Longbow

Longbow is a type of ranged weapon available to the Fateless One in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Using rapid focused attacks, the longbow is a long-range weapon, good at defeating enemies from afar and keeping oneself out of harm's way. Being part of the Finesse-based weapon set, they are intended for use by rogue-style characters, and are bolstered by the Longbow Mastery, Drawpower, Arrow Storm, Barbed Arrows, and Scattershot abilities in the Finesse tree.

The Quiver

Longbows are unique in that they have a quiver, or set amount of attacks that can be performed before needing to reload. The total number of arrows in the quiver is displayed under the Fateless One's life bar, and once it is empty, one will need to wait about 5-10 seconds before they magically refill. Each attack uses one arrow, regardless of how many actual arrows are fired, as Scattershot can fire up to 7 charged arrows, and Arrow Storm will rain down dozens of arrows throughout the extent of its volley.

The size of the quiver begins at 5 arrows, but will be increased by 1 for each longbow-specific ability that is unlocked within the Finesse tree (with the exception of Longbow Mastery), maxing out at 10.

Damage Characteristics

Longbows will always have a base damage consisting of Physical Damage and Piercing Damage, with approximately a 70/30 split ratio.

They have a Fast attack speed, making them the fastest ranged weapon type in Amalur. However, their attack speed is limited by the size of the Fateless One's quiver, as there is a "reloading" delay once the quiver has been emptied.

They have Moderately Few combat moves available for those who invest in the Arrow Storm and Scattershot abilities, equal to the number available to the Hammer, Staff, and Chakrams.

They have a Moderate damage output per hit, more than that of Sceptres, Faeblades, and Daggers, but less than all other weapon types.

Weapon analysis: Long bow is a very good secondary weapon. Not only the damage is reliable and can be done at distance, it also has bleed effect built it (which is extremely important for the bonus damage), and the best aoe capability of the game. It's held back by its ammo system to be a main weapon, but will do its job extremely well.

Longbow Abilities

The Fateless One can learn new attack techniques with the longbow by investing in the Arrow Storm and Scattershot abilities, and can increase damage delivered by the use of longbows by investing in the Longbow Mastery, Drawpower, and Barbed Arrows abilities.

• Charged Shot: Hold and release to fire a charged arrow, dealing more damage than a standard shot.
• Arrow Storm: Attack while blocking to crouch and fire a hail of arrows upon a distant group of enemies. Charging before releasing will increase the length of the volley as well as add any elemental status effects to the arrows.
• Scattershot: Hold and release to fire multiple charged arrows. Replaces the standard Charged Shot once the ability Scattershot is acquired.

Crafting Longbows

Main article: Blacksmithing

The Fateless One can craft longbows at any Blacksmithing Forge by using a wooden limb and a fulcrum; rivets and bindings are optional components. With sufficient skill, mastercrafted longbows that offer a bonus percentage to total damage can be created.

The Fateless One can also disassemble existing longbows for salvage, recovering some of the above-mentioned components.

List of Common Longbows

• Birch Longbow
• Elm Longbow
• Oak Longbow
• Ash Longbow
• Ebony Longbow
• Primal Bow (Teeth of Naros DLC)

List of Unique Longbows

• Bow of D'nargel
• Breath of Vraekor
• Fate's Curve (Fate-Touched Weapons Pack DLC)
• Hailstorm
• Helius' Aim
• Keloren's Messenger
• Kestrel (Fatesworn DLC)
• Lunala's Sight
• Merciless
• Nature's Kiss
• Shadow Stalker
• Silver Stag (The Legend of Dead Kel DLC)
• Sin
• Stormcaller
• Sylvan Order
• The Deadshot (Teeth of Naros DLC)
• The Hunter (Reckoning Finesse Bonus Pack DLC)
• Venomstrike (Teeth of Naros DLC)

Notes and Advice

• When using the Longbow from a higher elevation than the target, the firing and projectile animations will be as if the Fateless One is shooting at something at the same height, though the damage and impact will be as normal despite the apparent errant trajectory of the arrows.
• The longbow ability Barbed Arrows will give every arrow fired a chance to cause a large amount of Bleeding Damage. Combined with Arrow Storm and Scattershot, the Fateless One can cause widespread bleeding across a whole group of enemies, prepping them for Execution combos.
• The charge-shot replacement move Scattershot fires all of its projectiles in a fan expanding outward from the Fateless One, similar to the active ability Shadow Flare. Likewise, it can be extremely devastating when fired from very close range, as many, if not all of the arrows can connect with the enemy. Using it against large enemies, such as trolls, jottun, ettins, bolgans, or niskaru tyrants can be risky, but if executed correctly, one could take any of these down with a single shot!
• The block-attack Arrow Storm has a very erratic and imprecise volley pattern. Centering around the highlighted enemy, it drops its volley of arrows in a moderately large circular area, seemingly at random. Therefore, using it on a single enemy is not advised, as only 1-2 arrows will connect. However, if used on a closely-packed group of enemies (either unaware of the Fateless One's presence or drawn together using an ability like Elemental Rage or the staff move Mage's Vortex), it can be extremely effective.