Have you ever tried drawing back a 100lb bow? It's pretty damn difficult, and I doubt many people would be able to hold the arrow for more than 10 seconds!

Why not implement something like this into the game? When you pull an arrow back, you have a period of time when your aim steadies, you zoom in (If your level permits it) but if you try to hold the arrow for too long your arm starts to shake and your aim deteriorates, until you finally have to lower the bow and try again. (no cooldown or anything, that would be pushing it)

As you level up, you will be able to use more powerful bows and be able to hold the arrow in place for longer. When you start off, it could be either 20 seconds (actually quite a long time) with a weak bow, or less time with a more powerful bow, this would give you a choice (trade off speed and accuracy for more power). As your 'marksman/strength' increases, you will be able to zoom in, use more powerful bows, have a steadier aim and draw the arrows back for a longer time.

I think this would add a whole new dimension to the archery aspect of the game. It would make it more realistic and more tactical because you would have to time the perfect shot.
A small 'grunt' or 'sigh' from your character could indicate that he/she can't hold the arrow any longer.

This was actually done very well in the game 'Thief: The Dark Project', a classic

That's way too realistic for TES. No, instead the fantasy bows in Tamriel deal more damage the longer you draw them, you see.

Ugh...that's bland and silly.

Too much realism kills the fun...

I really prefer Legolas speed,pinpointing bows as deadly as any other weapon,sending the enemy flying.(High skills of course)

I'm aware that it doesn't work that way in reality,but that's why games exist in my opinion.

-The PC strength is now as important as their skill in detraining the damage that a weapon can inflict. Weapon selection strategy will be important by using the right kind of bow for the PC Marksmanship agility and strength!


-Stronger bows will take much longer to draw the arrow then weaker bows depending on your strength. If you try to use a Bow that is stronger than you are it will take a great deal of time to draw the bow.


-Bows eat fatigue no mater what skill level you are. The stronger ones eat more than the weaker ones. So if your bow is stronger than you are your may become exhausted very quickly TRYING to draw the bow!

These three lines I copy pasted from Duke Patrick's Combat Archery mod. This is the mod that Skyrim will be basing it's archery on. For future reference, it might be a good idea to go over to TES Alliance, and take a look at how the mod works. There is no guarantee it will be 100% the same in Skyrim, but there is a very good chance it will.

My Bosmer has ten tons of hidden muscle within his slim physique. Pulling back a string is laughable in his eyes...OF STEEL!

Wow, cool! This is more like it. Thanks for the info

its actually not a bad idea and for this reason... they say that now bows deal alot more damage then they did in Oblivion and Marrowind, which i totally agree to be a good thing cuz shooting 7-15 arrows into somebody was dumb! in a couple articles it was mentioned that it is now possible to deal a one hit kill with a bow (now im assuming that is on a lesser enemy ) so i think in order to deal such a deadly hit it shouldnt be completely easy.

think kind of like COD's sniping where you hold your breath so the courser doesnt waive, excpet opposite you dont waive at first you waive if you take to long. its not that i think it should be like this for realism sake because the game is real enough its just that if shooting a bow is as easy in Skyrim as it was in Oblivion but it does much more damage they need to find a way to make it a little more challenging but not so difficult that not every could do it. (lol i think that last sentence makes since)

you mean like thief

yah I'm all for it.

maybe you can draw for more time the better your ranged skill is.

How do you know? Source?

Thanks..

Yes, completely agree. It shouldn't be as easy as it was in Oblivion. Should be a bit more challenging and tactical.



Indeed, I mentioned that in my original post :happy:

Yeah I get ya! Ha!

Good points, the archery for the game is a fine balance. It should be very powerful for the right characters, again prob by use of perks.

I agree. You shouldnt be able to hold a bow back forever. Basically it turns the game into a shooter, which it isnt.

Thats a great idea, I like it. Whoever says "its too realistic for TES" doesnt know what hes talking about. Fantasy and Science Fiction is not about using weapons with infinite and urealistic prowess >_>.

I think TES has to accomodate this sort of realism more if it wants to evolve. Since Arena, the fact it was a third person game demanded certain realism (hence the huge world where you did not know where anything was except by asking, and the skills system introduced in Daggerfall.) Now, it has all those elements, so it should start making the game more of a realistic, inward looking experience, and I think it hasnt yet done that with respect to combat. I think Skyrim having this physical and kinetic combat feel, will improve the series. Its also a great way of role-playing: it sort of makes you commit more to the role you assume, be that an axe wielding warrior, an archer or the combination of both.

I like all the above suggestions as long as they give you a way to de-nock the arrow if you need to. (One of the best mods for Oblivion IMO)

Yeah, maybe left trigger to raise the bow and then right trigger to pull back the arrow. If you let go of the left trigger before releasing the arrow you de-nock the arrow without shooting it? Or maybe there's a simpler/more efficient way of doing it?

There was something similar in Mount & Blade. If you keep your bow drawn for more than a couple seconds then the reticle starts to get larger, decreasing your chance to hit your target. I'm all for something like that to be in Skyrim.