Top 10 Best Bows in WoW Classic
World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most famous video games ever. The time between WoW’s release in 2004 and its peak in 2010 is commonly known as “Vanilla”, or Classic, WoW. This time period is the source of many players’ nostalgia: the era the game became the most popular MMORPG in the world. Unfortunately, the hunter class became an infamous joke to some players. The meme continues today where hunters’ pets are blamed for bad pulls, or a hunter rolled need on something they couldn’t use, as the story goes. But don’t allow the negativity to keep you from playing a class you enjoy. So go out there, roll a hunter, and dream about the awesome weapons you will collect. In this list, we are looking at the top 10 best bows in WoW Classic.
10. Hoodoo Hunting Bow
When players entered the Zul’gurub raid, they had a chance to summon Wushoolay through a random event called Edge of Madness. Players would find the subregion of Zul’gurub just past Zanza’s Rise. Tablets in the area would allow alchemists to learn the formula for Gurubashi Mojo Madness, which required Blood of Heroes, Massive Mojo, Black Lotus, and 6 Powerful Mojo. This would be used to extinguish the brazier in the area and begin the event, randomly summoning either Gri’lek, Renataki, Hazza’rah, or Wushoolay.
Wushoolay is a troll ghost and elemental shaman who will use strong lightning attacks against your party. Upon defeat, the boss has a chance of dropping the Hoodoo Hunting Bow. This bow has a large tiki face on it and does decent damage. The bow does 35 damage per second (DPS) and adds +10 Agility and +4 Stamina. With the effort required to acquire this bow, the Hoodoo is a great badge of honor for your hunter in WoW Classic.
9. Mandokir’s Sting
Players can return to Zul’gurub for the chance of receiving Mandokir’s Sting, a bow in the shape of a cobra. This weapon drops from an early boss in the raid, Bloodlord Mandokir. Considered an optional boss, the Bloodlord is a difficult fight but with great rewards. Mandokir begins the fight on his raptor mount, Ohgan. Once he dismounts, both Ohgan and Mandokir will engage the raid. This encounter is tricky and features unique mechanics where Mandokir will even resurrect fallen raid members.
Upon defeat, the Bloodlord has the chance of dropping a bow, Mandokir’s Sting. While this weapon doesn’t have any unique effects, the damage is decent at 37.5 DPS while also adding +11 Agility and +8 Stamina. Even if the stats don’t impress, the appearance is awesome and shows you are a skilled raider as well.
8. Bow of Taut Sinew
Located in southern Silithus, players can obtain the Bow of Taut Sinew within the Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj raid. This 20-person outdoor raid takes players to the home of the Qiraji, a bug-like race that were sealed within their ruins behind the scarab wall following the “War of the Shifting Sands”. After some Qiraji escaped their prison, Anachronos, the bronze dragon, helped the adventurers of Azeroth open the Scarab Wall to prevent further invasion. Within this raid, players would encounter Ayamiss the Hunter, the second to last boss. Ayamiss is a wasp beast who attacks from above and utilizes wasp minions as well as her poisonous stinger.
The Bow of Taut Sinew appears bug-like as if it was crafted from a limb of the Qiraji. The appearance is unique and the bow has good stats. The bow has 38.64 DPS and gives the user a bonus +22 Attack Power as well as +8 Nature Resistance.
7. Striker’s Mark
One of the most well-known raids of Vanilla WoW is Molten Core, full of many iconic bosses. Within Blackrock Mountain, the Molten Core raid is home to Ragnaros the Firelord. The favorite among Ragnaros’s pets, Magmadar is a two-headed core hound and the second boss of the raid. Among the loot drop from the core hound is the bow, Striker’s Mark. The epic weapon appears to be made from bone and features a skull above the purple grip. Striker’s mark has 39.6 DPS as well as +22 Attack Power and improves your chance to hit by 1%.
6. Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers
To begin the quest to obtain this legendary bow, players must receive an Ancient Petrified Leaf by defeating Majordomo in the Molten Core raid. Players learn that this leaf belonged to Vartrus the Ancient in Felwood. Vartrus offers the two quests required to craft this bow. “A Proper String” tasks players to collect a Mature Black Dragon Sinew from Onyxia. Found in the Onyxia’s Lair raid, Onyxia is the daughter of Deathwing and sister of Nefarian, as well as the broodmother of the Black Dragonflight in Azeroth. “Stave of the Ancients” requires hunters to defeat four demonic corrupters in Felwood and forced players to complete this quest alone. Once a hunter collected the heads of the four demons, Vartrus would reward them with an Ancient Rune Etched Stave. Together, these items were used to create Rhok’delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers as well as Lok’delar, Stave of the Ancient Keepers.
