Bow is me
by Spencer Callaghan 
Aug 14th 2006 at 5:00PM
My main is a 60 hunter – yes I know EZ-Mode, yadda-yadda – but I can't help but wonder why I am still using ammo marked level 40?Yes I still use Jagged Arrows with their paltry 13.0 dps, but I just can't be bothered to either find Thorium Headed Arrows on the AH or make them myself. Sure there is Doomshot but it is BoP and drops in such low numbers that it is barely worth the effort.
So why hasn't Blizzard introduced a vendor-sold arrow higher than level 40? It seems to me like the whole itemization for ranged weapons is pretty weak to begin with, there are few good bow, crossbow and gun drops and of course hunters get yelled at for rolling on any melee item that doesn't say Class: Hunter so our only niche is ranged which is far too often overlooked.
Add to the mix the fact that guns are the only player-craftable weapon, and there are still not many plans, and you have little to choose from for hunters. And you wonder why we are always coveting your daggers and swords?
Where is the woodworking profession for player-made bows and arrows? For that matter where are my poison tipped arrows, exploding arrows and smoke arrows? (Yes I read too many Hawkeye comics as a kid) Why hasn't there been more functionality added to projectiles?
In any high level instance there are usually multiple weapon drops for also every class except hunters, who usually get one bow/xbow/gun per instance, two if we are really lucky.
Personally I think a lot of the drama that is created when hunters try to roll on melee would be alleviated if we had some more options available for ranged items.
We're not all Legolas wanna-bes out here in hunter-land some of us are just getting a little bored with the "autoshot-go make a sandwich" technique.
Anyone else think ranged items are an after-thought for Blizzard?
Filed under: Hunter, Items, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Celeth Aug 14th 2006 5:20PM
...or there's the vendor-bought arrows you get from AV vendors after reaching Honored. They're lvl 51.
Ghostle Aug 14th 2006 5:23PM
Use thorium headed arrows for raid bosses, otherwise, get these
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=19316
Ice threaded arrows, all you need is honored with your respective AV faction.
Powerkeeper Aug 14th 2006 5:24PM
Um, Thorium Headed Arrows....befriend an engineer, get him to make you Thorium Shells and trade them in.
Calous Aug 14th 2006 5:24PM
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/factions/alterac/index.html
Ice threaded arrows and or bullets.
Tensai Aug 14th 2006 6:16PM
Yep, as Calous pointed out... ice-threaded arrows are available from the AV vendor relatively cheap, and it doesn't take very long to grind out the faction needed to buy them. Only pain is traveling to the AV entrance (or the BG) to purchase the arrows.
Only slightly less-effective than thorium ones, and much cheaper. Plus, they are soulbound which keeps your Warrior and Rogue friends from asking to borrow a few in a long raid instance.
As for crafting your own bows and arrows, with special tips and effects. It would be nice, but I think much of that is done through the skills and talents. The various stings pretty well cover that category, without having to buy special ingredients or arrows. After having gone the "build-your-own" in FFXI, have to say it's nice to not have to constantly swap ammo, etc.
Captain Roach Aug 14th 2006 6:18PM
Seriously, i'd love to see a woodworking profession (with accompanying lumberjack vollection profession.) The ability to make bows, staves, and.. other stuff would be worthwhile.
While they're at it.. they should also allow hunters the ability to perform their skills with thrown weapons.
last, more fist weapons plz k thx.
Ryan Aug 14th 2006 7:39PM
Yeah, I use jagged too. Ice Threaded arrows are a pain to pick up for a busy raider who actually has to sleep between farming for mats/repairs and a 9-5 job/school. If the arrows were more readily available, then things would be different.
Added bonus to Ice Threaded arrows: the bigger the mob is, the bigger your arrow appears to be when it hits, i.e. see big arrows poking from Ragnaros.
kelly Aug 14th 2006 8:24PM
hunters are really whiny.
Gapenator Aug 14th 2006 9:03PM
Y'all who didn't get what he was saying.....choke yerself!!!
Molnek Aug 14th 2006 9:08PM
They should make boxing glove arrows, those would rock.
Ebulum Aug 15th 2006 12:02AM
I used be a dwarf engineer/priest (then switched to tailor). I would sell thorium bullets on market, or send them to my friends. When market had cooled off, there was a dwarf in inn, next to IF AH, who would convert thorium shells to thorium tipped arrow heads. I would turn then place those on AH. Can't remember NPC's name. Not sure if he only talked to engineers or others as well.
none Aug 16th 2006 2:15PM
The arrows are the biggest reason why hunter itemization sucks end game.
Up until AQ40, hunters were the cream of the DPS crop for most fights (FD along with little to no timed fights for easier mana conservation). Mages and rogues simply couldn't go all out, and their gear scaled more slowly than ours. Once you get Nef on farm, though, mages start getting insane +damage gear and rogues started getting better weapons and gear. Hunters, however, have stayed at roughly the same level of DPS from Majordomo on up. There are more and more fights in Naxx and AQ40 where aggro is meaningless so our FD doesn't help anymore. There are more and more fights that are timed DPS races where we don't have time to FD+drink to regen mana (time to swap out that +9 stam to bracer enchant for the mp5 enchant). So why isn't our DPS scaling up if we are getting better gear? One reason is we don't have options on our gear... it's either GS, DS, SG or CS along with one weapon per instance. We don't have a choice between a thousand off-set items like casters (circlet of the mindflayer versus don rodrigos hat versus nemesis cap, etc) and 10 weapons like melee (do I want the Claw or the AQR or the CTS or the Sting, etc).
A bigger reason, though, is that a large portion of our DPS comes from arrows. These arrows don't ever get upgraded. We still use thorium arrows from lvl 52 even though our ranged weapon is ilvl 77. These arrows add 17.5 DPS while the weapon itself is 45.6 DPS. If we had arrows more appropriate to the instance levels we would finally be able to DPS like we should be. They could even be usable only inside certain instances (have Naxx trash drop arrows usable only inside Naxx) so as not to destroy PVP.
If you think this isn't an issue, then you obviously haven't played a hunter in Naxx. Of course, warlocks are in the same boat as us and wouldn't be brought to a raid at all if not for CoE, soulstones, healthstones and bloodpact. 2 warlocks, 3 hunters, 8 mages and 7 rogues is a good Naxx DPS setup.
none Aug 16th 2006 2:32PM
Whoops, I meant Don Rigoberto's Hat, but that's a healing cap not +damage. A better example would be Jade Inlaid Vest versus Battleguard Robes versus Nemesis Robes... or Boots of Epiphany versus Ringo's Blizzard Boots versus Netherwind Boots.
James Aug 24th 2006 8:40AM
Props to "none" on posts 12/13. I've been saying this for quite some time, and it annoys me that hunters are the only class that never has off-set items (besides occasionally 1-2 items in each instance, should as the barrage shoulders in aq40, or the belt from aq20). Barb of the sandreaver is nice, and badge of the swarmguard (along with the trinket from Ouro. But both of those trinkets also go for Rogues. So something hunter-only would be nice.
aphrodis Sep 25th 2006 5:28AM
or just let us poison / sharpen arrows like rogues/warriors do...+ crit to arrows anyone? poison soaked ice threaded arrows? maybe do something that will poison all your arrows/bullets in your quiver.
i wish elemental sharpening stones worked for range :/