect the choice of Magatama- higher weapon attack favours Element and Skill Force as the percentage of damage contributed by Affinity lowers as the amount of damage your weapon gives increases. Note that Attack% can come from Magatama, but generally grants much smaller amounts than what amount of Element and Skill Force you can get from Magatama.

tl;dr wrote:Skill Force > Element > Attack% > Affinity > Flat Attack, Affinity is redundant if you already have 3000 Affinity

Status Points
That being said, Character Types which focus on Dex are, as you would expect, significantly better than those that focus on others. These are Cautious and Daring. Note that although Pow adds Affinity as well, the amounts are miniscule. Cautious is generally superior, giving more SP due to the higher amounts of Wis and Mnd it gives compared to Daring. However, at later content caps which allow you to reach level 110, Daring may become superior for those with limited budgets as the bonus Affinity from Pow will allow you to reach the 4000 Affinity cap at level 110 with less effort. That being said, for now you should consider adding some Mnd once your Dex is high enough (around 75) to allow more skill usage, making dungeons easier, either stopping at 22 or 34 Mnd, as these are points before which the cost of adding a stat increases by 1 Status Point. You can add Wis for this purpose as well, and it also grants a small amount of Critical, but Mnd grants larger amounts of Max SP and allow you to use Staves more effectively for utility purposes. Dex should be your primary focus in order to maximize your damage output by having maximum Affinity while still having large amounts of Skill Force and Critical. Furthermore, Dex reduces your cooldown times and adds an unknown amount of Critical Force which affects the amount of damage dealt when you hit a critical strike.

What to Choose? [Equipment]
Note that everything below is my recommendation, equipment which I consider to be the best out of what is available. I'm not sure if the locations are 100% correct.

Weapons wrote:Fledgling Sparrow Bow (Kishinden ~ Tiamat)
Greatbow (Kishinden ~ Sakurajima Depths)
Fuedou Bow (Ooikazuchi Cavern & Oonaobi Cavern)
Black Pine Bow / Ice Rattan Bow / Failnaught (Gedoumaru's Hideout)
Minamoto Bow (Nishidera ~ Okuizumo)
Blooming Flower Bow (Nishidera ~ Sekigahara)
Yuusai Bow* (Burial Ground of Preservation)
Tachibana Bow (Secluded Forest)
Lightning Tachibana Bow (Momiji Well) / Gare (Crafted: 16x Jaw Bone, 1x Sinister Bones, 1x New Fundoshi)
Golden Eye (Echigo Estate, Hermit Crab Grotto)
Tiger Moth (Crafted: 1x Mushiro Magatama, 1x Dried Tongue, 1x Reversed Compass)

*+40 Required for the Title Hosokawa Yuusai (+5 Dex, +20% Bow Affinity). When clearing Burial Ground of Preservation for this item, leave the dungeon before the boss if you can't kill it.

Note that White (no icon) weapons are cheaper to upgrade, so you should get those primarily unless you have Ryou to spare. Most of the time you want to save Ryou for your next weapon, as you want to be constantly updating your weapons so that you have plenty of good weapons of your level and a wide array of skills to use. Basically you get more overall durability which you do need while using Bows. White and Blue weapons are generally found from Bronzes / Silvers, Red and Gold weapons are generally found from Golds. You don't have to get everything here, for example Fuedou Bows are really hard to find so you can just skip past that.

Magatama wrote:Early Game

• Rausu Magatama (Bow Affinity +16% Dex +2)
• Chigaiya Magatama (Bow Affinity +25% Pierce Element +17)
• Kouya Magatama (+31% Bow Affinity +20% Wand Affinity)
• Tsubame Magatama (Pierce Element +27 Mountain Element +5 HP Recovery +130)
• Peacock Magatama (If under Vit: 43, Pierce Element +38 Spear Affinity +11%)
• Waxing Moon Magatama (Dex +12 Holy Element +17)
• Clear & Serene Magatama (Pow +14 Dex +12, Vit +4)
• Snail's Pace Magatama* (Movement Spd Down, Attack +1100, HP Recovery +200)

*Although useful when clearing content, it hinders your dungeon clearing (and hence grinding) speed, as well as not being something you want to wear once you reach end-game status.

