What you spend your hard-earned OSRS gold on is a callous choice in Old School RuneScape. You will be more than likely looking to train your ranged skill if you have found yourself here, and you are probably already aware of the number of options you have in terms of weaponry. With that being said, you may want to know the differences between two of the more popular choices in the form of short bows and longbows. So if you are looking to see what you are best spending your OSRS GP on, here is a look at which is the best.
What Sets the Bows Apart?
If you are looking to see which one is going to be better for you, there are a few things you need to look into. In terms of the range attack, you are looking at identical stats at +69. With that in mind, you will want to delve a little deeper into what each bow has to offer.
Distance
If you have been focusing on which bow can offer you the best distance, then there is a slight winner. The short bow can attack from up to seven squares, or you can increase it to nine if you are using the long-range attack style with it. That being said, the longbow offers the ability for you to attack up to nine squares of distance, whilst you can increase it to 10 f you use the long-range attack format with this bow.
Speed
Now that we have covered distance, another key factor is going to be speed. In this case, the shortbow manages to level up the score. The shortbow is capable of faster attack speed, whilst the longbow suffers from reduced speed in comparison. Speed is a vital component when choosing the best weapon to use, though to be fair, so is distance. Ultimately it will come down to which caters more to your play style and which you are willing to sacrifice to make it work the most effectively.
As the scores are pretty much at level pegging, let’s see what a deciding factor the special attacks can have.
Special Attack
What separates the two here is how much of the bar is used by the special attack. With the magic shortbow, you will find that you are using around 55% of the bar, and the attack sees you using two quickfire shots. The accuracy isn’t perfect, so you can’t expect to hit your target every time.
As for the magic longbow, you will only be using 35% of your bar and it hitting your target is a guarantee. With that in mind, you would be right to argue that the longbow is superior.
Which Should You Choose?
The bow that you decide to go with is completely down to you. There are so many bows in the game that have their own individual traits. You could look into the likes of the Twisted Bow, for example, which is an incredible weapon for you to get a hold of, especially if you are going to go up against magic characters.
That being said, bows, in general, will depend on how you decide to approach the game. If you are looking for OSRS gold for sale, you still might question which is best for you.
If that’s the case, then shortbows have the advantage of fire a lot quicker than their longer counterparts and edging them on DPS. There is also the attack distance to consider, but when you compare it to the much higher difference in speed, you shouldn’t really decide on a longbow over a shortbow.
How much you are willing to spend will also make a difference as well. You will find that shortbows tend to be a bit cheaper as longbows have a higher value due to their alchemy spells, but as a general rule, there really isn’t much difference in the prices. We may have mentioned that the longbow does offer you the chance to get a guaranteed hit, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that it is always a better option. When using a magic shortbow, it’s fair to say that you benefit more thanks to its faster speed and power.
In conclusion, if you are going to part ways with your OSRS gold, then your best bet will be the shortbow unless you are in a situation where a few squares of distance will be a difference-maker.
Which bow would you choose? Is it OSRS Shortbow vs. Longbow? Let us know in the comments section below!
