The Ultimate Skyrim Bow Guide: Unveiling the Most Powerful Weapons

Highlights

Proficiency in long-range weapons like bows is vital in action RPGs, allowing players to eliminate enemies from a distance.

Skyrim's influence on RPGs has greatly enhanced the appeal of bows, granting players a diverse selection with distinct advantages and disadvantages.

In Skyrim, the efficacy of bows can be pivotal to the successful completion of quests, as each bow possesses varying levels of potency and exclusive effects.

Long-range proficiency is crucial in action RPGs as it allows players to eliminate a significant amount of danger. Whether through traditional but deadly bow-and-arrow or modern sniper rifles, players can pick off enemies from a distance. The popularity of archery in RPGs has been highlighted in recent games like Horizon Forbidden West, where the protagonist Aloy uses long-range weapons to take down formidable machines in a futuristic world. However, bows have been a staple feature in the RPG scene for many years, with Skyrim being a trailblazer in the genre. Even a decade after its release, Skyrim continues to have a strong base and has greatly contributed to the popularity of bows in gaming. With a wide range of options, Skyrim offers 29 bows for players to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some bows excel at dealing extra damage to animal enemies, while others are versatile and can harm any type of foe encountered in the world of Tamriel. These bows, ranging from common to unique, play a significant role in completing quests in Skyrim.

S Tier

The Dwarven Black Bow of Fate reigns supreme in the bow department of Skyrim, despite its seemingly average base damage. With its unique ability, players have a 50% chance to absorb 25 points of health, stamina, or magicka with each shot.

Coming in closely behind is the Nightingale Bow, which inflicts significant shock and frost damage, in addition to its impressive base damage.

Auriel's Bow is widely regarded as one of the top weapons in Skyrim, especially beneficial for Vampire builds. This explains why a vampire cult is highly interested in obtaining it. The bow is equipped with Sun damage, enabling it to deliver triple the amount of harm to Undead foes.

On the other hand, the Dragonbone Bow possesses an exceptional base damage, compensating for its absence of extraordinary abilities.

A Tier

The Daedric Bow, renowned for its exceptional aesthetic appeal, stands as one of the most visually captivating weapons in all of Skyrim. With a formidable base damage rating of 19, it proves to be highly effective in swiftly eliminating adversaries when skillfully aimed towards their heads.

Making its debut in The Elder Scrolls 3, the Bow of Shadows resurfaced in the remarkable Skyrim's Anniversary Edition, generating quite an impact. It boasts comparable base damage to the Daedric Bow while also possessing extraordinary attributes of invisibility and noticeably increased arrow velocity.

Stalhrim Bow: In the Dragonborn DLC, players were introduced to the Stalhrim Bow, which had a base damage of 17 and increased the power of frost enchantments by 25%.

Glass Bow of The Stag Prince: Also added in the Dragonborn DLC, the Glass Bow of The Stag Prince provided blessings for every 20 animals killed in Skyrim, with a maximum of four blessings. Each blessing increased health and stamina by 5, making this weapon popular among fans due to its high base damage and added benefits.

Ebony Bow: Offering no special effects, the Ebony Bow is a well-balanced instrument of death. Its lightweight design allows for a remarkable draw speed and rapid firing rate, resulting in significant damage.

Gauldur Blackbow: Resembling the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate in its appearance, the Gauldur Blackbow may not possess the same level of power as its visual counterpart. Nevertheless, this bow is capable of delivering a powerful blow due to its magicka absorption effect.

B Tier

Zephyr Bow: With its special effect enabling faster arrow firing by 30 percent, Zephyr stands out as one of the swiftest bows in Skyrim. Despite its relatively low base damage for a unique weapon in Skyrim, the relentless volley of arrows from Zephyr possesses the potential to swiftly vanquish foes.

Firinel's End: Though it may appear unassuming, Firinel's End offers substantial Frost damage, making it an invaluable tool for steadily depleting an adversary's stamina and health.

Glass Bow: The Glass Bow, which is the basic edition of The Stag Prince, possesses nearly the same level of potency as its enhanced version, with the only discrepancy being in the foundational harm it inflicts.

Nordic Bow and Bow of the Hunt: Among the greatest weapons available in the early stages of the game, the Nordic Bow represents another addition from the Dragonborn DLC, and its simple and effortless crafting process is an irresistible attraction for novices, resembling the allure of the Bow of The Hunt.

Forsworn Bow and Elven Bow: The Elven and Forsworn Bows have nearly identical average damage-dealing abilities.

C Tier

The Falmer Supple Bow and Falmer Bow may not impress with their power and speed, despite the former being an upgraded version. Their main appeal lies in the ease with which they can be obtained.

The power of the Dwarven Bow and Nord Hero Bow is nearly equal, although the Nord Hero Bow shoots arrows slightly faster.

In contrast, the Orcish Bow and Imperial Bow are considered inferior to their counterparts, relying on speed to compensate for their lack of power. However, these weapons are generally avoided by most Skyrim players.

D Tier

Dravin's Bow is considered a one-of-a-kind weapon, but unfortunately, its usefulness is quite limited due to its extremely low base damage.

On the other hand, Angi's Bow bears an identical appearance and stats to Dravin's Bow, yet it holds more value as players receive this weapon as a reward for their exceptional archery skills.

Froki's Bow: Although Froki's Bow has slightly lower base damage compared to Dravin's and Angi's Bows, its lightning-fast draw rate is favored by certain gamers.

Hunting Bow: Considered the most basic of all bows, the Hunting Bow is easily surpassed by other weapons in its category.

The Ancient Nord Bow and Long Bow in Skyrim are considered to be the weakest options, providing minimal benefits, and are often disregarded by most players. Skyrim, the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls series, is currently accessible on various platforms including PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.