Late Game

• Banana Magatama (If Remaining HP:50% or more, Rank 4+ Bow Skill Force +40%)
• Pineapple Magatama (Rank 5+ Bow Skill Force +46% Twin Sword Affinity -20%)
• Melon Magatama (If Remaining HP:60% or more, Rank 6+ Bow Skill Force +50%)
• Grape Magatama (If above Dex: 40, Rank 7+ Bow Skill Force +53%)
• Dousetsu Magatama (Critical +27)
• Fuji Magatama (Pierce Element +45, Dex +5)

Banana and Pineapple drop from Kishinden 4-5man hell (and a few other places but Kishinden is pretty efficient) while Dousetsu and Fuji should drop from the dungeons in Kaga. Note that Dousetsu and Fuji are situational whereas Banana and Pineapple are applicable most of the time- Since Critical is (sort of) capped at 100 against enemies without critical evade, Dousetsu is only useful up to a point, and if you can get a sufficient amount of critical ornaments, it becomes significantly less powerful. Fuji gives Pierce, which is much less effective while using elemental skills. Since each of these (Skill Force, Critical, Pierce) stack additively it's better to have decent amounts of each as opposed to a lot of one. For Ornamentations, try to get anything with critical, unless you're using one or more Dousetsu Magatama, then it is probably better to get Skill Force ornamentations.

Titles wrote:

• Kumawaka (Dex +4, Movement Spd +10)
• Sarutobi Sasuke (Dex +8)
• Hosokawa Yuusai* (Dex +5, Bow Affinity +20%)
• Sakamoto Ryuuma (Pow +2, Dex +2, Critical +8)

*A +40 Yuusai Bow is required to unlock this title.

Affinity is valued when it comes to titles as titles do not offer Skill Force. Element once again only affects a part of your damage, and as we are unlikely to reach the Affinity cap without at least some Affinity% during this content cap, Affinity is valued over Element here. I will update this list eventually.



Which Skills? [Skills]
The effectiveness of a weapon is bound not only by its strength, but its skills as well. I'll make this section easy to look at with the following layout:
Damage (More = More Damage)
Cooldown (More = Lower Cooldown)
Area of Effect [AoE] (More = Larger Area)
Range (More = Further Range)
Cast Time (More = Shorter Cast Time)
Overall Viability (More = Better)

Spin Kick 100% Impact
A back kick into a spinning kick combination.






Due to the melee nature of this skill, its uses are limited. Note that it does Impact damage as opposed to Pierce damage, and has decent AoE. Can be used against weak enemies.


Flying Swallow Kick 100% Impact
Kick a foe in front of you with high speed and grace. Has high Stun capabilities.






Although it is similar to Spin Kick, it increases in the number of comboes it does at ranks 4 and 7. This increases the Cast Time significantly making it more awkward to use, as enemies are unlikely to stay within the AoE of this skill for long.


Rapid Shot • Poison Rapid Shot 100% Pierce | 50% Pierce 50% Poison
Target one enemy and release X arrows in the blink of an eye.






Easily one of the best single target skills in a Bow's arsenal. Doing great damage and having a short cooldown and cast time make it easy to spam, particularly if you can more than one Rapid Shot on a single Bow.


Charge Shot 100% Pierce
Charge power into this arrow, letting it fly further than usual.






In spite of its only above average damage, Charge Shot boasts the longest range of all Bow skills at 21m, making it one of the better skills to have. While the cast time may prove fatal in close quarters, Charge Shot isn't a skill that should be used in such situations anyway. Note that at extremely high ranks of this skill, the damage it does is higher than even Exorcist Arrow.


