How to make a bow in The Forest

A staple in the survivor genre, the bow can be a game-changer when fighting for your life against the terrors that await you in The Forest. But like most things in the game, you won’t be given one from the get-go. Here’s how to quickly make a bow and craft all types of arrows in The Forest.

• Table of Contents:
  • How to Make a Bow in The Forest
  • How to Craft All Arrow Types in The Forest

How to Make a Bow in The Forest

After leaving the plane crash and starting your search for Timmy and the remaining missing passengers, you can make a Crafted Bow in The Forest by combining 1x Stick, 1x Cloth, and 1x Rope. If you are unsure how to do it, you can combine items in The Forest by doing the following:

• Open your inventory screen by either pressing I (PC) or down on your D-Pad (Consoles or if using a controller)
• Select Combine (Right-click or R2/RT) while over your desired items to add them to your “crafting table”
• Select Combine once the gear symbol at the center of the screen is filled.

Once you finish the above, don’t forget that, although the bow’s stats cannot be upgraded, you can add an always handy flashlight to it by combining it with both the latter and one Electrical Tape.

How to Get Sticks, Cloth, and Rope in The Forest

While you can acquire large amounts of sticks in The Forest by simply harvesting them from the environment, you can get Cloth and Rope as a chance spawn by opening crates. It is also possible to find the items in the open while exploring abandoned rafts, caves, and cannibal camps.

How to Craft All Arrow Types in The Forest

Now that you have crafted your bow, you can craft four different arrow types, with the Normal Arrows being the easiest to acquire. You can check out how to craft all of them below, but keep in mind that arrows can only be crafted in sets of five.

• Normal Arrows: 2x Sticks + 5x Feathers
• Bone Arrows: 2x Sticks + 5x Feathers + 5x Bones
• Fire Arrows: 5x arrows of any kind + 1x Cloth + 1x Booze
• Poison Arrows: 5x arrows of any kind + 4x Twin Berries or 4x Snow Berries / Can be replaced by 1x Jack or Amanita Mushroom

Although impossible to craft, players can also acquire Modern Arrows by opening yellow crates when exploring The Peninsula. As they will deal way more damage than any of the above, I recommend only using them in emergencies. Saving the arrows until you acquire the sought-after Modern Bow will also not hurt.