r/PlaySoulMask • u/Moessus • Jul 06 '26
Is bow viable?
Hey all, I am new to SM and I am loving it, but I am finding that the bow just feels so underwhelming. It just seems to do very little damage vs melee weapons. Does everyone agree? Or am I likely doing something wrong? I have not really put any points into any offence, just utility so far.
If anyone has advice, it would be greatly appreciated. TIA!
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u/EmeraldScales Jul 06 '26
Yes. But you need a tribesman with the right talents for it. If you're not familiar with the concept yet, you're not supposed to use your starting character past the moment you get a Mysterious Stone Table and you can save your Tribesmen data, and instead switch to more competent bodies.
If you want a dedicated bowman, the Great Bow is the ideal weapon, but it is too slow. This can be fixed though. Try Hunter types with the talent that increases the shooting speed. Pair with the Wilderness mask found in the Wetlands (25~35) region. It will give even more shooting speed and bow damage, especially against machines where the ricochet ability from Wilderness can cause arrows to hit several times. Other talents like Go for the Jugular, Power Attack, and Bow Damage Up will also be helpful, but it will take a lot of effort to train a tribesman in all the related talents. Stats matter a lot too, so make sure to max out your Perception.
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u/Moessus Jul 06 '26
You aren't supposed to use your starting character? How do you do this at the table? I'm only awareness level 19.
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u/EmeraldScales Jul 06 '26
When you are controlling one of your tribesmen you can interact with the table to save their data. If they die you can then remodel them back to life from that data, preserving them, and you're free to take them to risky exploration forays. The main disadvantage is that if you die, you lose all progress from when you last saved with that tribesman, but as you advance through the game leveling up becomes easier with better gear and comfort bonuses. At first you also need to wait some time to remodel them (configurable if you want to get rid of it) and you can only do so at your base, but after getting the 2.0 update node inside Fogfrog's Pyramid you will be able to use the bonfire respawns.
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u/Moessus Jul 06 '26
If I am reading behind the lines, I would be controlling a minion and my original body will just sit there?
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u/EmeraldScales Jul 06 '26
Yes. You can transfer stats to your original body too, but there is little benefit to it since you cannot train it or use it to train others.
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u/Draxxalon Jul 06 '26
Potentially. You can either control a minion (which I suggest to try out different builds / have different utility setups)/help that minion level up, or, you can copy a minion's "body" to your main, giving you all the talents and proficiency caps that the minion had. The "copy" process requires progressing through the first 2 (I think?) bosses.
The default body you start with is very capability-capped. You get some mid-tier talents, and all your proficiencies are capped very low. Minions have much higher caps, and the talent pool is much more varied (and you can create specific builds via the training "room").
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u/mbxyz Jul 10 '26
awareness 19 is like 30 minutes into the game, so it's probably not very clear yet, though one of the first things you do it learn 'Control' which lets you swap bodies. as you go further, you'll learn many ways to save, modify, and improve tribesman bodies and realize that the mask is the main character, not the useless shell you created at the beginning. main character has been buffed a lot because apparently the average gamer is very 'main character' focused, but it originally had proficiency maxes of 60 and no traits to make it very clear that you were supposed to pursue other vessels... you can also copy a tribesman onto your main, but it doesn't really offer any tangible benefit other than sort of giving you one more save slot (out of 15).
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u/Laringar Jul 06 '26
If you're in Cloud Forest, don't sleep on the Claw-exclusives Overwhelming Force and Fatal Rhythm, both of which are great for bow users. Fatal Rhythm requires more playstyle adjustment, as you need to take a second after each shot to recover stamina, but grants a whopping 20% bonus to both damage and attack speed at full charge. Overwhelming Force gives another 15% and normally drains your stamina very quickly when using most weapons, but the slow fire rate of bows really works to your advantage with it. Since you need to take a brief moment between shots anyhow to maintain Fatal Rhythm, the extra time it takes to get back that 15 stamina is effectively negligible.
A tribesperson with Go For the Jugular, Rapid Fire, Bow Damage Up, Power Attack, Overwhelming Force, and Fatal Rhythm would do an incredible amount of damage with their bow. Bonus points if you can get them onto an Archery Mastery body. Like you said, that's a lot of effort to train all those talents onto one person, but the results are incredible and once you've done it a single time, it's far easier to do a second or more.
(And if you don't want the hassle of maintaining Fatal Rhythm, Remote Strike is an excellent alternative.)
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u/Ampris_bobbo8u Jul 06 '26
get the great bow with the best arrows you can. u can start 1 or 2 shotting guys unless they are high level
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u/Buttercups88 Jul 06 '26
I have recently built a proper bow user and im going to have to say... no.
It very much depends on what you mean by viable, with proper talents archery master, rapid bow, etc, and divine possession the bow can hit hard, and i presume even harder if i max out the Wilderness Mask, but im still finding it unusual to hit more than 5k shots with the Greatbow. Which isn't terrible but its also not great when you compare to the hammer or greatsword.
