Ranger Guide by Radiënt: Aim for Perfection/Job/Weapon

• Good balance between damage and delay.
• Strength has a better effect on weapon skills.
• Main damage comes from the weapon.

• Not alot of status arrows available like Crossbows.
• Elemental arrows don't deal alot of damage.
• No access to Trueflight.

Archer for utulizing bows (not official naming but I like to make a difference between each kind). Bows are the best kind of weapons for new players to start off with as a ranger. It's easier, you get a new good bow pretty frequent and the arrows aren't that expensive compared to marksmanship-type weapons. They have high delay and deal good damage, and the best buyable bow is available at level 55: Eurytos' Bow, although rather pricy.
Bows are the weapon to start off with from level 1 to 75, although you might consider switching to complete Marksmanship after some endgame experience.
There are multiple kinds of bows however, but you shouldn't bother with bows under 400 delay (shortbows) and bows over 600 delay (long bows, but with much higher delay).

• Large variety of bolts for status as well as damage.
• Low delay, good for multiple targets that don't last long or don't have alot of HP.
• Access to Trueflight.
• Shares Marksmanship skill with the gun, having merits in both weapontypes.

• Inventory stressful due to variety of bolts.
• Low delay means low damage per shot (exception: Othinus' Bow).
• Bolt effects don't always occure due to resistance.
• Low damage makes Barrage less effective (exception: Othinus' Bow).

Crossbows are the most versatile among the three weapon choices. It can deal damage, inflict poison, defense down, blind, sleep and hp drain. Holy Bolts combined with damage bolts (Mythril bolts, Darksteel bolts) are a good combination, to top it off there is a bolt you can get with Conquest Points: Gold Musketeer's Bolt. Although all the good things mentioned, all the different bolts require alot of space and switch from acid, to holy, to darksteel bolts each time could be complex or simply tiring. For Holy Bolts to be effective, it requires alot of Mind gear and can be resisted if the target is resistant to magic or light damage. A crossbow is most effective against monsters with high physical damage resistance, such as slimes or elementals, by combining holy bolts and Trueflight, they're not effective against Light Elementals however. For personal use, merit parties, nyzul isle, assaults and more, crossbows are a good choice, but for endgame, you'll want to utulize either a bow or a gun.

• Highest damage weapon among all three.
• Best for zerg fights.
• Less shots required to get enough TP for a weapon skill.
• Best weapon for Barrage.
• Shares Marksmanship skill with the crossbow, having merits in both weapontypes.

• High weapon and ammo delay.
• Missing a shot will be missing alot of damage.
• Trueflight doesn't benefit from the high damage.
• The only status bullet isn't worthwhile using.

High delay, high damage weapons. I only recommend using guns at early levels (22-30), mid levels (50-60) and endgame level (75). Many think that bow is alot better damage than a gun, simply because it shoots faster, but it's simply preferences. Due to the high delay, a gun would only need 6 shots to get 100% TP, making it easier to perform a; weapon skill > barrage > weapon skill combination. Due to the high damage on the gun, Barrage and weapon skills (exception: Trueflight) will deal more damage as well. "Zerg" fights with a gun will always outperform a bow with those facts. It hits harder than the other two choices, just slower. It's worthwhile to try out the gun, even if you're used to bow.