Best bows and Arrows in Skyrim | xGamers
In this Guide, we will talk about bows and arrows in Skyrim - features of use, leveling of the shooting skill, crafting and improvement of these weapons, as well as what skills it is better to swing the archer and what equipment to use.
Features of Archery in Skyrim
Archery is vaguely reminiscent of a shooter - as in games of this genre, a sight is located in the center of the screen that can be used to navigate in the process. The difference is that, unlike a bullet, an arrow does not fly exactly in the center of the sight, but in a small arc according to all the laws of ballistics. For the enemies that are at close range, the arrow hits slightly higher than the sight, and for those that are far away - lower.
Shooting does not happen instantly, as it takes some time to pull the bowstring. The interval depends on the bow used, arrows do not affect it in any way.
The damage from this weapon is combined with the damage that the arrow deals. Accordingly, the better to use a bow and arrow, the faster you can deal with opponents. However, compared with physical damage from other weapons, as well as damage from magic, the bow is less effective. A pure archer that does not use spells, companions, or golems is easy prey. Leveling for such a character requires specific, which will be discussed later.
Character uses bow with his right hand, arrows with his left. If you put a shield or spell on your left hand, shooting becomes impossible, as the quiver is not accessible, although it remains to hang on your back.
The most difficult thing in shooting is to aim in such a way as to calculate the trajectory of the arrow depending on the distance to the enemy and get into a weak spot. Have to train - and the player to get the hang of good shoots, and the character to pump a branch of fire.
Best Bow and Arrow
Get this weapon in the game is easy. It is highly likely that after leaving the starting location one of the first robbers or hunters encountered will be equipped with a long bow (damage 6) and iron arrows (damage 8). For the first time it will do, but as you upgrade it will have to use a better weapon. Of the crafting weapons that can be created in the forge, the best one is a dragonbone bow, which has 20 damage. The best arrows are also dragon with 25 damage.
To create them, it is not necessary to completely swing the blacksmith's craft - you can go along the left branch and gradually get to the required perk. It also activates skills that allow you to create light armor that is recommended to be worn by an archer.
The onion on the grindstone improves, for which the weapon itself and the appropriate type of ingredients are used. For example, an orichalcum ingot is required for sharpening an orc onion, and an ebonite ingot for a daedric one. Arrows, unlike a bow, do not improve.
It is also recommended to learn the skill "Blacksmith Wizard". This will allow you to sharpen including enchanted weapons. In total, you need to spend 6 skill points. The quality of improvement depends on the level of the blacksmith craft. You can use the blacksmith's apron and amulets that improve the level of this profession.
To inflict additional damage, you can pump enchantment to enchant a bow for fire damage. This will set fire to enemies that will burn for several seconds.
There are bows that can not be crafted - only found when exploring the game world or get a reward for completing the quest. The best among them are:
- Bow of the scourge mage. It can be found in the Labyrinthian, having swathed from the remains of ghostly draugrs. Has a damage of 15 and a weight of only 4 units.
- Glass bow of a deer king. Unique enchantment - the weapon gives an increase in the supply of strength and health for dead animals. You can steal from the merchant Falas in the location of the Old trading post in (Solstheim). The weapon has 17 points of damage.
- Auriel's Bow. Deals an additional 20 damage to the base damage to common targets and 60 damage to undead. Weapons can be found in the Forgotten Valley in the inner sanctuary during the quest for «Touching the Sky».
What Skills to Improve an Archer
As stated above, at the start of the “clean” archer is the meat that will kill the first draugr encountered in the tomb. The situation improves slightly as the shooting branch is pumped up - the damage done by bows increases, time slows down when the bowstring is pulled, the chance to inflict critical damage increases, etc. There are no extra perks here: everyone should study them.
However, in this case, even against the warrior who equipped the one-handed weapon, the archer is frankly weak in the frontal battle. For this reason, the only acceptable tactic is assassin, that is, stealth shooting. This branch will also have to be fully pumped.
For faster pumping, you can use the blessing of the following stones:
- Warrior - accelerates the study of all combat skills, including shooting, by 20%;
- Thief - accelerates the pumping of thieves' skills, including stealth, by 20%;
- Lover - all skills learn 15% faster.
Also for pumping will be useful reserve of vigor obtained during sleep on your own bed, including with your spouse.
Heavy armor slows down the character’s movement and makes more noise in stealth mode. It is recommended to wear light armor - less protection is compensated by less noise. The best for an archer are considered the armor of the Thieves Guild and Nightingale. To get the required bonuses, parts of the set can be combined.
When creating an archer, it is better to choose KHAJIIT (has a starting stealth bonus) or a wood elf (shooting bonus). However, this is not critical: after a little pumping, you can increase the characteristics of interest to the required level.
A companion armed with melee weapons often crawls into the thick of the battle, making it difficult to aim properly and catching the fired arrows with his back. Although it is difficult to completely kill him, such behavior only interferes. An ideal companion for an archer would be the magician of the School of Destruction, as well as Lydia, Huscarl, who will join the hero at the very beginning of Skyrim. You can hire Ayl the Huntress, but for this you will have to go through all the Companions quests and join this fraternity.
The archer should be boosted with health and a bit of stamina - he hardly uses magic, so there is no need for a large supply of mana. Of Dragon Shouts, the most effective will be:
- Ruthless power. Throws enemies away at a decent distance, and at this time you can hide.
- Whisper of an aura. Highlights all living things in the area. Useful for not being taken by surprise.
- Slowing down time. In addition to the bonus from slowing down time during aiming, thanks to this scream, you can aim even more precisely, hitting the enemy with a couple of accurate shots.
- Fright. It makes enemies run away in a panic, while you can shoot them with precise hits in the back.
In addition to potions to restore health, invisibility potions will also be useful. They will help to quickly hide in case of danger. To enhance the effect, it is recommended to wear jewelry enchanted for stealth.
In fact, the archer build described above is an ordinary rogue, meanly shooting an enemy from bushes. For a deeper role-playing role (why else play RPG?), You can additionally pump the skills of pickpocketing and breaking locks. In this case, only a Khajiit can fully reveal a character: according to The Elder Scrolls, honest individuals among representatives of this race do not come across - they drag everything that can be stolen.
And in conclusion, it is worth noting that the game for such a nightingale-robber is much more complicated than for a mage mage or a tank with a decent margin of safety: a couple of awkward movements - and you already behold the loading screen. Passing the game will take more time, as you will have to squat for a long time, waiting for a convenient moment to attack. However, it is more difficult - it means more interesting, especially at the "hardcore" level - you will have to show all your skills to get out of the battle unharmed.