Bows, Crossbows and Arrows

Valheim's ranged weapons: six bow tiers from the Crude bow to the Ash Fang, the Arbalest and Ripper crossbows, arrows and bolts, bombs and siege ammunition, and the 1.0 Nord, Frostfire and Thunderblood bows and crossbows with their Bloodgold ammunition.

0:05 Bows are the first ranged weapon in Valheim, craftable from wood and leather scraps within minutes of the start, and they stay useful to the end: for hunting deer that flee, pulling single enemies away from a group and opening a fight with a sneak shot. Each bow tier follows a biome, and arrows are crafted separately in batches and used up with every shot. Since the Mistlands Update of December 2022, crossbows have offered a slower, harder-hitting alternative with their own skill (Iron Gate, Patch 0.212.7 – Mistlands!), and the Valheim 1.0 Release of Sep 9, 2026 added Nord, Frostfire and Thunderblood bows and crossbows with Bloodgold ammunition. Melee weapons are covered on Weapons and Shields and staves on Magic and Staves.

Screenshot of a Viking in blue clothing drawing a wooden bow on a grassy hillside, an arrow in flight towards a round red and white target fixed to a large oak — An archer looses an arrow at an archery target on a grassy hillside Iron Gate Studio

Quick facts

Bows	Six tiers, from the Crude bow of the Meadows to the Ashlands' Ash Fang, plus the Deep North's Nord Bow
Crossbows	The Arbalest (200 pierce), the Ashlands' Ripper (220 pierce) and the Nord Crossbow
Skills	Bows, and Crossbows since the Mistlands Update of December 2022
First bow	Crude bow: 10 Wood and 8 Leather scraps at a level-1 workbench
Draw speed	2.5 seconds at Bows skill 0, half a second at skill 100; at most one arrow every 0.8 seconds
Ammunition	Arrows and bolts, crafted in batches of 20 and lost once fired
Sneak shots	A hit on an unaware creature gets the triple backstab bonus
Quietest bow	The Huntsman bow, 4 meters of noise at each end against 15 and 8 for every other bow

Drawing and aiming

9:38 Holding the attack button draws the bow, and the longer the draw, the more accurate, fast and damaging the arrow. Drawing drains stamina every second, from 4 per second on the Crude bow to 14 on the Spinesnap and Ash Fang. A full draw takes 2.5 seconds at Bows skill 0 and half a second at skill 100, and a bow can loose at most one arrow every 0.8 seconds, a rate reached at skill 85. Blocking cancels a draw without firing (Bows, Valheim Wiki; Skills). The arrow's damage is added to the bow's, and a hit on an unaware creature gets the triple backstab bonus, which makes a sneak shot the standard opener. Arrows cannot be recovered after a shot; the equipped type is changed by right-clicking it in the inventory (Arrows, Valheim Wiki).

3:13 Noise matters as much as damage. Every bow but one alerts creatures within 15 meters of the archer and 8 meters of where the arrow lands; the Huntsman bow of the Swamp makes only 4 meters of noise at each end. SnazzyGames' 2026 ranking rates it among the best ranged weapons in the game for that reason, able to pick apart a Fuling camp in the Plains one target at a time (Bows, Valheim Wiki).

Bows

0:19 The Crude bow needs only a level-1 workbench, 10 Wood and 8 Leather scraps from boars. The Finewood bow of the Black Forest uses Fine wood and Core wood, and from the Huntsman bow onward bows need metal and a forge: 20 Iron for the Huntsman, 20 Silver and Guck for the poisoned Draugr Fang, then the Mistlands' Spinesnap from the black forge, which glows faintly crimson and costs heavy stamina to draw.

Bow	Biome	Pierce (quality 1 to 4)	Extra damage	Draw stamina	Crafted at	Materials
Crude bow	Meadows	22 to 31	None	4/s	Workbench 1	10 Wood, 8 Leather scraps
Finewood bow	Black Forest	32 to 41	None	6/s	Workbench 1	10 Fine wood, 10 Core wood, 2 Deer hide
Huntsman bow	Swamp	42 to 51	None	8/s	Forge 1	10 Fine wood, 20 Iron, 10 Feathers, 2 Deer hide
Draugr Fang	Mountain	47 to 56	Poison 5 to 20	10/s	Forge 2	10 Ancient bark, 20 Silver, 2 Deer hide, 10 Guck
Spinesnap	Mistlands	72 to 84	Spirit 5 to 20	14/s	Black forge 1	10 Fine wood, 40 Bone fragments, 10 Refined eitr
Ash Fang	Ashlands	82 to 94	Spirit 0 to 15	14/s	Black forge 3	10 Ashwood, 16 Charred bone, 5 Flametal, 5 Bonemaw tooth
Nord Bow	Deep North	Not yet documented	Frostfire or Thunderblood versions	Not yet documented	Frost Foundry	Mould, 20 Bloodgold, 10 Timberwood

Sources: Bows and the individual bow pages, Valheim Wiki; Nord Bow cast from Game8.

