Bows = useless in PVP?

I have a DEX build and I'm using the Black Bow of Pharis with Large arrows, it seems to be doing a good damage, 200-300 per hit, but the thing is: its impossible to hit! I was fighting a guy in full havels and without the ninja flip ring, he could dodge every arrow with the fat roll. Imagine the flip ring user! The guy flipped 3 times dodging and bsed me. Its so slow compared to the Avelyn! I think FROM should do something about it.

Nah, man. I once had a character with jsut a shield and a bow. Hard as hell, but I killed two low level PvPers with my Composite Bow + 10 before I went to Anor Londo. Hard, but just make sure to use low amount of weight, and role back for room space. Not too far in which the enemy can dodge it, but far enough for him not to reach you. if they use a rapier or spear with a shield, than you need to use other elements with the bow... depending on the environment.

hmm its true depending on the place can be useful, but I was at Kiln. Where there is enough place and time for the guy to chug estus and still dodge the arrow -__-

Yea I'd only see the Bows useful in PvP in Sens or Anor

Different Bows for Different Times. Composite is more for harder damage but closer range. the Darkmoon is more for faith and such, although you can not reach elementals or faith/intelligence builds, nor pure physical, such as raw or crystal or just normal. The long bow, surpassing the short bow, is a good moderate range and diversity build, although in msot cases you will be fighting enemies in close enough proximity, in which the Composite Bow excels.

The Dragonslayer Bow is, in fact, the only bow that truly depends upon the environment. If you try to sue it in an open area, you are screwed. However in small narrow corridors and pathways, such as Sen's or Anor Londo, excels. Even so, other places have ledges as well, but those two excel in it.

Also depends on the arrows as well. If you get a + 5 lightning bow, getting fire arrows, or moonlight arrows, makes sure that your bow does more diversity in different subjects of damage. Selecting Arrows for different circumstances helps. Their are less different bolts than arrows, as the only elemental for bolts is lightning, it can be said that choosing your weaponry of both bows and arrows is a wise choice.

Keep the bow on your left hand as well. having something such as a shield or such on the right helps for emergency situations of blocking and backing off of enemies, if you focus on a full archer build. just some words of advice.

2 bows are viable in PvP. Composite bow for quick drawing, Dragonslayer bow for stagering and damage.

The DSGB is used more like a tower weapon than a bow in PvP. I use it a lot and its definitely viable.When using the DSGB, draw and wait. When they're close enough (within melee distance) let it rip. Even if they block you will definitely stagger. Does lots of damage if backed with enough str/dex. Even if they attack you your arrow will reach them quicker, and if you get hit you usually do more damage. Only problem would be crossbows, where you'll have to bait a miss fire, draw, and when they fire again, fire at the same time and deal more damage.

Thanks for the info man, I will keep trying to use in these situations and see what I can get. Damage is not a problem at all, but I will keep practicing.

Edit: wow I just ahd a nice fight with the bow. Guy had a moonlight GS and Catalyst, I had silver knight sword and this bow. We fougut until both had only 100 health left. I swicthed to the bow and aimed. And did not knew what to do, we trying to shake off my lock on but he could not, so I shoot and he dodge, but right after shooting I swicthed to the sword, ran and attack = WINS

Thanks a lot fo the feedback!

ummm glute was that a backstab I saw in there?

Serious_Much wrote:ummm glute was that a backstab I saw in there?

yea he does alot of them, pretty cool how he does it though

yeah, fakes the arrow shot than rapid switch to weapon, strafe and there you go. its not a bad tactic

Serious_Much wrote:yeah, fakes the arrow shot than rapid switch to weapon, strafe and there you go. its not a bad tactic

Now if only I could master that move as well... there's still the min/maxers and stun lock you in 2 hits...

JY4answer wrote:

Serious_Much wrote:yeah, fakes the arrow shot than rapid switch to weapon, strafe and there you go. its not a bad tactic

Now if only I could master that move as well... there's still the min/maxers and stun lock you in 2 hits...

thats the beauty of the dragon bow though, the weapons that stun in 1-2 hits are fairly slow, so once you see them start attack animation just instantly shoot them and it knocks them back/down, and you don't get stun locked.

though i figure the key to beating some one who plays that style with dragon bow is to constantly rush them with a heavy offense and not let them have time to set up bow.

Very interesting, this also works against normal bows, at least dex bows

The Composite Bow is gonna be your best bet for PvP. Murakumo builds actually make for surprisingly good Composite Bow builds (28 STR, 40 DEX at C/C scaling with a great 2H bonus considering bows are automatically 2H). Technically a Chaos Composite Bow has a better AR than even a +15, but I prefer to keep the scaling.

The Dragon Bow is totally viable, but I always get pivoted when I try to use it (I guess everyone's seen the video where circling around the archer doesn't really work, or they're just anuses).
The Darkmoon Bow I think would work, too, as it's a smaller bow (and thus, quicker), but I've never utilized it it firsthand. I imagine with decent FTH, though, it'd act similarly to a Composite Bow with decent DEX.

Anyway, you can't expect to win a fight purely with a bow. There are some fights where this is possible, sure, but even in the bow PvP video the dude gets tricky with some backstabs and such. It's more about breaking expectation than anything else - roll in unanticipated directions, whip out your melee weapon once they get close and start going to town, let them hide behind a pillar and use the opportunity to buff your melee weapon or to pop a green blossom, try to anticipate when they will heal and be ready to charge and backstab with your melee weapon, etc. You just have to try and read your opponent.

Poison Arrows help, too - even if they have their shield up, they will still be poisoned a little bit it as long as you hit it. Now, poisoning them won't win the fight for you...but there have been times where I've seen my opponents go to Estus with a sliver of health left and die from poisoning before they actually can drink it. It takes a while for it to do any real damage, but if you're hopping around trying to shoot arrows, anyway, might as well poison them, right? This is a particularly good strategy for invaders, as they can't Estus.

Finally, like spells, shooting arrows simply works better while hosting. Countless times have I been lagstabbed (not necessarily pivot-stabbed, but literally just backstabbed due to lag) by a host while shooting arrows, only to escape the same exact attack while hosting.

The bottom line is that bows are from from useless in PvP. Just remember, it's more about
breaking expectation than anything else.

What did you expect?

Why is the composite bow better than the Black bow? Is it faster?

Yes, it is. The Composite, Short and Darkmoon (I'm pretty sure) are all smaller and thus, quicker.

The Shortbow is viable for a pure Dex build, but I argue that the Composite bow is the most effective because its scaling makes you upgrade both STR and DEX, which makes your 2H bonus better in addition to scaling.

*punch myself in the face*

Heh, nah dude, no need for that. The difference is really hard to notice, and pretty much makes a difference strictly in PvP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blTbipSaQSU&feature=related

Good example of the usage of a Bow. Even though he missed a good chunk, he still hit him at times, and killed him twice with it. You will see it when he has his scythe with him as well, in rounds 1 and 3

wow thats nice, hope to get so good as he is

you need to practice dude, i got my *** kicked once by an archer in the painted world. theyre good if you know how to use them.

Thanks for the feedback, it requires great timing just like a parry, I apreciate your tips

i use pharis as a constant 2ndary right hand weapon and its a wonderful damage dealer, but and time the guys rolls a bit. also use poision arrows to help speed up the process, also being a bit of a sniper with it and try not relying on lock on targeting