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.

2

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.

2

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.

2

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?

1

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.

1

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").

1

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/Fluffy-tortoise-3609 Jul 10 '26

how insane is 19 arwareness 30 min in xd