Bows are the Best Weapon in Elden Ring - Elden Ring All Bows, Light Bows & Greatbows Breakdown

Just got started playing this game as a Bandit and want to use bows/lightbows more but all the good ones seem to be late game 😢

Now I want to make a bow guy lol

Definitely hoping for a crossbow video even though I'm sure the pulley bow is just the best bar none (disregarding the DLC)

Time for Torches are the best weapon in Elden Ring

Forever archer here, really hoping for some more love with bows in the DLC!

I've always thought arrows should replenish at rest, just so you're not wasting all your money just being able to use your weapon. To compensate though, enemies will only drop 1 at a time, and merchants will sell either limited amounts and/or at a higher price.

you can actually aim mighty shot to do headshot (at least on mouse and keyboard)

Personally i prefer longbows. As you can still jumpshoot, wich allows quick shots. Your legs from what i know have no hitbox while you jumb btw.

"I'm gonna be showing you why _ are the best weapon in Elden Ring"

Interesting how it's missing. I'm sure it was forgotten and not because bows are bad .-.

PLEASE MAKE A PULLEY BOW ONLY BUILD I,,,U SAID THE BOW IS AMAZING PLEASE MAKE THEMOST OPTIMAL BUILD ON THE BOW

Does Rotten Wing Sword Insignia/Millicents Prosthesis increase DMG while using Barrage? That'd be badass

You better name the crossbow video "crossbows are underpowered"

can bow jump attacks be affected by the ravens cloak and claw talisman?

It's been over 2 years and i am still waiting on the Shields video!

Next: "Perfumes are OP"

So is pure archer viable now? Cause I remember near launch they was hot trash

Babe wake up, bows are Op now

Played bow only up until level 109 when I got to Mountaintops of the Giants and my motivation ran out. Bow-only was a very easy playstyle for me, and I found it very agile and enjoyable, but the amount of farming required, the hours I spent killing that ONE bird for runes or running around picking up roses to make bleed arrows, wore me out in the end. Here's hoping the DLC improves things!

Fextra, you are a god amongst men for all your guides on the wiki. Thank you so fucking much bro. Seriously.

It might be a carry-over from my Skyrim days but I always have a bow equipped in Elden Ring and use it a lot. Might try upgrading my Albinauric bow since I have one sitting unused in my inventory. By the time I got it, I had already fully upgraded my boring old longbow. I also like the Serpent bow with serpent arrows, 2 hits to get poison status effect going on some targets which can be really useful if you are like me and tend to get hurt easily lol. Great video

i've never used a bow in elden ring so this is like a whole new game to me lol

You know you can aim mighty shot right?

You said Horn Bow is the worst, but when you use it with Dwell Arrows and Enchanted shot, it's probably the strongest one.

Will be a crossbow video?

You really should follow this closely with one on crossbows, since anyone considering bows in their build should really be comparing to crossbows as well. (Although in my opinion there are really only 2 crossbows worth considering. But still.)

And that one should include Jar Cannon and Hand Ballista. Because Hand Ballista is certainly a type of crossbow, and the Jar Cannon is... a ranged weapon that doesn't fall into any other category, and can really only be compared to Greatbows and the Hand Ballista. It should go somewhere, and IMO it's a really fun weapon to use.

now the shields, also where the crossbows

If you're going to use bows a lot, then your best bet is to collect and level up ALL the bows (pretty much), and then pull out the one that works best for the current situation.

For arrows, once you have access to a decent rune farming location, buy the best arrows you can get, get ALL the different kinds, stock up as much as you can, and use those. Craft some, too, or have crafting supplies on hand. Crafted arrows tend to be a little weaker than purchased ones, but for some types, you need to craft. For example, for bleed, you need to buy or farm bloodroses and craft the arrows. And for lightning, you'll need to farm fulgerblooms.

I DO recommend you use flight pinions and craft fletched arrows. You will be glad of that additional range -- and being able to hit things at range is the whole point, isn't it? My favorite place to farm pinions is the Impassable Greatbridge Site of Grace. There are 3 Guillemots there, just a couple steps from the Grace. Guillemots have a higher drop rate for Fowl Feet than other birds. So you can farm for Feet and Pinions at the same time. Use Night Maiden's Mist or Adula's Moonblade to kill all 3 birds at once.

