crashhat69
Member
With the quick shot perk, it fires a little faster than my daedric bow, but the lack of damage is turning me away from it. What's the max amount of damage the zephyr can do? Should I use the zephyr or stick to the daedric?
Questions about the Zephyr
- Thread starter crashhat69
- Start date
Zephyr's main draw (archery pun) isn't its damage output. Damage-wise, per shot, it will always be lower than Daedric. The benefit of using Zephyr is that you can shoot faster than you can with almost any other bow, and it benefits from the Quickshot perk like every other bow. This means you get better DPS if you fire frequently.
It's a Dwarven bow, which can be improved if you have Arcane Smithing, and benefits from the Dwarven Smithing perk. How high those improvements go depends a lot on whether you've got crazy enchanted smithing gear and crazy maxed smithing potions active when you improve it.
The value really comes down to your play style, though. Because shot for shot, if you're a "fire into melee when plops hits the fan" kind of player, you'll get more out of an improved Zephyr than you might out of an improved Daedric bow, because (at base level) Zephyr does its base damage per shot per second: 12. A Daedric bow has a base damage of 19, but does about 9.5 points of DPS. (Skill Usage > Draw Speed > Bow Comparison.) If you sneak everywhere and deal damage based on stealth and stealth bonuses, it works off the base damage of the weapon. That's where Daedric is going to make a bigger difference.
So, it comes down to your style (and the arrows you use) more than the pure damage output.
tl;dr - Zephyr has better DPS, period. Daedric is better per single shot if you sneak, or if speed is not a factor. Both can be improved beyond ridiculous.
It's a Dwarven bow, which can be improved if you have Arcane Smithing, and benefits from the Dwarven Smithing perk. How high those improvements go depends a lot on whether you've got crazy enchanted smithing gear and crazy maxed smithing potions active when you improve it.
The value really comes down to your play style, though. Because shot for shot, if you're a "fire into melee when plops hits the fan" kind of player, you'll get more out of an improved Zephyr than you might out of an improved Daedric bow, because (at base level) Zephyr does its base damage per shot per second: 12. A Daedric bow has a base damage of 19, but does about 9.5 points of DPS. (Skill Usage > Draw Speed > Bow Comparison.) If you sneak everywhere and deal damage based on stealth and stealth bonuses, it works off the base damage of the weapon. That's where Daedric is going to make a bigger difference.
So, it comes down to your style (and the arrows you use) more than the pure damage output.
tl;dr - Zephyr has better DPS, period. Daedric is better per single shot if you sneak, or if speed is not a factor. Both can be improved beyond ridiculous.
crashhat69
Member
I did the math and the zephyr would do about 189 damage maxed out and thats including the ebony arrow damage. Would that be considered a lot of damage? Can I add a 2nd enchantment to it?
crashhat69
Member
Is there any bow that has a faster drawback than the zephyr?
The most comparable bow in terms of damage and draw speed is Auriel's Bow.
As Gidian says, Auriel's Bow has the same draw speed, as does Froki's Bow. Auriel's Bow, however, does have a higher base damage.
For base damage comparison:
Froki's Bow: 6
Zephyr: 12
Auriel's Bow: 13
Again, that's each bow's base damage. It does not take into account your level, any perks you have invested in archery damage, how much you improve it at a grindstone, or the ammo you're using. All of these things can change the result, but that's what you start with in each case.
The longbow also has the same speed, but can't be improved as the other bows can. It can be tempered, however.
All of this you would have known, as well, if you'd clicked the link in my original post and scrolled down to the table, which lists the speed of every bow in Skyrim. 1 is the fastest speed.
For base damage comparison:
Froki's Bow: 6
Zephyr: 12
Auriel's Bow: 13
Again, that's each bow's base damage. It does not take into account your level, any perks you have invested in archery damage, how much you improve it at a grindstone, or the ammo you're using. All of these things can change the result, but that's what you start with in each case.
The longbow also has the same speed, but can't be improved as the other bows can. It can be tempered, however.
All of this you would have known, as well, if you'd clicked the link in my original post and scrolled down to the table, which lists the speed of every bow in Skyrim. 1 is the fastest speed.
crashhat69
Member
oh lol, I didn't realize you added a link. I'll give it a look now, thanks
jonathan90
well known member
zephyr bow is a great bow.
use it to your advantage.
very good when you have to take out charging enemies with great fast precision and bow fire.
