Bocek Bow Analysis [updated]
TL;DR: The bow is too quiet, does too much damage, and has tactical advantages that profoundly imbalance gameplay. [Note: Having put in more hours and games with the bow, I'm reposting with edits.] ...
Forum Discussion
Agree with almost everything nebwise. It just got a deserved nerf, I don't think it's enough but only have 1 match under my belt with that change.
I like the quiver idea. As you point out, it's endless magazine is a huge benefit over the other sniper and marksman weapons.
It shoots way too flat. It's a bow, if the damage is still going to remain as high as it is, then at the least needs slower speed and more arc.
The fire rate is too high with it's damage output.
It's quiet, but that's the idea with a bow. But to make up for that tactical advantage, it should be much less powerful than conventional arms in other areas (damage, ROF, projectile speed).
I've used it quite a lot Season 9 since it was so powerful.
@Gator762FMJ Yeah, "quiet" is an essential part of most folks concepts of a bow. That doesn't mean it fits AL gameplay. Good ideas often don't work IRL. How any of us feel about how bows should sound is irrelevant to whether or not near-silent weapons fit the AL meta.
No-one can completely predict how the Bocek works within the complex space formed by game mechanics and emergent player behavior. We can simply observe, and the current consensus is that playing against the Bocek royally sucks.
I know it makes me, and my squad-mates, anxious and on-edge. A big part of that is that the bow is too quiet. I know the bow is "broken" because I hit 2k on day one with Valkyrie, and can observe what happens to my squad when we get pushed with bow-fire.
There's no "making-up" for that emotional and cognitive collateral that comes with an effectively-silent weapon. It is what it is, and you balance it by adding more feedback: signals that clue other players as to when/where the shots are coming from.
No-one can completely predict how the Bocek works within the complex space formed by game mechanics and emergent player behavior. We can simply observe, and the current consensus is that playing against the Bocek royally sucks.
I know it makes me, and my squad-mates, anxious and on-edge. A big part of that is that the bow is too quiet. I know the bow is "broken" because I hit 2k on day one with Valkyrie, and can observe what happens to my squad when we get pushed with bow-fire.
There's no "making-up" for that emotional and cognitive collateral that comes with an effectively-silent weapon. It is what it is, and you balance it by adding more feedback: signals that clue other players as to when/where the shots are coming from.
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