Bow question

[Nash24]

Hi guys :)
Im relatively new to game still, so just tryin to get a feeling for things. Loving the hunter so far :)

I just got the hunter quest in Bree at lvl 45 that would give the Bow of the Hunt as a reward. I was checkin it out and it looks pretty nice, but Ive noticed Ive never seen it on anyone nor heard of it before. Everyone I see is using Ornate Black Ash Bow. That costs 4g on my server and Im not personally that impressed with it for that price.

Basically Im just wondering if Bow of the Hunt is worth it or should I wait and get Ornate Black Ash Bow? I realize damage on BotH is a bit lower but it does Westernesse damage. Dont remember where now but I remember reading recently that resistances to fire and light have been or will be increased making me wonder about OBAB.

Obviously in due time, I will hopefully be able to get even better bows from raiding if Im lucky, but thats still a while away and Im tryin to get stuff I can use till then. Thanks a lot in advance for any ideas :)

[Daguras]

Get the crossbow.. you can get a much better Westernesse damage bow from the first boss in Barad Gularan and he can be farmed in 15 minutes with 3-4 people (tank/mins/hunter/captain).

There are a lot less Ancient Dwarf-make ranged weapons in the game - I can only think of 3, and have 2 in my inv: Cumaen (Rift Balrog gem), Thunderhead (lvl 42 teal from Fornost) and Crossbow of the Hunt. If you intend to visit Sarnur, fight drakes or take on Thorog one of these three is the weapon of choice.

If you want an all purpose bow, Bane of Forvengwath or Fortified Black Ash are the way to go and stick to Ornate Black Ash for raids/groups for the threat reduction.

[Belion_]

flightsong > BoF

teal dosent make it the best ;)

[OMWiener]

flightsong > BoF

teal dosent make it the best ;)

i would beg to differ. Westernesse damage isn't as bad as everyone thinks it it. Plus it has the demoralize for extra damage and lower inductions for more damage...There is a bow for every situation.

[Daguras]

flightsong > BoF

teal dosent make it the best ;)

Totally different stats and a different damage type to what the OP asked for.

http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Weapon:Bane_of_Forvengwath
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Weapon:Flightsong

Even so, BoF is better IMO due to demoralise, armour rend, induction time and min-max range. For Beleriand damage check out Tongannel's Joy (http://lorebook.lotro.com/index.php/Weapon:Tongannel's_Joy) which is comparable to Celegdur.

Yes, I've used them all including Cumaen. Celegdur is my skill-based nuker, Gilnor for raiding, Cumaen/BoF for solo and switching at will if a specific damage type is needed.

[Belion_]

i have tongannels joy its good high end damage but i wud prefer the ranged crit on flightsong anyday. beleriand > westernese ANYDAY

i got ninja'd out of my hele bow so still aint got it but the ost elendil bow will replace my flightsong once i get it (no time to play peak time these days due to work)

[OMWiener]

beleriand > westernese ANYDAY

Not at all, you need to adjust to the situation mate. Westernesse can be very good especially in the annuminas instances, it beats the crap out of any Beleriand bow (celegdur might be the exception here)

And the rift? http://www.pooh.cz/lotro/a.asp?a=2014392

Scroll a bit down. As you can see Westernesse isn't all that bad. And if i do have to switch weapons, Fortified black ash is the best for the other bosses. Only the Balrog is known to be 'weak' against Beleriand. The only Beleriand bow i would consider switching to on the other bosses, is Celegdur instead of BoF (except for the Balrog off course)

In PvMP it don't matter much which damage you use.

In conclusion, Beleriand is the the best overall damage, but that doesn't mean other bows can't be put to good use if not better at certain occasions. Flightsong is definitely not bad, but to say it's way better ANYDAY, is saying too much....

To answer the OP, pick the crossbow mate, you won't regret it ( see Daguras explanation)

[Daguras]

Just in case anyone is wondering and CBA to search the forums...

http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Weapon:Gilnor
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Weapon:Cumaen (Rift gem)
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Weapon:Cuthoron (Ost Elendil bow)

I guess Cuthoron would be a nice change in some situations, but the high speed means power management issues will be the same as with OBAB/Cumaen and ofc the demoralise proc chance determines how good it is. It's slightly beyond my reach at the moment but I'm working on it.. if anyone gets it they deserve a pat on the back ;)

[Nash24]

Well thanks a lot for all the ideas :) Thought Id get some here hehe.
I have to say my first choice all along has always been Fortified Black Ash and Im using Tongannels Joy atm. This is of course excluding all the harder to get raid bows. Guess Ill go for Fortified then which is only around 700s and it seems that the crossbow is worth it as well then :) Until I can raid I should be fine with those according to what Ive read so far. Thanks again!
Now that Im here, I know this has been discussed on previous threads, and Ive checked a few out...thought Id ask a quickie about armor as well. From what I can see and from what Ive read, the level 47 crafted armor for hunters just aint that great as it focuses way too much on might. Im more of a vitality, agility, fate guy :P
Any suggestions for decent sets when I get to 47 pre-raiding? Im using Woodlands set atm, and Ive noticed I have higher morale (around 2.5k) and agility (305) than 47s using the teal crafted items. Personally, so far Im thinking of just keeping that till I can raid.

[Daguras]

Full Woodlands set is good... I used it on my burglar from lvl 39 or so (quests all red) and have only just replaced with normal t5 crafted for more or less the same stats :D

There are some decent items though - Galadhrim legs, boots and gloves are worth it for the agi/vit/will, and theres a chestpiece called Heronham, or something like that, which I used for a while. Helm = Faerthol, shoulders = Drake-Fells, cloak = Shadow-Wrap and i think thats it... if you're into PvP the Glan Vraig chests have the occasional piece or armour that you can use until the raid gear is available to you. Hope that helps!

[Nash24]

Thanx a lot again for the info!
Still kind of uncertain then but I might actually go for just keepin woodlands for now, got hunters badge yesterday :P and get me some Galadhrim boots and legs if I can. Ill check out that helm u mentioned too (Faerthol) and the cloak as well.
Thanx again!

[Belion_]

Somewhat hijacked this spot to make my new sig ;) sry