E-Bow.. Worth it?

[Chucklez_1]

Of course we know with a large enough sample, averages will (should) shift the advantage to the ranger with overall higher accuracy, but how large does the sample have to be for that to happen?

There's a calculation to actually do that but meh...I burned those endless of calculations and the book itself after I finished that damn course...hate...HATE statistics. Thank god I only have to take 2 of 'em for my major

But anyway, with way less variables in the game as IRL, I don't believe you need a huge number of sample to make a believable claim here.

And Spider Den explained why the other dude hit less...

[greysenn]

Mob getting a buff is irrelivant, it affects both rangers equally. Even if it does get a buff, you keep shooting and call for dispel. Sharpshot useage isn't logged either, or at least it's not posted so it's equally possible the other guy could've been slacking too.

I totally agree that it's probably not the most legimate comparison in the world, but it does show at the very least what playstyle differences mean, even if you have more accuracy.

But anyway, with way less variables in the game as IRL, I don't believe you need a huge number of sample to make a believable claim here.

You assume there is no other random factors other than the RNG. What can be stated is, parsers are good for showing what happened in a set period of time. E-bow got beat down by M+1 & silvers in that setting, thats indisputable. If you want to predict further out from that, you need more data sets.

[Spider-Dan]

Originally posted by greysenn
Mob getting a buff is irrelivant, it affects both rangers equally. Even if it does get a buff, you keep shooting and call for dispel.

Actually (depending on the RDM/BRD's reaction time), in between mob buff and Dispel/Finale is a good time to refresh shadows that you may have lost from the pull, occasional hate, etc. (if you count your shadows and know how many you have, as any decent /NIN would). Both RNGs in that log were /NIN, so this is definitely applicable.

[Smirk]

<Hello!>

Hi, I'm currently a LV55 RNG and enjoying Sidewinder and Slug Shot. Anyway, I was debating on whether to stop lvling and to start working to get the E-bow or to just keep going. From the looks of it, there's a lot of debate on this topic. <Hmmm>

First of all, the parser results are very hopeful for us who can't yet afford an E-bow. However, it's only one test. I would think more research would be needed to provide a clearer answer to gun vs. bow. Everyone should know this, that it takes several tests to prove a hypothesis as valid. Also, you have to take in account the difference in equipment between the 2 rangers. A valid experiment is one where u remove all possible variables except the one in which we want to study, thus not making this a valid experiment. (I hope I don't get flamed for this, but yeah look it up in any science book, it's true.)

Neway, don't get me wrong. I'm hoping the alternatives to the E-bow are better than what the E-bow supposedly promises. Building the gil for weeks just to get an E-bow won't be worth it if there proves to be cheaper and more effective alternatives. Neway just my 2 cents. <Goodbye> <See you again!>^^

[Fullmetal]

id rather just have strider boots using an sargna/warbow+1 to 67 rather than buy an ebow. oh wait thats exactly what i did. seriously its all up to you. dont stress yourself out thinking you NEED an ebow because chances are only 20% of the 55+ rangers had an ebow lvling up. I did perfectly fine to 67 without one and now i love my orthinus bow. Ebow is a luxury and not a "needed" item like Sniperx2 and haubergon for other melee classes is. which is probaly why its not 1.2 mil like the aformentioned items.

[Finny]

god I see so many people posting all this mumbo jumbo that makes no sense im sorry but its true. EBow is only worth it if you like to use bows (which suck in general in my opinion) and you're under lvl 70. shame on rngs that still use bows post 70!!!!

[AerandiR]

smirk pm me

[imac2much]

Well since Aerandir already revived this thread, I'd like to put in my two cents, now that I have experience in this issue. I'm not digging up the old debate, so this is in direct response to Smirk's question.

Here are 2 parses I took a few weeks ago in 2 3-RNG PT's. The other RNG (Nsxtasy, Cova, and Wraith) do not have e-bow, I do.

3 RNG PT Parse #1 - 111 battles
We are level 57 I think xping on Gustav goblins. Nsxtasy is the other RNG in my semi-static and has almost identical equipment as me. Cova is nearly the same (he didn't have some noct+1 or something). Cova and Nsxtasy are using warbow+1, I am using e-bow.

