Ranking BOTW’s 10 Best Bows

While Link usually specializes in swordsmanship, that doesn’t mean he isn’t equally as good at long-ranged firing! Breath of the Wild has a surprising total of 25 different bows that can be found in treasure chests and used by enemies. It’s true that some of them are pure sloppy, like the Boko Bow and Traveler’s Bow, but others particularly excel in power and range. Here are the 10 best bows in the game, ranked worst to best by range, firing speed, and attack power.

10. Silver Bow

Durability	40
Range	20
Firepower	15
Common Locations	– Lanayru Great Spring – Akkala Highlands
Rarity	Rare

The Silver Bow has a low firepower, being designed for fishing and not attacking enemies, but it has decent range and high durability so it won’t break on you too soon. It can be found in the Lanayru region but particularly the areas closest to Zora’s Domain. This bow really sports Zora spirit and is great for people who aren’t fans of BOTW’s annoying durability mechanic at the same time.

9. Golden Bow

Durability	60
Range	40
Firepower	14
Common Locations	– Gerudo Town Barracks – Gerudo Highlands – Gerudo Desert
Rarity	Somewhat common

The Golden Bow is a relatively common Gerudo bow with a special ability unlike all others in BOTW: an automatic zoom feature so it shoots even further. This feature can be pretty helpful when aiming at enemies that are both not looking at you and quite far away, but for close-up shooting, the Golden Bow isn’t the best. The zooming could get a tiny bit annoying when you’re trying to aim at a Bokoblin but instead see a huge head in front of you instead. It also slows your shooting down, since it takes a moment of trying to figure out where you are and where your target is.

8. Royal Bow

Durability	60
Range	20
Firepower	38
Common Locations	– Hyrule Castle – Tabantha Frontier – Hebra Mountains
Rarity	Common

At the beginning of BOTW, the Royal Bow will appear extremely appealing with its “royal” title and shiny golden appearance. And the half-good-half-bad news is that it will still remain at the top of your “best bows” list, just a little lower than the invincibly awesome you thought it would be at first. The Royal Bow boasts quite a high firepower of 38 and a base durability of 60, with attack up and durability up bonuses only boosting this further. The only place it lacks is its range: you will soon find out that you have to aim above farther targets to actually hit them accurately. But if you are a big fan of this bow, you’re in luck: they’re actually quite common across all regions of Hyrule.

7. Falcon Bow

Durability	50
Range	40
Firepower	20
Common Locations	– Hyrule Castle – Tabantha Frontier – Flight Range treasure chest
Rarity	Rare

The Falcon Bow doesn’t boast the highest firepower at a mere 20, but its high range of 40 and durability of 50 make it ideal. They are great for shooting foes in faraway enemy camps to prevent close contact. Unfortunately, they’re not very common, but keep your eyes peeled for them in the Tabantha and Hebra regions. Being a Rito-crafted bow, you can reasonably find several of these in treasure chests and wielded by enemies in the Ritos’ home regions.

6. Duplex Bow

Durability	18
Range	40
Firepower	28
Common Locations	– Yiga Clan Hideout – Various locations, when Yiga Archers appear
Rarity	Common

The Duplex Bow has the exact same range as the Falcon Bow with one added bonus: it fires two arrows, but strangely only consumes one from your inventory (all other multi-shot bows behave this way, too). It is relatively common and only found wielded by Yiga Archers – yes, those banana lovers who pop up out of nowhere, maniacally laugh, and shoot you randomly. When you defeat one wielding this weapon, be sure to pick it up. The Duplex Bow is the only bow in BOTW’s entirety that shoots exactly two arrows, just to ensure a nice double hit on your enemies and a total of 28 damage.

5. Savage Lynel Bow

Durability	45
Range	20
Firepower	96
Common Locations	– Hebra Mountains – Hyrule Field
Rarity	Rare

In terms of durability and range, the Savage Lynel Bow is not necessarily excellent. It is, however, quite impressive in the field of firepower. Like Lynels themselves, Savage Lynel Bows are designed for brute force and a quick sweep-away of their enemies. They shoot three arrows at once while only using up one in reality. The only way to obtain this bow is dangerous, though: you must defeat a fearsome White-Maned or Silver-Maned Lynel, each of which are one of the most difficult Lynel variants in Hyrule.

4. Great Eagle Bow

Durability	60
Range	40
Firepower	84
Common Locations	Rito Village (after clearing Vah Medoh)
Rarity	Rare

The Great Eagle Bow was the Rito Champion Revali’s cherished weapon, and for good reason. It’s not called “great” for nothing. It shoots three arrows at once and has an unusually swift firing speed, allowing you to bombard your enemies with a shower of projectiles. And it doesn’t stop there. Each arrow has an attack power of 28, dealing a whopping 84 damage to enemies, which will easily take out even the mightiest of Lynels. Fortunately, if and when it breaks, you can return to the Rito bowmaker Harth to reforge the Great Eagle Bow good as new.

3. Ancient Bow

Durability	120
Range	50
Firepower	44 66 (against Guardians) 80 (when wearing ★★ Ancient Set)
Common Locations	Akkala Ancient Tech Lab
Rarity	Rare

The Ancient Bow is one of the best bows in BOTW both for its firepower and outstanding range, and I mean outstanding. This is the prime bow to use for farming dragon parts. It doesn’t even need the annoying zoom of the Golden Bow to succeed; in fact, it surpasses it by far and shoots precisely. The only catch is the price. The Ancient Bow can only be found and bought at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab for 1,000 rupees, 10 ancient gears, 15 ancient springs, and 1 giant ancient core. If you have an abundance of these materials, feel free to purchase as many Ancient Bows as you can, so if one breaks, you have another to count on.

2. Twilight Bow

Durability	100
Range	8,000
Firepower	30
Common Locations	Twilight Princess Zelda amiibo drop
Rarity	Rare

The Twilight Bow has climbed its way up this list and made it all the way to #2. Okay, you may be asking yourself why you haven’t heard of this amazing bow before, and that’s because it can only be obtained by scanning the Super Smash Bros Twilight Princess Zelda amiibo. Its stats tower over all other bows outside of the Dark Beast Ganon boss fight. Don’t let its firepower of 30 mislead you: it has a superb durability of 100, but where it really excels is in its range. You don’t even know where this goes if you’re already impressed by the Ancient Bow.

It will never run out of arrows, like the Bow of Light, and they never drop in height, giving the bow a range of – are you ready for it – 8,000. This makes it best suited for only the most unique of times; after all, a bow this good is not worthy of use on common enemies.

1. Bow of Light

Durability	Infinite
Range	500
Firepower	100
Common Locations	Dark Beast Ganon final boss fight
Rarity	Rare

The Bow of Light is the only bow that does not break and has infinite ammo in BOTW, but unfortunately it can only be used in the final boss fight against Dark Beast Ganon (without glitches). Its firing speed and attack power of 100 place it nicely atop the list of bows. And don’t be let down when you realize the bow only has a range of 500 rather than 8,000… it’s still 25 times the Royal Bow’s range. If it’s enough to precisely shoot the glowing areas on Ganon from afar, don’t take it for granted.