Any experienced archers?

[dbukalski]

Bound bow
strong but weaker than end game crafted bows
weighs nothing
looks cool

crafted bow
strongest bow
doesnt require casting, doesnt dissapear during combat
can have enchantments

I had a lvl 81 archer with 895 damage bow
weaker than my dual weilding character
sneaking was nice change of pace but slower going than just running in

All things good or bad considered I gave up the archer because my character was plagued by the bug where half the time the arrows will fall at my feet rather than shoot like their supposed to. So annoying I gave up.

 

[3v3r]

If you want some free archery skillpoints go to the falkreath town. There is a camp called Angie's camp speak to her (be friendly) and she will give you some tips and a series of challenges that when completed gives you a point.

 

[dbukalski]

or you can shoot shadowmere

 

[tvJefe]

Angie's camp gives you a total of 6 archery increases, I think. (5 from the tasks and 1 from a book in her shack). I waited until I had 90 skill (so you can't train anymore) and then did the quests. Much more useful going from 90-96 than 10-16.

 

[Mabe]

My Orc started life as a 2h tank. At about lvl 30 I got tired of just rushing into battle and killing everything with no skill and already had 2h and heavy armor in the 90s.

So I started to work on sneak and archery. Peeking into a room and dropping a poisoned arrow into the back of the boss is very effective in makeing big battles go much faster. It's a lot more fun than just running into places and takes a lot more tact and planning on the part of the player. Most times I can take out 75-100% of the room before it turns hand to hand.

Heavy armor is a bit of a trade off with sneak but it can be done. I have 97% sneak and can move around in the distance without issue.

While you don't have the cool kill scenes you do with 1h and 2h, you do have great visuals of a guy charging at you getting an arrow to the face or an unsuspecting guard with an arrow thru the head like Steve Martin. It's also interesting when you get a 1shot kill from a distance only to see that you shot the arrow thru his hand. Very much a Wtf? Moment.

Anyone ever go hawk hunting in Solitude? I got tired of seeing the shadows and thinking we were up dragon attack. To my surprise you can shoot them out of the air.

 

[Serebro Moniker]

I love archery; bows are my favourite weapons.
If you want a really good archery bonus, get the Ancient Shrouded Cowl. Equip it, then put on the Shrouded Cowl. You'll be wearing one, but have the Archery Bonuses of both.
I've combined this with Elven Gauntlets of Archery, and am currently running around with an archery bonus of 85%.

 

[Necromis]

One thing I notice is people playing archers saying that they clear a percentage of the enemy before they have to get into CQC. If you are playing your archer/sneak right, you will NEVER have to get into CQC. The trick is to shoot from one location, and hide in another. Both should provide decent advantages to maximize your sneak skill. Shoot, then move 10-15 meters away, not backwards also BTW. The AI when it is looking for you hunts on target from where you shot so there is no off chance of being bumped into by waiting where you were. My mystic archer/sneak I just played through the DB, main and Thievies guild questlines completely never had to engage in any CQC. Though there were a couple of small occasions where I did slit some Falmer throats, it was just quicker and a waste of an arrow from 10-15 feet.

The mystic bow is by far a great spell weapon. It is equal to any normal Daedric bow and has two enchantments you can perk into unlike was mention above. Also that damage is due to exploits, not standard crafting of a Daedric weapon. The normal bows are great, and the bound bow is too. They have different pros/cons. Really though, till you get to high levels and can improve daedric/ebony weapons the bound bow has the highest output damage. the DB armour is also the best for a sneak at low level using a bow.

 

[Serebro Moniker]

Are there any Daedric Artifact Bows?

 

[Zoa Two Tails]

there arent any that i know of but that doesnt mean that there arent. I just havent discovered all the artifacts.

 

[Necromis]

per the wiki there are no daedric bow artifacts

 

[DarkTorrent]

Bows are my personal favorite.
I used to only wear deadric, but once i joined the thieves guild and dark brotherhood, i became much more stealthy.
I recommend a rune magic spell and a dagger as a backup,
ebony mail ( in the boethias caliing quest )
and nightingale hood and boots.
Bows can be very useful, you can sometimes even sneak up on perched dragons and one shot them.

 

[Gore gro-Gijakudob]

I'm at level 70 now and really just started using bows to up the stat, I have a Legendary Daedric bow with Firey Soul Trap and shock damage and a Helmet with improved archery, without any perks I can pretty much one shot kill most enemies while hidden with not a single perk in archery.

 

[Shadowbane]

Conjuration archer with bound bow is beast, its cool having a onehanded bow with unlimited ammo, with max conjuration and archery is damage is 96. no bad for end game but not the best. but the spell is only onehanded so you can combo destruction spells or use swords if you wish. it neat for hybrid builds

 

[REN951]

I have a legendary deadric bow with 96 damage + 46 fire enchantment + 50% damage with appeal x2 in sneak mode! Kick ass.............

 

[REN951]

I have a legendary deadric bow with 96 damage + 46 fire enchantment + 50% damage with appeal x2 in sneak mode! Kick ass.............

Oh and I also have all archery perks