Increasing shot speed and decreasing accuracy is the complete opposite of my skill based ranged doctrine. With high projectile speed and wide spread it really becomes point&click with the randomisation actually helping those who can't even do that correctly. Then the melee blockheads would be actually right with their "ranged takes no skill" retarding. With high accu and low shot speed it puts at least those in advantage who can anticipate the enemy movement and get the ballistic arc right. I'd actually increase accuracy across the board for all ranged(with HX getting HA penalty) but that would make them lobbyist cry.
After massively limiting my WPF, wearing heavyish armour and packing 7PD I didn't notice a cut in the amount skill I need to land shots. What I did notice was that when I pulled the shot up I had bugger all time to release which forced me to use my eye and fire off instinct instead of plan out every shot like some arm chair bowmen wanna be
I do however agree with you that the accuracy should go way up.
I had an idea for how to make the bow system work, it's a ranged concept that won't work for anything else and so would require odd implementation. I'll try my best to explain it.
When you pull the string back on the bow the aiming retical begins wide, I'm talking very wide. Running shot gun wide. And then closes into the center, it meets at the center and at that point your shot is 100% perfectly accurate. WPF has a curved impact on how quickly it makes it too the center and how long it holds, BUT!!! And this is what I think is the cool part even if you have 0 wpf you still get the window where the shot is perfect.
Now my idea is that the speed gradient is kind of exponential, with a little jump at the start. So it starts wide, quickly pushes in, slows down and then begins speeding up from there.
Pulling off a perfect shot with wpf should be at least as difficult as chambering (harder imo but that should give people and idea of the difficult I'm talking about. It's a fraction of a second when it's perfect.)
This would take archery off into the land of skill and timing in a very big way. You would have to judge the movement of your target against your draw time and then count flight time in as well, then aim without the retical and pull your shot together and release with out pissing about or thinking too hard. Think of that bad arse archer from the third season of GoT.
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However, I still say, BUFF longbow.
I don't mind if the arrow speed doesn't go up but it really does need a freaking buff.
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Totally off topic.
Buff crossbow, a lot and make the arb 3 slots as compensation for the increases in the crossbow.