Weapon switching times

[Ceriad]

Anyone know what the time penalty for switching from Crossbow to Bow is, and can it be done in-combat?

Edit: Also, if combat switching works, do you lose focus when you switch?

[Tjynde]

Im not 100% sure, but i don't think you can switch weapons in combat

[Ceriad]

Im not 100% sure, but i don't think you can switch weapons in combat

Yeah, I'd be pretty surprised if you can, it'd be nice if it was one of those lovely little tricks the devs missed though :D

[djrackley]

Personally, I'm hoping you can switch from ranged to melee weapons for when enemies close in to attack. Otherwise it'd be just stupid. To continue firing arrows when someone has run up on you and is swinging away at you. Personally, I hate it when games only allow for one types of weapons for certain classes. To think that all archers and hunters are good with are bows is just stupidity. Enter Codemasters and their previous example with ArchLord..... *sigh*

[Jarock]

codemasters didnt make this game, turbine did :). and yes i can say that you do switch between mele and ranged when the mob gets close. however you can still use ranged special attacks. as to whether you can switch ranged weapons while in combat, just buy another bow and see if you can equip that while fighting something. the mechanic will be the same for that and the crossbows i should think

[Ceriad]

Tried it out, you can switch Bows in combat and theres no time or focus penalty. The Crossbow damage is so much greater using special attacks and focus that I stopped using a Bow at all though so its a bit of a moot point for me now.

[F6Knight]

i picked the xbow from the lvl 30 hunter class quest simply because it got the same dps as the bow but its slower and has more base dmg
which seems very nice on skills that say 'ranged dmg + x'
the slower xbow with more base dmg will get so much more dmg on specials than a faster bow with less base dmg while it does not slow your specials down or anything.
imho this is a balance issue and will eventually get fixed. WoW had the same problem with hunters and rogues going for the slowest possible guns/daggers for massive dmg specials.
but for now we can make use of this 'feature' and get more dmg :p

[Ceriad]

i picked the xbow from the lvl 30 hunter class quest simply because it got the same dps as the bow but its slower and has more base dmg
which seems very nice on skills that say 'ranged dmg + x'
the slower xbow with more base dmg will get so much more dmg on specials than a faster bow with less base dmg while it does not slow your specials down or anything.
imho this is a balance issue and will eventually get fixed. WoW had the same problem with hunters and rogues going for the slowest possible guns/daggers for massive dmg specials.
but for now we can make use of this 'feature' and get more dmg :p

The problem in WoW was with PvP, eventually as LOTRO evolves the monsters might start to whine :) , but I'm guessing balance issues arent going to be a big issue with LOTRO in its current incarnation - hope not, cos I do love my Crossbow :D

[zimoo]

Just got an off-topic question but I don't think it's worth opening a new thread for.

A few days ago I reached level 30, but as crossbows don't fit in with my image of Middle-earth I decided to stick with bows. My question is, will I get penalised for this? Will for instance, I get kicked from groups just for not having a crossbow?

[Ceriad]

Just got an off-topic question but I don't think it's worth opening a new thread for.

A few days ago I reached level 30, but as crossbows don't fit in with my image of Middle-earth I decided to stick with bows. My question is, will I get penalised for this? Will for instance, I get kicked from groups just for not having a crossbow?

I'd be surprised if anyone who doesnt play Hunter notices theres a difference, probably 90% of Hunters won't even notice, its only the anoraks amongst us who care :D . And beware, when using special attacks and a crossbow in a fellowship you need to moderate your damage, as you risk pulling the aggro away from the tank which will annoy a lot more people than what weapon you use

[Tankh]

Yeah, I'd be pretty surprised if you can, it'd be nice if it was one of those lovely little tricks the devs missed though :D

-_-' ...... well done they have probably seen this and changed it all now, lol

[Evendar Stormrider]

Its a tactical decision.

You can go x-bow for bigger specials but pretty much equal auto-attack damage... Probably good if you're sure you can use strength stance with your group (not sure how likely that is).

Or you can go faster attacks, which means more criticals especially with some precision stance thrown in for good measure. I dont know the calculations for criticals - but in the long run it may prove that either approach works more or less equally well - epecially with gear tailored to either one approach or the other.