Dark bow

The dark bow is often considered to be the strongest bow in RuneScape, due to both firing two arrows in one shot and its powerful special attack that can hit a maximum of 560-560 (1120 total damage), topping the former believed max hit of 520. Technically, it is not a longbow, despite the size similarities. It requires level 60 Ranged to use and is the only bow able to shoot dragon arrows. It is a drop unique to dark beasts, which require level 90 Slayer to kill. Suprisingly, it is not a 'very rare' drop, only a rare drop, while the dark beasts have steel arrows considered a very rare drop.

The dark bow has a decent firing rate. Many people find it slow because of the time it takes between shots, however speed is not based on time between shots, but rather arrows fired in a certain amount of time. Since the dark bow fires two arrows per shot, it does shoot at a fair speed on rapid. Its special attack is useful as it will always hit. With the rapid style, it will attain attack speed 2, but as usual the double arrow it fires will cause firing rate similar to of an attack speed 6 weapon. Since it gives a +95 range bonus, it can be worn with less range gear and still be reasonably accurate.

The dark bow is a fairly decent player-killing weapon due to its special attack, meaning if you are in pursuit of an enemy player you can use up any remaining special attack on them doing significant damage to them.

Players using the accurate attack mode when ranging with the dark bow may find their monsters "stolen" by other players with faster weapons. Many Players prefer using crossbows for fighting dangerous monsters such as dragons because it is faster than the bow. It is commonly used by ranging player killers and by many pile jumpers due to its relatively low price.

Special attacks
The dark bow has 2 special attacks, depending on what type of arrow is used:


 * Descent of Darkness inflicts up to 30% more damage and does a minimum of 50 damage per arrow (50 on players).
 * Descent of Dragons inflicts up to 50% more damage when using dragon arrows and does a minimum of 50 damage per arrow (80 on players).

Each special attack drains 65% of the special attack bar. It used to be 55%, but this changed in the updates of 7 October 2009 to prevent players from performing two special attacks in a row by using the Recover special potion. With the release of the Ring of vigour, it is again possible to perform two special attacks in a row. The Darkbow shoots every 4 seconds, but shoots 2 arrows.

If the attacked player is using the Protect from Missiles prayer, the minimum hit of the special is lowered to 30 for normal arrows and 48 for Dragon arrows.

The dark bow's special attack used to have a far higher minimum damage (50 for normal arrows and 80 for dragon arrows), but this was changed with the introduction of the new-style hitsplats. However, it still hits the original damage per arrow on other players.

The dark bow is one of five weapons in RuneScape with special attacks that change under certain circumstances, the other four being Zanik's crossbow, the dragon halberd, the penance trident, and Korasi's Sword, but is the only weapon where the animation also changes.

Dropping monsters

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Other uses
Strangely, the dark bow can be used for the Archery competition Activity although it only fires one arrow at a time there. It can also fire as fast as a player can shoot the target and close the score window, allowing the dark bow to be just as fast as any other bow that can shoot a bronze arrow (only in this Activity though).

When you try to light a fire using your dark bow, it says, "The innate darkness of the bow sucks all the heat from your Firemaking attempt. You realize that this type of bow is useless for firelighting."

The Special attack can be used while LootShare is active to ensure you hit the monster.

The dark bow is also a very popular weapon in PvP combat, since the special attack Descent of Dragons inflicts up to 50% more damage due to the fact that the special will never miss and will deal a minimum damage of 100, unless one uses range protect as said above. When used with the ranged void knight set, the Descent of Dragons special attack is capable of killing most players instantly. In Castle Wars, some players may use a Castle Wars bracelet instead of a Void ranger set. The dark bow will do 20% more damage if being used on a player holding the user's team's flag. This makes the dark bow one of the most dangerous weapons in Castle Wars.

Development Diaries


The Impetuous Impulses development Diary has a description of the development of the dark bow. The diary contains artist impressions of the dark bow, which form the basis for the development of the bow itself and its special attack.

Colouring
In a Guaranteed Content poll created by Jagex on 16 February 2010, the dark bow was nominated for a recolouring, similar to how the abyssal whip was recoloured (allowing the player to decide between four colours). The poll ended on 22 February 2010, with the dark bow winning with 24% of the votes. The coloured versions of the bow are obtainable as a reward from the Barbarian Assault activity. After Jagex said a new item was to be coloured, people suspected the dark bow would win the poll. As a result, the dark bow rose in price from 1.1m to 1.9m within a few weeks. The dark bow increased further in price just as the Abyssal whip did after the update.

On 29 March 2010, Commander Connad was updated so he would recolour dark bows because it was the Guaranteed Content poll winner. The colouring will make the bow untradeable; however, to remove the colouring, simply use a cleaning cloth and the bow will return to its regular state. Buying a colour for the Dark bow and Abyssal whip costs 50 points in any role. Once purchased, the colour can be used on either weapon as many times as needed. The dark bow has the same colour options as the whip.

Trivia

 * When first introduced, the dark bow sold for upwards of 60 million coins. Later, it sold for around 20 million coins midday and then around 8 million by the end of the day. It settled around 2-3 million coins approximately one year.
 * When the recolouring update was first released, the dark bow's Grand Exchange image was missing. This has since been fixed.
 * The dragon heads used in the special attack were not updated, unlike all dragons were, so they look drastically different.
 * This weapon shares a resemblance to the Zamorak Bow.
 * When dealing a killing blow with the first arrow fired you will get the experience plus the experience from the damage that the second arrow would have done. This makes it a more efficient weapon (if only slightly) for training, because, unlike with other weapons, you can "hit" a monster for more health than it has left, and still get the experience for it.
 * The Dark bow seems to consist of two beastly legs since both ends seem to resemble claws.
 * There is currently a glitch with the Dark bow when wielded along with the Wicked Hood. While drawing runes from the hood the bow will clip into the Players' character model.

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