Bows or Guns?We are asked this by other hunters a lot. The short answer is Guns. The truth is if you have the right end game progression it does not matter. The fantastic 53 DPS Timeless Arrows and Timeless Shells are both available (at 2g a pop) from The Scale of the Sands at honored. 99% of guilds are not up to Mount Hyjal yet however and hunters in those guilds need to look harder at their choices.
In the world of most hunters the question comes down to two variables:
- What is the best weapon we have access to?
- What is the best DPS ammo we can use?
Until 2 days ago we rolled with Warden's Arrows (37 dps) for PVP as they were the highest DPS arrows we could get for our bow. With our recent change to an "epic firearm of doom" we now have access to crafted Adamantite Shells (43 DPS) and an extra 6 DPS increase over the weapon itself. There is an imbalance in ammunition available to hunters in the 43 DPS bracket currently, it is a guns only affair.
If you have a an 82 DPS bow and only a 66 DPS gun even on the lower ammo your bow will give you the edge despite the ammo limitations. In most hunter's cases a gun will have higher DPS ammo available for when it counts, boss fights and arenas.
If a bow is only a minor upgrade over a gun keep this in mind before buying it, bidding on it or rolling on it. While Blizzard has not yet commented on this imbalance BRR expects our Hunter brothers stuck with arrows to be blessed with 43 DPS equivalents to Adamantite Shells via an exchange program similar to the old Thorium Projectile swap.We are personally glad to exploit this advantage in the arenas and BGs at the moment.
Our hunter opposition frequently sport an 82.4 DPS Gladiator's Heavy Crossbow knowing that they are very likely using 32 or 37 DPS arrows we know BRR has an edge to balance it out.
Our 75.5 DPS gun seems lacklustre at first glance but do not be fooled. We are BM and run Arenas with expensive but oh so sweet 43 DPS shells. As our haste talents and items effects our shots the 6 DPS increase on our ammo becomes 8.22(6x1.37 - 20% SS, 2% Pet and 15% ammo pouch). The final calculations on the weapon DPS, including only our edge in ammo, is 83.72 (8.22 + 75.5).
The weapon budget for Gladiator's Heavy Crossbow includes some other nice stats but for the moment the fact that it is a bow gimps it in the ammo department.
- Good hunting BRR
6 comments:
48 Orc Hunter here :) I've got a Big Red Raptor myself, but I went and tamed an owl from Felwood, simply because I don't want to level too terribly much so I can stay in my BG bracket. I'd like to get a Ravager, but alas, they are either Lv 17, or Lv 60+ :(
Personally, I prefer bows... I just can't stand the *bang* of guns. Drives me nuts!
Also, I'm not completely understanding how the DPS of ammo adds onto the DPS of a ranged weapon. Is it directly added, such as a 70.0DPS bow plus 37DPS arrows = 107.0DPS? or is there some sort of formula involved?
We prefer bows and love when our enemies use guns.
With bows, we can stand back and "silently" shoot.
Sometimes in a crowded battle, we can get several hits before they realize we are shooting at them.
Big Red Idiot is currently a bow user. We recognize that guns are superior especially in PVP where instants play a much bigger role than steady shots which to our understanding are not affected by projectile DPS.
But as the boar says, the clank clank clank certainly draws some attention.
Big Red Idiot
BRR also loves bows, the orc animation for bow shooting is nicer than the gun/crossbow animation in out opinion.
When we had 4 different 66 DPS weapons we banked the guns and crossbows in favour of the bow. We love the near silent operation and stealthier animation.
However especially for arena we cannot give up the extra DPS, and in 2v2 there is no hiding. They know you are there, so bring every scrap of DPS you can. :P
Dear Apolonal it is calculated like this.
Base DPS * Bonuses = paper doll range DPS
Where:
Base DPS = (Range weapon DPS + AP DPS (AP/14) + Ammo DPS)
Bonuses = (ammo pouch speed + talents speed + pet bonus + buff/pvp bonuses)/100 + 1
IE with a
66 dps weapon,
1400 AP
37 dps arrows
15% ammo pouch
5/5 Serpent swiftness (20%)
2% pet damage talent
And no area PVP buffs.
Base DPS: 66 + (1400/14) + 37 = 203
Bonuses: (15 + 20 + 2)/100 +1 = 1.37
203*1.37 = 278.11
If we were to keep all the factors locked except ammo and change to 43 DPS bullets/arrows
Base DPS: 66 + (1400/14) + 43 = 209
Bonuses: (15 + 20 + 2)/100 +1 = 1.37
203*1.37 = 286.33
As you increases the DPS of a Weapon or ammo the change magnifies out on the far side by a factor of 1.37 for a full BM hunter
BRR
Excellent. Thanks for clearing that up!
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