OLD:
+69 ranged attack pales in comparison to the rune crossbow +92 ranged attack.
At lvl 80 range:
The adpc (average damage per cycle*) of a short bow with adamant arrows is 45.5
The adpc of a crossbow with broad or adamant bolts is 57.5
I remember when the short bow was used in EVERY ranged pking fight. Now it's rarely used.
Why should it be?
Crossbows have:
Significantly greater ranged attack
significantly greater mdpc
allow the use of a shield
bolts hit harder per use
bolts have special abilities
bolts are cheaper training methods (bone and broad) while the equivalent arrow is not only much weaker but more expensive
Because short bows are much faster than crossbows they have one pro:
In the short term, they can pile up damage (in less than one cycle) more quickly than a crossbow (even more so with the msb special attack).
It makes me wonder why I even carry an msb in my bank. Probably for aesthetic reasons, but that aside, it's wasting space.
*Average damage per cycle is ascertained through multiplying the average hit (max divided by two)of a weapon by the speed.
Example: Max hit of a whip for me is 28 normally. So, 14 x 6 = 84 adpc. (Speed multiplier is derived from the "cooldown" timing e.g. msb on rapid will hit 7 times by the time the whip hits 6 and by the time the longsword hits 5.)
Something that I need to state for future posts:
I have NO quarrel with better equipment. I am in full agreement that just because adamant armor is older than rune armor doens't mean it should be rebalanced to be in equal with rune. I DO have a quarrel when weapon in a lower tier of levels out performs a weapon in a HIGHER tier (rune c'bow out hits the crystal bow with cheaper ammunition than the "Crystal arrows").
Edit: Compfreak has pointed out my math errors and therefore completely destroying the argument that the crystal bow is better than the rune cbow in grinding. I have abandoned the msb rant/argument because of my ridiculous overlook (msb is a lvl 50 weapon and the rune crossbow a lvl 61 weapon.) Therefore, there really is nothing left to do with the rant except anything opinionated (e.g. I think shortbows and the crystal bow should be updated to at least be more more common for the poorer class, like a lunar ring to the seer's ring, a torso to the bandos chestplate, an obsidian sword + zerker necklace to the saradomin sword, etc.)
Essentially, Compfreak's calculations point out how ridiculously pathetic the msb and the crystal bow are. Therefore, they actually reinforce the whole point of the rant: asking why the heck do people use them if they suck so badly?
