# Greatbow balance

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/greatbow-balance/17474>\
**Category:** The Drawing Board\
**Created:** [November 13, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/greatbow-balance/17474 "2018-11-13T21:59:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 23

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**Author:** ![Tamior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tamior](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Tamior)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/greatbow-balance/17474/23 "2018-11-14T18:16:00Z")

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> [@Bows, Crossbows and Their Balance](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/bows-crossbows-and-their-balance/17067/198):
>
> Wear a survivor firesuit and plate armor then. Get your dodge skill up. Take a hit once in a while, no big deal. It still has higher dps and no ammo requirement.

Greatbow can be made within the first week with material from the wood and no crafting books.  
Proper armor is mid-game (if not late-game) stuff that required pretty rare/specific components.

> [@Bows, Crossbows and Their Balance](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/bows-crossbows-and-their-balance/17067/198):
>
> The greatbow doesn’t make you safe, you can still get surrounded, swarmed, or sniped by a shocker bolt.

Not happening if you simply draw Z’s in small groups with plenty of space to retreat into (default strategy with any ranged weapon, really).

> [@Bows, Crossbows and Their Balance](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/bows-crossbows-and-their-balance/17067/198):
>
> The Barrett does ~126 damage. That’s not exactly similar to 35. The greatbow isn’t silent and the good ammo has decently high crafting requirements.

Err, what? Actual damage of the greatbow is in the 80+, 35 is the BASE damage of the bow itself.

> [@Bows, Crossbows and Their Balance](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/bows-crossbows-and-their-balance/17067/198):
>
> Also, you need 18 strength. I can’t stress enough how difficult that is to get with a normal playthrough.

What the hell is “normal play”? When you create a character, you normally already have a build in mind. And we already establish that ANY profession/start can qualify for greatbow.

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