[Guide] Bow

Hey guys welcome to the bow guide. Bows fire homing shots from a distance and most shots from this class are get stronger the farther they travel. This guide aims to tell you the basic abilities of each weapon of the class and how to use these weapons effectively.

Fortune Bow


This bow has balanced in terms of power for a bow. Its melee is average, something to expect for a basic variant of this class. This should be used if you want to get used to this class

Pros: Balanced attack power. Good charge speed.

Cons: somewhat slow shot speed and average range.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, slipshot, jump glide.

Mods to consider: Shot range+2 and up, dash charge shot +2 and up, speed, shot homing +2 and up.

Strategies to use: Keep your target in sight and wait for an opportunity to strike with this bow. Some support may be needed depending on what mods and stars are on your fortune bow. You will not be using the dash constant fire at all since this bow only fires one and it comes out slow. Lightweight is used for extra mobility because you will be constantly on the move in both FFA and LvD to get a shot in. If you don’t want the loss of defense but you still want mobility, consider putting speed+3 on this and other bows.

Meteor Bow


The bow has the highest shot range of the class and its constant fire power is a bit higher than most bows. This bow also has a fast charge time but its dash charge shot lacks power and has little homing.

Pros: Longest range of the class. Fast charge time. Ability to fire off several shots at once. Good homing ability.

Cons: Low overall power. Dash charge shot lacks power(till you have reached max shot range) and homing.'
Powers recommended: Lightweight(almost a standard for supporting roles), energy charge, bumblebee, slipshot, jump glide, any power that hinders play(including eggplant and tempura)

Mods to consider: Standing constant fire +3or +4, Dash constant fire +3 or +4, shot range +3, speed, any status mod that prevents movement or hinders play(shaking, freezing, etc.)

Strategy: Your job with this weapon is to support your teammates by constantly pestering your foes with shots and status effects. This bow is not suited for FFA unless you want a challenge. If you are in a stage with lots of cover, its recommended that slip shot should be used with this bow in order to support your teammates effectively. Status effects help the team by giving your teammates a fighting chance against a threat on the opposing team and it makes your teammates life a bit easier. Lightweight is for mobility. You need to be where your teammates are and be able to get away quickly if you are in trouble. It would be smart to choose one status effect to use and choose the same power because those actually stack! And remember, fight at a distance! Actually, if you are far though with energy charge and the right mods,this bow can 1HKO but only barely(max i had was 259) .

Divine Bow


This bow has a high shot cancelation value for its class. The shots are a bit slow and its lacking in power. Fortunately, this bow has a fast charge time and great homing ability to all of its shots!

Pros: Fast charge time! Great homing ability. High cancelation value for the class.

Cons: Low power. Slow shot speed. Average shot range.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge(is a must), bumblebee, slipshot, jump glide, quick charge.

Mods to consider: Shot range+3, dash charge shot +2 and up, speed, shot homing, dash constant fire +3, shot cancelation +1.

Strategies: People with this bow can support in an odd way, by canceling out dangerous shots from the enemy team and other foes in both modes. Energy charge is a must if actually plan to win a match because its power becomes a threat since the charge rate is fast. Quick charge can be used if you want to bombard your foe with shot after shot. Here is a handy tip, alternate between 2 dash constant fire shots and a round of standing constant fire while moving in a circle. This puts pressure on a foe. Lightweight is used for mobility and for that handy tip. Remember, you can cancel out all but the strongest shots from foes so don’t expect to cancel out a charge shot from a guardian orbitars.

Aurum Bow


This bow can fire off lots of shots in a quick pace! They are weak but with excellent homing; perfect for applying pressure to a foe. The dash charge shot has surprising range and is goes farther than its constant fire version.

Pros: Decent charge speed. Fires the most shots from its constant fire out of the class. Long dash charge shot range. Acceptable dash charge shot power. Great homing.

Cons: Constant fire range is average. Constant fire strength is on the weak side.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge(is a must), bumblebee, slipshot, jump glide, quick charge.
Mods to consider: Shot range+3, dash charge shot +2 and up, speed, shot homing, dash constant fire +2 or better , standing constant fire +2 or better, walking speed+3 or better.

Strategies: With shot range+3, this bow can apply pressure at a good distance with its standing and dash constant fire. Energy charge is used in order to have that extra power for your charge shots. Quick charge actually extends the amount of shots that come out from the standing constant fire as well as speed up the charge. Remember that trick on the divine bow? It works with this bow to but use one more dash constant fire and one more round of standing constant fire. Other than pressure, this bow can provide good support with its charge shots.

