![[Top 5] Elden Ring Best Bow Builds that are Powerful Best bow builds Elden Ring](/sites/default/files/styles/responsive_image_600xauto/public/2024-07/horn-bow-article-image-extra.jpg?itok=7RyV8013)
The Way of the Bow
The Archer has been an icon of fantasy and medieval imagery since as far back in history as we can remember. Most of us grew up on tales of Robin Hood but the legends of great archers go back to the gods themselves. So it's fitting that just about every fantasy game has an archery option.
Archery options are a dominant play style for just about any gamer that plays a shooter game of any kind too, so when you get players that are trying to cross over, it makes for one of the easiest styles to transition between gaming styles with.
That's not the only thing that makes a bow good though, since it's also one of the ideal playstyles for the grind players. I include myself in this because I enjoy a sense of grind in any of my games to give me time to really hone my skills for it. It might just be that I like to over-prepare, but when it comes to archery, this build is probably one of the best not just for exploring, but also honing your skills on the path to build the levels that you need to perfect your play style.
The Art of Playing a Ranger
Being a Ranger is not an easy task at all. The best builds to start out end up being the Bandit or the Samurai because both give you starting bows and points in Dexterity with some Arcane too. The Hero is also an alright option for players that are looking to get the blue cloth armor early so they don't have to worry about hunting for a staple armor set later or if they want to transition.
The rest of range really comes down to knowing your playstyle and having the patience to get your resources. Since there are a lot of needed items for crafting, or a lot of specific arrows that are needed, players are going to need to know all the best spots in the game to get their resources. They also need a ready supply of arrows to buy which means exploring the map to find your merchants or get your bell bearings to give to the twins at the Roundtable Hold.
Archery is a precision skill so it makes great use of the target ability in the game, but it also has the option to target manually if the player is dealing with tricky moving opponents. Either way the player can stay at range, and they can control the field of the battle.
Rankings the Top 5
5. Serpent Sniper
The Venomous Sharpshot
The Serpent Sniper is the poison build for the bow. I had a lot of options for how to pick out a top five, and there were some pretty hefty greatbow and holy archer builds out there. The Serpent bow makes the list because it's meant to alternate the max amount of damage in status while keeping tough enemies at range to avoid getting hit.
There is a lot of focus on the ability to trigger scarlet rot and poison in this build but both skills can be kind of a slow burn, especially against bosses. So this build is also good for making sure that while the poison is being dealt, there is also some other kind of damage going on. It plays very much like a rogue in a lot of ways, trying to wear the enemy down until you can go in for the kill.
What makes it good and why it's fun
- The Serpent Sniper is good just because it deals in two types of status damage, Poison and Scarlet Rot. Both are kind of a slow burn ability on their own, but they both take chunks of damage out and they can be triggered repeatedly and pretty fast in any poisoner build.
- Poison is good against a lot of early enemies and can be used for wearing down some tougher opponents. Scarlet Rot is just good against almost any enemy in general and acts like a much more aggressive poison status. Together they can usually take out any enemy, and they can be used very tactically by a sniper.
- The problem with poison is the fact that it is a slow burn status effect. Against bigger tougher enemies in the later game they have a lot of resistance to it which is why the scarlet rot makes it better. But any slow effect will suffer in the late game. The big reason why I chose poison over another popular build, the Golden Eye Archer, is just because holy damage is pretty much useless against bosses in the late game since those bosses are immune to holy damage.
Gear Loadout
Primary Weapons:
Serpent Bow
- Physical (75), Poison Buildup (15)
- Requires 8 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 11 Arcane
The Serpent Bow is just the choice for any build that does poison damage for a ranged option. It has the fun ability that it adds 15 poison to any arrow that it shoots. Since you're combining that with ammunition like the Serpent Arrow, you can keep poison going pretty much the whole fight.
Secondary Weapons:
Black Bow
- Physical (70)
- Requires: 9 Strength, 20 Dexterity
Black bow is good in this build for the reason that it's good in almost every bow build. Having barrage and the handling of a light bow on a normal bow just makes this bow solid, especially in a build that requires status ailments.