My normal ranged damage is doing 37% more than Cova and 46% more than Nsx. My avg WS damage is doing 13% more than Cova and 12% more than Nsx. My barrage damage is doing 112% more damage than Cova and 87% more damage than Nsx.

3 RNG PT Parse #2 - 74 battles
We are level 59 xping in Valley of Sorrows raptors and perytons. Wraith held his shots back a bit as can be seen by his damage, but anyway he has Warbow+1.

My normal ranged damage is doing 46% more than Wraith and 26% more than Nsx. My avg WS damage is doing 19% more than Wraith and 17% more than Nsx. My barrage damage is doing 15% more than Wraith and 115% more than Nsx.

The numbers are somewhat inconsistent between the 2 PT parses since we were leveling on totally different monsters (goblins and crabs for 1, raptors and perytons for 2). But as can be seen there is a *SIGNIFICANT* difference between e-bow user and warbow+1 user. Sure, this may change at 67 with o-bow, but in a multi-RNG PT, it's best for only 1 RNG to use o-bow for acid, while other RNG use bows (as can be seen from ririkai's parses). Multi-RNG PT's are getting more and more common, so it's highly likely you will use bow from 67-69 too. I think it changes at 70 with hellfire since slugshot+barrage for 102% TP is too sexy to pass up, but from lv 55-69 (14 level range!) E-bow is extremely useful. At 70 sell it and buy some dusk trousers, mermaid rings, war boots, etc.

As for the feasibility of gun before hellfire: I think the damage is generally on par with e-bow from 55-59, very likely greater. From 60 it has totally changed due to demon arrows and Unlimitedshot+PPA. Thanks to PPA every 3 minutes, my sidewinders are more accurate than silver bullet slugshots and just as powerful. With demon arrows on skimmers at lv 60 I was doing 148 damage a shot and with silver bullets 156 damage a shot. 6 points of damage difference, yet e-bow is MUCH faster than musk gun + s. bullet: given this data I'd assume that for normal ranged attack demon arrow + e-bow has greater DoT. Gun will outdamage e-bow with barrage, but will it be enough?

[nsxtasy]

don't forget i'm a taru ; ;

I don't hit very hard ><

[imac2much]

/comfort Nsxtasy

I don't know if race makes THAT much of a difference in RNG other than survivability.. you outdamage all the other RNG we party with after all.

[RangerDade]

im starting to camp ulli for LS in an SPT, im goin to start playing with random weapons and parser it. i dunno, hellfire first ebow on exp mobs is goin to be really close, but on high def crap hellfire wreaks it.

[Smirk]

Thx much for the info!!!^^

Unfortunately, with the skyrocketing prices on the E-bow, I decided to not be the most uber equipped rng for my lvl and to just keep lvling. I'm currently lv64, and although the E-bow is a great bow and I'm sure would make a bigger difference in dmg, I decided that the amount of time it would take for me to get to LV70 or LV67 even would be shorter for me than the amount of time it would take to build the funds for an Ebow. If I could afford it, I'd definitely buy it. But 6 mil for an Ebow on Quetzalcoatl is a bit pricey for my pockets

[Smirk]

Thx much for the info!!!^^

Unfortunately, with the skyrocketing prices on the E-bow, I decided to not be the most uber equipped rng for my lvl and to just keep lvling. I'm currently lv64, and although the E-bow is a great bow and I'm sure would make a bigger difference in dmg, I decided that the amount of time it would take for me to get to LV70 or LV67 even would be shorter for me than the amount of time it would take to build the funds for an Ebow. If I could afford it, I'd definitely buy it. But 6 mil for an Ebow on Quetzalcoatl is a bit pricey for my pockets

[imac2much]

I agree with you there Smirk. My post was somewhat also in response to the poster who said Strider Boots are a better purchase than E-bow. On my server, striders and e-bow are relatively the same price, so they are on equal grounds financially. I don't see how strider boots will increase PT performance compared to an e-bow. Yes, striders are more convenient, but with utsusemi, RNG won't get hit on pull anyway.

6mil for an e-bow? Well, if you have the money, it's still a valid purchase, since it effectively increases your performance by 25+%. But if you don't have the money, it's probably not worth the time it'll take to farm it.