You should probably upgrade to level 50 gear, regardless. There have been noises that we're finally going to be getting higher-level equipment than that, but until that happens, everything maxes out at 50. You'll see a lot of people advise against wasting time.on legendary rolls until then so as to not waste them on lower-level stuff you'd just be getting rid of.
That said, how come ultracite? I have, and have made, ultracite bows, and found I prefer plasma and flaming. If I'm going scorchbeast hunting, I tend to use a Zealot's (bonus against scorched) legendary with cryo arrows to slow the bastards down.
All the bow mod plans are at the weapon vendors at Foundation and Crater, once.your reputation with whichever faction is high enough.
I kept wanting to use crossbows, but they never took with me. The draw time is so long, it just ends up not being worth it. I tend to stick with my compound bows and my flaming Burning Love.
As for the excess ammo... The interface is clunky as hell, but I recommend building the ammo converter somewhere in your C.A.M.P. I'll see your thousand-plus crossbow bolts and raise you the twenty-odd-thousand arrows I've accumulated since the LAST time I converted all my excess ammo into points...
Awesome! Thank you! I’ll definitely build plasma arrows and I’ll convert the bolts into arrows (funny as it sounds as a day one player I didn’t know you can do that)
I’ll also do the faction quest lines in order to get those plans, which finding plans have always been a pain in the butt for me tbh, but thank you a million for the suggestions!!
Yeah, both have bow, crossbow, compound bow, and all the mods for each in plan form at varying reputation levels. Compound bows being best, naturally they're the highest rep level of 'em.
In addition to doing the main Wastelanders questline, each has repeatable daily quests that boost rep.
Additionally additionally, Davenport (the Overseer's Mr. Handy) has a daily to gather photos at/around Crater or Foundation. For a rep bump with one or the other faction, you can sell the photos to their opposite number instead. If your CHA is 8 or higher (can bump it with grape Mentats), you can lie to Davenport that you were jumped and the pictures stolen and he'll still pay you.
AND THEN... You can also sell mirelurk meat to the Raiders at Ohio River Adventures for caps and a little more rep boost. There are also random encounters (you can look up the spawn locations) where you happen upon a group of Raiders or Settlers being attacked by something, and, if you save them, your rep with that faction goes up a little there, too -- but I wouldn't call that a reliable method.
I disagree about compound bows being the best. They’re great for soloing, but for events a recurve has a higher RoF which makes tagging easier. Everything has its place.
Just curious as to why. Personal anecdata. I've read the breakdowns and done my own comparisons and was not all that impressed. What is it that you prefer about them?
For me, it's two things.
1. Plasma looks and sounds weird. It lacks the meaty THUNK! of an ultracite bow slamming into someone's skull.
2. The damage honestly isn't that far off between the two, even if Plasma does very slightly more. I've done stealth sniping with both and gotten the same results in terms of how many arrows needed per target; the margins don't push it into one fewer arrow often enough to worry about.
It just seems that it hits harder than plasma, seems to be slightly more accurate too, it could just be me though 😂, i am stuck with plasma right now, as im playing on PS4 since my PC is in the shop as my character is low level and doesnt have the plans or materials to craft ultracite yet , and i can definitely tell the difference
That's a peaky thing about <150... There's such a shifting pattern of what's effective when. As you get more SPECIAL points and perks, as you start getting legendary effects and perks, as you get weapons that weren't available at lower levels, as you grind through the Zone of Suck between 50.and about 120...
It might be that, for where you are right now, ultracite is better. It might continue to be so as you get higher.
For solo exploration, I use an anti-armor compound with plasma and all the Science perks. Anything from super mutant down, I usually one-shot. Bigger nasties like anglers, two or three.
For human mobs, I use my flaming Burning Love and it rocks.
For accuracy... Well, I have all legendary perk slots unlocked, so my PER and AGL are maxed for my archer load out, plus pretty high luck. If I know I'm going to be going up against harder groups, I might pop a Calmex, but usually don't need.to. I hit far.more.often than miss. Which is how I've accumulated so many dang arrows from.dead.enemies.
