» Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:56 am
Yep.
One of the reasons conjured weapons are so awesome (benefits include not taking up weight/space in your inventory) is because the damage they do stacks with your conjuration and related weapon skill as well as any relevant perks you might have (i.e. bound weapon damage up, one-handed/two-handed/bow damage up, criticals etc.), in addition to any relevant bonuses you might have (again, one-handed damage up, bow damage up, etc.). Basically any perks and magical bonuses you might have for a specific weapon type also apply to bound weapons of the same type.
Therefore a master archer such as yourself benefits from using bound bows since your archery level and perks still apply and your conjuration level and perks will also bolster your bound bow.
The only difference between a bound weapon and a normal weapon is that bound weapons can't be enhanced or enchanted, but you can still apply poisons to them.
Marked disadvantages are the fact that bound weapons are spells and therefore cost magicka and have a set duration before--POOF!--they vanish back to wherever they came from.
Bound weapons do not affect stealth despite being ethereal (read "big and glowy").
However, CASTING the spell (just like casting any spell) is not silent and will risk breaking stealth (there's a perk in Illusion for that).
...That's about all the information I have on bound weapons. I think bound weapons are simply better than regular weapons.
I'm guessing a fully enhanced one-handed sword with one-handed at 100 (perks included) does the same damage as a bound sword with conjuration at 100 (perks included) and one-handed at 100 (perks included). The only edge regular weapons seem to have over bound weapons is that they can be enchanted, but take into account your bound weapons can soul trap anything and banish conjured creatures I'd say those are pretty great enchantments too. Other enchantments like stamina drain or fire damage are meh anyways and can be recreated with alchemy or destruction magic. Let's face it, with conjuration mastered smithing and enchanting are for your armor anyway, but this game is all about teh options. Say you don't master conjuration and instead enchant your weapons. Good on ya.
I prefer my bound weapons.