Longbow

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Name	Longbow
Skill	Ranged Weapons
Damage	14
Accuracy	+0
Base delay (%)	17
Min delay	7 at 20 skill
Hands	2H
Size	Large
Ranged?	Yes

A long, strong bow made of yew. "Robyn bent a full goode bowe, An arrowe he drowe at wyll; He hit so the proud sherife Upon the grounde he lay full still." -_A Gest of Robyn Hode_ Sixth Fytte, l. 120-123. ca. 1450

Longbows are an upgrade over shortbows and orcbows, dealing more damage. They fire faster than arbalests.

Strategy

Longbows are one of the stronger weapons for a ranged weapons user. At around 16 skill (or higher), a longbow will outdamage an arbalest against a 0 AC target if you have 0 encumbrance. An arbalest can still be better against high AC foes or if it has better properties, though the base delay introduces risks in combat.

Of course, a triple crossbow is more powerful, but it's rarer and requires more skill to reach mindelay.

	Image
Mundane
Magical
Artifact
Piercer
Storm bow
Zephyr

History

• Prior to 0.31, longbows had 13 damage and 16 base delay. Also, it was significantly more likely to find a longbow in the early-mid game (as centaur warriors could have them.)
• Prior to 0.30, longbows had 12 damage, 17 base delay, and a mindelay of 6.
• In 0.29, longbows had their damage and mindelay reduced (previously 15 damage, 7 mindelay) . They were affected by the ranged weapons rework that applied to all launchers, including the removal of the dedicated bows skill and arrow requirement.
• Longbows were introduced in 0.15.