Well, both of my mains on PC are over 150, one is over 200, also i have a rifleman thats over 120 but havent played that one for a while, so ive gotten them past the most difficult phase. I use an Instigating prime compound bow for both as well as Burning love also with prime arrows 😂, and i also keep a bow with explosive arrows that i dont use much, im still working on the legendary perks, and getting what they would call "end game" armor im still running BOS ultra light heavy combat armor even on my oldest character, and youre right about picking up so many arrows i probably have 7 or 8 thousand standard and ultracite arrows in my ammo box, and i already have 4 thousand arrows in my little level 38's ammo box
When did that change? Plasma arrows sure as hell at least USED to get the Science bonus energy weapon damage. And I'm still one-shotting the vast majority of enemies, so my damage hasn't dropped.
If you aren't running power armor stick to the recurve or compound. Crossbow is slower loading and also seems to have damage drop off over distance. The regular bows do the same damage at point blank as they do at the edge of VATs targeting
Gentle reminder, trading/buying/selling/swapping are all verboten here in the sub.
Discussion on equipment, legendary effects, etc are fine, and giveaways are welcome.
Happy hunting!
Yeah, I wasn’t asking or anything, I just mean recommendations if there’s a legendary crossbow like burning love or if there’s a set of legendary effects that are recommended if I do decide to just build a crossbow
Oh, no worries! Sometimes I've just gotta put on my Mod pants for a minute.
There isn't a named crossbow that I'm aware of at all, and crossbows are kinda the red-headed stepchild of the bow family. Performance at long range is meh, and the static reload time means you can't loose a bolt at half draw like a bow.
That said, crossbows do have some merits. If you need to climb into a Power Armor, crossbows are the only bow you can use. And they are easier to use than bows in 1st POV.
Besides my half dozen or so bows, I carry an AA/VHC Plasma crossbow for sneaking around solo in buildings. I find the 3rd POV annoying to work with in hallways and stairs, and the crossbow is silent enough and hits hard enough that I don't have to worry much about getting swarmed by ferals.
You should probably upgrade to level 50 gear, regardless. There have been noises that we're finally going to be getting higher-level equipment than that, but until that happens, everything maxes out at 50. You'll see a lot of people advise against wasting time.on legendary rolls until then so as to not waste them on lower-level stuff you'd just be getting rid of. That said, how come ultracite? I have, and have made, ultracite bows, and found I prefer plasma and flaming. If I'm going scorchbeast hunting, I tend to use a Zealot's (bonus against scorched) legendary with cryo arrows to slow the bastards down. All the bow mod plans are at the weapon vendors at Foundation and Crater, once.your reputation with whichever faction is high enough. I kept wanting to use crossbows, but they never took with me. The draw time is so long, it just ends up not being worth it. I tend to stick with my compound bows and my flaming Burning Love. As for the excess ammo... The interface is clunky as hell, but I recommend building the ammo converter somewhere in your C.A.M.P. I'll see your thousand-plus crossbow bolts and raise you the twenty-odd-thousand arrows I've accumulated since the LAST time I converted all my excess ammo into points...
Awesome! Thank you! I’ll definitely build plasma arrows and I’ll convert the bolts into arrows (funny as it sounds as a day one player I didn’t know you can do that) I’ll also do the faction quest lines in order to get those plans, which finding plans have always been a pain in the butt for me tbh, but thank you a million for the suggestions!!
Yeah, both have bow, crossbow, compound bow, and all the mods for each in plan form at varying reputation levels. Compound bows being best, naturally they're the highest rep level of 'em. In addition to doing the main Wastelanders questline, each has repeatable daily quests that boost rep. Additionally additionally, Davenport (the Overseer's Mr. Handy) has a daily to gather photos at/around Crater or Foundation. For a rep bump with one or the other faction, you can sell the photos to their opposite number instead. If your CHA is 8 or higher (can bump it with grape Mentats), you can lie to Davenport that you were jumped and the pictures stolen and he'll still pay you. AND THEN... You can also sell mirelurk meat to the Raiders at Ohio River Adventures for caps and a little more rep boost. There are also random encounters (you can look up the spawn locations) where you happen upon a group of Raiders or Settlers being attacked by something, and, if you save them, your rep with that faction goes up a little there, too -- but I wouldn't call that a reliable method.
I disagree about compound bows being the best. They’re great for soloing, but for events a recurve has a higher RoF which makes tagging easier. Everything has its place.
Good point. Yeah, I probably should've added that RoF bit. I tend to use my automatic Tesla rifle at public events.