Phosphora Bow


This bow has the fastest shot speed of the class. It boosts the speed of the user the most of the class and it has one of the best homing abilities of the class! It has a fast charge time and it can also paralyze! Too bad its dash charge shot power is one of the lowest of the class.

Pros: Fast charge time. Boosts speed of the user. Fantastic homing on all charge shots. Can paralyze. Fastest shot speed of the class.

Cons: Lowest charge shot power of the class.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge(is a must), bumblebee, slipshot, jump glide.

Mods to consider: dash charge shot +4, shot range +4 , speed.

Strategies: Thanks to all the pros of the weapon, energy charge, and slipshot, this weapon is very effective in both modes. You can focus on annoying your opponent with this bow thanks to its fast shot speed, quick charge speed, and that small chance on paralyses. Once that paralyses starts, your foe quickly becomes an easy target for you and your teammates, making this weapon great for support! I cannont stress this enough, mobility and distance is important on bows.

Darkness Bow


This bow is a rare example of something excelling in melee in a class that doesn’t rely on melee. The dash charge shot power is amazing but it has the worst homing of the class. The charge speed is also one of the longest of the class.

Pros: 2nd strongest bow in the class. Excellent melee power.

Cons: Worst homing ability of the class. Longest charge speed of the class. Shot range is a tab short.

Powers recommended: Homing Boost, Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, jump glide, quick charge.

Mods to consider: shot homing +3, dash charge shot +2 or better, speed, shot range +3, melee combo +3 or 4

Strategies: Kill everything. That’s what you will be going for when you are using this bow. Thanks to the long charge time and bad homing, its best to wait for the perfect time to land that killing shot, especially if you have energy charge. If you have a chance to melee, then melee. You might take the person out if you have the stats for melee. This is one of those weapons that are great if it has good stars in both ranged and melee. If you want to apply pressure to your opponent, is a bit hard to since the standing and dash constant fire only fires 3 shots with a long delay between each round with the standing. Do a dash constant fire between each round of standing constant fire.

Palutena Bow


Some of you know it as “the bow pit used on super smash bros”. This bow is odd because most of its shots move faster the farther they travel! The standing shots are a bit on the weak side but the charge shots make up for it!

Pros: Great charge shot power. Good homing. Decent charge shot range. Shots move faster the father they go.

Cons: weak constant fire shots. Low constant fire range.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, jump glide, slip shot.

Mods to consider: shot homing +2 or better, dash charge shot +2 or better, speed, shot range +3

Strategies: Like all bows, keep your distance for maximum damage. Since the shots get faster the farther it travels, the foe might misjudge the speed and get hit by the shot. Energy charge can be used in order to score kills if you are using this bow. Again, mobility is important for bow users because you can quickly move to another location and help you teammates and get kills. This bow's dash ch shots are very powerful and is comparable to the darkness and the zodiac bow.You will be using the charge shot most of the time because you need to get a lot closer in order to use standing or dash constant fire. In fact, the dash charge shot goes twice as far as the standing and dash constant fire.
Crystal Bow


This bow fires large shoots and has good power all around! Even it's melee is acceptable for its class. The bad thing about this bow is the low amount of shots that comes out of its dash constant fire and it has one of the lowest shot ranges of the class.

Pros: good overall power in both range and melee. Large and fast moving shots.

Cons: Smallest shot range of the class. Doesn’t fire many shots quickly

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, jump glide, slip shot, super armor, aries armor.

Mods to consider: shot homing +2 or better, dash charge shot +2 or better, speed, shot range +3(necessity), overall defense + 4 and up, health +3 and up.

Strategies: Because of the bow’s short range, you will be playing a mid to close range game. In other words, you are going into the fire if you don’t have shot range +3. Super armor and aries armor helps tone down the damage you take if you are playing a mid to close range style of play. With energy charge and select powers (and keeping your distance), you can surprise you foe with a one shot kill. Mobility is key.

Angel Bow


This bow has slow moving shots that have one of the best homing of its class and one of the best weapons in the game in terms of homing ability( with rivals like the eyetrack orbitars) The dash charge shots have good power but has average range.

Pros: Fantastic homing ability. Slow shot speed(for special reasons) quick melee speed

Cons: Low power, slow shot speed(again…for special reasons) low melee power.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, jump glide, slip shot, homing boost, quick charge.

