Heartstriker bow

[Erebus the Black]

Why is it that I see a lot on this forum people praising the heartstriker bow as the best bow?

In my experience Eliavri's bow(glowing blue) generally does more damage.

[Randomizer]

The Heartstriker bow has the highest damage multiplier of any bow in the game. So it should do more damage on average than any other bow.

 

The difference depends upon how many combined levels you have in dexterity, bows, and sharpshooter. The more levels you have than the less damage comes from the bow's base damage.

[Slawbug]

A few other bows may have higher weapon bonuses, which means that they may do more damage on average when you have very LOW bow skill (Dex + Bows + Sharpshooter). The difference in multipliers was extreme in A4, which is why the comments about it are often extreme. It is notable, but somewhat less extreme in A5.

[Erebus the Black]

could you please elaborate.

[Lilith]

In A4, it just does loads of damage, and even bigger loads of damage if you have high Bows skill.

 

In A5, it does lousy damage if you have low Bows skill but excellent damage if you have very high Bows skill. Other high-end bows will tend to do okay damage with low Bows skill and good damage with high Bows skill.

[Erebus the Black]

would you consider 11 bows 8 Dex and 3 sharp(upgradable with the far-sight band and dead-eye chain to about 8) to be low?

because both bows do about the same damage at these levels

(around 20 damage for high level creeps)

[Lilith]

Those are the sort of bow skills I'd expect from a spellcaster who dabbles a little bit in archery -- which isn't a bad idea, but you're not going to get an amazingly powerful archer that way. You need to invest a lot in Bows to notice a big difference between the Heartstriker and other bows. Since skill costs increase as skills go up, that kind of investment probably isn't really worth it.

[Erebus the Black]

thanks

[Slawbug]

Originally Posted By: Thuryl

Since skill costs increase as skills go up, that kind of investment probably isn't really worth it.

Particularly considering you get somewhat better damage returns from investing in melee, and much better damage returns from investing in magic.

[Earth]

but if money ain't problem then could buy sharpshooter and bows to max.

[Alorael at Large]

No. You can buy a few points. They're a worthwhile investment for every character, but they won't make Heartstriker a weapon of inevitable death.

 

—Alorael, who isn't sure the returns on melee are all that much higher. Yes, you can do more damage per hit, but your hit rate is reduced by your greater vulnerability to parry. The difference wasn't substantial enough for him to regret making a dedicated non-melee, non-pole archer, at any rate.

[Erebus the Black]

so Eliavri's bow is better for basic archery dabblers as it gives bonuses while the heartstriker doesn't?

[Untamed Banana Slug]

Originally Posted By: avatar42

so Eliavri's bow is better for basic archery dabblers as it gives bonuses while the heartstriker doesn't?

Do the calculations in Excel.

Edit: Never mind, it takes me about 2 minutes to do myself.

Code:

Damage levels	Heartstriker	Elavari's				1		22.5		362		25		383		27.5		404		30		425		32.5		446		35		467		37.5		488		40		509		42.5		5210		45		5411		47.5		5612		50		5813		52.5		6014		55		6215		57.5		6416		60		6617		62.5		6818		65		7019		67.5		7220		70		7421		72.5		7622		75		7823		77.5		8024		80		8225		82.5		8426		85		8627		87.5		8828		90		9029		92.5		9230		95		9431		97.5		9632		100		9833		102.5		10034		105		10235		107.5		10436		110		10637		112.5		10838		115		11039		117.5		11240		120		114

Heartstriker overtake's Elavari's when you have 29 combat levels of damage for bows.

Edit: What's wrong with the format? It looks fine when I edit it, but it gets all compacted after I post it.

[Slawbug]

Interesting. It doesn't overtake it by much, either. 40 combat levels in bow-stats is totally achievable if you push bows for a Nephil DT Deadeye... but as this chart also demonstrates, the damage bonus over 30 or even 25 levels in bow-stats isn't that amazing.

 

Given what you give up for the Heartstriker I guess it's a poor choice in A5. Pity.

[Ephesos]

I always favored Elavari's bow anyway. Now I feel vindicated.

 

*gleam*

[Txgangsta]

I've got a dedicated archer with enough bow points, but I can't find the ingredients to make the heartstriker anywhere. Could someone post a link or the necessary items? Thanks!

[Randomizer]

Melanchion's Keep

 

DARKSTALKER HELFT'S WORKSHOP - NW

• CRAFTS ARMOR & WEAPONS:

 

2) Heartstriker Bow (8-32 dmg) [5 Fine Leather, Mandrake Tincture, 4 Focusing Crystals, Eyestalk, 500c]

[Txgangsta]

Thx!