Bows and DPS

[Dubnoman]

I did a couple of searches and couldn't find a thread on this. Hopefully one hasn't been made yet.

 

I have a character and around 400 saves. I know, I need to delete many of them. Anyway, I was thinking of starting a new game because I wanted to develop my character differently, but I just had the smart idea of going to a much earlier save and reshaping my character. I wasn't quite sure what type of character to make for awhile. I was making a character that was a bit of jack of all trades, but now I want to make a Ranger/Scout character.

 

For my character, the main weapon for me will be bow and arrows. Can I do well with bows such as long bows and hunting bows, especially if I craft them? I know there damage rating is not too close to glass bows. But I read that their dps is better. Would I be able to do pretty well with crafted light bows up around levels 40-60?

Edited February 7, 2012 by Dubnoman

[highonsunday]

I've read that too, that the lighter bows have greater DPS because there's a faster draw, or something. I myself leveled an archer to the high 30s, but my focus was on getting the biggest, heaviest bows and relying on stupidly powerful sneak attacks and one-shot kills. This playstyle also has the added benefit of using less arrows. Personally, I don't like running away from tanks in heavy armor and whittling their health down with dozens of arrows. I'd rather just take him out from across the room with a couple well-placed arrows from a super-heavy bow.

[chanchan05]

I'll vote for the heavy bows as well. A pure archer will work better with the lighter bows for kiting opponents, however I for one choose to dual weild at closer ranges.

[KarthGalin]

You could also use the Weapon and Armor fixes mod & use heavy bows with high damage, rapid attacks. :o) I haven't played through as a pure archer, though, so I'm not sure about the balance. The fix both increases damage of better quality bows and increases attack speed as quality increases... seems like it doubles up the power of high-end bows but I can't be certain.

[Dubnoman]

I do have a Scout armor and weapon mod with a powerful scout bow. I have to find out if it has a high dps rating. But it is more powerful than a daedric bow. I'd like to use that later on in the game. I'm picking up my game from a much earlier save, and would like to make use of light bows for awhile. I'd rather not use a combat enhancer mod. I don't want to make the game too easy.

 

I'm finding that I can make a very capable character when she has lots of perks in Archery and Alchemy. I'll use sneak attacks with the bow when I can, and with alchemy, it can be very useful, including the poisons (there is the perk where one unit of poison lasts for two hits, too) and defensive potions, like fortify light armor, resist fire, and resist magic. And then I can make great restore health potions, too.

 

I'm going to put many perks into Archery and Alchemy, some in Sneak, and then some in speech (to help make making money easier), light armor (to up my armor rating), and pickpocket. The only smithing perk I need for scout weapons is Steel, and the scout armor is leather smithing, so I won't need perks in the light armor side of smithing. I don't want to do enchanting perks. At first I thought it was great, but high quality enchanted items that can be stacked makes the game very easy. With a lot of perks in Alchemy and Archery, I'll be a very capable hero. :) The only other perks I might invest in will be to up blocking effeciency and one handed weapon damage perks.

[Dubnoman]

Does anybody know how to calculate dps for bows in Skyrim? Or does anybody have a link which has the dps values for bows in Skyrim? I'm thinking of either going with hunting bows, elven bows, or dwarven bows.

[Xarnac]

Without the sneak crit multiplier, the lesser bows, even after being upgraded, suck.

[Tidus44]

I just carry 2 bows. A nice light one I've crafted up to the max of my capability which is OK for most jobs (Angi's Bow). I also carry an ebony bow that is maxed out for those in heavy armor or that are just nasty. It kills giants or mammoths with 2/3 steel arrows, dwemer centurions with 2. Character is currently lvl 48. My sneak is maxed out as one doesn't just walk into a dungeon or cave in Skyrim - especially as a ranger. Most fun - clearing BlackReach with nothing but the light bow.

 

Nice ranger armor http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=2083

 

And for those that say bad things about any weapon - its a lousy carpenter who blames their tools.

[Ferodaktyl]

you can find ( calculate ) DPS here : http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Weapons

[Dubnoman]

I'll probably just end up going around with two bows. One will be powerful, the other will be lighter. I'd like to use a lighter bow most times because, when tempered, it'll get the job done most times, and also, I want something with a fast or somewhat fast firing rate. Plus a weaker bow will help make the game a bit more challenging.

 

Now that I think about it, I can do fine with a weaker bow anyways. I'm big into alchemy, so I carry around a good amount of fortify marksman potions wherever I go, and also, I have some fortify marksman enchanted bracers I bought, and I am seeking out a helmet with fortify marksman (looking to buy one).

 

That ranger armor looks nice. I have a mod for scout armor, so I'll check out the ranger armor, but might stay with the scout get-up.

 

Ferodaktyl, those formulas for finding dps for bows have me kind of lost (math was my weak subject in school). Plus I don't want to calculate the damage including perks and so forth.

 

Here is some stats for three light/kind of light bows:

 

Hunting Bow - Base damage: 7 Speed: 0.94

Orcish Bow - Base damage: 10 Speed: 0.81

Dwarven Bow - Base damage: 12 Speed: 0.75

 

Does anybody know how to calculate damage per second based solely on the factors of Base damage and speed?

 

Also, in that UESPWiki link, it has stats for the Nord Hero Bow (base damage of 11 and speed of 0.88), and that seems very ideal for what I'm looking for, but it says it isn't able to be tempered. Here is what it says in a footnote:

 

"The Nord Hero Bow cannot be tempered. Its tempering entry (TemperWeaponSkyforgeBow) incorrectly links to the Nord Hero Battle Axe instead of the bow."

 

Does anyone know if this has been fixed yet? I'd go after a Nord Hero Bow if I knew it could be tempered.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Dubnoman