Animation, as far as bows go, basically determines the speed. Skyrim has a hard coded .4 second knock and .6 second rest, in addition to the "speed" of the bow, as determined by weight. No matter how many perks you have, even if you had a buff that gave 500% attack speed, wouldn't alter those, by having an "enchant" that effects those is godly. You still have to go through the motions, they just resolve faster.

Thanks No Snakes, I'm well aware of the bow bash bug, its very useful to follow up shots, almost doubling dps (even more useful on a non-bound weapon as I believe it applies enchants as well).

That said, why burn 3 points on Deadly Bash?
The answer: The base damage of a bow bash is 0, more or less. This said, it cannot stagger, with the perk, however, it can, making it an effective interrupt. If surrounded by multiple foes, pulling off the Bow-Bash-Bug with a hypothetical, perfect bow, would take at least 1 second of combat, 1 second is the time it takes a sword to swing, in short, in combat one second is a long time, and its not always about the damage. The perk allows for rapid bash spamming to 'stave off' multiple foes ganging with maces.

Its not as if having the choice to bash or bug bash is mutually exclusive, It just gives you another option in the heat of combat, and I like that.

TL;DR Combat isn't always about damage, usually its about binary situations, am I being hit or not, that's the core of Skyrim's Archery and what I tried to embody with this build. Deadly Bash is a small part of that.

Ran some test (on expert);
Bow: Daedric; target in full light armor
Base bow bash damage: .66
Perked bow bash damage: 3.3
Perked bow bash damage at 100 block: 15.91
Perked bow bash damage at 900 block: 162.9
Unperked bow bash damage at 900 block: 23.35

It appears, based on these tests that, as expected, the damage scales exponentially (x5) -- based off block skill.

The interesting part: Stagger seems based entirely off Block skill, regardless of actual damage done. It will take a block skill of ~350 to get a full (kneeling) stagger. 1 damage or 100 damage will have equal stagger effect with a block skill of 1. 1 damage with a block skill of 500 will stagger more than 500 with a skill of 1.

Conclusion: Yes, deadly bash does add damage as expected, but the change in stagger is based almost entirely on block skill, and is relatively marginal unless placed in extreme circumstances (a block skill of 100+).

Sorry No Snakes, it appears you are correct, Though this research did give me an idea, I could achieve a very similir effect to what I had intended by employing the Force Without Effort Meditation, if it does indeed apply to, and augment  bow bashes.

Thanks, it was my first! If I ever come across a mod for Legolas kill animations, I'll promptly drop everything, roll a straight up vanilla archer play him, then die happy.

Constantine, I am aware this post is quite old. But I would like to stress my admiration of this build and role-playing idea, after reading this I went on to making a new character, I actually spent about an hour and a half creating my Zephyr Agent. She is quite the accomplishment! . She is only level 8, but once I began playing I went to Fort Amol to retrieve the Bound Bow spell. I than made my to Riften, seeking wealth (and of course the Nightingale armor). I have concentrated my first few levels into Sneak, Archery and Light-Armor. The role-playing is quite the experience, only in my most needed situations have I needed a blade (my choice of weapons at this time, is dual wielding the Iron Dagger of Embers and a Steel Dagger). I added a little more back story to my character, I named her after the order, Zephyr. I did this because her Mother was once a Zephyr Agent herself, and thus, without realizing it.. Her Mother trained her in the arts as she aged. Her Mother conducted her into the Zephyr Order shortly before she died. Her Mother's last request was she go to Skyrim in search of the Nightingales and that she obtain the knowledge of the bow the Zephyr wield (Bound Bow). And thus the story began. .

I know it's not that interesting, but it makes the role-playing more interesting. I love all of your builds, I also have the Orc Pit Fighter build, he is level 45.

Would love to see some more builds from you, perhaps a Pure-Mage build with a wild and bizarre back story? Keep up the good work!

- Trouty.

Thank you so much! I love story telling, so I delight in hearing about people's role plays. That's what its all about for me. Your back story is perfect for the build :) best of luck in your quest! It warms my heart to see that you picked my two 'underdog' build to champion, they don't get enough love.

Don't worry, there's more to come, perhaps a mage ;)

- Constantine

love this build!

Alright so this was the first build i tried on this site and man was it a good pick. The gameplay flows and makes sense while the character herself is a BEAST. I would definetly recommend this to anyone who plays.