19:21 The Ashlands Update of May 2024 added the Ash Fang, which gains spirit damage as it is upgraded and, like the other Ashlands weapons, can be fused with a gem into the Blood Fang, Storm Fang or Root Fang; the gem version starts again at quality 1 (Ash Fang, Valheim Wiki). Two armor sets give archers +15 Bows, the Swamp's Root set and the Lox Fur set of 1.0, and the Wolf Sight trinket adds +20 Bows during an adrenaline surge (Armor and Capes; Combat).

Arrows

3:01 Arrows are crafted in batches of 20, almost all from wood, two feathers and a head of the current tier's material; Feathers come from gulls and felled trees (Materials and Resources). Most types differ only in pierce damage, but four carry an element. Fire arrows set enemies alight and suit fire-weak foes such as The Elder; poison arrows deal most of their damage over time; frost arrows slow their target, which the wiki notes is especially useful against small enemies such as Fulings; silver arrows add spirit damage, to which many creatures are immune.

Arrow	Damage	Crafted at	Materials (per 20)
Wood	22 pierce	Workbench 1	8 Wood
Flinthead	27 pierce	Workbench 2	8 Wood, 2 Flint, 2 Feathers
Fire	11 pierce, 22 fire	Workbench 2	8 Wood, 8 Resin, 2 Feathers
Bronzehead	32 pierce	Forge 1	8 Wood, 1 Bronze, 2 Feathers
Ironhead	42 pierce	Forge 2	8 Wood, 1 Iron, 2 Feathers
Poison	26 pierce, 52 poison	Workbench 3	8 Wood, 4 Obsidian, 2 Feathers, 2 Ooze
Obsidian	52 pierce	Workbench 3	8 Wood, 4 Obsidian, 2 Feathers
Silver	52 pierce, 20 spirit	Forge 3	8 Wood, 1 Silver, 2 Feathers
Frost	26 pierce, 52 frost	Workbench 4	8 Wood, 4 Obsidian, 2 Feathers, 1 Freeze gland
Needle	62 pierce	Workbench 4	4 Needle, 2 Feathers
Carapace	72 pierce	Black forge 1	8 Wood, 4 Carapace, 2 Feathers
Charred	82 pierce	Black forge 1	8 Ashwood, 4 Charred bone, 2 Feathers
Bloodgold	Not yet documented

Source: Arrows and the individual arrow pages, Valheim Wiki.

Crossbows

5:28 The Arbalest, the first crossbow, is made at the black forge from 10 Wood, 8 Iron and 4 Root. Instead of a draw it has a 3.5-second reload costing a few points of stamina, after which the bolt can be fired at any moment for free. Bolts fly at 200 meters per second in a straight line with no drop, add their damage to the Arbalest's 200 pierce and knock enemies back hard, and the recoil can push the shooter off a ledge. Sprinting or jumping cancels the reload, and a loaded bolt is lost when the crossbow is put away (Arbalest; Crossbows, Valheim Wiki).

Screenshot of an armored Viking seen from behind holding a crossbow at the hip in bright green grass under a hazy purple sky, a red beetle-like creature clinging to a dark arch at left — A Viking in dark plate armor carries an Arbalest through the Mistlands Iron Gate Studio

3:29 FireSpark81's 2022 comparison with the Spinesnap put numbers on the trade. At skill 10 the Arbalest took 127 frames, about four seconds, to load against 66 frames for a full bow draw, but cost 3 stamina against 30; at skill 100 the figures were 77 and 15 frames, and 1 and 4 stamina. With no arrow drop and a centered aim it hit targets more easily, and one sneak-attack bolt killed a Seeker that needed three arrows. He summed the crossbow up as a sniper rifle and the bow as an assault rifle.

19:46 The Ashlands' Ripper (220 pierce, black forge level 3) takes the same gems as the Ash Fang, becoming the Wound Ripper, Storm Ripper or Root Ripper. SnazzyGames warns that dodging or sprinting resets its reload and that unequipping it unloads it, but that it spends no stamina per shot and hits almost instantly at long range (Ripper, Valheim Wiki).

6:26 Bolts, like arrows, come in batches of 20. All are made at the black forge, and the Bone bolt is the only one without wood.

Bolt	Pierce	Crafted at	Materials (per 20)
Bone	32	Black forge 1	8 Bone fragments, 2 Feathers
Iron	42	Black forge 1	8 Wood, 1 Iron, 2 Feathers
Black metal	62	Black forge 2	8 Wood, 2 Black metal, 2 Feathers
Carapace	72	Black forge 1	8 Wood, 2 Carapace, 2 Feathers
Charred	82	Black forge 1	8 Ashwood, 2 Charred bone, 2 Feathers
Bloodgold	Not yet documented

Source: Bolts and the individual bolt pages, Valheim Wiki.

