Bows often tend to get overlooked by many Elden Ring players, and it’s hard to blame them. The game features a wide variety of spells and a remarkable selection of melee weapons, both of which seem like a much more attractive option than the humble bow. Having said that, players should definitely not sleep on these weapons because there are a lot of fun things you can do with bows, and having ranged superiority is never a bad thing.

In addition to regular Bows, Elden Ring also features a variety of Light Bows and Greatbows. The differences between the various types of bows mostly revolve around size, weight, and stat requirements, with their skills generally being pretty similar. Since there aren’t too many options in each category, this list will include a mix of regular Bows, Light Bows, and Greatbows.

Updated by Vlad Mazanko on March 25, 2024: Elden Ring remains a king in the genre, offering unmatched options for every playstyle. Ranged combat could be invaluable during the game’s unpredictable scenarios, so every player should have a suitable ranged weapon close at hand. In this updated bow tier list, we ranked every bow of each type available in the game based on their unique capabilities, while also expanding existing positions with details on min/max attribute scaling.

16 Composite Bow

The Composite Bow is a fine bow that gets the job done in Elden Ring, but it lacks any extraordinary features that make it stand out from the crowd. It has moderate weight and damage, average attribute scaling, and an ordinary design, making this bow a somewhat questionable choice as it is easily surpassed by almost any other entry on this list.

On the bright side, the Composite Bow is pretty easy to acquire without much effort. It can be purchased for 3,500 Runes from the Nomadic Merchant located in Liurnia of the Lakes near Bellum Church.

15 Harp Bow

The Harp Bow is truly unique, and not just because of its design. It stands out as the lightest bow in Elden Ring, weighing only 2 kg. It’s also one of the least demanding. This means that almost every character can equip it without exceeding their Equip Load. What makes it even more special is that the bow emits harp noises when firing an arrow, adding a musical element to the game.

However, it’s important to note that the Harp Bow is relatively weak in terms of damage and scaling. If you’re not drawn to its unique appeal, you may want to consider something more powerful. To acquire the Harp Bow, you’ll need to solve the Champion’s Song Painting puzzle located in The Shaded Castle. Head to the specified location in Altus Plateau, which is up on the cliff from the Rampartside Path Site of Grace.

14 Erdtree Greatbow

The Erdtree Greatbow is one of the few Greatbows available in Elden Ring. What sets it apart is its ability to deal both Holy and Physical damage without the need for special arrows. However, this potential is somewhat hindered by the fact that many enemies in the game are highly resistant to Holy damage, making it less effective in certain situations.

Acquiring the Erdtree Greatbow is no easy task, as it requires two Stonesword Keys and a combination of effort and luck. You’ll receive this bow as a reward for destroying the trap Chariot located in the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave within the Stranded Graveyard dungeon of Limgrave. For detailed instructions on how to accomplish this, refer to our comprehensive guide.

13 Greatbow

What sets this weapon apart from others in its class is its unique ability to change Ash of War. Unlike other Greatbows in Elden Ring, players can replace the default Through and Through skill with Rain of Arrows, unlocking special tactics for dealing with enemies.

Obtaining this weapon can be done through several methods. The Greatbow is located in a chest at the Highway Lookout Tower in Altus Plateau, north of the Divine Capital. Additionally, there’s a chance for it to drop from either a Redmane Knight in Fort Gael or a Leyndell Knight wielding it in Altus Plateau near the Altus Highway Junction Site of Grace.

12 Erdtree Bow

The Erdtree Bow is a solid choice, thanks to its ability to deal Holy damage with each shot without requiring special arrows. However, similar to the Erdtree Greatbow, its effectiveness is limited by the high resistance to Holy damage among many enemies in Elden Ring. This makes the bow particularly useful in undead-heavy areas or against Death Rite Birds.

You can find the Erdtree Bow relatively late in the game, after reaching Leyndell, the Royal Capital. It’s located inside a chest on the second floor of the building that houses the Erdtree Sanctuary Site of Grace.

11 Red Branch Shortbow

The Red Branch Shortbow is a reliable choice for Str/Dex builds in Elden Ring, offering good damage, excellent range, and a classic design that some players may appreciate. However, acquiring this bow can be quite random, leading many players to opt for more consistent options.