For Bows and Ashes of War... First, (Long)Bows:

My main everyday bow is the Horn Bow, as I get the best damage (of regular bows) with that and with its default skill, Mighty Shot. I choose arrow type to fit the enemy. If I'm trying to conserve FP (like if I'm going through a dungeon and trying to save all my FP for the boss at the end), then I'll just do regular shots and use more arrows. If I have plenty of FP, then I will often use the bow (with Arrow's Reach if needed) to entice an enemy at long range to come just a little closer, to where I can hit them with a spell like Comet or Night Comet.

Rain of Arrows is fantastic for applying status effects. I also use it for large enemies or sometimes crowds, as you can turn 1 arrow into several hits. It uses a lot of FP, so I don't want to use it on my "default everyday bow" in place of Mighty Shot. I have RoA on my second best bow, which is the Albinauric Bow. But if I know in advance that I'm going to be using it for a fight, I'll switch it to my best (Horn Bow) for that fight. I would NOT put RoA on a greatbow. For a greatbow Rain effect, use the Lion Bow with Radahn's Rain.

Sky Shot is great for enemies that are standing still (and outside or under a very high ceiling). It uses less FP than Mighty Shot and only does slightly less damage, so that's a very good deal. If one shot is not enough to kill the enemy, though, you can not use Sky Shot for the second shot, unless you wait patiently for the enemy to stop moving and stand still again. Sky shot will ONLY hit if the enemy is standing still, or if the enemy is HUGE. (Or sometimes if there's a crowd of enemies, then you might have a good chance of hitting one of them.) I have Sky Shot on my third best bow, which is a Longbow.

Enchanted Shot is nice for the tracking, but I don't tend to pull it out much. I have it on my fourth best bow, which is a second Longbow. (I started as Samurai, which gave me a second Longbow in my first playthrough.)

Barrage on the Black Bow is also very nice for applying status effects, and sometimes even just for fast damage. I often pull it out for tougher enemies that might be too small physically for Rain of Arrows to work well on. The Black Bow also has the moveset of a Light Bow, which means you can shoot while jumping and shoot again as soon as you land. That mobility makes it feasible to use the Black Bow during a boss fight in a tight arena, if you have the quick reflexes to do it!

The Serpent Bow, which gives a little extra poison to each arrow, was my first upgrade from my starter Longbow. I made an excursion into Caelid just to get it, and I used it, with mainly cheap craftable arrows, or Serpent arrows for bosses, until I was able to get other options (and for ammo, until I was able to get better rune farming options, which let me buy unlimited status effect arrows and crafting supplies cheaply). I don't use it any more.

The Pulley Bow has slightly more range than any other bow (and greatbows have the same range as bows, and crossbows have less, so the Pulley Bow has the highest range of any weapon in the game, as far as I know). It's worth keeping this one on hand just for those rare times when you need every little bit of range you can squeeze out of a weapon. If you can't quite seem to hit something, even with Arrow's Reach, then remember to try the Pulley Bow.

The Erdtree Bow, I have not used. I suppose it might depend on your build whether or not this bow would be better than some of the others. For me, all the others are better.

Light Bows:

Not a lot to say. The Light Bows (or Short Bows) all have less range (30, except for the Misbegotten Shortbow, which has only 25). They all have Barrage, except the Composite Bow, which has Mighty Shot. The one good thing about Light Bows is the moveset: You can shoot while jumping, and shoot again when you land. In combination with Barrage, this makes for a very mobile, quick way of fighting. Other than just not having any other bow yet, this is the one reason to use a Light Bow. However, the Light Bows all do less damage, so once you have the Black Bow, which has the Light Bow moveset AND Barrage, you should put away your Light Bow(s) and switch to the Black Bow.

The Harp Bow is interesting just as a novelty item. It makes a musical note when used, and resembles a harp, sort of. But it is very weak as an actual weapon.

Crossbows:

All crossbows have the Weapon Art Kick. Nothing special, and not changeable. All have a range of 42, except Crepus's Black-Key Crossbow, which has a range of 47. Which is still less than regular Bows, which have range of 50, or Pulley Bow, which has range of 55.

The one crossbow that's really special is the Pulley Crossbow. This weapon fires 3 bolts at the same time. That can go through your ammo quickly, but what it really excels at is applying status effects. It may even be faster than the Black Bow for that (as long as you don't need the Black Bow's additional range). Also, you can buy burred bolts, which cause bleed, whereas for arrows, you need to craft to get bloodbone arrows. So especially if you're going for bleed, the Pulley Crossbow is an excellent choice.

