Elden Ring: Best Arrows And Bolts (2024)

The strength of Bows, Crossbows, and the other missile-firing weapons in Elden Ring is tied to their ammunition and some of the arrows and bolts available to you from being extremely powerful. Some are better for pure damage, but they are also exceptional at applying status effects, thanks to Bow-only Weapon Skills like Barrage and Rain of Arrows, and the rapid-fire abilities of certain weapons.

But despite their power, the necessity of ammo can be one of the most frustrating aspects of using these weapons, since they are inherently limited, requiring you to constantly farm for, craft, or buy more. Here are the options you should invest your time and Runes into acquiring.

Updated by Lucas Ellinas on August 8, 2024: Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC came with multiple new ranged weapons, each with unique properties that range from homing attacks to firing multiple projectiles in rapid succession. If you’re going to get the best use out of them, you’ll need to find some good ammunition. To help you sort the wheat from the chaff, we’ve added some new options from the DLC to our list, along with a few from the base game.

14 Igon’s Harpoon

Igon’s Harpoons deal slightly lower base damage than the regular Great Arrows, making them less effective in most scenarios. However, their damage is increased when using Igon’s Greatbow, so if you want to make use of the new Greatbow from the DLC, they are an important tool.

These Great Arrows can be purchased from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold after giving them Igon’s Bell Bearing. You have to actually finish his questline to get it; no trying to cheat by killing the poor guy early.

13 Rotbone Arrows (Fletched)

The options for Arrows to cause Scarlet Rot aren’t as effective as they are for Bolts, but if you want to build Scarlet Rot with a Bow, the fletched Rotbone Arrows are going to be your best option. Unfortunately, they are extremely annoying to make; you’ll need Aeonian Butterflies, which don’t respawn.

The only way to get a permanent supply is to farm for them, and the highest chance is from the Basilisks in the Lake of Rot. If you are up for the challenge, buy the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook [15] from the Nomadic Merchant in southern Caelid and get farming.

12 Rabbath’s Greatbolt

Rabbath’s Greatbolts give Ballistae an option for dealing Magic damage, making them a perfect fit for the DLC's Rabbath’s Cannon, which has innate Magic damage. Like the elemental Greatbolts from the base game, Rabbath’s Greatbolts creates a significant explosion when it lands.

If you want access to these magical explosives, you’ll need to give the Spellmachinist’s Bell Bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold. The Bell Bearing takes some work to find; it's on a corpse in Rabbath’s Rise, which can be accessed by descending from the Shaman Village.

11 Perfumer’s Bolt

On the surface, Perfumer’s Bolts seem like worse versions of Explosive Bolts. Both create an explosion when they land, but the Explosive Bolts deal more damage. However, despite its description not really indicating as much, the Perfumer’s Talisman boosts their damage by 20 percent. If you are trying to use a Crossbow as a sidearm, you’ll need that Talisman slot, so you’ll be better off going for Explosive Bolts instead.

But on a dedicated Crossbow build, Perfumer’s Bolts are a powerful option. Perfumer’s Bolts are dropped by Pages, which are common in Leyndell, Royal Capital but can be found all over the Lands Between. Fortunately, while Pages aren’t easy to farm, the drop rate on Perfumer’s Bolts is higher than a lot of rare items in Elden Ring, and you get five Bolts per drop, so it’s far from the worst farming experience if you want to do it.

10 Lightning Greatbolt

Ballistae don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to ammunition in Elden Ring's base game, and in most cases, the Lightning Greatbolt is your best option. The closest competitor is the Explosive Greatbolt; both create a small explosion when they land and deal the same amount of damage, although the Explosive version deals Fire instead of Lightning.

And while you may want to switch between them depending on the enemy you’re facing, Lightning Greatbolts will usually be more useful. Lightning damage hits harder in the rain or in water, and the Bolts will create a larger explosion when they land in liquid. Meanwhile, Fire damage performs worse when wet.

Additionally, Lightning Greatbolts fly much further and straighter than Explosive Greatbolts, so you don’t need to account for as much of an arc when firing. You can find them in a few places around the Lands between, but if you want a consistent supply, they are purchasable from the Hermit Merchant south of the Stargazer’s Ruins in the Mountaintops of the Giants.

9 Radahn’s Spear

Radahn’s Spears aren’t the highest-damage option for Greatbows in normal circ*mstances, although they do appear to fly significantly faster than the other choices. They also deal 20 percent more damage to Gravity-type enemies, like the various Fallingstar Beasts, which is certainly nice, though not exactly game-breaking.

However, the real reason to use Radahn's Spears comes from the 20 percent damage boost they get when you are using the Lion Greatbow (40 percent if you get a second one in New Game Plus). Once you kill Starscourge Radahn, you can buy an unlimited number of Radahn’s Spears from Enia, at the Roundtable Hold, though it costs a relatively hefty price at 800 Runes.

8 Sleepbone Bolts

The DLC added several Crossbows that fire multiple bolts in quick succession, making the weapon type even more effective at building Status effects. And while Sleep isn’t the most widely applicable effect, with the correct setup you can put vulnerable enemies to sleep in a single volley.

