How do you create the perfect bow?

[Sethisto]

I'm currently playing on a brand new server and havent ever played modern era, so I'm completely lost on crafting. There aren't really any power scrolls available yet, so it's still super fresh.

Right now I have GM in pretty much all tradeskills + arms lore, and 120 imbuing.

I'm trying to make a pretty ghetto ABC archer for PVE, since again, power scrolls are nonexistent 100 skill max!

So my goal right now is to create a good bow, or host of good slayer bows. I'm just so lost on how to get that going though. I got lucky on heartwood quests and snagged a yew runic kit, but completely blew on a pile of garbage bows following guides. All these guides seem to be completely outdated or covering different eras at this point, so it's confusing.

What are the exact steps to making an awesome bow? I'm guessing the main stats should be:

Hit Chance Increase
Damage Increase
Swing Speed Increase
Mana leech
A slayer type

But how does one maximize their potential with those?

I notice dropped bows never have damage increase. My yew runic crafting of composite bows with yew boards was supposed to give me a good SSI / Damage increase bow, but all I got was garbage. I see people bring up reforging a lot, but I'm kinda confused at how that would make a crafted bow have more of something.

I'm just stumped. Is there a step by step guide to creating great equipment out there?

 

[Basara]

These days, on the Broadsword/EA ran shards (EA disbanded Origin over a decade ago, yet people still refer to OSI shards, which drives some people nuts - Now if Brock Samson was running a freeshard from the Venture compound....), most items are made through the Imbuing skill, using the reforging subskill.

You make the BASE weapons with a NORMAL tool, with NORMAL wood.

Then, you give the imbuer the runic tool and these plain weapons. You then go check the pages with info on Reforging (an area that, sadly, I still am weak in, despite being an expert crafter in most other areas), and choose your power settings, and which ability groups to add to the weapon.

Once you decide on your plan (note the properties within each group are random from the group), you step the Imbuer up to the soulforge with the runic and the plain weapons, select the stuff in the runic's menu (which is different in the hands of an imbuer standing at a soulforge, than it is for the crafter elsewhere), and start Reforging items (at a cost of 5-6 charges off the runic per item) until you get a combination you like. Note that reforged items are just like any other item, capable of being enhanced and powdered, unless you choose an option that results in them being brittle (unable to be powdered). Imbuing to change (raise, lower or add) properties also effectively turns the item brittle.

The other option is to just go out and kill high level things till you loot an uber-bow, but the hard part there is finding one that isn't brittle or (worse) antique. If you aren't PvPing/going to Fel, you don't need to worry about looted items being cursed or prized, other than possibly dying and getting a curse bow looted by a monster. All prized does prevent the use of bless and multiplying insurance costs for the item. Cursed means it's 2003 all over again for the item, and you have to recover it from your corpse (not as big deal as many people seem to make it, if you aren't in an area where there are PC thieves)

The best looted or reforged bows can have twice as many properties as the best runic bow crafted by a fletcher. It's something that conventional crafters have been pancakes about since reforging was introduced, followed a few years later by the expansion of the new loot property system from just Shame dungeon, to all of UO.

 

[Sethisto]

These days, on the Broadsword/EA ran shards (EA disbanded Origin over a decade ago, yet people still refer to OSI shards, which drives some people nuts - Now if Brock Samson was running a freeshard from the Venture compound....), most items are made through the Imbuing skill, using the reforging subskill.

You make the BASE weapons with a NORMAL tool, with NORMAL wood.

Then, you give the imbuer the runic tool and these plain weapons. You then go check the pages with info on Reforging (an area that, sadly, I still am weak in, despite being an expert crafter in most other areas), and choose your power settings, and which ability groups to add to the weapon.

Once you decide on your plan (note the properties within each group are random from the group), you step the Imbuer up to the soulforge with the runic and the plain weapons, select the stuff in the runic's menu (which is different in the hands of an imbuer standing at a soulforge, than it is for the crafter elsewhere), and start Reforging items (at a cost of 5-6 charges off the runic per item) until you get a combination you like. Note that reforged items are just like any other item, capable of being enhanced and powdered, unless you choose an option that results in them being brittle (unable to be powdered). Imbuing to change (raise, lower or add) properties also effectively turns the item brittle.