Poisoned Nagakiba with Poison Moth Flight Ash of War
- Physical (115), Blood Loss Buildup (45)
- Requires: 18 Strength, 22 Dexterity
The Player can also use Serpentbone Blade but that weapon is more of a weapon for the Samurai build. Poison Moth Flight is a great Ash of War that gives the player an extra poison buildup option, but it also keeps enemies more at range for an archer that has light defenses.
Dragon Communion Seal
- Requires: 10 Faith
There are plenty of good seals that can be used but the Dragon Communion Seal has no weight to it, only requires 10 faith, and has some of the best scaling for a seal in the game. If that isn't enough, It also boosts Dragon Communion Incantation spells by 15% which means spells like Ekzykes's Decay and Rotten Breath are both on the table as an extra offense option at closer range. Breath attacks also let this build add another layer of damage to speed up the poison a little bit more.
Poison Pots:
Poison Pots act like little poison grenades for the build and give a higher chance of causing poison status if they're used well.
Ammunition:
Serpent Arrow
- Physical (30), Poison Buildup (78)
The Serpent arrow is the best arrow for the poison archer because it has the best poison buildup and the best physical damage option for any arrow that can be used.
Poisonbone Arrow
- Physical (25), Poison Buildup (60)
Poisonbone Arrows are the craftable poison arrow but they serve just fine for the majority of the
Rotbone Arrow
- Physical (25), Scarlet Rot Buildup (60)
Rotbone arrows are a good backup on the poison build because scarlet rot and poison are basically the same status effects under different names. But that means you can trigger both to do some serious damage.
Armor and Essentials:
Helms:
- Mushroom Crown- This helm raises attack power whenever something nearby suffers from poison or scarlet rot including the player.
Armor:
- Mushroom Body- This piece doesn't increase attack power but it does increase resistance and immunity some which is a good thing to deal with scarlet rot issues.
Gloves:
- Mushroom Arms- this piece goes with the poison mushroom aesthetic and is good for resistance and immunity against poison and rot.
Boots:
- Mushroom Legs- This piece is part of the poison mushroom set and boosts resistance and immunity against poison or rot effects.
Talismans:
- Kindred of Rots Exultation- This talisman increases attack by 20% for 20 seconds whenever poisoning or rot is triggered nearby.
- Arrow's Reach Talisman – This increases the range of bow and some other ranged attacks by 65%.
- Arrow's Sting Talisman- Raises the attack power of arrows and bolts by 10%
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia- Raises the attack power of successive attacks by up to 13%
- Shard of Alexander- Boosts attack power of skills by 15%
Spells, Ashes of War, and Spirit Ashes
- Ash of War: Poison Moth Flight- This is a ranged ash of war that delivers poison damage to an enemy at range.
- Poison Mist- If you're casting spells, or not using this as a backup to poison moth flight, this is a good way to poison your enemy.
- Any Tanky Spirit Ash- Your Spirit Ash for this build, if you use one at all, is meant to be your front line to distract enemies while you rain in poison arrows. “Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to make.” Rip my pumpkinhead.
Stat requirements:
- 50 Vigor
- 25-35 Mind
- 40-50 Endurance
- 18-25 Strength
- 80 Dexterity
- 18-25 Intelligence
- 35-50 Faith
- 25-40 Arcane
Build Credits and Further inspirations:
Serpent Archer by Emerald Wolf:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX2j9t0aQAo&t=15sSerpentbone Samurai by Fextralife:
http://fextralife.com/elden-ring-serpentbone-blade-build-guide-serpent-samurai/
4. Magical Bullseye build
The Magic Marksman
The Magic Marksman is usually a beginner build for most players who follow a lot of the popular online builds, but it can get hard to use in the middle game. Even with that problem, once the player gets into NG+ and starts focusing on a high stat build, the Magic Marksman can become one of the best archer builds in the game.
The Magic Marksman build focuses on dealing the maximum amount of damage in magic damage to an enemy. There is a lot of ranged use of Terra Magica to hit targets for high amounts of damage (upwards of 2k according to one Fextralife article) but the build also has a fun hybrid that it picks up later when it gets into frost damage.
Coldbone Arrows and Spiritflame Arrows both deal magic damage and frost buildup which can trigger frostbite. This takes a good chunk out of the enemy health bar then greatly weakens them to all types of damage. If the archer can trigger Frostbite, then there's more than enough damage in the Dwelling Arrows and other spells used to take apart almost any enemy.
