Is The Vow The Best Legendary Bow?

Since Crimson Days 2020 has rolled around, we thought that we’d take a look at the Legendary Bow you can earn if you do all the right things this week, The Vow. I earned this weapon in last year’s Crimson Days event, and I can’t fault it at all. It’s a brilliant weapon, but let’s compare it to some of the other Legendary Bows out there just to see if it is categorically the best. First up, stats and perks.

Stats

• Impact – 68
• Accuracy – 54
• Stability – 73
• Handling – 64
• Reload Speed – 64

Hidden Stats

• Aim Assistance – 84
• Draw Time – 80
• Recoil Direction – 51
• Zoom – 18

Perks

These are the perks according to Destiny 2 DB, of course you can get different rolls throughout the week if you putt the work in.

• Lightweight Frame – The Vow is a recurve Bow, allowing Guardians to move faster while it’s equipped
• Polymer String – slightly increases accuracy, and provides a slightly faster draw time
• Natural Fletching – slightly decreases accuracy, but greatly increases stability
• Rapid Hit – Rapid precision hits will temporarily increase stability and reload speed
• Archer’s Tempo – Draw time decreases after every precision hit

The Competition

According to LightGG there are a total of eight Legendary Bows in Destiny 2. That number might seem small, but remember that Bows have only been in the game since Forsaken launched. In order to compare each one against The Vow, I thought it would be best to break them down by season, with season 4 being the first season in Forsaken.

The Vow is a beast because of the power you get from precision kills. Each one makes it faster and faster, and it’s really easy to get them in the first place. I’ve never used a more accurate Bow, so the only thing that beats its set of perks for me is an Exotic Bow.

Season 4 Bows

No Turning Back is the first Bow that you can earn in Forsaken by completing the story. It’s nothing special, offering increased accuracy and stability when firing from the hip. Arsenic Bite-4b is up next, which has Rampage. This is pretty nice, even if you’re no good at precision kills, but I would still take the increased speed over increased damage, since precision kills will do any Guardian in one. Subtle Calamity has increased sneak speed and reload time while crouched. I’m pretty sure a hidden perk of The Vow is that you can hold a shot infinitely, with no need to fire it quickly before just letting go, so again it’s better. Finally from season 4 is Tyranny of Heaven, which has Dragonfly. This is a very powerful perk, dealing damage, and potentially killing enemies with precision kills. this comes down to a personal choice, and I still prefer The Vow’s speed in both firing, and the speed it grants my Hunter.

Season 5 Bows

The Vow is a season 5 Bow, so the only competition here is The Spiteful Fang. This Bow fires arrows that will explode after a short delay. I’ve used The Spiteful Fang before, and it’s really great. Once again, my preference is The Vow’s speed, but I could see a lot of you opting for The Spiteful Fang here.

Season 7 Bows

The only new Bow with season 7 was Hush. Here we see a big increase to draw speed with each precision hit from hip fire. Not only is this really hard to pull off, the boost isn’t as good as what you get from The Vow by default. Hush is no competition at all.

Season 8 Bows

Again, with season 8 we have only one new Bow, Accrued Redemption. Interestingly this Bow can be acquired with really similar perks to The Vow, making it almost exactly the same. However, it can also drop with Rampage and other perks that make it, in my opinion, not as good.

Verdict

The only competition I see for The Vow is in The Spiteful Fang and Tyranny of Heaven. For me, speed is a really big boost to my gameplay, and being faster in general with The Vow equipped will always make it the best Legendary Bow for me. However, if explosive headshots are your thing, Tyranny of Heaven is definitely the best one for you. The Spiteful Fang is a really brilliant Bow, and it’s a close second for me. Once again, it’s speed that makes The Vow superior for me, but I can definitely see The Spiteful Fang working much better for a number of you out there.

Unfortunately the answer to whether The Vow is the best Legendary Bow is subjective to your play style. I reckon that all Hunters will prefer The Vow as I do, but for those who prioritise damage, it’ll be either The Spiteful Fang or Tyranny of Heaven. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Image Source: Ishtar Collective