The other option is to just go out and kill high level things till you loot an uber-bow, but the hard part there is finding one that isn't brittle or (worse) antique. If you aren't PvPing/going to Fel, you don't need to worry about looted items being cursed or prized, other than possibly dying and getting a curse bow looted by a monster. All prized does prevent the use of bless and multiplying insurance costs for the item. Cursed means it's 2003 all over again for the item, and you have to recover it from your corpse (not as big deal as many people seem to make it, if you aren't in an area where there are PC thieves)

The best looted or reforged bows can have twice as many properties as the best runic bow crafted by a fletcher. It's something that conventional crafters have been pancakes about since reforging was introduced, followed a few years later by the expansion of the new loot property system from just Shame dungeon, to all of UO.

Doh! I really did screw up in trying to craft that bow then. What a shame. Ill probably never see another Yew fletching kit again!

Thanks for the infos.

 

[Basara]

Doh! I really did screw up in trying to craft that bow then. What a shame. Ill probably never see another Yew fletching kit again!

Thanks for the infos.

Actually, these days runics are fairly easy to get - there's fletcher BODs now

 

[DJAd]

What are the exact steps to making an awesome bow? I'm guessing the main stats should be:

Hit Chance Increase
Damage Increase
Swing Speed Increase
Mana leech
A slayer type

I wouldn't put HCI onto a bow. Its a wasted mod as its easy to get 45 HCI from other armor parts so you don't need it on a weapon.

My PvM composite bows are like this:

Damage increase
SSI
Slayer
HML
HSL
100% elemental damage type

Then I have magical shortbows for area damage:

Damage increase
Slayer
HML
HSL
Hit area
100% elemental damage type

Use the SSI Calc to workout how much stamina and SSI you will need before making the weapons.

 

[Sethisto]

These days, on the Broadsword/EA ran shards (EA disbanded Origin over a decade ago, yet people still refer to OSI shards, which drives some people nuts - Now if Brock Samson was running a freeshard from the Venture compound....), most items are made through the Imbuing skill, using the reforging subskill.

You make the BASE weapons with a NORMAL tool, with NORMAL wood.

Then, you give the imbuer the runic tool and these plain weapons. You then go check the pages with info on Reforging (an area that, sadly, I still am weak in, despite being an expert crafter in most other areas), and choose your power settings, and which ability groups to add to the weapon.

Once you decide on your plan (note the properties within each group are random from the group), you step the Imbuer up to the soulforge with the runic and the plain weapons, select the stuff in the runic's menu (which is different in the hands of an imbuer standing at a soulforge, than it is for the crafter elsewhere), and start Reforging items (at a cost of 5-6 charges off the runic per item) until you get a combination you like. Note that reforged items are just like any other item, capable of being enhanced and powdered, unless you choose an option that results in them being brittle (unable to be powdered). Imbuing to change (raise, lower or add) properties also effectively turns the item brittle.

The other option is to just go out and kill high level things till you loot an uber-bow, but the hard part there is finding one that isn't brittle or (worse) antique. If you aren't PvPing/going to Fel, you don't need to worry about looted items being cursed or prized, other than possibly dying and getting a curse bow looted by a monster. All prized does prevent the use of bless and multiplying insurance costs for the item. Cursed means it's 2003 all over again for the item, and you have to recover it from your corpse (not as big deal as many people seem to make it, if you aren't in an area where there are PC thieves)

The best looted or reforged bows can have twice as many properties as the best runic bow crafted by a fletcher. It's something that conventional crafters have been pancakes about since reforging was introduced, followed a few years later by the expansion of the new loot property system from just Shame dungeon, to all of UO.

Are runics below yew any good though? I don't really understand the system tbh.

 

[Sethisto]

I wouldn't put HCI onto a bow. Its a wasted mod as its easy to get 45 HCI from other armor parts so you don't need it on a weapon.

My PvM composite bows are like this:

Damage increase
SSI
Slayer
HML
HSL
100% elemental damage type

Then I have magical shortbows for area damage:

Damage increase
Slayer
HML
HSL
Hit area
100% elemental damage type

Use the SSI Calc to workout how much stamina and SSI you will need before making the weapons.

I didn't know that about SSI! Ill swap it out then

 

[Basara]

Depending on what you are reforging for, certain abilities ONLY come from lower runics, unless you are doing the "throw caution to the wind" reforging and not picking power categories. For example, the "of Fortune" (luck) only is available from the lower half runics. (for smiths, I think copper at best, while tailors have to use Spined kits).

Also, with the low levels, you can also Reforge to try to get high-end in a few properties, then finish out the bow by Imbuing the rest of the properties you wanted on it.

So, lower runics are actually desirable, if you go the Reforge+Imbue path.

 

[Alkaseltzer]

Thanks for advice guys.