The Magic Marksman also uses other spells to debuff enemies at the higher intelligence levels where they can use spells like Renala's Full Moon and Ranni's Dark Moon. These work as ranged spells that weaken the enemy even more to magic damage and make it even easier to follow up with high crit attacks.
What makes it good and why it's fun
- Magic is one of those elemental damages that is good in just about every situation. There are some with resistance to it but overall it works pretty well not just for PvE, but PvP as well.
- Magic is one of the only ammo types that really comes with more than enough ammo for anything. There are four types of arrows that do magic damage instead of the usual two, and even though coldbone arrows have barely any magic damage, they do still deal magic damage. The only other bow build with more potential ammunition is the Black Bowman and that build doesn't power up its ammo the same way the Horn Bow does.
- Magic is also one of those builds that comes with plenty of ways to power up and weaken enemies at the same time. Terra Magica is a magic booster, but Ranni's Dark Moon debuffs enemies with magic. So the build comes with plenty in it to take care of the tougher opponents.
- The spellblade build is pretty much solid as it is, but because there's plenty of ranged spells with different values like Gravity or Thorn Sorcery, there's plenty of ways to customize this build to make it work the best way for your style of play.
Gear Loadout
Primary Weapons:
Horn Bow
- Physical (65), Magic (30)
- Requires: 10 Strength, 14 Dexterity, 12 Intelligence
The Horn Bow is the bread and butter weapon for the Magic Marksman because it deals its own magic damage. Magic damage on its own is one of the skills that can be buffed up the most of any type of elemental damage next to fire. The Horn Bow is one of the reasons that the Magic Marksman makes the list, because it's also one of the best bows in Elden Ring in attack power and diversity.
It has the skill magic shot on its own, but it can also have any ash of war added to the weapon to give it skills like Rain of Arrows or Enchanted Shot. All of them have their perks, but since the Horn bow always adds extra magical damage to the build, it just makes it that much better.
Secondary Weapons:
Azur Glintstone Staff
- Requires: 10 Strength, 52 Intelligence
Azur Glintstone Staff is one of the best staffs in the game and it also reduces casting time in sorceries. Some of the sorceries and skills for this build can take a bit of time so anything that reduces the casting time is great. It does consume 20% more fp for casting but Carian Filigreed Crest cancels this out and the player can always put a little bit of extra into their Mind stats, or carry extra cerulean flasks.
Albinauric Bow
- Physical (82)
- Requires 7 Strength, 18 Dexterity
The Albinauric and the Black Bow are basically interchangeable based on whatever the player wants to do with their bow alternate. The Albinauric bow has the highest base longbow damage in the game and it can be infused with the Rain of Arrows ash of war for handling larger enemies.
Black Bow
- Physical (70)
- Requires: 9 Strength, 20 Dexterity
The Black Bow is used in this build for the fact that it has Barrage and the player can just pump a bunch of arrows into their target at closer range. This is great if you're using Spiritflame and Coldbone arrows because it gets the frostbite to trigger. It also helps to rain in damage once the enemy is weakened or gotten too close for other slower abilities like Mighty Shot.
Carian Knight's Shield
- Requires 10 Strength, 10 Dexterity, 15 Intelligence.
The Carian Knight's Shield is a fun shield because it has no skill, has 63 Physical and 63 Magic damage with high Magic damage negation of 71 too. The shield also scales well with strength and intelligence, and has no skill which means it won't override any bow in the other hand's special abilities. It can be a really useful backup peace if the player uses the Horn Bow and an alternate bow in the main hand and the shield and the staff in the secondary hand
Ammunition:
Spiritflame Arrows
- 30 Physical, 40 Magic, 65 Frost Buildup
Spiritflame arrows are big on the list because they do frost buildup and magic damage at the same time. They don't pack quite as much punch for magic damage but they work as a great all purpose arrow and can be swapped with dwelling arrows for more damage after frostbite is applied to an enemy.