If you want that sort of power in your arsenal, Sleepbone Bolts are the only tool Crossbows have. They can be crafted after purchasing the Fevor’s Cookbook [2] from the Isolated Merchant near the Academy of Raya Lucaria’s main gate.

7 Meteor Bolt

In addition to having higher base Physical damage than the other Elemental Bolts, the Magic-dealing Meteor Bolts have extra damage when used with the Full Moon Crossbow. And since the Full Moon Crossbow already deals Magic damage innately, you can buff your damage in a wide variety of ways. The most notable of these is the massive boost from Terra Magica, which is especially useful for Crossbows, since the fact that it creates a stationary buff zone isn't as much of a downside.

If you’re looking for a high-damage Crossbow build, the Meteor Bolt-Full Moon Crossbow combo might be your best bet. Meteor Bolts can also be bought infinitely from an Isolated Merchant near Raya Lucaria for 120 Runes. You can find him by starting at the Main Academy Gate Site of Grace and heading South.

6 Serpent Arrow

If you are trying to inflict poison at long range, Serpent Arrows are your best option. The 78 Poison buildup they inflict is much higher than the other Arrows and Bolts available. And while Poison isn't as strong as Scarlet Rot, Serpent Arrows are far easier to acquire than any of the Rot-inflicting ammunition.

They’re dropped by some of the snail enemies in the game, but the simplest way to get them is just to buy them from the Isolated Merchant in Dragonbarrow, who will sell you an unlimited number of 120 Runes.

5 Burred Bolt

Burred Bolts cause the highest Bleed damage out of all the ammo types, at 65 per bolt. And anyone who has played Elden Ring knows how powerful that status effect can be. Combine Burred Bolts with the Pulley Crossbow and your opponents will be fully exsanguinated within a few minutes.

You can buy them from the Imprisoned Merchant in the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum for 200 Runes, but you may run into some problems getting there. This merchant is not particularly close to a Site of grace, and there's a Sanguine Noble guarding him. As a result, you might be better off killing him and giving his Bell Bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold.

4 Black-Key Bolt

Black-Key Bolts are an extremely efficient way to cause Scarlet Rot, which is normally a relatively uncommon Status effect. While there are other Bolts and Arrows that can do so, Black-Key Bolts cause 60 buildup per Bolt, higher than the alternatives. Unfortunately, there is a massive pitfall standing in the way of their usefulness: not only can you not buy them, which is usually ideal, you can’t craft them either.

Getting the other Bolts or Arrows that apply Scarlet Rot isn’t easy, since you need to farm Basilisks in the Lake of Rot to get the Aeonian Butterflies needed to craft them. Not fun. But you can’t suffer to get Black-Key Bolts even if you wanted to. There are only 90 in the Land’s Between, which might not even be enough to last you until the end of the game.

3 Golem’s Great Arrow

The Golem’s Great Arrows have the highest base damage among the Great Arrows. And since no Great Arrows can deal status effects, that’s pretty much all you need to know. However, they also come with the additional benefit of dealing higher Poise damage and causing an explosion of wind that knocks smaller enemies off their feet. This effect is not only powerful on single shots, but it also turns the Rain of Arrows Weapon Skill into an airstrike.

As you might have guessed from the name, Golem’s Great Arrows drop from the non-magical Greatbow-wielding Golems, like the one on the bridge to the Divine Tower of Limgrave. These enemies aren’t necessarily difficult to kill, but they have a lot of health and tend to appear alone, so farming Golem’s Great Arrows is going to take a while.

2 St. Trina’s Arrow

Sleep is one of the rarest status effects in the game, and St. Trina’s Arrows are one of the best ways to inflict it. Causing 96 Sleep buildup per arrow, your opponents will be settling down for a nap before you know it.

Getting your hands on these Arrows won’t be easy, though. They drop from the Albinauric Archers that exist in the Consecrated Snowfield, particularly Ordina, Liturgical Town. These enemies harass you constantly from long ranges with their bows, which will make them tricky to farm, but it might make killing over and over again more satisfying.

1 Stormwing Bone Arrow

If you are trying to deal pure, Physical damage with a Bow or Light Bow, the Stormwing Bone Arrow should be your weapon of choice. Its 55 physical damage is only beaten out by the Great Arrows and Ballista Bolts, as well as the Lordsworn Bolts. That alone might not be enough to get it onto this list, but Stormwing Bone Arrows also have a few unique advantages: they travel further than normal arrows, and deal substantially higher Poise damage, allowing you to stagger attacking enemies and Stance-break them relatively quickly.

The Stormwing Bone Arrow are craftable, but unfortunately they require Stormhawk Feathers to make them. The Feathers drop from the troublesome Warhawks that you can find primarily in Stormveil Castle. That is also where you can find the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook [10], which contains the crafting recipe for these Arrows. Fortunately, Stormveil Castle is an early-game area, so it will get easier to farm Stormhawk Feathers as you progress.