Rok’delar would improve your chance to get a critical strike by 1% and +17 ranged Attack Power while Lok’delar improved your chance to get a critical strike by 2% and added +45 Attack Power when fighting Demons. Not only would hunters receive a fantastic weapon upon completing this quest, but also great bragging rights. This weapon remains one of the most iconic weapons in WoW Classic because of how challenging it is to obtain!
5. Heartstriker
Another iconic raid from the early days of World of Warcraft was Blackwing Layer. This was the home of Nefarian, the black dragon also known as Deathwing. This was an important point in the Cataclysm story where the player could confront the infamous Nefarian and attempt to defeat him themselves. The third boss in this raid was Broodlord Lashlayer, who guards the Halls of Strife, blocking the way into Nefarian’s inner sanctum. The Broodlord is a Drakonid and players must traverse two “suppression rooms” full of traps and minions before they can reach him. Once he is defeated, players have a chance to receive the Heartstriker, a bow ornated with two black and red dragons. The Heartstriker has 44 DPS and adds +24 Attack Power when equipped.
4. High Warlord’s Recurve
This is the first of two PvP bows on this list, both of which are incredibly difficult to obtain. In World of Warcraft Classic, the Honor System is used to track PvP progress. Honor is collected through Honorable Kills (HKs) when a player kills another player of the opposite faction in the open world or battlegrounds. Not all HKs are counted equally, however, so a player’s Honor rating is tracked with Honor Contribution Points (CPs). This is so objectives in battlegrounds like capturing flags or bases will also reward Honor. CPs calculate your rating and reward you with a rank. In the Horde, these range from a Rank 1 Scout to Rank 6 Stone Guard, etc.
As a player collects Rank Points and ranks up, a PvP vendor will have items for sale depending on the rank. The Horde vendor is Sergeant Thunderhorn, located in the Hall of Legends of Orgrimmar. Each new rank unlocks armor, mounts, and a weapon at the highest rank. Horde players must collect 60000 Rating Points to reach Rank 14, High Warlord, and unlock epic-quality weapons. Only then would a Horde hunter be able to obtain the High Warlord’s Recurve bow. This weapon has 46.1 DPS and +36 ranged Attack Power when equipped.
3. Grand Marshal’s Bullseye
In the same fashion as the Highwarlord’s Recurve, the Grand Marshal’s Bullseye is unlocked through PvP ranks. In the Alliance, ranks range from a Rank 1 Private to Rank 6 Knight, and so on. As a player collects Rank Points and ranks up, a PvP vendor will have items for sale depending on the rank. The Alliance vendor is Captain O’Neal, located in the Champions’ Hall in Stormwind. Each new rank unlocks armor, mounts, and a weapon at the highest rank. Alliance players must collect 60000 Rating Points to reach Rank 14, Grand Marshal, and unlock epic-quality weapons. Only then would an Alliance hunter be able to obtain the Grand Marshal’s Bullseye bow. This weapon has 46.1 DPS and +36 ranged Attack Power when equipped.
2. Huhuran’s Stinger
Very similar to the Bow of Taut Sinew, this weapon drops from a Qiraji wasp in an Ahn’Qiraj raid. This time players must enter the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj raid, different from the Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj. Players learn that the disturbance in the Ruins and Temple of Ahn’Qiraaj were caused by the old god, C’thun. Now heroes must enter Temple of Ahn’Qiraj, challenge C’thun’s most wicked servants, and slay the god. The fourth boss of the raid, Princess Huhuran is a large wasp who also uses poison against the raiding party. Upon her defeat, hunters have a chance to receive Huhuran’s Stinger, seemingly crafted from the Princess’s corpse. The bow has 46.3 DPS and adds +18 Agility to the player.
1. Soulstring
The Naxxramas raid has introduced some of the most iconic bosses and the strongest weapons in the game at the time. This included the Epic bow, Soulstring. In order to obtain this weapon, players must defeat the Four Horsemen and loot it from their chest. The four members were all former Paladins who were turned into undead. Located in the Military Quarter of Naxxramas, the Four Horsemen were powerful Death Knights who guarded Kel’Thuzad, the final boss of Naxxramas. This encounter was known to be very difficult as raid groups must face all four bosses at once. Upon defeat, their chest could contain many rare items, including the Soulstring. This bow had 50 DPS, the highest at the time. Additionally, the weapon would improve your chance to get a critical strike by 1% and add +16 Attack Power.
Conclusion
While these bows may be forgotten on the live servers, every weapon on this list is a great option if you’re playing Classic as a hunter. Nostalgic players of the Vanilla era have rejoiced as World of Warcraft Classic has come to give these players a taste of the past. Whether you’re returning or it’s your first time in the world, maybe you, too, can enter an era of Azeroth before the time of Cataclysm. If the warrior class is more your thing, Check out our guide best weapons for the warrior class!
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