Dwelling Arrows
- 15 Physical, 95 Magic
Dwelling Arrows do the most magical damage when paired with this bow. They can be farmed pretty easily from ancestral followers, or you can buy them from the imprisoned merchant in the Moghwyn Dynasty Mausoleum. He also drops a bell bearing that lets you buy infinite dwelling arrows at the Roundtable Hold.
Magicbone Arrows:
- 10 Physical, 90 magic
Magicbone arrows are the craftable magic arrows for this build. They don't hit quite as hard as Dwelling arrows, but they can also be crafted which means the player can carry as many as they can reasonably craft for a dungeon crawl. I use them to save my best arrows for the more annoying enemies.
Coldbone Arrows
- 25 Physical, 10 Magic, 60 Frost buildup
Coldbone arrows are the craftable version of spiritflame arrows for this build but they're also probably the weakest arrows to use. They can still come in handy for prolonged fights or if you're saving your better arrows for tougher enemies.
Armor and Essentials
Helms:
- Spellblade's Travelling Hat-Spellblade's Travelling Hat gives a 2% boost to magic and frost damage. With the entire spellblade set equipped it generates a 10% increase to magic and frost.
- Snow Witch Hat- Increases the power of cold sorceries by 10%, including spells like Ranni's Dark Moon and Zamor Ice Storm
Armor:
- Spellblade's Traveling Attire- gives a 2% boost to magic and frost damage
Gloves:
- Spellblade's Gloves- gives a 2% boost to magic and frost damage
Boots:
- Spellblade's Trousers- Gives a 2% boost to magic and frost damage
Talismans:
- Arrow's Reach Talisman- This increases the range of bow and some other ranged attacks by 65%.
- Arrow's Sting Talisman- Raises the attack power of arrows and bolts by 10%
- Magic Scorpion Charm- increases magic damage by 15%
- Radagon Icon- Shortens the casting time of spells by adding an extra 30 dexterity to casting speed.
Spells, Ashes of War, and Spirit Ashes:
- Terra Magica- Creates a zone that increases all magical damage by 35% for 30 seconds.
- Carian Glintblade Phalanx- This spell creates nine glintstone swords that float around the caster. It serves as a good counter defense to enemies who get too close.
- Ranni's Dark Moon- Fires a swirling dark moon at the enemy and applies frostbite to an opponent and a magic debuff. It can apply up to 32% damage negation on an enemy for 60 seconds.
- Loretta's Greatbow- Creates a charged magical greatbow that fires a powerful shot at the enemy.
- Loretta's Mastery- Creates a magical charged greatbow that fires four shots at the same time.
Stat requirements:
- 35-50 Vigor
- 25-40 Mind
- 35-50 Endurance
- 18-30 Strength
- 65-80 Dexterity
- 65-80 Intelligence
- 18-25 Faith
- 14-28 Arcane
Build Credits and Further inspirations:
Magic Marksman by Fextralife:
http://fextralife.com/elden-ring-horn-bow-build-guide-magic-archer/
Glinstone Archer by Everyday Engineer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRKNwKL9ZzU&t=66s
3. Black Bowman Build
The Swiss Army Ranger
The Black Bowman is a build that focuses on putting the most power into every shot. At longer range it can use bows like the Pulley Bow or the Albinauric bow to deal maximum damage. Up close it uses the Black Bow to barrage the enemy with nonstop shots until they fall. It gets the most out of being a pure physical damage type build, but it also can make use of any elemental arrows and some status arrows making it the most diverse build of the whole list.
What makes it good and why it's fun
- If there is an enemy, there is an arrow for it for this build. Holy, Bleed, Magic, Lightning, Fire, Frost, you name it, this build is made to deal damage with it. It may not be as hard hitting as the dedicated builds but it is definitely one of the most diverse and ready options for the player.
- Players run into issues with bosses later in the game that are immune or resistant to almost everything. I'm thinking of the Elden Beast when I say that, because the Elden Beast isn't just resistant to everything, it seems to benefit from holy damage. So physical damage is the best way to go for a lot of scenarios and none of the other builds hit quite as hard as the Black Bowman for that.
- The Black Bow is already well known for the fact that it is the only normal bow that handles like a light bow. That makes it fast, tough, and easy to use where other normal bows slow you down to a walk or a stand still just to get a shot off. It's a fast way to die if you're trying to fight an aggressive enemy. The Black Bow uses barrage and handles jumping and moving pretty easily while still giving you that light bow feel.
