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I identify as a Boeing AH-64 Apache Longbow, my proper personal pronoun shall be "BOOM! HEADSHOT!!!"

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Quite a lot of nations have old soviet Shilka's which do those supercomputer calculations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-UnealTR-Y
You get within 1.5 miles of this thing, and it chews up anything that isn't jinking.
There are also variants of this thing which have missiles, and they can even shoot down other missiles to protect itself.
For those it's better to fire helicopter missiles from a low angle. Or bomb them from up very high.

Helicopters are less vulnerable because often they can fire without revealing their position. Modern missiles can be fired from as around 8km away. And they'll fire them while hovering low enough that their radar signatures can't be distinguished from the ground and surroundings. And since they are always facing the enemy their heat signature from the engines is facing away as well. (unlike a warthog that will show it's engines to the enemy as it flies up and away after an attack). Most attack helicopters have some kind of armour as well. At least in the pilot and critical sections.
Oh yes, and something really cool - the new Apache Longbow's can fire missiles that go around terrain to hit their targets! Super cool

They absolutely have disadvantages, but any decent pilot will fly their aircraft to it's advantages

This is obviously a very great skill and at the same time it has its faults. It's also obvious to anyone with common sense that he IS a "trick" shooter. I mean almost every demonstration in the video IS a "trick" shot of some kind. Would any of these things come in handy in war... Certainly, many of those "tricks" would put him at an extreme advantage--especially if he could do this extremely well on horseback (and you must be a GOOD horseback rider, motorcycles don't count--a horse is a whole different story; especially if you plan to do some of the *feats* I'll mention below, while in combat). He would be even better if he had mastery over the shorter bow(s) he uses in this and also a longbow for long targets and heavily armored enemies.

As for him penetrating chainmail, that is a good question and I do believe he could quite possibly end up penetrating the chainmail in some situations while (possibly still getting through the chainmail) being stopped in others (he shows being able to penetrate mail with an under armor of some type, but we don't get a lot of details about that situation to be honest). It depends on how his bow is made, the string it has, the type of arrow he is using (or the tip, to be honest), and his draw strength (along with this is range). On the chainmail side it depends on what type of chainmail the enemy is using and then whether they have an under armor of some kind--and again, range.

The problem in this video--except for a few shots--is that he does shoot very close in many of the cases; within 30-20 feet. In a close combat experience--which wasn't necessarily unusual for archers in the past (especially as I mentioned mounted ones--of course you'd be nuts to not be mounted at these ranges--or at the least be a swordsman as well...which was even more rare) he would terrorize opponents... Unless they are wearing plate or other heavy types of armors, then he is in a bit of trouble. But if he really does have great accuracy, then even many of these armors types wouldn't necessarily help you--and could eventually lead to your own death.

I say we give this some time and see if Lars gives us more answers (like "records", competition, types of bows and arrows, chainmail used, etc...).

Tres bon! Now I can watch porn AND my favorite sporting event, (kyūdō-daikyū or Traditional Japanese Longbow) all during weekend visitation!!

I was hoping he would expand on #2, skills for folks. He had the basics right. Your first five skills are based on your weapon (or weapons) of choice with duel wielders getting their first 2 skills based on their primary weapon and last 3 weapon skills based on their secondary. Thieves get their 5th based on the combination of their weapons.

You might say that this limits class variety, even if there are a heck of a lot of weapon options in the game. *Deep Breath*.. Axe, Dagger, Mace, Pistol, Scepter, Sword, Focus, Shield, Torch, Warhorn, Greatsword, Hammer, Longbow, Rifle, Showbow, Staff.

However this is not the end of your weapon customization because you also have perks that you can use to alter your weapon skills. So a Warrior who uses sword/shield will have the same 5 weapon skills but do to individual choices in how they customize them those skills might do very different things. The last 5 skills is based on both class and race and there will be plenty to choose from. The first is a heal (every class has one), the next three are class/race based skills that are not directly damage oriented but are cc or buffing (thus why there is no trinity in this one) and the last is a long cooldown alpha attack based on your class and race of choice. Combined with as I said, there being a lot of them to choose from and that you can alter them (and the 5 weapon based skills) with further customization as you advance through the game, this is going to make absolutely sure that when you meet another player of your class it isn't all but guaranteed that they have the exact same setup as you do.

Also there are other things that are going to make GW2 stand out that weren't in this list. A personalized storyline based on choices you make at character creation (see the choices we know about here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Biography). As you play your story you'll make decisions that change the world around you in your 'hub' area (IE the changes affect your own storyline areas, not the major game world simply because some of those choices can mean the end of major characters in the game or the destruction of a village and you cant have people do that individually without having to reset those changes.

Last... no quests! Your personal story will be fairly similar to quests but much more story oriented. But the vast majority of the gameplay is quest free!

I still target shoot my 80 lb Re-curve longbow regularly, And both my kids have their own bows and love it.

I honed my skills on Grouse and Squirrels (Yes I ate them - Tastes like chicken). I was never as good as this guy though, I generally missed more than I hit.
My biggest setback was that I valued my arrows. Missing got expensive as we would spend hours sometimes trying to find the arrows afterwards, many we never did find. Which makes you a little afraid sometimes to pull it back all the way when shooting up into a tree!

I use finger protection and a wrist guard but that's it, no sites, no counterweights etc. just a bow, a string and an arrow!

>> ^Payback:
All I saw was a counterbalance, a level, and a honkin big arrow rack. What did you guys see? Lazurs? GPS tracking?

No, but I see cams that as far as I know a) greatly reduce the needed pulling force, b) reduce vibrations of the string and c) flatten the trajectory by increasing acceleration of the arrow. Not to mention all the other hoobajoobs on that thing. If he used a bow with a draw weight of 20kg or more without cams, I'd be much more impressed. I still remember how fucked up my shoulder was after an afternoon on the range with a longbow of 28kg draw weight.

Though just to be clear, I'm very impressed already. Just could be more.

>> ^arsenault185:
Well, even discover is liable to make mistakes once in a while. At any rate, I myself was surprised to find out that super-adhesive glue and fiberglass were both used in authentic traditional "long" bows.


Well, in their defense, they do say "today's" long bows. Not ancient ones.

Duh, its a Composite Longbow.
1d8 x3 with an effective range of 110ft.
newbs.

thanks! those things are pretty hardcore.

In reply to this comment by therealblankman:
The term you're searching for is Atlatl. Ted Nugent uses one for hunting.

No really. Ted Nugent uses one for hunting.

Wang Dang Poontang!

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
Whats the name of the two part javelin-launching setup that some indigenous peoples used to take down large animals? Its like a stick that a large arrow can rest in and be whipped out of a long distance. Wasn't that before the bow and arrow?

The term you're searching for is Atlatl. Ted Nugent uses one for hunting.

No really. Ted Nugent uses one for hunting.

Wang Dang Poontang!

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
Whats the name of the two part javelin-launching setup that some indigenous peoples used to take down large animals? Its like a stick that a large arrow can rest in and be whipped out of a long distance. Wasn't that before the bow and arrow?

although not an english longbow, in the truest sense, the bow he's making is not much of a recurve, either.

yes, the construction is a composite, or laminate.
as opposed to what's called a self bow, or a one-piece.
but the style/shape, and the materials used, are two different terms.
you can make a composite recurve, or a composite straightbow, in other words.

the style he's constructing, is mostly an ordinary longbow, with the grip being more typical of what's called a reflex bow.