What is the difference, and which should I choose? What is cheaper late game? What is better late game? What has cooler skills late game?

Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bo w.Bow.
Bow.Bow.Bow nao!
The Bow is faster, though it does less damage. I'd say to try both bow and crossbow out in 1st job, and then decide which is best for you.
Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bow.Bo w.Bow.

Crossbow. Its cheaper, stronger, better :P. Make up your own mind, but i choose a xbow

Crossssssssbooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww www

What is the difference, and which should I choose? What is cheaper late game? What is better late game? What has cooler skills late game?

OK lets take a look at what you want.

Difference
Bows are usually said to be the "better" looking type of weapon
2nd job Hunters(bowusers) get ArrowBomb a skill that deals 30% more then your regular attack (130%) the catch here(as it seems less desirable) is that AB(as we will call if from now on) Bends or "hooks" as maple says so if you shot it the AB will move up or down depending on the mob position, added with the stun makes AB one of the more flexible mob skills though it is hampered by its low damage. The splash damage(aka what "connects" the hits) is very large and it is quite easy to hit 6 with this skill with minimal set up.
This skill is used mainly for stunning mobs and then finishing them off with a DS(any hunters feel free to correct me.)
2nd Job Crossbowmen get a skill called, Iron Arrow. IA(its abbreviation) fires straight in its trajectory, completely straight , the IA does not bend at all and it doesn't stun, It makes up for this by having much higher damage(180%) and it is able to go through some terrain. IA is less flexible but much MUCH stronger. IA also gets weaker as it passes through monsters. IAing is done mostly to mob and you probably won't use DS with it. IA also is one of the mob skills(along with avenger and slash blast) that takes a bit of luck, and or set up to utilize to its fullest.

In second job that is the only difference(besides the speed vs power thing)

3rd job hunters and snipers are still similar, while the second job kudos go straight to hunters for having the better mob skill(in my opinion.) 3rd job goes COMPLETELY to the sniper because of strafe speeds making the sniper exactly as fast as the ranger and them having the better element(ice) in addition to their extra power makes snipers dominate over their ranger counterparts.

3rd Job rangers get a mob move called Inferno which is a flame based arrow that is shot into a mob of monsters when it "hits"(it actually does no damage) smallish meteors rain down on the target. This is a good but VERY limited move and because the uses of it fail completely to arrow rain(the rangers other mob move) this is dismissed as a very bad skill.
3rd job snipers get Blizzard, This is it one of the BIGGEST reasons snipers are better then rangers 3rd job is this skill, this and strafe is exactly why.
When xbows activate blizzard a blue white animation covers the character and they shoot a normal arrow, if the arrow connects(both of these do bend as far as i know, blizzard does) monsters in the general vicinity are treated to a freezing barrage of ice shards, these ice shards deal damage and (this is why its so good) Freeze the monster. Because of this freezing snipers become much more flexible and much more able to kill faster and better, xbows getting the ice element helps them VERY much as ice is more useful(more so then stun D: )
Other then that they are the same.
Speed VS power
The other general debate is bows shoot faster xbows deal more damage
it has been proven that shooting consecutively for one minute the bow shoots 4 arrows more per minute, which is minuscule, and the xbow has a large damage boost from not needing str(i realize you also have more WA but its usually 2), i find bowmen more flexible and able to recover from their shots faster. but that is just me. According to that data barring some other circumstance this is pretty much a dead argument as the xbows have won that, at least till 4th job anyways.

In forth job bowmasters focus on VERY fast single hitting, and the xbowmaster focuses on mobbing and their kill move "snipe"
unfortunately i will not discuss 4th job as you might not make it, and i am very ill prepared to do so. I hope i helped, these reasons, plus looks, plus speed vs power all factor in.

My advice pick what you think is cooled with mobs, then try both weapons get a feel for them(even with no booster) then pick based on that, while each class is stronger at different times(they are more or less equal 4th cause BM's FINALLY get to utilize a speed advantage.) but both classes are very good, and very fun to play as.

OH and your money question, crossbows though with all the new people hyping them they might be about the same now. Ask adrian(sketchyx) he has a Crossbowmaster

inb4classflamewar

Xbow pl0cks.

OK lets take a look at what you want.

Difference
Bows are usually said to be the "better" looking type of weapon
2nd job Hunters(bowusers) get ArrowBomb a skill that deals 30% more then your regular attack (130%) the catch here(as it seems less desirable) is that AB(as we will call if from now on) Bends or "hooks" as maple says so if you shot it the AB will move up or down depending on the mob position, added with the stun makes AB one of the more flexible mob skills though it is hampered by its low damage. The splash damage(aka what "connects" the hits) is very large and it is quite easy to hit 6 with this skill with minimal set up.
This skill is used mainly for stunning mobs and then finishing them off with a DS(any hunters feel free to correct me.)
2nd Job Crossbowmen get a skill called, Iron Arrow. IA(its abbreviation) fires straight in its trajectory, completely straight , the IA does not bend at all and it doesn't stun, It makes up for this by having much higher damage(180%) and it is able to go through some terrain. IA is less flexible but much MUCH stronger. IA also gets weaker as it passes through monsters. IAing is done mostly to mob and you probably won't use DS with it. IA also is one of the mob skills(along with avenger and slash blast) that takes a bit of luck, and or set up to utilize to its fullest.