Interestingly, the Red Branch Shortbow is dropped by Page enemies in various areas of the game, despite the fact that they themselves use the Soldier’s Crossbow. It is confirmed to drop in Leyndell Royal Capital, Gelmir Hero’s Grave, Shaded Castle, Tombsward Ruins, Raya Lucaria Academy, Royal Moongazing Ground, and Inner Consecrated Snowfield.

10 Shortbow

The Shortbow isn’t something you would want to use as your main weapon, but it’s definitely worth carrying around because it has a lot of utility. The Shortbow can be used to pull enemies, trigger traps from a distance, apply status effects, finish off wounded enemies, and more. While you can do all of that with any bow, this one is lighter than most and can be incorporated into any build.

The Shortbow can be acquired very early on in the game for just 600 runes and is part of the Bandit’s starting kit. One important advantage of a Light Bow like this is that it can be shot while jumping. In addition, it can also be shot while galloping without slowing down. Like most Light Bows, the Shortbow comes equipped with the Barrage weapon art, but you can replace it with a different Ash of War if need be.

9 Misbegotten Shortbow

The Misbegotten Shortbow is a slightly better version of the regular Shortbow. It doesn’t have quite as much reach and is heavier, but it deals a little more damage and has better scaling. Considering its stat requirements, the Misbegotten Shortbow is easy to recommend for builds that focus primarily on Strength rather than Dexterity. Outside of Greatbows, this is the only bow in Elden Ring that scales better with Strength.

The Misbegotten Shortbow is a bit more difficult to acquire than the regular Shortbow, but you can still get your hands on it fairly quickly if you know where to look. Aside from the small differences mentioned earlier, the Misbegotten Shortbow is functionality identical to its lighter counterpart and comes with the same pros and cons. The weapon comes equipped with Barrage by default and can be infused with Ashes of War.

8 Horn Bow

This is the only bow in Elden Ring that requires Intelligence in addition to Strength and Dexterity. The reason for that is because the Horn Bow does magical damage, albeit not a ton of it. The damage distribution is around 2/3 physical and 1/3 magical; however, the bow can potentially inflict a lot more magical damage when paired with the right equipment. The Horn Bow is affected by any Talisman that improves magical damage and is particularly effective when paired with Dwelling Arrows.

The downside of using the Horn Bow is that you’ll need to put in a lot of work to make it deal as much damage as a simple sorcery. Unless you’re already running an Intelligence build, or you’re grinding your stats up quite a bit, you won’t get a ton of damage out of the Horn Bow. Granted, it’s still better than a Light Bow but harder to recommend than most of the other regular-sized bows found in the game. The Horn Bow comes equipped with the Mighty Shot weapon art by default and can be infused with Ashes of War.

7 Serpent Bow

Similar to the Horn Bow, the Serpent Bow is another gimmicky ranged weapon. This one scales with Arcane in addition to Dexterity and Strength and inflicts poison damage. Poison is a pretty good status effect in Elden Ring, but the Serpent Bow isn’t particularly effective at applying it. Despite scaling with Arcane, the stat doesn’t increase the bow’s damage and only affects the amount of poison build-up, which seems like a missed opportunity.

While the Serpent Bow applies poison build-up with every arrow type, you’ll get the most out of it when using Serpent Arrows (for obvious reasons). Unfortunately, combining the two won’t create deadly poison, but it will speed up the accumulation of regular poison. Poison aside, the Serpent Bow has decent enough stats and is the most lightweight regular bow in the game. What drags it down a couple of notches is the fact that it can’t be infused with Ashes of War. Mighty Shot is a decent enough weapon art for other bows, however, Barrage would have been a much better choice for this one.

6 Longbow

This is your basic run-of-the-mill bow that doesn’t stand out from the crowd in any way. The Longbow doesn’t have any gimmicks and, frankly, it doesn’t need them either. Simple and effective, the Longbow is one of the most hard-hitting regular-sized bows in Elden Ring, has an average weight, reasonable stat requirements, and is very easy to obtain. In essence, it’s a direct upgrade to the Shortbow.

