Elden Ring: The Best Ranged Weapons (2024)

Since Demon Souls, there have always been ranged weapons in the Souls series. But generally, it is nigh impossible to actually beat the game using bows and crossbows because of their low damage. Elden Ring follows tradition in some ways with its ranged weapons, but also welcomes unique ranged options to your arsenal.

That is not to say that bows are bad in Elden Ring, quite the opposite really. But they are niche situationally; there are few combat encounters that your foe will not also have ranged options. Therefore, setting up a greatbow to fire a high damage shot can be pretty dangerous, but very satisfying if you can pull it off. Pick the bow that best suits your style, but here are some of the best to help you out.

Updated July 13, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC introduced a set of new weapons to battle for the best ranged weapon Elden Ring has to offer. Although Elden Ring's best ranged weapon depends partially on the weapon class you prefer, there are plenty of excellent ranged weapons to choose from besides bows in Elden Ring.

15 Erdtree Greatbow

This holy-infused greatbow is fantastically powerful, especially for players that prioritize building up their Faith skills. This specialized greatbow is not only renowned for its intricate and illustrious design but for well-rounded damage output through Holy, Critical, and Ranged damages respectively.

This unique ranged weapon can be found at Fringefolk Hero's Grave upon defeating the main baddie there; the chariot. It won't be an easy task acquiring this Holy weapon but you will be rewarded with a great new weapon for your arsenal. Another thing to keep in mind about the Erdtree Greatbow is that it can also be upgraded with the use of Somber Smithing Stones.

14 Full Moon Crossbow

The unique-looking Full Moon Crossbow might just be one of the most efficient and well-rounded ranged weapons in Elden Ring. This crossbow provides a healthy combination of physical and magic damage and can become more robust with enhanced Strength and Dexterity skills. Each bolt attack is also aided by magic buffs to deal extra damage to enemies.

If you find yourself exploring the rooftops of the Raya Lucaria Academy then keep a keen eye out for the bell tower where this crossbow can be found. It certainly won't be easy getting to this weapon but its well-suited blend of damage output will be a great boon for specialized ranged classes.

13 Longbow

The most basic of the basic bows. And there's nothing wrong with that. The Longbow is the pick for the swordsman who wants some range in their combat. While the damage leaves some room for improvement, the weapon skill, Mighty Shot, can deal some serious damage to enemies. In addition, you can change the Ash of War to something else if you would like.

Overall, the main issue with the Longbow is the same with most Bows – they take a while to ready an arrow and fire. This can leave you open to damage and might be a dealbreaker. The Samurai class starts with the Longbow, but it can also be purchased from the Twin Maiden Husks in the Roundtable Hold.

12 Greatbow

A staple of the Souls series, the Greatbow class of weapons is good for two things: range and damage. Now it definitely leaves speed to be desired and requires some strength to use, but it is really hard to argue with a massive bow that can potentially one-shot your enemies.

Similar to the Longbow, it can change its weapon skill with an Ash of War. One of the better choices for the Greatbow is the Rain of Arrow as it only uses one Great Arrow, but rains a large amount on enemies dealing high damage. The Greatbow can be looted from certain enemies that wield it, or be found at the Highway Lookout Tower on the Altus Plateau.

11 Composite Bow

The other category of bow, rather than regular Bows and Greatbows, is the Light Bow weapon class. They feature lower damage than the other two, but much faster attack speed that can actually make their damage output more comparable than would be expected.

The fast rate of fire of the Composite Bow lends itself well to many of the craftable arrows in Elden Ring that can poison, bleed, or even inflict sleep on opponents even if they are blocking. It can also be fired immediately after jumping, making for good surprise attacks against foes without having to nock an arrow.

10 Black Bow

There are many weapons that make their appearance in each Souls game, like the Moonlight Greatsword, though in Elden Ring the Moonveil is definitely the fan favorite for Intelligence weapons. The Black Bow , or the Black Bow of Pharis as it was known in Dark Souls, has the damage of a regular Bow combined with the speed of a Light Bow.

This makes for a powerful combo, and when combined with the Barrage weapon skill, this bow can be a monster at inflicting status effects. One potential downside is the bow requires 20 Dexterity to wield which could prevent some from using it.

