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[Hemingwayoffbase]

I've been playing games for a long time. Short bows are ALWAYS immediately skippable because longbows are just a better bet. Period.

Has there ever been a good short bow? Ever? In any game??

 

[Punished Miku]

Dragon's Dogma has class distinctions between the mid range archer with daggers and the slower, more high powered long bow class.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

 

[El Hee-Ho]

Wait until you get your hands on a composite bow.

Crossbows are for cowards and they are an instrument of the devil btw.

 

[SScorpio]

In games where there are both? Because tons of games with "bows and arrows" are just shortbows. A proper longbow is 5-6' long.

So anything stealthy or close range would perform better with a shortbow.

Wait until you get your hands on a composite bow.

Crossbows are for cowards and they are an instrument of the devil btw.

vs

 

[jshackles]

I always found the shortbows in the earlier Diablo games (1 and 2) better overall typically than the longbows. Mostly because longbows did more damage but were slower, where shortbows did average damage and were typically a lot faster. And in the earlier games, range didn't even play a factor - you just shot the bow and your arrow flies until it hits something.

Long bows also took up more inventory space.

 

[Filben]

Pillars of Eternity because they don't follow the RPG status quo of traditional RPG tropes. Technically they aren't called short bows but hunting bows and long bows are war bows.

But how PoE works is that no weapon is inherently better than another. If someone comes in full plate armour you better have a weapon with high piercing dmg which are usually hammers. Your high dmg sword will only do low dmg when you can't penetrate armour.

So, as for bows, short bows shoot faster than long bows. So they make up for their lower damage by increasing chances of interrupting enemies. So yes, raw damage is still better with long bows (which fits thematically due to higher draw lbs and hence power once you loose the arrow). But more interruption with short bows can be great as well, especially against fast enemies.

 

[El Hee-Ho]

Because tons of games with "bows and arrows" are just shortbows. A proper longbow is 5-6' long.

Hell yeah

 

[Wildebeest]

Who can tell. In games all bows and crossbows often fire faster than machineguns, while spread firing, and penetrate through five inches of steel plate. It is random what is best.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Games are stupid like that. Some shooters have handguns being more accurate than long range rifles.

 

[DavidGzz]

I like them in Dark Souls 3 for example because the special(I forget the name) is a rapid fire while the long bow has a strong single shot.

 

[Loomy]

I've been playing games for a long time. Short bows are ALWAYS immediately skippable because longbows are just a better bet. Period.

Has there ever been a good short bow? Ever? In any game??

If designed properly, sure. If not, then it's a pointless difference.

It's like asking if there's ever an SMG that's better than an AR. If the game and encounters are designed well enough, they encourage different play styles and approaches, and are really strong in those play styles.

 

[Aenima]

In games, i still have to encounter a situation where a shortbow is better than a longbow. Longbows in game are pretty much shorbows with higher range and bigger damage.

I liked how Kingdom Come 2 made a significant diference between the bow and crossbow. Crossbow having much bigger damage but also much slower to reload, and bow that you could shoot more arrows faster but less damage per arrow. I ended up using a crossbow as my second weapon just cuz it could 1 hit kill an enemy then i switched to my longsword for the rest of the fight while fighting multiple enemies.

 

[Antwix]

you can proc status effects (in souls games) faster with faster bows like composite bow

 

[Rockondevil]

RuneScape.

 

[simpatico]

Yes. Elden Ring and probably other Dark Souls entries. I was a nimble menace with a shortbow. Longbows could never.

On another note, we still have not got the bow and arrow based FPS action RPGlite game that will be so amazing and transcendent that it becomes a trilogy and a franchise. Bow sales IRL will go up because of its widespread crossover popularity.

Just waiting on the AAA industry to release it. There's a good chance it got canceled in the last 5 years and we will never see it. But man, the timeline where it exists is eating. It goes on to become a lot of people's favorite gaming IP.

 

[SScorpio]

Yes. Elden Ring and probably other Dark Souls entries. I was a nimble menace with a shortbow. Longbows could never.

On another note, we still have not got the bow and arrow based FPS action RPGlite game that will be so amazing and transcendent that it becomes a trilogy and a franchise. Bow sales IRL will go up because of its widespread crossover popularity.

Just waiting on the AAA industry to release it. There's a good chance it got canceled in the last 5 years and we will never see it. But man, the timeline where it exists is eating. It goes on to become a lot of people's favorite gaming IP.

I was always disappointed that

Didn't have the same affects on archery as this did for spiking sword ownership.

So much of the 90s was guys watching Highlander and then going:

 

[Danjin44]

Greatbow is better than both……

 

[cireza]

Nah. A ballista is where it's at.

 

[Kacho]

In a quality RPG it depends on your proficiencies obviously. Longbows have superior power, shortbows have faster attack speed. Crossbows are vendor trash.

Now be gone.

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

One thing to consider is that actual longbows have a range of 140-300 meters (that is around 500 to 1000 in made up terms).

But you wouldn't want to sneak around with a 2m bow inside a building as we tend to do in games.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Dual wielding crossbows is the best way to play.
Diablo 3 pumps up the hatred quickly.

 

[The_hunter]

Magic shortbow in runescape.

 

[Dithadder]

Bit of a stretch maybe but a horde of mounted archers (presumably with shorter bows) in rome: total war is way funner to manipulate than a line of bowmen cowering behind the infantry.

 

[Hudo]

I prefer the automatic bow

 

[March Climber]

I was always disappointed that

Didn't have the same affects on archery as this did for spiking sword ownership.

I think crossbows are the best when done right, but they are rarely done right, so shortbows are usually better in videogames due to being more rapid fire + mobility.

Crossbows, when done right in games, should make you feel like Daryl:

Or like painkiller or doomslayer or something.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Nomads on horseback with bows was the cheat code for centuries.

 

[SScorpio]

Greatbow is better than both……

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

if u build an op archer in Fire Emblem a minibow can allow him to shoot enemies point blank, whereas a longer bow can't retaliate to melee attacks. You'd want to have a nice dodge stat and vantage skill tho

 

[MagiusNecros]

Shortbows offer more mobility and can be fired from awkward positions and non-standing positions are lighter and can be fired more accurately.

Longbows are more restrictive but are more powerful, heavier and durable and have a much longer range.

This is true in games where a lightweight ranged weapon lets you move more and takes more hits to do good damage. While a heavier or more powerful weapon is slower but packs a bigger punch.

If you were to compare game mechanics though most will have Longbows be the winner. After all DPS is king in that regard.

Of course being a BERSERK Fan I would rather see good implementation of the arm mounted repeating Crossbow.

But at that point Boba Fett styled wrist rockets are probably cooler.

 

[Diddy X]

Nah. A ballista is where it's at.

lol, nothing beats a good ol trebuchet