Aqua Needle 100% Rain
Fire X needles of high-pressure water to tear into a target.






Aqua Needle deals good damage once you get it to a high enough rank. However take note that the cast time on this skill is longer than most, while still maintaining the same 14m range that everything else has. It gains an additional arrow every level.


Venom Arrow 30% Pierce 70% Poison
Fires a poison-laced arrow at 1 foe. May inflict the Poison status.






Venom Arrow is the weakest skill in terms of damage, and although it sports a decently low cooldown as well as the Poison effect, it is outclassed by other skills. However, it is still a somewhat spammable skill and is 70% Poison damage, making it somewhat alright against enemies which are weak to Poison.


Icicle Arrow • Icicle Storm 30% Pierce 70% Ice
Follows an ice-imbued arrow with X pillars of ice from above the target.






Dealing great damage to the main target as well as decent damage to enemies around it, plus having a somewhat low cast time, Icicle Arrow comes in handy in plenty of situations ranging from picking off strays from AoE skills and kiting packs too large to stand still against. Furthermore, it deals even more damage against large bosses as the rain of Icicles can hit the same boss more than once.


Cursed Arrow 30% Pierce 70% Darkness
Fire an accursed arrow at a foe. Slows their movements with the weight of the curse.






Cursed Arrow is a skill that doesn't stand out in any regard, having mediocre damage, mediocre cooldown, no AoE (like most other Bow skills), and okay Cast Time and Range. Like Venom Arrow, many skills are better.


Exorcist Arrow 50% Pierce 50% Holy
Concentrates Holy power into an arrow, delivering a terrific wound.






Exorcist Arrow is your go-to single target OHKO skill. Boasting amazing damage along with high range and decent cooldown time, it's a better Charge Shot in most aspects.


Collapsing Arrow 30% Pierce 70% Darkness
Destroys a foe with a powerful shot, trading Durability for extra damage.






Collapsing Arrow is powerful- but it also costs a lot of durability, as each rank above IV adds one combo count making it harder to deal all its damage. Notably, each part of the combo takes the same time it takes to launch a Charge Shot or Exorcist Arrow, meaning you'll be prone to attacks in the meantime unless you cancel and lose out on potential damage.


Lightning Shot • Lightning Flash Shot 20% Pierce 80% Lightning
Fire a lightning charged arrow straight ahead, piercing through the first enemy to hit those behind it.






Note that the combo count of this skill increases at ranks 3, 5 and 7. Unlike Collapsing Arrow, Lighting Shot is an AoE skill meaning that you can take the time to shoot all the arrows in the combo, as you're likely to destroy the group you're targeting with this skill. Highly recommended to have in most grinding maps with large pack sizes.


White Peacock • Rainbow Peacock 100% Pierce
Release a fan of X arrows at foes.






Probably the best AoE skill the Bow has. Gains an arrow per level and starting from 3 at rank 2. Take note that it splits into 2 parts at rank 7, shooting 4 arrows then 5, making it better against larger packs. In addition to the great AoE it provides, it has a shotgun effect which utterly destroys bosses with large hitboxes. Note that it falls off in effectiveness against extremely large mobs, especially if they tend to clump in a straight line.


Arrow Rain • Meteor Rain Shot 100% Pierce
Rains X arrows down from the sky, striking randomly in a zone 10m in front of you.






In spite of the insane damage this skill can do, it's usually very hard to hit all the arrows it fires. However, in Yakumo Temple in particular, you can easily land this skill on enemies by firing it from 8m away, usually taking them down instantly. Recommended to have if you're doing Yakumo Temple, otherwise it is extremely situational, as it is very hard to land successfully.


Backstep • Backstep Arrow 100% Pierce
Leap back, evading attacks.






Although primarily a kiting skill, Backstep Arrow can deal decent amounts of damage. However, it is normally sufficient to simply dash instead of having Backstep Arrow on a skill slot.