9 Horn Bow

The Horn Bow is unique when compared to the previous bows so far in that it deals magic damage in addition to physical damage. This means that enemies that are weak to magic damage will take extra damage, and when combined with magic arrows, the Horn Bow is a force to be reckoned with.

This is especially true with guarding enemies as most shields in Elden Ring do not have 100 percent magic defense, so they will at least take some damage if they are hit while blocking. The Horn Bow can be found in the Siofra River area near the Hallowhorn Grounds underneath a staircase.

8 Arbalest

The crossbow class of weapons has also returned from Dark Souls, and with it, the Arbalest makes its appearance yet again. The main draw for the crossbow class of weapons is the fact that you load the bolt before firing, meaning that the ready time to aim and fire the weapon is fairly short when compared to Bows.

Though it does feature decent damage, the main issue with the Arbalest, and most crossbows in Elden RIng, is the fact that they do not scale with any stats and cannot be imbued with scaling. Nevertheless, they can be useful offhand weapons.

7 Pulley Crossbow

The Pulley Crossbow features lower actual damage than the Arbalest, but in reality, when combined with bleed bolts or the status effect of your choice, the Pulley Crossbow's very high rate of fire makes it much more powerful.

When combined with an Arcane build, the Crossbow becomes quite viable since Bleed scales with Arcane. Another potential downside to the Pulley Crossbow is that it will chew through ammo very quickly, but this can be alleviated by investing in the crafting system present in Elden Ring. The Pulley Crossbow can be found near the Craftsman's Shack site of grace.

6 Pulley Bow

The complementary bow to the Pulley Crossbow, the Pulley Bow is basically the exact opposite weapon. Instead of a high fire rate, the Pulley bow features a normal Bow speed, which is pretty slow, and higher damage to compensate. It scales with Strength and Dexterity as well, which means it is more viable in the long game than the Crossbows in Elden Ring.

The main reason you would want to use the Pulley Bow, however, is because the arrows it fires travel extra far. This makes for a good Bow for any potential snipers in Elden Ring. The bow can be found near the Gelmir Hero's Grave site of grace on top of a massive siege tower.

5 Jar Cannon

The Jar Cannon belongs to the new Ballista class of weapons. These are the crossbow's version of greatbows in Elden Ring. Unfortunately, they also lack scaling like regular crossbows, but the damage they can inflict is pretty serious.

It also shares its explosive shots when combined with Explosive Greatbolts which are great for hitting enemies from afar or even through walls. The Jar cannon is dropped by the boss at the end of Volcano Cave.

4 Igon's Greatbow

Igon's Greatbow is a fantastic weapon that pays homage to the Drake Hunter himself, boasting the aptly named Igon's Drake Hunt Weapon Art. The Strength scaling maxes out at C, but the Weapon Art is where you'll see the most damage.

This weapon is only available in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and can be acquired by defeating Igon on the east side of the Gravesite Plain, or defeating Bayle the Dread and completing Igon's quest.

3 Lion's Greatbow

One of the two things you can create out of Starscourge Radahn's Remembrance, the Lion Greatbow is an extremely powerful long-range weapon. And when combined with his Radahn's Spear Greatarrows, this Greatbow quickly becomes the most powerful ranged weapon in Elden Ring.

With the high damage of the skill combined with regular attack damage, it is definitely a good option for a main weapon if you want to go the path of the archer.

2 Lightning Perfume Bottle

The Lightning Perfume Bottle is one of the best new weapons added in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, along with other elemental Perfume variants. Their major weaknesses are their relatively short range and slow-moving mist, but they provide incredible damage.

Despite the changes to the way the perfume mist works, these are still excellent against large bosses like Romina, Saint of the Bud, though they don't deal significant poise damage, so pick your spots carefully. Loot it from a pool protected by a Lightning Ram in the Cerulean Coast (northeast of the Site of Grace of the same name).

1 Rabbath's Cannon

Rabbath's Cannon takes the Ballista weapon class to the next level, boasting tracking bolts that hone in on your enemies.

This Ballista does split Physical and Magic damage, as it is imbued with Glintstone magic. Considering you can loot this weapon at the top of Rabbath's Rise after you complete the Spiritispring puzzle, its thematic brilliance is only matched by the satisfaction of landing a shot with Elden Ring's best ranged weapon.