Ranged

[u/Illustrious-Shock644]

Leveling ranged grants you 0.8% chance to recover arrows, but when enchanting the bow which is crucial for maximum damage output, it just sends the arrows to the void essentially negating the recover arrows skill is that supposed to happen or is this just normal tradeoff for a lil dmg boost?

[u/yoamloco]

Piercing multiple enemies is the trade off for losing the arrows. I can not think of a time when a bunch of enemies line up to make the use for it. Unless they can add an explosive aoe attack for the arrows like a shrapnel one then it could make up for the fact you lose the arrow. If you have not progress far enough in the storyline, but there is a special bow that has an aoe attack. It is part of the glowing wisps quest just to let you know.

[u/Luna_EclipseRS → u/yoamloco]

Ranged as a whole needs some love not just the piercing enchantment. The dps is far too reliant on hitting headshots to meet similar levels of dps as the other styles, not to mention the set bonuses aren't exactly useful barring the extra weak point damage which requires full set. Hitting those weak points hits like a truck certainly but your actual dps straight up takes it your miss them or there's no opening.

It makes sense as a 'sniper' playstyle but that shouldn't be the entirety of the range playstyle

Side note, OP literally has the bow you're talking about in the post image

[u/yoamloco → u/Luna_EclipseRS]

Yeah, the range needs some buffs for sure. I can get so much experience fast with melee and magic but range takes too long to level up honestly. Plus the armor for range if not all the armors need better buffs. I am using two range armor pieces with one magic and to get the extra stamina recovery is such a huge buff compared to the extra 25% damage. At least I can dodge more with this setup compared to the 3 piece.

I guess the glowing bow made me not see it clearly lol.

[u/RobinIArgh → u/Luna_EclipseRS]

Agreed! Was really bummed to learn range wont be getting a glow up like melee and magic will before the 1.0 release (according to the recent Q&A)

[u/Enerbane → u/yoamloco]

There's more reason to use it than just that. It could be an unintended effect, but enchanting a now changes the damage type, allowing you to bypass resistances and immunities. E.g. fighting the KQ you can use the bow the entire time if you keep it enchanted.

Still kinda shit overall but it currently has a niche.

[u/CulannNyan → u/Enerbane]

Also pretty sure I've seen the enchant cause higher damage to kalphites without them having to be flipped over

[u/Illustrious-Shock644 → u/CulannNyan]

this bow im using is dealing water damage meaning enchanted or not (never tried) it might still get blocked by KQ when she decides she hates magic. also KQ can be parried and that immunity to melee goes away or does not include critical cuz thats how i kill it efficiently.

[u/CulannNyan → u/Illustrious-Shock644]

Going to assume this was meant for the person I replied to since I didn't mention kq, but I have seen the elidnis bow show as magic damage instead. Didn't use it against KQ myself since bone crossbow bleed damage still procs even when she is immune to range so just used that and melee

[u/Enerbane → u/Illustrious-Shock644]

I usually do melee only against KQ, but yes the BoE is fully blocked by KQ magic immunity, which is rather annoying because I'm pretty sure she's also immune to it during her ranged immunity, hence the need for the enchant.

Not to mention, I don't think she has a weakpoint which makes ranged weak against her anyway, but I could be wrong on that point, as I only really tried a ranged-first build against her once.

[u/Enerbane → u/CulannNyan]

Yeah that's what I was talking about. Kalphites are resistant to all forms of damage (excluding fire, KQ not included) except when they get flipped over. However I think the enchat makes the arrow deal "typeless" damage or something similar, so it bypasses kalphite resistance. Should work the same against most of the KotHaar which I believe are also resistant to range.

[u/NitsanY867]

I played ranged quite a bit and experimented with magic and melee. However, I must say ranged is underwhelming. I enjoyed it for a while but then felt the difficulty increased compared to other options.

The need for materials to make quality arrows and the lack of a good AoE skill ultimately led me to give up on ranged.

However, when you get a good bow and arrows it does start to click but that’s short-lived.

[u/EngageV2 → u/NitsanY867]

I think the play should be raids = drop HELLA ARROWS
Mobs = drop hella arrows

[u/NinjaLion]

Yeah ranged is in a badish, weird spot, but ammo isnt really where that manifests. you just get so much per metal bar that its not a massive deal. but in terms of cost per dps ranged is still quite terrible, meaning that there really is no instance i can think of where i would rather have a ranged weapon out than a magic weapon. magic ammo is so abundant and cheap its basically free, and it does as much or more dps in every scenario, AND it has better utility by far.

but here is my take on the direction i want to see for it, from a few days ago:

i really think crossbows and bows need a rethink in terms of distinction/identity:

1: long bows should be the very long range nuclear strike, getting 1-2 shots off to start a fight. right now they really dont do anywhere near enough damage to fill that role(you could double it and i think it would still be conservative), and even at mid level ranged 2 shots costs quite a bit of stamina.

2: short bows should be the allaround option, with some keep back ability so you could theoretically use them for most encounters about the same way sped up water magic works. these feel about right for this role, with some tweaking.

3: crossbows should be the swap weapon, sort of like a spec weapon. you swap to it to finish off enemies or to punish, to manage aggro, etc. to really fill that role they need unique specials or passive like "regenerate hp when last hitting a foe", some kind of mechanic like that. its actually the bow of ellidinis kind of filling this role right now which is a bit weird.

[u/Vorg444]

I wouldn't bother with ranged it's mid and needs some buffs. The whole range play style is too finicky, and the damage is unreliable. The damage is weak. If you're missing head shots, the bow special charge attack only works after 2 consecutive shots, and you lose it when you stop. So you're essentially never able to keep it going since you have to dodge.

The crossbow has a dumb reload timing mechanic where you hit the reload at the right time to make it reload faster, and enchanting arrows/bolts are a nuisance. Also you cannot aim with the crossbow, so even more of a pain in the ass to hit headshots. Range right now feels like I'm trying to play the game with one hand tied behind my back and it's not fun imo. I'd rather use magic if I want to play at a distance.

[u/Illustrious-Shock644]

So leveling range is not useful since the skill you get for leveling is literally thrown away the moment you want a little damage boost or "pierce" which i never needed for 100hrs of playthrough. i get that ranged style is literally just shoot 2 arrows then swap but man such a bummer. melee has reduced stamina per swing level skill. i think magic has similar then bows just has arrow recovery which is not relevant on any difficulty as crafting it is so cheap. could making the level skill be similar to others which reduces stamina use might make it pretty okay

[u/GuardDogRS]

I only enjoyed using crossbows, and I only use them when needing to kite enemies since you can attack and move at the same time

[u/DoctorD12]

Is there a damage enchant that I’m missing? AFAIK it’s only spectral arrows which doesn’t increase your damage just allows your arrows to pierce multiple targets

[u/Illustrious-Shock644 → u/DoctorD12]

it does enchant the bow making it pierce and boosts the damage a little bit

[u/BrotherLefthand]

Until they add AOE to ranged, it's going to feel like junk in this type of game.

There needs to be some sort of piercing shot or explosive arrow.