Why do most short bow skins suck?

[SmirkDog.3160]

Most greatswords, swords, and daggers share almost identical skins in the same set, but longbows often get pretty cool skins while short bow skins always seem to look like toy versions of the longbow ones. They aren't just smaller versions of the same skin, they're way simpler and boring. Why does that have to be the one area where corners _aren't_ cut and yet somehow it's still disappointing?

 

It leaves a really narrow selection of actually visually appealing short bow skins, so the only one I like is a gem store one that randomly shows up maybe once a year (that isn't seasonal) that I seem to always miss.

[Zeefa.3915]

I don't think it is that bad. I primarily use longbow on my ranger, so not given it that much thought. But the times I went for shortbow I didn't have much of a problem finding one I like. Just went looking through a gallery of skins and could find a decent number I liked... obviously didn't like all, but I recon thats more about taste than them being genuinely bad.

[SmirkDog.3160]

But compared to the longbow skin designs, they're seriously lacking.

[notebene.3190]

Toy Slingshot!

 

It's been forever since my Thief used a Shortbow, so was excited to make a Renegade that uses one just so I can use that skin again. Love it.

[nosleepdemon.1368]

Yeah I've often wondered the same. The skins are quite boring and if there is a longbow variant, then the shortbow skin is *always* a cut down version of it.

[sitarskee.5738]

I like the Shifting Sands and Chaos skins for shortbow because they're bigger than the other ones. My thief is a norn unfortunately (first character) and short bows look pretty ugly on a huge norn body.

[Talindra.4958]

Made chukka champawat... nvr use any other short bow

[Neural.1824]

"Why do most short bow skins suck?"

 

Because once they made The Dreamer, all else was nothing but mundane futile attempts to achieve even a remotely measurable level of greatness.

[Khisanth.2948]

They are shortbows so they are always getting the short end of the stick. :p

 

Also maybe because the artists don't actually know what a bow is since they often just seem to stick two swords together and pretend it is a bow.

[Blocki.4931]

Shortbows are smaller than Longbows, gasp

[Haishao.6851]

Because they're too small and look like toy bow.

 

[Endless Soul.5178]

Perhaps OP can create a shortbow design that we can all critique?

[Cynn.1659]

> @"Blocki.4931" said:

> Shortbows are smaller than Longbows, gasp

 

These developers make shortbows smaller than longbows. Bow using players hate them, click here to find out how they did it. The truth will shock you.

[Danikat.8537]

> @"Neural.1824" said:

> "Why do most short bow skins suck?"

>

> Because once they made The Dreamer, all else was nothing but mundane futile attempts to achieve even a remotely measurable level of greatness.

 

That is **exactly** what I was going to say!

 

Seriously though I think there's plenty of good looking short bows, some of my favourites are the Living Showbow (from GW1), Wolfborn (for a simple skin), Krytan (a bit more ornate), Beastslayer, Chaos (I like most the chaos weapons), Corrupted, Dragon's Deep, Stardust and Tempest.

 

But it depends on what your idea of a good shortbow is of course, and what your character is like. If white doesn't fit for example then the wolfborn skin is no good.

[Raizel.8175]

The Dreamer. ♥ 'nuff said.

[SmirkDog.3160]

> @"Endless Soul.5178" said:

> Perhaps OP can create a shortbow design that we can all critique?

 

Do you think that's some kinda 'gotcha'? It doesn't even deny that I'm right. It's a complete waste of a response.

 

Just look at any of the longbows and short bows in the same set (especially the fancier gem store/BL ticket ones) and tell me the short bows are just as fancy or appealing.

[Ashen.2907]

Most weapon skins suck. This is not specific to shortbows.

[Samnang.1879]

I like the God-Slayer Short Bow skin, it's hard to get nowadays unless you gamble with Black lion keys.

![](https://i.imgur.com/Mm2rMVK.jpg"")

 

 

But I agree with the person above, most weapon skin suck! lol... especially daggers, warhorns, scepters and maces. They all look the same-ish.

[Majirah.5089]

I like their merciless shortbow skin. That set got cheap when hey were in the black lion chests. I actually don’t like very many longbow skins.

[Pifil.5193]

> @"Cynn.1659" said:

> > @"Blocki.4931" said:

> > Shortbows are smaller than Longbows, gasp

>

> These developers make shortbows smaller than longbows. Bow using players hate them, click here to find out how they did it. The truth will shock you.

 

These short bows took the same picture 30 years in a row try not to cry when you see the last one!

[Ashen.2907]

> @"Samnang.1879" said:

> I like the God-Slayer Short Bow skin, it's hard to get nowadays unless you gamble with Black lion keys.

> ![](https://i.imgur.com/Mm2rMVK.jpg"")

>

>

> But I agree with the person above, most weapon skin suck! lol... especially daggers, warhorns, scepters and maces. They all look the same-ish.

 

yeah, I got that one myself. Very nice.

[Trise.2865]

Consider this: Think of any famous bow-wielding character. What does their bow look like? Typically your first thought is "it shoots (special projectile)", or "[character] used it to (x,y,z)", rather than a description of it. You'll find descriptions of shooting lightning bolts, or shooting another arrow in twain, or shooting the wings off a fly from 100 meters, or magical trick shots, or killing a horse in one shot, etc., etc. ... it's the skill of the archer or the magic of the bow on display, not the bow itself. Consider, in comparison, the sword. I know just about everyone can describe what the Master Sword looks like, or Excalibur, or Nairsil, or Frostmourne, or Magdaer/Sohothin, or a Lightsaber, or the Sword of Omens, or... you get the idea. Swords, especially fantasy swords, are display pieces, collectibles, designed to be unique to a brand. Bows are designed to be a means to an end, a delivery system more than a symbol.

 

As more or less a stick with a string, there's not much one can do to make a bow visually appealing while also functional as a bow (not to mention fit in the space a bow is meant to take, trying to avoid severe clipping issues, etc.). The most memorable bows are not themselves impressive-looking, but have interesting effects, such as Storm Bow, Slingshot, Super Bow, or The Dreamer. My personal favorites are the "folding" bows, or bows with draw effects, such as Whisper's Secret bow.

[ScottBroChill.3254]

dude, yeah. I remember someone making a comment about the new inquest mark II shortbow. Like wtf. I like the animations on the bow, but it doesn't look like a bow. it looks like a boomerang. It's like they took the longbow variant, decided to strip it down and then add stuff to make it unique, but then couldnt think of anything so they gave us what is in the game now. Like they take everything cool from the longbow, take it away, scale the bow down, and call it a shortbow. If they added something unique that the longbows don't have instead of a cut down, bare bones, smaller version of it then I would be happy. But right now its sooooo lackluster. Luckily the legendaries for shortbow are better than the longbow.

[Airdive.2613]

At least there's Sovereign Crescent skin.

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

I'm greatly disappointed with the Inquest Mark II Short Bow compared to the Longbow.