Summarizing the plausible suggestions that have been made so far: (the devs can come up with whatever names they want)
faster draw speed
less arm sway
less arrow drop
faster projectile speed
increased damage (total, in close range, or while unseen)
enemy can’t tell where you’re shooting from, at least initially.
slow the enemy (movement and/or rate of return fire)
enemy likely to miss
better chance of inflicting specific conditions based on body part struck
I agree with most of these and will include them in my own list. However…
1 Arrow drop should be managed by the quality of the arrow and the player’s aiming height. That’s part of the challenge of archery in this game.
2 Increased damage based on proximity to the target is an inherent property of physics when it comes to archery. There’s no reason to have a perk that magically applies the laws of physics. But I admit, it would be nice if the game made more substantial allowances for said physics.
3 Slowing the enemy, or at least reducing their capacity for combat, is a system already in this game in the form of body part injuries. Instead of having a perk that makes these detriments more likely to occur, I would rather see the game have an announcement pop-up telling me when I’ve inflicted a specific type of damage or trauma on an enemy I’ve just struck.
4 Inflicting conditions such as bleed or cripple or daze is something that could be accomplished with a better variety of arrows. I have suggestions to the devs about this at the end of this post.
Following the most common format of a perk point being granted at “every third level-up, then again at 20”, here is my list. Let’s also remember the game’s caveat that using bows without a vambrace up until level 5 will cause harm to Henry.
3a Quick Fingers [faster draw speed]
3b Steady Hands [less arm sway]
6a Singing Strings [your release technique makes your arrows fly faster but at the cost of increased noise]
6b Whispering Winds [enemies’ ability to deduce your firing position is delayed by one shot. In other words, the first time you fire from any given position while undetected, they have no clue where you are.]
9a Point Blank (cannot be combined with “Hide and Seeker”) [You do double the final damage (post armor mitigation) on any enemy who is within 5 meters of you.]
9b Run and Gun (cannot be combined with “Firing Line”) [You can move faster while reloading your bow and arrows launched while in motion suffer less penalty to accuracy.]
9c Firing Line (cannot be combined with “Run and Gun”) [If you remain stationary (leeway of 2 meters) while shooting, a given enemy will suffer cumulatively greater damage from multiples of your arrow hits. This is based on historical accounts that military archers in a firing formation would stick their arrows in the ground for quicker access than pulling them from a quiver. The arrowheads would often pick up dirt and germs from the ground, thus increasing the likelihood of enemy survivors coming down with illnesses or diseases as a result of arrow wounds.]
9d Hide and Seeker (cannot be combined with “Point Blank”) [So long as you remain undetected, your arrows do increased (x1.5) damage.]
12a Intimidating Form [while you are wielding a bow, enemy archers are more likely to miss you]
12b Keen Eye [significantly increases the amount of camera zoom when the bow draw is held for a few seconds. This circumstantially increases your likelihood to hit, which makes this perk a counterpart to the preceding.]
12c Deadly Aim “Archery is no longer a guessing game. At this level of proficiency, you know exactly where your arrows are likely to strike.” [makes targeting reticle visible – because, FFS, I shouldn’t need to install a mod for this!]
I also saw some suggestions about perks that would give the player a better chance of inflicting specific conditions. Putting aside perks for a moment, I think this suggestion could be solved by an overhaul of the arrow selection in the game.
Currently, the arrows available in the game are simply variations on the two themes of more Stab damage or less arrow drop. I would like to see arrows that have different components (mostly arrowheads, but also different fletchings), and therefore are used to accomplish different meddlings with the opponent, just like navy sailing ships had different types of projectiles for their cannons.
…Examples:
1 One fletching would add stability, making the arrow much less likely to veer off from center; this accuracy would come at the cost of range due to the extra drag imparted by the extra feather(s). (This is very much what firing the Tournament arrows are like.) Another fletching could do the opposite: adding range (less arrow drop) at the cost of accuracy. Standard fletchings would be a compromise between the two.
2 Arrowheads could do a variety of things. The basic heads would be cheapest and would have no special function. Serrated heads would have an increased chance to cause bleeding. Sharper heads would have a better chance of piercing light armor. Tri-bladed tips would do more damage to wildlife game and have a greater chance of piercing heavy armor. Basic blunt tips (used by sanctioned game hunters in this era) would grant more wildlife game meat due to not damaging as much flesh on impact. Hardened blunt tips could have a greater chance of inflicting trauma (think: concussions) against heavily armored opponents. Et cetera.