The Full Moon Crossbow does just about as much damage as my second best (Long)Bows (the Albinauric Bow), but it has less range. It is pretty, though. I'm not sure whether a regular bow or a crossbow technically shoots faster; with the regular bow, you have a slight pause while you pull back the bowstring, whereas with the crossbow, you have to press the fire button once to load, and again to fire. The crossbow may be slightly faster to fire, I think, overall. So the chioice between Full Moon Crossbow and Albinauric Bow may be just a matter of personal preference, really, unless you need the extra range of the regular bow.

All other crossbows are pretty much the same -- vary in weight and damage, and only really worth using if you don't have a better option, IMO.

Great Bows:

The Lion Greatbow has the best greatbow Weapon Art: Radahn's Rain, which is basically the same as Rain of Arrows. It also gives a +20% buff to Radahn's Spears greatbow ammo. This buff also works if you hold the Lion Greatbow in your offhand and shoot with another bow. Against a large enemy that I don't want to use status effects on (maybe because it's resistant to all of them), and when I'm not stuck in a tight arena with the boss (which makes it hard to get shots out, and also hard to manouver while being heavily encumbered from carrying one or more greatbows), I will use Radahn's Rain.

The Golem Greatbow is the highest damage-dealer of any type of bow, hands down. (Unless you count the Hand Ballista as a bow.) If I want to do high damage at range on an enemy that I don't want to / can't use status effects on and isn't large enough for Radahn's Rain to work well on, then I will use Radahn's Spears in the Golem Greatbow while holding the Lion Greatbow in my offhand for that +20% buff.

The Erdtree Greatbow can be found very early in the game. That and/or the Greatbow will hold you over until you get something better.

Other:

The Jar Cannon does INSANE damage (but no status effects) and is hella fun to shoot. It easily beats all kinds of bows for sheer damage. Definitely use the exploding ammo. Add an oil pot before a shot for a +50% buff. Just watch out for the knockback. Don't stand with your back to a cliff while firing this -- the knockback may kill you. If you haven't tried it, you don't know what you're missing. You do need a bit of strength, but not as much as it says, since you have to 2-hand it to fire. You need 23 Str.

The Hand Ballista also does more damage than any kind of bow. I haven't used it much, only because it's outclassed by the Jar Cannon. The strength requirement is slightly lower, at 20 (again, you will be 2-handing it).

This was a great help

I love playing Archer but bows are SO BAD in Elden Ring, I'll stick to staves

Looking forward to the seals and staffs

Cool

Radahns bow was what used to kill elden beast first time. Rahdahs rain melts big bosses

is archery a good build to play entire game? i want to try, but i dont want it to be unwinnable by me

Can't wait for " why throwing objects are the best weapon"

Your mom is OP

So wait. The bows that say that they enhance certain arrow types DON'T work on the crafted arrows?

Every time I have tried to use a bow I just get bored immediately… but thanks for the video 🙌🏻

Can't wait to cheese all the encounters in the dlc with these👌

bubble blower build when
i swear they'll add more bubbles in the dlc

I think hideouts is a joke

I can imagine if this guy was to make a compilation video of this series, he would name it "every weapon is the best weapon in Elden Ring" lol.

One thing I’m surprised you didn’t mention about great bows is that if you jump and shoot it dramatically reduces your arrow draw time.

Until i can get a tactical nuke, im still going to suck at this game lol

Fighting Elmer with a bow. That’s insane

Bow or crossbow is the only build I haven't actually tried yet... hm

from software needs to stick with linear souls formula, mixing the open world with it makes game boring to play after about 20 hours or so simply cause it becomes too repetitive and with the same recycled bosses but with a linear design like bloodborne my interest is always there till the end and i know im not the only one who feels the same way

from software needs to stick with linear souls formula, mixing the open world with it makes game boring to play after about 20 hours or so simply cause it becomes to repetitive and with the same recycled bosses but with a linear design like bloodborne my interest is always there till the end and i know im not the only one who feels the same way

So that was a fucking lie.

In short, bows are NOT the best weapons in Elden Ring

Great work on this - I know it took a lot more work because it's a different format, and it may not get as many views, but it's a pretty good complete overview of bows, their ashes of war, how to use them and which bows to use. All rolled into one video, great job man.