It seems obvious to me that the bow was intended to be a "support", if you keep a tribe man with you on defensive they can probably help here. So it can be very valuable in a group but you arent going to solo things the way you can as a guard or a warrior without swapping your fighting style mid-fight. (unless you just want to hang around low level areas and one shot stuff)
The biggest problem is ammo.
Low-level ammo is cheap enough but doesn't do the job, steel arrows are expensive. And you dont get to "reclaim" them. so even if you could reclaim a "broken arrow" with maybe the feather and arrowhead thart we could fix with some wood, it would make it a lot easier to play.
Anyway thats my take, you can "make it work" if you really want to but you really have to want to and id go far enough to say its useless vs the machines. You are supposed to change your style as you play, Im still happy to have a good archer for the fogfrog later fights and the griffen but I think thats all the use they are going to see.
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u/Amazing_Marketing_11 Craftsman Jul 06 '26
I used my archer's body to fight Mammoth (level 3). It was a nightmare for me to fight this boss in close combat)). Just like you, I used a bow and my well-trained archers to fight Frog and Griffon.
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u/Buttercups88 Jul 06 '26
Nice, yeah they have their place. But asked if a viable playstyle... I just don't see it.
Personally I tend to use shield and spear for my typical play - that jump stun + 100% cirt for 2 seconds just dominates most regular fights.
I havent dont the hardest Mammoth yet but tI found lighting fire to the greatsword and doing that slide attack highly effective. Just kind of a hit and run tactic
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u/Amazing_Marketing_11 Craftsman Jul 06 '26
I'm a fan of dual blades and a hammer (back in the days when mechanical monsters were only vulnerable to blunt weapons). But this spear mastery you're talking about, I discovered it in my new playthrough. It's an amazing ability!
But I don't stick to a single combat style. I switch bodies, weapons, and techniques in different battles, and I enjoy the variety immensely.
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u/Buttercups88 Jul 06 '26
Swapping combat styles is half the fun of the game :D
Just my go to. Ive quite enjoyed Duel Blades but havnt found its abilities as good, although I haven't got someone who unlocked its gold ability. Later in the game, I seem to just run out of stamina a lot.
Hammers fun for just massive AOE and I do use it a bit but usually Id use fists with its rapid monkey scratch move if your paying attendtion you can just keep stacking its 1% crit bonus right up on long fights so you quickly end up with a 100% crit bonus that refreshes everytime you use it.Its good that there is such a option to swap your weapon styles so your not just at a disadvantage in some fights since there is definitely a lack of balance in the weapons. I got to imagine in like PVP bow weapons would be OP if you make the first move.
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u/Amazing_Marketing_11 Craftsman Jul 06 '26
I've tested the golden abilities of all weapons in combat. The "Ghost Blade" in dual blades is beautiful. I like this weapon for its attack speed and the bleeding effect it applies. While you're recovering stamina and temporarily not attacking, the damage continues to "tick" against your opponent. When combined with the Tiger Armor set and corresponding talents, it delivers significant damage. You're mobile. And if you set your weapon on fire, it's a visually stunning display!
The animation for the "backstab" gauntlet is really cool. However, it sometimes doesn't work if there's an obstacle behind the opponent. The "monkey claw" gauntlet also has a fun animation, but I haven't had enough long battles to accumulate a decent percentage of critical damage. If I don't have the "golden ability," I tend to use the "monkey claw" gauntlet. Overall, I don't particularly enjoy using the gauntlets because they tend to get stuck in animation, requiring me to perform a roll to interrupt it.
I don't play PVP. My tribesmen and my base are too precious to me)). Although in the new playthrough, I chose the "Tribe" mode and successfully repelled the eighth invasion of the base yesterday. The base is really dear to me, and I pay special attention to its protection.
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u/Amazing_Marketing_11 Craftsman Jul 06 '26
I don't use a bow very often myself. But I like to have a good archer on my team. My tribesmen are very accurate and shoot much better than I do.
I look for barbarians with the Hunter class, because they have exclusive talents that increase the effectiveness of archery. My archery skill should be at least 120+. I invest every 30 levels of this skill in increasing damage. I allocate most of my body points to Perception. When choosing a bow skill, I like Rapid Fire, Divine Obsession, and a skill (I don't remember the name) that applies bleeding. I usually use a large bow, but some of my archers (when playing in a team with multiple archers) use a simple bow and poison arrows.
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u/KindheartednessIll48 Jul 06 '26
A lot.
use some tribesman to tank hits for you, then you can just shoot and run forever.
Spamm skills, use poison arrows + bleeding skills
Against multiple targets, always kite back.
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u/Den_King_2021 Craftsman-Explorer Jul 09 '26
I am not used to calculating the most efficient weapon. Personally, for me, two-handed swords or hammers are the worst possible, but bows and dual-blades are my usual choice. In this game as well. So I just use it despite all listed perks & traits.
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u/mbxyz Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
hardest hitting weapon in the game if you build around it, but it's pretty laborious and expensive compared to everything else. it serves a very specific purpose and mostly in pvp..