The Tatar bow should have its missile speed reduced by 3, the Horn Bow missile speed reduced by 2, and the LongBow should have its missile speed increased to 42-45 depending upon testing. That will give it its niche.
This will address a number of complaints around bows.
1:Because missile speed determines the arc the arrow will take, increasing the missile speed will increase the accuracy of an archer over Long ranges without increasing accuracy at shorter ranges.
2: Decreasing the missile speed for the more accurate bows will take away some of the laser pointer accuracy at short distances.
Here are the changes in playstyle this will open:
Slow missile speed bows: These bows will gain more of an arc like they used to do. The advantages gained by the slower missile speed DOES outweigh the loss of the damage and accuracy when in the hands of a
skilled archer.
- Arc allows you to shoot over objects. That means that I can kill xbows trying to load on the OTHER side of a rooftop. Most of those shots land on their head due to the arc for greater damage. It also allows you to shoot cavalry after they have passed behind a hill. It also allows an archer to stand behind their infantry on a bridge map and arc into the enemy. (Yes, I did all this regularly and on purpose with the slower missile speed)
- Decreased missile speed means less damage per normal shot. This will allow unarmoured cavalry to live through another shot from the hyper accurate small bows for anything from the side or behind, but will SIGNIFICANTLY increase the damage done against charging horses. Means less nerf lobby for ranged, and means an accurate archer who headshots a charging horse will no longer watch in amazement as it continues on and they die to a lance.
Fast missile speed bows: These bows will have nearly a straight line for their arc. The advantages are fairly obvious:
- Due to no drop in the arrow flight path, this will make an archer much more accurate over a longer distance. Because the reticule isn't affected, they are no better at aiming, but the arrow will land in the area to where it is launched.
- Due the the increase in missile speed, incoming infantry within a close range will no longer be able to dodge after the arrow is launched. It will be too fast and they wont have enough time to react.
Likely people will have a problem with advantage number 2 for obvious reasons, but we all know that the excessively long draw time on the Long Bow is the balancing factor. So stay back far enough until the Long Bow shoots, then rush in before he load again and you are in the "No react zone".
If they leave everything else alone, and make these changes, I think that most of the player base will appreciate the difference it will make in archery. You can see the clearly defined roles for each that it will create.