In second job that is the only difference(besides the speed vs power thing)

3rd job hunters and snipers are still similar, while the second job kudos go straight to hunters for having the better mob skill(in my opinion.) 3rd job goes COMPLETELY to the sniper because of strafe speeds making the sniper exactly as fast as the ranger and them having the better element(ice) in addition to their extra power makes snipers dominate over their ranger counterparts.

3rd Job rangers get a mob move called Inferno which is a flame based arrow that is shot into a mob of monsters when it "hits"(it actually does no damage) smallish meteors rain down on the target. This is a good but VERY limited move and because the uses of it fail completely to arrow rain(the rangers other mob move) this is dismissed as a very bad skill.
3rd job snipers get Blizzard, This is it one of the BIGGEST reasons snipers are better then rangers 3rd job is this skill, this and strafe is exactly why.
When xbows activate blizzard a blue white animation covers the character and they shoot a normal arrow, if the arrow connects(both of these do bend as far as i know, blizzard does) monsters in the general vicinity are treated to a freezing barrage of ice shards, these ice shards deal damage and (this is why its so good) Freeze the monster. Because of this freezing snipers become much more flexible and much more able to kill faster and better, xbows getting the ice element helps them VERY much as ice is more useful(more so then stun D: )
Other then that they are the same.
Speed VS power
The other general debate is bows shoot faster xbows deal more damage
it has been proven that shooting consecutively for one minute the bow shoots 4 arrows more per minute, which is minuscule, and the xbow has a large damage boost from not needing str(i realize you also have more WA but its usually 2), i find bowmen more flexible and able to recover from their shots faster. but that is just me. According to that data barring some other circumstance this is pretty much a dead argument as the xbows have won that, at least till 4th job anyways.

In forth job bowmasters focus on VERY fast single hitting, and the xbowmaster focuses on mobbing and their kill move "snipe"
unfortunately i will not discuss 4th job as you might not make it, and i am very ill prepared to do so. I hope i helped, these reasons, plus looks, plus speed vs power all factor in.

My advice pick what you think is cooled with mobs, then try both weapons get a feel for them(even with no booster) then pick based on that, while each class is stronger at different times(they are more or less equal 4th cause BM's FINALLY get to utilize a speed advantage.) but both classes are very good, and very fun to play as.

OH and your money question, crossbows though with all the new people hyping them they might be about the same now. Ask adrian(sketchyx) he has a Crossbowmaster

Put it in plain simple words in 4th job

XBow = Power
Bow = Speed

Thing is i really loved xbows more because of blizzard and frostprey(4th job summon). Unlike bowmans, xbowman can actually freeze for 3 secounds and with frostprey its evne better. Bowmans get inferno which i find completely pointless and probably one of the most useless skills in game. Also xbows are way cheaper then bowmans, well in broa they are.

Put it in plain simple words in 4th job

XBow = Power
Bow = Speed
Yea i figured that much, but i didn't want to retread old arguments(i already addressed it) plus picking something based entirly on 4th job is just >_>

Thing is i really loved xbows more because of blizzard and frostprey(4th job summon). Unlike bowmans, xbowman can actually freeze for 3 secounds and with frostprey its evne better. Bowmans get inferno which i find completely pointless and probably one of the most useless skills in game. Also xbows are way cheaper then bowmans, well in broa they are.

Rawr Thank you for expanding on my post. How long does the ice bird freeze for?

Yea i figured that much, but i didn't want to retread old arguments(i already addressed it) plus picking something based entirly on 4th job is just >_>



Rawr Thank you for expanding on my post. How long does the ice bird freeze for?

I seriously dont know but it attacks again and refreezes lol so it never really goes off. Its really helpful in zakum to keep summonings off and even in trainig when your charging up an attack it keeps them away so you dont get hit. PLus level 1 does like 6-7k dmg

Personally Bows feel easier.

With bows you can Jump and attack easier. Early crossbows are too slow for you to be able to jump and shoot.

Its more of preferrence.

Well, I chose hunter back when I played.

I regretted it at later levels though.

The scrolls for xbow are like 3 times cheaper then regular bow.

The speed really makes no difference with Booster and Strafe.

xbows cover up ugly earrings.

Xbows are desired cuz of 1337 damage but are hated for covering face and stuff.

Bows are just sexy.

Well, I chose hunter back when I played.

I regretted it at later levels though.

The scrolls for xbow are like 3 times cheaper then regular bow.

The speed really makes no difference with Booster and Strafe.

xbows cover up ugly earrings.
If there is a difference before booster, then after booster its the same difference(as they both move up by one) so the booster argument is either not good or you don't think they have a difference first job either.

Well, I chose hunter back when I played.

I regretted it at later levels though.

The scrolls for xbow are like 3 times cheaper then regular bow.

The speed really makes no difference with Booster and Strafe.

xbows cover up ugly earrings.

Not anymore

Crrosbow, but i heard in 4th job Bowmans have a skill that adds 20 attack i think wich Crrosbowman dont have it (He got some stupid other skill).