just wondering..

if i have a bow that does 90 damage
+ its got some fire enchantment that says 40 damage per second
+ am using arrows with 20 damage

does that mean im doing 150 damage?

Pretty much.. As long as the enchant only lasts one second.

ah ok..

so it seems the arrows dont really do much then.. cause the damage difference isn't much.

When you start factoring in sneak and critical chance multipliers, those extra points from the higher damage arrows add up.

Get yourself some archery enchanted gear too.

Good post. Was wondering this myself.

Bow damage + Fortify skill potion + Arrow Damage + Magical damage enchantments + Sneak multiplier + Poison damage. Stack those and you have your actual damage

just a note....whatever enchantment you have, the damage will be applied as long as the mob does not resist it. for example, frost damage on ice wolf, ice bear or frost troll does nothing. very few things resist fire damage though.

Is this correct if you put in more of a strict equation-

((Bow damage+arrow damage)(fortify skill)*sneak multiplier) + magical damage enchantments + poison damage

?

If I remember order of operations right the sequence that gives is -
add bow damage+arrow damage (after perks of course)
multiply that by fortify skill %
multiply the result of above by sneak modifier
add enchant damage and poison damage, which aren't affected by any of the multipliers

I believe this to be correct.

Yes I think that is correct.