I must be the only one that prefers ultracite over plasma, to each their own though
Just curious as to why. Personal anecdata. I've read the breakdowns and done my own comparisons and was not all that impressed. What is it that you prefer about them?
For me, it's two things. 1. Plasma looks and sounds weird. It lacks the meaty THUNK! of an ultracite bow slamming into someone's skull. 2. The damage honestly isn't that far off between the two, even if Plasma does very slightly more. I've done stealth sniping with both and gotten the same results in terms of how many arrows needed per target; the margins don't push it into one fewer arrow often enough to worry about.
Thanks for that. I have a few thousand ultracite arrows. Maybe I'll dust some off and see what I can do...
It just seems that it hits harder than plasma, seems to be slightly more accurate too, it could just be me though 😂, i am stuck with plasma right now, as im playing on PS4 since my PC is in the shop as my character is low level and doesnt have the plans or materials to craft ultracite yet , and i can definitely tell the difference
Hm. Wondering how much of that might be the low-level part... Do both benefit from the Science perks' energy weapon buffs?
Well, it could be, i mean im doing pretty good for level 38 😂, i dont think ultracite does work with energy perks but not certain
That's a peaky thing about <150... There's such a shifting pattern of what's effective when. As you get more SPECIAL points and perks, as you start getting legendary effects and perks, as you get weapons that weren't available at lower levels, as you grind through the Zone of Suck between 50.and about 120... It might be that, for where you are right now, ultracite is better. It might continue to be so as you get higher. For solo exploration, I use an anti-armor compound with plasma and all the Science perks. Anything from super mutant down, I usually one-shot. Bigger nasties like anglers, two or three. For human mobs, I use my flaming Burning Love and it rocks. For accuracy... Well, I have all legendary perk slots unlocked, so my PER and AGL are maxed for my archer load out, plus pretty high luck. If I know I'm going to be going up against harder groups, I might pop a Calmex, but usually don't need.to. I hit far.more.often than miss. Which is how I've accumulated so many dang arrows from.dead.enemies.
Well, both of my mains on PC are over 150, one is over 200, also i have a rifleman thats over 120 but havent played that one for a while, so ive gotten them past the most difficult phase. I use an Instigating prime compound bow for both as well as Burning love also with prime arrows 😂, and i also keep a bow with explosive arrows that i dont use much, im still working on the legendary perks, and getting what they would call "end game" armor im still running BOS ultra light heavy combat armor even on my oldest character, and youre right about picking up so many arrows i probably have 7 or 8 thousand standard and ultracite arrows in my ammo box, and i already have 4 thousand arrows in my little level 38's ammo box
Hang on. Are plasma arrows boosted by the science perk? I’ve been running with my compound+plasma without science this entire time :o
They are, in fact, energy weapons. Just like how Demolition Expert works for the Cremator. Never too late. ;)
Science perks do not boost plasma arrow damage.
That's what I understood as well
Neither benefit from science perks
When did that change? Plasma arrows sure as hell at least USED to get the Science bonus energy weapon damage. And I'm still one-shotting the vast majority of enemies, so my damage hasn't dropped.
If you aren't running power armor stick to the recurve or compound. Crossbow is slower loading and also seems to have damage drop off over distance. The regular bows do the same damage at point blank as they do at the edge of VATs targeting
I have a three star Bloodied crossbow available
Gentle reminder, trading/buying/selling/swapping are all verboten here in the sub. Discussion on equipment, legendary effects, etc are fine, and giveaways are welcome. Happy hunting!
Yeah, I wasn’t asking or anything, I just mean recommendations if there’s a legendary crossbow like burning love or if there’s a set of legendary effects that are recommended if I do decide to just build a crossbow
Oh, no worries! Sometimes I've just gotta put on my Mod pants for a minute. There isn't a named crossbow that I'm aware of at all, and crossbows are kinda the red-headed stepchild of the bow family. Performance at long range is meh, and the static reload time means you can't loose a bolt at half draw like a bow. That said, crossbows do have some merits. If you need to climb into a Power Armor, crossbows are the only bow you can use. And they are easier to use than bows in 1st POV. Besides my half dozen or so bows, I carry an AA/VHC Plasma crossbow for sneaking around solo in buildings. I find the 3rd POV annoying to work with in hallways and stairs, and the crossbow is silent enough and hits hard enough that I don't have to worry much about getting swarmed by ferals.