Mods to consider: : shot homing +2 or better, dash charge shot +2 or better, speed, shot range +3

Strategies: Well, you can be really cheap with this weapon. With powers like quick charge, energy charge, and slip shot along with mods like shot range and shot homing, you can annoy just about anyone and they are also excellent counters to “Trolltrack”(also known as eyetrack) orbitars. If you are playing regularly, you don’t really need shot homing. Also, slow shot speed is like a double edge sword. It can take time to reach the foe and the foe might even dodge it but with homing like this, the shot might just turn back around and hit your target. The bow also works surprisingly well for putting up the pressure but the dash and standing constant fire shoots take a while to reach your foe. That’s where teammates come in.

Hawkeye Bow


This bow has fast moving shoots that are sometimes hardly noticeable on bright stages. This bow also comes with good shoot cancelation value so you can cancel out most shots with a forward dash charge shots.

Pros: High speed shots. Long range. High shot cancelation value.

Cons: Takes time to charge. Lowest melee power of the class.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, jump glide, slip shot, quick charge.

Mods to consider: Shot range+3, dash charge shot +4, speed, shot homing, shot cancelation +1.

Strategies: Well, if you want to snipe but you don’t want to get bogged down in the speed department, this bow is for you. Thanks to the high shot cancelation value, you can cancel out harmful shots from afar and support your teammates in the process. The speed of the shots means that your foe will have little time to react, allowing you to score some hits. Unlike the divine bow, you actually have more range to do that. Remember, mobility is the key for a successful bow user.

Silver Bow


This bow is a really oddity. Instead of its shoots growing stronger the farther you are, the shots from this bow gets weaker the farther you are. The bow also has a good homing ability and it's firing range is good.

Pros: Good homing ability. Solid shot range.

Cons: Requires skill to use properly. No major power up close.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, jump glide, slip shot, super armor, aries armor.

Mods to consider: Shot range+1 or 2, dash charge shot +4, speed+3, shot homing. Overall defense +5 and up. Health +3 and up.

Strategies: Warning, this is NO lancer staff so this bow does not have major power in close range. This bow is why I say mobility is important on bows. You must know when you can attack and when to run away. Lightweight makes sure you can get away. You can provide support from a certain distance AND you can go in and do some damage if you have someone backing you up. Powers like bumblebee and super armor keeps you alive longer. As long as you keep your distance and judge the situation, you will excel with this bow.

Sagittarius Bow


If you play online, you will see mostly bow users with this bow and for good reason. It has the power that rivals the darkness bow. This bow has good decent range and homing but takes time to charge up.
Pros: Excellent attack power. Good homing. Fast shot speed. Acceptable range. Piercing ability.

Cons: Slow charge time. Average melee power.

Powers recommended: Lightweight, energy charge, bumblebee, jump glide, slip shot

Mods to consider: Shot range+3, dash charge shot +4, speed, shot homing.

Strategies: Just like the darkness bow, you main objective is to kill. With max stars in range, dash charge shot +3 and energy charge, you will sure that every dash charge shot you throw will kill. Applying pressure with this bow is a lot easier than the darkness bow thanks to the shot speed of this bow and the little delay after a round of constant fire. Remember to alternate between dash and standing constant fire for appropriate pressure for bows. Also DON'T FORGET ABOUT MOBILITY! Lightweight makes life easier!

Please share other strategies you guys used when using these bows! (credit goes to THA for providing the pictures!) Also, this is advice I am giving. You don't have to follow if you can do something better. xD

Cool SOZ u know Alot about bows My favorite part was The Phosphora bow ← only bow i Respect

quote Mikey14

That's a cool guide. Maybe I should start using bows for support.XD

well, the bow that was actually made for support was the meteor bow. Its super hard to win a match in FFA without kill stealing. xD If your good enough, you can win against noobs or possibly other players. :] Arch-_-, well this is one of my favorite classes.... xD
Edit: I made some small edits to typos and added a bit more info on the paluteina bow

quote Buster2000

sorry tha but im not doing the blades guide, i have no time for it. im in a battling mood. and thats rare for me.

Dont worry, I got it for you. -3-

wow! this is awesome!

quote Artsy

heheh, props to you SOZ, this is a pretty good guide! Maybe I should consider making a blades guide. (Or maybe collaborate with SOZ)

you can help edit out the typos i have in the blade guide and add pictures if you want. xD
Well, i did more typo edits and added some stuff to the palutina bow and someothers.

Artsy, I would love to see a good claws guide. I myself know about most weapons but i am currently trying to persuade my cousins into purchasing this game. I can only imagine guides like these will help encourage them as well as show them that the multiplayer has a lot of depth! Thank you all for the time you are putting in to make these. Perhaps even a guide outlining basic LvD team strategies would be interesting.. many people do not work as a team but those that do imo could potentially have a huge upper-hand! Anyhow, thanks again for all the hard work you are contributing.

made some more typo fixes and stuff. -3-