Gear Loadout:
Primary Weapons:
Black Bow
- Physical (70)
- Requirements 9 Strength 20 Dexterity
The Black Bow is the star of this build because it handles like a short bow, hits like a longbow, and uses barrage which can whittle away an enemy life bar fast. It's the universal backup bow in a lot of builds for this very reason but the Black Bowman is a multipurpose build that uses how universal this bow is to handle any situation.
Secondary Weapons:
Redbranch Bow
- Physical (65)
- Requirements: 8 Strength, 16 Dexterity
This is for horseback because this build will use riding Torrent to face down a lot of enemies.Usually I like the Misbegotten Shortbow for it's straight damage, but the Redbranch Shortbow scales a little better with dexterity, has a slightly longer range, and weighs just a little bit less which keeps this build lighter.
Albinauric Bow
- Physical (82)
- Requirements: 7 Physical, 18 Dexterity
The Albuinauric Bow has the highest base damage bow in the game, and it can be enchanted with ashes of war, which means the player can give it special skills. Black Bowman is mostly a physical damage bow so it's good to leave it either as a mighty shot or enchanted shot if you want an arrow that can track its targets somewhat. With the Stormwing Bone Arrows extra range and damage this gives the player a sniper option to pick off a lot of targets at range before they get too close.
Dragon Communion Seal
Normally I would suggest the Giant's Seal to boost flame magic, but it doesn't actually boost Flame, Grant Me Strength any because the spell does no damage. At that point I just say use the easiest seal that you can get early and doesn't have weight. So that's the Dragon Comunion Seal
Ammunition:
Stormwing Bone Arrow
- Physical (55), Poise (5)
Stormwing bone arrows are just the best physical damage arrows for any of the light bows and bows. They do 10 more damage than normal arrows, they do 150% more poise damage than normal arrows and they create a small gust of wind that can knock lesser enemies away in the early game. Since they also fly 10% farther, these make for the all around better arrow.
Spiritflame/ Coldbone Arrow
- Physical (25/30), Magic (10/45), Frost Buildup (60/65
These arrows are good because of the fact that they cause frostbite which makes all the other arrows hit that much harder. A little extra put into arcane helps out using these if they're going to be a staple, but they do the trick pretty well.
Lightningbone Arrow
- Physical (10), Lightning (90)
Lightning damage is just one of the less guarded against damages out there and it's good. Since this bow draws a lot from the same ideas as the supreme samurai build in being a swiss army knife build, these make a good staple next to the basic physical damage of the stormwing bone arrows.
Firebone/Fire Arrows
- Physical (10/15), Fire (90/95)
Fire damage is another staple in builds like this and fire arrows get an extra boost from Flame, Grant Me Strength. This makes them one of the hardest hitting arrows whenever that spell is active.
Haligbone/Golden Arrow
- Physical (10/15), Holy (90/95)
Holy damage is another elemental damage that can get a buff up from this build. There are a lot of enemies in the late game that are strong or immune to holy damage which makes them a less common feature, but they're great for undead dungeons and parts of the map with a lot of skeletons.
Armor and Essentials:
Helms:
- White Mask
- Mask of Confidence
Armor:
- Blue Cloth Vest- This armor has the best poise of any of the armors under 10lbs for its weight. It's a bit heavy for blue dancer charm, but it does give 16 poise which is great for an archer
- Battlemage Robe- This armor gives 10 poise for 4lbs which makes it just about the lightest armor with some defense while still offering good poise. The low weight also makes it good for meeting the blue dancer charm requirements easier.
Gloves:
- Blue Silver Bracelets- These only weigh 2 lbs but give decent stats. Really any glove under 3lbs is okay but under 2 lbs is ideal for this build. Gloves just give a little extra defense
Boots:
- Godskin Apostle Trousers- These offer a decent poise to weight ratio for this build, but also have some defenses. The ideal weight is under 5lbs for this set but if you can get it under 3 you're in good shape and these legs do just that without giving up too much in poise
Talismans:
- Old Lord's Talisman- Old Lord's Talisman increases the duration of cast spells and abilities.
