Best Bow build for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

Finding the best bow build for your character in Elden Ring and even into the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC can be quite the task. How much do you want to dedicate your build to being a ranged attacker?

Do you want something to kill enemies with, or to get rid of those pesky ranged attackers that can ruin your progression? Here, we’ll go over a full-on bow build, some recommendations for things to equip, and more.

Best bow build for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

To start off, this build will simply utilize a bow from the list and talismans to amplify damage output. 

Best bows

The following is a list of the strongest bows in the game. In no particular order, you can’t go wrong with any of these: 

• Full Moon Crossbow
• Pulley Crossbow
• Repeating Crossbow (DLC)
• Black Bow
• Albinauric Bow
• Longbow
• Pulley Bow
• Lion Greatbow
• Igon’s Greatbow (DLC)

We also included some crossbows here since they use similar materials to work. They function mostly the same but do require some setup, like manually reloading each shot.

Best Ashes of War for bows

The following is a list of Ashes of War that you can equip onto your ranged weapons that aren’t upgraded by Somber Smithing Stones:

• Barrage
• Rain of Arrows

There aren’t a lot here, but these are consistent with damage and pressure.

Best talismans for bows in Elden Ring

• Arrow’s Reach Talisman
• Arrow’s Sting Talisman
• Arrow’s Soaring Sting Talisman
• Sharpshot Talisman

Having all four of these talismans will increase the effective range and overall damage to your bows. Just make sure you have an ample supply of arrows and bolts so you don’t run out at any point.

Also, if you’re going for a more hybrid approach where you want to incorporate melee into your build, consider Dexterity weapons as they tend to scale more with that stat as you upgrade them to +10 or +25.