Bombs and siege ammunition

20:43 Bombs are thrown and consumed. The Ooze bomb and the Mistlands' Bile bomb burst into clouds of poison, the latter with fire as well (Bombs, Valheim Wiki). The Ashlands added the Basalt bomb, which hardens lava into a platform for reaching Flametal, and the Smoke bomb, which puts out fires; SnazzyGames calls both useless in combat (Game Rant). The Call to Arms Update added five Bottled Blobs, made from a Blob Vial bought from The Bog Witch and a trophy or material from the Swamp onward, which release a Blob, Oozer, Growth, Lava blob or Frost blob where they land. The 1.0 Ember Charge is an explosive for breaking Deep North ice and the petrified Gammeltrolls that yield Bloodgold (Deep North).

The Mistlands also brought ammunition for the ballista turret, Wooden (75 pierce) and Black metal missiles (120), joined by the Ashlands' Flametal missile (140). The Ashlands' catapult, a siege engine for breaching Charred fortresses, throws Grausten and Explosive payloads (Missiles, Valheim Wiki; Iron Gate, Patch 0.212.7 – Mistlands!; Iron Gate, Patch 0.218.15 – Ashlands).

Deep North bows and crossbows

6:57 The Deep North brought the Nord Bow and Nord Crossbow, cast like the Nord melee weapons from a mould, 20 Bloodgold and 10 Timberwood and hardened in the Frost Foundry, then refined into Frostfire and Thunderblood versions with a matching essence and 20 more Bloodgold (Weapons and Shields). With them came Bloodgold arrows, bolts, a Bloodgold missile for the ballista, made at the artisan table, and a Bloodgold payload for the catapult. SnazzyGames also counts the new Snowball as a weapon and reports a pulp version of the blob bomb made from the drops of the biome's Pulp creatures. Damage figures for the Bloodgold ammunition and the Nord ranged weapons were not yet on the wiki on Sep 11, 2026 (Iron Gate, Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!; Bloodgold Missile, Valheim Wiki).

6:28 The Frostfire Crossbow drew attention before launch. SnazzyGames handled it in the press preview he published in June 2026, and PCGamesN's Ken Allsop wrote that he was "particularly taken by the huge Frostfire crossbow" (PCGamesN). Playing the release build, Sportskeeda judged frost's slowing and fire's burning a natural fit for a crossbow and noted the weapon's permanent blue flame when slung on the back, though it still rated Thunderblood the stronger line for damage (Sportskeeda).

Frequently asked questions

What is the best bow in Valheim? By damage it is the Ashlands' Ash Fang, 82 to 94 pierce with spirit damage as it is upgraded, and it can be fused with a gem into the Blood Fang, Storm Fang or Root Fang. SnazzyGames' 2026 ranking nonetheless puts the Swamp's Huntsman bow among the best ranged weapons in the game, because it alerts creatures only 4 meters away.

Can you pick arrows back up in Valheim? No. Arrows cannot be recovered after a shot, which is why they are crafted twenty at a time. The equipped type is changed by right-clicking it in the inventory.

Is a crossbow better than a bow? They do different jobs. FireSpark81 measured the Arbalest as slower to load but far cheaper in stamina than a full bow draw, with no arrow drop and a centered aim, and summed the crossbow up as a sniper rifle and the bow as an assault rifle. Sprinting, jumping or dodging cancels a crossbow's reload, and a loaded bolt is lost when it is put away.

How do you make arrows in Valheim? In batches of 20 at a workbench, forge or black forge, almost all from 8 Wood, 2 Feathers and a head of the current tier's material. Feathers come from gulls and felled trees.

Which gear helps archers? The Swamp's Root set and the Lox Fur set of 1.0 each give +15 Bows, and the Wolf Sight trinket adds +20 Bows during an adrenaline surge (Armor and Capes; Combat).

Sources

Moments

A Complete Guide to Archery in Valheim

Play Games (PG)

0:05 Bows are the first ranged weapon in Valheim, craftable from wood and leather scraps within minutes of the start, and…
0:19 The Crude bow needs only a level-1 workbench, 10 Wood and 8 Leather scraps from boars. The Finewood bow of the Black…
3:01 Arrows are crafted in batches of 20, almost all from wood, two feathers and a head of the current tier's material…
5:28 The Arbalest, the first crossbow, is made at the black forge from 10 Wood, 8 Iron and 4 Root. Instead of a draw it has…
6:26 Bolts, like arrows, come in batches of 20. All are made at the black forge, and the Bone bolt is the only one without…

BEST Weapons in Valheim - Ultimate Weapon Guide (2026)

SnazzyGames

9:38 Holding the attack button draws the bow, and the longer the draw, the more accurate, fast and damaging the arrow…
19:21 The Ashlands Update of May 2024 added the Ash Fang, which gains spirit damage as it is upgraded and, like the other…
19:46 The Ashlands' Ripper (220 pierce, black forge level 3) takes the same gems as the Ash Fang, becoming the Wound Ripper…
20:43 Bombs are thrown and consumed. The Ooze bomb and the Mistlands' Bile bomb burst into clouds of poison, the latter with…