Mage Bow

Summary:

Kind of new to DS, please take a look and give some thoughts.

Mage Bow

Stilgarz 19 May 2010 18:24

Hi, I am on my first play through of DS I have everything done on NG except 1-4, I have been putting it off so I can farm it for souls while I acquire everything I want before moving to NG+. I am working on a build that I haven't found anything similar too here and that made me suspicious that it had some gaping flaw I was overlooking, here is what I have currently:

SL: 76
Vitality 38
Will/Intelligence 13
Endurance 18
Strength 18
Dexterity 18
Magic 11
Faith 16
Luck 15

I started as a thief and kind of adjusted to how I was playing the game, mostly using hyper lava bow. I had more points poured out between End Str and Dex, but I deleveled myself to redistribute some. Maybe I need to do so more, or maybe I should arrange to have my items transferred to a new char, that'll be mostly up to what feedback I get ;).

Here is what I currently am aiming to reach:
SL: 127
Vitality 40
Will/Intelligence 26
Endurance 30
Strength 18
Dexterity 18
Magic 40
Faith 16
Luck 15
*I could delevel out some more stats elsewhere to get will/int to 30.

Equipment:

RH1: Lava Bow
RH2: Moon Uchigatana +5 / Crescent Uchigatana +5
LH1: Morion Blade / Crescent Uchigatana +5
LH2: TOB / Insanity Cata
Armor: Binded + Monk's Hood
Ring 1: Clever Rat's Ring / Cling Ring / Eternal Warrior's Ring
Ring 2: Friend or Foe's Ring (depending on Form) / Ring of Magical Sharpness
Spells: Firestorm or Homing Soul Arrow + extra
Miracles: Second Chance

As you can see I left a lot of combinations up for thought including hyper mode lava bow, mage blade, etc. The general idea is that I can fire off high damage bow attacks because the Lava Bow's fire damage scales with magic, and also use high powered magic like a firestorm (hyper) on someone who tunnel visioned because im using a bow or Homing Soul Arrows (non hyper) on someone who gets knocked down by the bow stun. Since I am heavy in magic, moon/crecent uchis will allow me to dish out good melee damage as well.

Well that's the idea, please let me know your recommendations!

Re: Mage Bow

toasTBacon 20 May 2010 01:42

I would consider taking a look at the character builds page. There's a good Magic/Melee build (Spellsword) that you may want to try out if you like that direction, just keep in mind its not geared for the beginner. With your stats currently, however, you could take a look at the Blueblood Build (top of the page, cant miss it) since 15 luck is wasted stat points without the Blueblood Sword, which is the only weapon that gets bonus damage for luck.

Bows are really tough to use in PvP for actual duels and the only real bow i've seen used is a Sticky Compound Bow +5 with White Arrows on a Dexterity Build, which outdamages the Lava Bow even with high magic.

I highly recommend following a good rated build on the Character Builds page, its a great place to start and you can always delevel if you want to change a few things around.

---

Couldn't find a bunny with toast, ah well.
PSN: toasT_Bacon, toasTBacon

Re: Mage Bow

bLaCkShAd0w 20 May 2010 01:56

Yes I agree that bows are very seldom used in pvp, I have ran into a serious bow user twice. I can't remember his name but I believe he is a member of this wiki, and he is pretty good with a bow in pvp for harassment. The other time I got one-shotted by some guy in hypermode with i'm assuming extremely high dexterity.

Re: Mage Bow

Stilgarz 20 May 2010 13:49

Yeah when I helped a friend in the BP fight in Monk's room, I went hypermode and told him just to sprint to the other side of the room. Sure enough, when I stepped in the guy had his back to me and I shot him 1000 damage per arrow (normal arrows). Normally I do a 600-800, he must of had something decreasing his defense.

Re: Mage Bow

1hitparry 20 May 2010 17:29

It's really hard to use a Bow against a human opponent. I assume this is because the arrows themselves have no tracking properties. In my experience I've found that I can circle strafe until my opponent fires a shot, then rush. I did read that post about the serious PVP bow user. I'm interested to know what tactics he or she used.

Re: Mage Bow

Stilgarz 20 May 2010 17:56

I don't know about them, but heres what I do:

1) Find a location
-where I can see my opponent a long ways off and make it difficult for them to reach me.
-where I can roll around when they get close or use other objects as obstacles for spell users.

2) Engage long range
-fire long range to disrupt prep and let them feel threatened
-cease long range when they begin rolling

3) Engage medium range
-Lock on and draw bow, if they are going to attack you, roll out because you can while drawing your bow
-Continue until they have exposed themselves

4) Engage close range
-Try to prevent this, switch to a melee or spell loadout, with melee you can drive them back with deadly uchis or with spells a firestorm does the trick
-Keep evading, when an oppurtunity presents itself, run to a location where your enemy will be funneled, lock on, turn and fire

And that's basically how I play it. Hyper mode is great because it only takes one shot for most people, but you ride the edge of a knife. If you see a heavy armor type from long range, heal up to full and switch your gear to be ready for melee/spells whichever your alternative is. If your pretty quick with the menu you can usually get this done before they are in medium range. EDIT: You are still engaging initially with bow, you just need the alternative gear for longevity since against a heavy type you are probabley not going to end the fight with one hit.

Last edited on 20 May 2010 17:56 by Stilgarz Show more

Re: Mage Bow

Ilkar 20 May 2010 18:00

Bows can be effective in PvP in the hands of a player with particular flair and skill with them, one of the best I've seen would be EWGF, and there are a lot of trick shots and other things you can use to make them a little more viable.
However, the very idea of a 'mage bow'-man is contradictory, why would you use a bow when you're already playing a build designed to utilise Magic in a long-ranged offensive capacity and you have excellent melee weapon choice?
If you want to use a bow, make a Dex build specifially for using a +5 Sticky Comp. Long, or White Bow, and make the most of the build you already have by employing magic rather than a bow with sub-par damage.
Everything does a lot of damage with hypermode, even your bare hands, so that isn't a reason to continue using the build you are now with a bow.
Just imagine the damage you'd do with hypermode on a properly built build designed to use Bows and Sharp weapons exclusively.

---

DSWiki Admin, Site Administrator,
Demon's Souls EU Strategy Guide Author, Namco Bandai Community Team Member;
That guy with the Kilij in all those Tournaments.

Re: Mage Bow

Stilgarz 20 May 2010 18:07

Apparently it's not very optimal because thief comes with 15 luck :/ and bbs looks boring.

EDIT:
When I picked a thief I didn't picture myself running around with a long sword and a shield. Now I may have to start over.

Last edited on 20 May 2010 18:12 by Stilgarz Show more