Full Draw Blackarrow

Drawing the bow does not cost Energy — the game gives you the charge for free. So the build spends everything on making the fully drawn shot better and the draw itself faster, and takes the one talent that lets you shoot out of a dodge so the draw is not a commitment.

Skill bar4 of the branch’s skills

ShootingBow
The core. Charging is free, which is why this branch's damage is in the held shot.
Sky PiercerBow
The single biggest shot in the class, and a talent turns part of it into True damage.
Rapid ArrowsBow
Volley mode for the close range where a full draw is not available.
ScattershotBow
Seven arrows and a knockback — the answer to something already inside your range.

Talents that matter

Not a full tree — these are the points that change what the build does rather than adding a percentage to it. Fill the rest of the tree in whatever order your level allows.

Full DrawSwift Shot
More damage on fully drawn arrows, which is nearly every shot you take.
Colossal PowerSwift Shot
Faster charging means more full draws per fight — this compounds with everything else.
Dodge Power ShotBattle Hardened
Turns roll into dodge and shoots out of it, so the draw stops being a commitment.
Unstoppable EdgeMighty Archer
Sky Piercer partly converts to True damage, which is what beats armor stacking.
MarksmanBattle Hardened
Fully drawn arrows home near the crosshair — the talent that makes the rest usable in motion.

Affixes to roll for

In priority order. Affix rolls are random, so treat this as what to keep rather than what to expect.

Headshot DamageOffensive
Critical damage, on a build whose whole output is a small number of large hits.
RangedOffensive
A damage bonus that triggers past a distance — exactly where this build wants to be anyway.
FocusedUtility
Charging speed, and above a threshold movement speed with it.

Bow weaponshighest combat value

Pulled from the catalog by combat value, not picked by hand — a new bow shows up here on the next import.

Insatiable Heart - Cornered Beast BowCV 700 Insatiable Heart - Soulseeker BowCV 700 Deathclaw HunterCV 600 Crusader StrongbowCV 500 Yew LongbowCV 400 Oil-soaked Wooden BowCV 300

How to play it

Hold the draw while repositioning. It costs nothing, so an undrawn bow is wasted time.
Open with Sky Piercer only when they cannot close — otherwise it is a long animation with nothing behind it.
Dodge Power Shot is the answer to a gap-closer: dodge through, fire on the way out.
Scattershot is spacing. Use it to push them back out to the range where the bow works.

Don’t take this if

You fight in corridors or on a team that dives. The bow has nothing in melee, and this build spends all of its talents assuming it never gets there.