Back Strike
Deals greater damage if you strike at a foe's back.
Good in parties where enemies aren't facing you.


Way of the Bow
Raises your Bow attack damage, lasts for 20 seconds.
"Bow attack damage" refers to Affinity, meaning if you have maxed Affinity this skill doesn't do anything.


As far as I'm concerned the only bow Ougi that exists is Water Cannon.


I have Questions! [FAQ]

Empty for now.




Thank you for reading!

Otonashi wrote:Who are you? [About Me]
My reasons for using Bows originates from Dragon Nest where I was once for a short time one of the best PvP Bowmasters in the SEA server Springwood (before quitting because of the amount of people complaining every minute during a match). For anyone interested, http://i.imgur.com/lOsxGN4.jpg

Pfft. Wait, you don't have the SS of the faster timing one?

Lifariz wrote:

Otonashi wrote:Who are you? [About Me]
My reasons for using Bows originates from Dragon Nest where I was once for a short time one of the best PvP Bowmasters in the SEA server Springwood (before quitting because of the amount of people complaining every minute during a match). For anyone interested, http://i.imgur.com/lOsxGN4.jpg

Pfft. Wait, you don't have the SS of the faster timing one?

Doubt so. Go find it for me

haii question death!
-what bonus on weapon should we find,pierce elemen? dex? affinity? skill force?
-higher rank means higher cd? higher range?
-which skill that follows their target,and which skill isn't? (lightning arrow is fired where you point,rapid shots fired at lock on things like that)
-how about ougi?

skill force +20%,+pierce element is useful you know.
and how does element thing work anyway on bow skill and combo?

Which dungeon that drop the bow ( "Failnaught" which u are using) ??

Otonashi wrote:

Lifariz wrote:

Otonashi wrote:Who are you? [About Me]
My reasons for using Bows originates from Dragon Nest where I was once for a short time one of the best PvP Bowmasters in the SEA server Springwood (before quitting because of the amount of people complaining every minute during a match). For anyone interested, http://i.imgur.com/lOsxGN4.jpg

Pfft. Wait, you don't have the SS of the faster timing one?

Doubt so. Go find it for me

Tagged you in fb.

Naku wrote:skill force +20%,+pierce element is useful you know.
and how does element thing work anyway on bow skill and combo?

It's VERY negligible when other skill force mags give +49%.

uhm, question ugh since originally i wanted to go bow/dual sword for my build. Would it be more effective if i just focus on bow? :/ and also, MND stat for SP aye?

Naku wrote:skill force +20%,+pierce element is useful you know.
and how does element thing work anyway on bow skill and combo?

Weren't you referring to the bonuses that you occasionally find on weapons when you ID them, like 1% Skill Force for rank 8 Bow Skills? Sorry I don't know what you're referring to here. Element works multiplicatively. A skill with 50% Holy and 50% Pierce is affected by 15 Pierce and 30 Holy as

0.5*Damage*(1+0.15)+0.5*Damage*(1+0.3)

Of course Skill Force and Pierce are effective, I briefly went over that in the Magatama section. I'll add information on secondary stats later, right now I'm pretty tired.

Lifariz wrote:It's VERY negligible when other skill force mags give +49%.

20% Skill Force is never negligible, but I don't know where the 20% Skill Force being mentioned is coming from.

Netoo wrote:Which dungeon that drop the bow ( "Failnaught" which u are using) ??

I wrote it in the original post:

Siennan wrote:Black Pine Bow / Ice Rattan Bow / Failnaught (Gedoumaru's Hideout)

Aquarius wrote:uhm, question ugh since originally i wanted to go bow/dual sword for my build. Would it be more effective if i just focus on bow? :/ and also, MND stat for SP aye?

Usually it's more effective to focus on a single weapon and maximise its potential. If you want to go for a bow / twin sword build you should drop the Pineapple Magatama I suggested and go for either Pierce element or general Skill Force.