The Longbow can be purchased early on from the Roundtable Hold for a mere 1,200 runes and is part of the Samurai’s starting kit. If you don’t play a Samurai and won’t want to spend runes to buy it, you can get it for free by simply running a couple of dungeons since it can drop from any Skeletal Archer. The Longbow comes with the Mighty Shot weapon art and can be infused with Ashes of War.

5 Albinauric Bow

If you’re looking for an upgrade to the Longbow, you may want to give the Albinauric Bow a try. Pound for pound, this is the most hard-hitting bow in Elden Ring, surpassed only by Greatbows in terms of physical damage. The difference in damage between the Albinauric Bow and the Longbow isn’t huge, but in Elden Ring, every little bit counts. You’ll quickly come to appreciate small differences when you can kill an enemy using only three arrows instead of four.

Unlike the Longbow, the Albinauric Bow can be a bit of a nightmare to farm. The weapon only drops from Albinauric Archers and Albinauric Wolf Archers in the Consecrated Snowfield, both of which are a hassle to fight. Enemy archers, in general, are pretty annoying, but the Albinauric variants really take the cake. The Albinauric Bow comes equipped with the Mighty Shot weapon art by default and can be infused with Ashes of War.

4 Golem Greatbow

The Golem Greatbow has the highest damage out of any bow in Elden Ring, however, it’s also the heaviest of the bunch. At 14.5, this weapon is three to four times heavier than smaller bows and requires a good amount of Strength and Dexterity just to wield. If you manage to fulfill the stat requirements, this Greatbow can wreck everything in its path and can even go through multiple opponents thanks to its weapon art.

While generally pretty slow, the Golem Greatbow can shoot surprisingly fast when the weapon art is active, although each shot will do less damage than normal and will consume FP. While Through and Through isn’t a unique skill, the Golem Greatbow can’t be infused with a different Ash of War.

3 Pulley Bow

The Pulley Bow is a fan-favorite among many players, and it’s easy to see why. The weapon has a unique design inspired by modern compound bows and requires very little Strength and Dexterity to wield. Thanks to some fantastic scaling, the Pulley Bow can outperform similar bows toward the late game despite having relatively low initial damage. Since the bow can be upgraded with Somber Smithing Stones, it can reach its full potential faster than the Longbow or the Albinauric Bow.

Having said that, the biggest selling point of the Pulley Bow isn’t actually its damage but rather its range. The Pulley Bow surpasses every other bow in Elden Ring in terms of reach, making it the go-to weapon for any sniper build. Its only drawbacks are its weight, which is the highest of any regular bow, and the fact that it can’t be infused with Ashes of War. Although one could argue that the Pulley Bow doesn’t need a different weapon art because Mighty Shot happens to fit it like a glove.

2 Lion Greatbow

The Lion Greatbow is the only bow in Elden Ring that comes with its own unique skill. Granted, Radahn’s Rain is almost identical to Rain of Arrows, but it still counts as a unique weapon art regardless. The Lion Greatbow also comes with a passive effect that causes Radahn’s Spears to deal 20% more physical damage. Interestingly enough, the bow doesn’t actually need to be equipped for the effect to trigger. It’s possible to keep the Lion Greatbow in the off-hand and shoot Radahn’s Arrows using a different bow, such as the Golem Greatbow.

In addition to having a couple of unique passives, this is also the lightest Greatbow in the game, although at 9.5 it’s still about twice as heavy as a regular bow. The Lion Greatbow is by no means mind-blowing considering it’s a Remembrance reward, but it's still a good weapon for dealing with enemy archers and certain boss types. Ironically, Radahn himself is quite vulnerable to the bow’s weapon art.

1 Black Bow

Few people would argue with the fact that the Black Bow is the best bow in Elden Ring. Despite being a regular-sized bow, the weapon behaves more like a Light Bow and can be shot while jumping while also being able to perform sprint shots and rolling shots. In addition, it also benefits from the Barrage weapon art, which deals more DPS than Mighty Shot in most situations. Unfortunately, you can’t shoot while galloping without slowing down like you can with a Light Bow, which is a bit of a shame.

Unless you’re purposefully rushing for it, the Black Bow appears pretty late in the game and is more suitable as an NG+ weapon. It’s worth noting that the Black Bow can only be acquired from Leyndell before the city gets turned to ash. If you miss your chance, you’ll need to try and get it during NG+ because there’s no other way of obtaining it.