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This introduction to bows will cover how to attain bows along with strategies, stats, and special attacks of all the normally attainable bows.
Primary Bows
Before I get into the bows, I want to point out that every primary bow has a “perfect shot”. It is easy to identify because the bow will flash for a split second and, when released, the arrow will do more damage.
Hunting Bow:
The Hunting Bow is likely the first attainable bow without commands. It is the easiest to get and very helpful in the Erchius Mining Facility Mission if you can’t find or make any guns on your first planet.
To craft it, you require a foraging table (made using an inventor’s table), 20 Timber, 1 String, and 1 Copper Bar.
Stats:
Tier: 1
Base Damage: 7
Perfect Shot: 9
Tungsten Hunting Bow:
The Tungsten Hunting Bow, like every other bow, is only attainable normally after the Erchius Mining Facility Mission (with the exception of the Hunting Bow and Poison Bow). It is crafted with 4 Tungsten Bars, 1 String, and 3 Oil (obtained in Tar Biomes) at a foraging table.
Stats:
Tier: 2
Base Damage: 10
Perfect Shot: 13
Poison Bow:
The Poison Bow is one of the rarer bows with unique poisoned arrows. It is similar in stats to the Tungsten Hunting Bow, but still in some aspects better and attainable before its tungsten variant. It can only be found in chests and reward bags, classifying it as uncraftable.
Stats:
Tier: 2
Base Damage: 10 + 3 dps
Perfect Shot: 13 + 3 dps
Light Bow:
The Light Bow is another rare bow as it can only be found rarely in Glow Chests, which are only found in Bioluminescence Biomes. It is uniquely the only tier 3 bow, and its perfect shot arrows provide light when shot. Other than these perks, however, it is essentially a standard bow.
Stats:
Tier: 3
Base Damage: 13
Perfect Shot: 17
Compound Bow:
The Compound Bow is a large step up from the previosly best craftable bow and is useful for gentle-frozen solar systems. The next bow attainable after this is only attainable after you have gone to a fiery solar system. The Compound Bow is crafted using 4 Durasteel Bars, 1 String, and 3 Oil at an Agricultural Station (the upgraded Foraging Table).
Stats:
Tier: 4
Base Damage: 17
Perfect Shot: 21
Aegisalt Bow:
Unlike other craftable bows, the Aegisalt Bow is not crafted at the Foraging Table or its upgrade. Instead, it is crafted at a Accelerator’s Table out of 6 Refined Aegisalt, 6 Solarium Stars, and 1 Battery. Its secondary attack is Chaos Arrow, which shoots an arrow that splits into 5 “bouncy” arrows on contact.
Stats:
Tier: 6
Base Damage: 23
Perfect Shot: 29
Poison Bow:
The Poison Bow* is an upgraded version of the Poison Bow. With a Weapon Upgrade Anvil, 3500 Ancient Essence, and a Poison Bow, you can get it. Granted, This requires that the main story is complete and that you go through an ancient vault, but the added power is well worth the wait. The upgraded Poison Bow acts as a hunting weapon (it increases the chance for meat and crafting materials to drop), has the stats of an Aegisalt Bow, and inflicts the Poison debuff on enemies. This is probably the best primary bow in the game, explaining its “rarity”.
Stats:
Tier: 6
Base Damage: 23 + 3 dps
Perfect Shot: 29 + 3 dps
P.S. All the above bows other than the Light and Aegisalt Bows have a secondary Zen Shot attack, which shoots an arrow directly above you that splits into three arrows when it comes down, each doing the same amount of damage as the bows perfect shot.
Adaptable Crossbow
While the Adaptable Crossbow is classified primarily as a Unique Weapon, it is also a bow. It has the unique secondary “attack” Adaptable Ammo, which allows the user to cycle through 7 different functions: Standard, Fire, Ice, Electric, Poison, Attraction, and Repulsion. While Attraction and Repulsion attract and repel instead of doing damage, the other settings do a base damage of 20. The Poison Setting, while doing 20 damage also adds a Poison debuff, dealing 6 dps. When upgraded on a Weapon Upgrade Anvil, it does a base of 28 damage. The Adaptable Crossbow is attainable from Treasured Trophies in return for 10 scorched cores, 10 cryonic extracts, 10 static cells, and 10 venom samples.