I have a bow that does 56 damage but my arrows only do 18. What damage am I doing

74? I don't know honestly.

I think you add them togetherso yes 74. Ive been using bows and that seems right

Yup that's how that works.

sneaking when using archery helps too. I couldn't imagine using archery without sneak.

Yes, the bow, arrows, and your Archery skill add up to create your total damage dealt with a bow.

If you fill out your archery and sneak trees, you're doing damage like a boss.

And sneaking when you get the bonus damage, i.e., 2X and 3X damage.

Yeah I really like to take on 3-4 enemies at long range. They don't know where you are, while you're taken them down one at the time.

Oh, and pat yourself on the back for long-range head-shots - very satisfying. But I don't understand why at higher levels I can put an arrow through the head, and still have to hit them with 3-5 other arrows.

Must be a heck of an headache.

It should be mentioned that the perks and the skill itself increases the displayed damage of your bow.

Damage is bow + arrow -- where the bow represents your bow's base damage + base damage x perk bonuses + base damage x skill / 2 + base damage x equipment fortify bonus