Bow

The **bow** is the primary ranged weapon in MineZ. Bows were designed for use by infantry. A player armed with a bow has the designation of *archer.* Mistakenly, the bow is thought to be a weapon of those less skilled, but the reality is much different as the sword is the simpler weapon to learn and the bow requires a degree of skill and experience to effectively use in battle.

## Types of Bows

Unlike the sword, the bow has a universal material of construction and therefore only has one tier. However, it may spawn with infinity, power and or knockback enchantments, making it a very useful and deadly weapon in MineZ. The bow also comes in legendary forms that are more useful in general compared to sword legendaries.

## Usage

*Note: Most of these strategies are in the UTC Manual of Arms in a more complete a polished version.*

The bow in battle is a weapon with much higher complexity than the sword. With the bow, the player must learn to take into account distance of target, direction and speed of enemy movement, amount of ammunition, use of cover and rate of fire. The well-trained archer can fire 2-3 arrows a second with relative accuracy at a distance of 15-30 blocks.

To use a bow, the player must hold down his right mouse button until the bow is drawn back enough to achieve the desired amount of damage output. During this time, as long as the arrow is presently knocked and pulled, the player's movement speed is decreased to a slow walk. On command or on their own initiative, the player can now release their right mouse button - this looses the arrow and they can now regain their normal movement speed.

The bow, in the hands of the unskilled, is more of a liability in a fight than an advantage. Unless the terrain drastically simplifies the enemy's movements such as a very narrow corridor or unless the enemy is timid, the bow would only serve to give the enemy a chance to close in on what could have been used by the player as an opportunity to escape or counter-charge.

The bow in the hands of the skilled however, maximizes advantages and gives them an edge over their opponents by delivering damage from afar.

## Usage in the UNKNOWN [?] Trading Company

> "*What we've done is we've mixed the two and made one philosophy similar to the Carolean Ga-Pa. Aggressive use of bows and going forward to meet the enemy on our own terms, with aggressive counter-charging when they expect us to run.*"
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> ― **Irishkaiser on Firepower v Cold Steel.**
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Unlike many clans, the UTC prefers to use the bow as a massed weapon, by treating it more as gunpowder weaponry due to romanticizing it into the musket longarm; the Arbreton. The Company takes this one step further and fights using both skirmishing and volley firing techniques when the opportunity is given. In the volley fire method, the Company forces in combat do not fire their bows unless the command is given by an officer. The idea being, that while the enemy is also dodging your shots, a massed group of arrows all landing nearly at the same time minimizes enemy chances of dodging, thus compensating for players with lesser skill in the use of the bow. The Company also prefers to concentrate fire on certain points of massed groups than choosing their own individual targets, maximizing the chances of hits on a single target.

The bow in the UTC is also used heavily as a push weapon, rather than a defense weapon. This differs from the sword which is identified more as a charge weapon that decides battles.

### **Operation**

In the UNKNOWN [?] Trading Company, use of the bow is generally by default in Skirmish order - that is, firing and using the weapon on one's own terms. However, when an officer sees more chances of success for massed firing, the officer will shout "*CEASEFIRE!*" or "*COMPANY WILL VOLLEY FIRE ON MY COMMAND.*"

* Upon the command, "*Present arms!*", the Company member who hasn't taken out their bow yet will proceed to select it in their hotbar.
* Upon the command "*Make ready!"*, the Company member will knock and pull their arrow, preparing the weapon to fire in the general direction of the enemy.
* At this point, the officer may command "*Take aim*" or specify such as "*Concentrate fire on the right.*" to heighten the senses of their members to attention. This is *optional* and may not be said if the situation does not require it.
* Upon the command "*Fire!*", the Company members are free to loose their arrows in the general direction of the target. Note that in the UTC, the command "*Fire*" after this is usually synonymous with "*Fire at will*". This is not correct, but out of practicality, the officer in charge would not correct their men until they judge the situation necessary, by repeating the "*Make ready*" command.

## references

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/UnknownTradeCo/comments/2nwh5o/the\_empire\_the\_companys\_official\_news\_source\_85/?ref=search\_posts