- Arrow's Reach Talisman- This increases the range of bow and some other ranged attacks by 65%.
- Arrow's Sting Talisman- Raises the attack power of arrows and bolts by 10%
- Blue Dancer Charm- This charm increases damage dealt based on how light the player is. This charm loses all use if the player weighs more than 32, and it is best to keep the total weight under 16.
Spells for the loadout:
- Golden Vow- Boosts physical damage by 15% and defense by 10% for 90 seconds
- Flame, Grant Me Strength- Boosts physical and fire damage by 20% for 30 seconds
Stat requirements:
- 50-65 Vigor
- 35-40 Mind
- 50 Endurance
- 18-25 Strength
- 65-80 Dexterity
- 12-25 Intelligence
- 45-50 Faith
- 18-35 Arcane
Build Credits and Further inspirations:
Black Bow build by Fextralife:
http://fextralife.com/elden-ring-barrage-bow-build-guide-black-arrow/
2. Bloody Bowman
The Bloodiest Bow
The Bloody Bowman is a build that makes use of the Hemorrhage skill by maxing out the Dexterity and the Arcane trigger bleed as fast and as often as possible. Since the skill takes large chunks out of the health bar when it triggers, getting it to go off early in the fight while dealing as much physical damage as possible at the same time makes this one of the stronger bow builds out there for just about every occasion.
What makes it good and why it's fun
- There are a lot of good spellsword builds out of there and Archers don't get left off the list at all. Since thorn sorceries take HP, they're on the expensive side but most archery builds require a vigor of about 50 at higher levels so it works out to make a very bloody spell ranger for this.
- Bleed and physical damage are some of the most consistent damages out there and they do a pretty number on a lot of the bosses too. Since it can be used pretty much all game, you don't run into having to change up your build like you need to do for holy archers in the late game. Bleed is also a universal status effect so it doesn't require a bunch of different ammunition for different situations like the Black Bowman does.
- Bleed isn't infallible so there are enemies strong against it or that just don't bleed in general. Since bleed is a skill that requires getting blood triggers off to make it good, if this build isn't good against it, the player may struggle a little bit more.
- Bleed does come with a bunch of hybrid options. The staff of guilty doesn't just do thorn sorceries, so there's plenty of glintstone options. And there's also the Rivers of Blood Katana which is a fast way to deal a lot of damage to the enemy with the Corpse Piler skill.
Gear Loadout
Primary Weapons:
Black Bow
- Physical (70)
- Requires: 9 Strength, 20 Dexterity
The Black bow is good because of the fact that it has the barrage skill on it but it hits like a normal bow. One of the weaker normal bows, sure, but it still hits harder than a light bow does. It also has the barrage skill which means that at a maxed out arcane and dexterity, this build triggers bleed fast, and often.
Secondary Weapons:
Albinauric Bow
- Physical (82)
- Requires 7 Strength, 18 Dexterity
The Albinauric bow is great because it's a normal bow with really high damage that can be customized. It's the hardest hitting long bow and it can be given the ability rain of arrows which makes it great for triggering bleed on larger targets at long range.
Staff of the Guilty
- Sorcery Scaling 127, Blood Buildup 45
- Requires 8 Strength, 12 Faith
The Staff of the Guilty boosts all thorn sorceries by 20% which is boosted even more by the Alberich set. It also scales well with which is already high in this build, and has no skill, which means it doesn't get in the way of the special skill for the black bow.
Rivers of Blood
- Physical 76, Fire 76, Bloodloss Buildup 50
- Requires 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, 20 Arcane
The Rivers of Blood katana is just the best melee weapon in the build for any bleed build and any lighter weight build. It has the special ability corpse piler which triggers blood loss and fire damage.
Ammunition:
Bloodbone Arrow
- Physical 25, Blood Loss Buildup 55
Bloodbone arrows are the staple for this build since they're the only real blood arrows in the player arsenal. Other arrows can have blood bowstring grease used on them for some bleed but these have it built in.
Rotbone Arrow
- Physical 25, Scarlet Rot Buildup 50
Rot is another status that benefits from a high arcane so it's good to throw in for a backup to the bleed in this build. Rot is a dangerous weapon up close though since it hits everyone equally, so be careful about getting too close if you're trying to get bleed and rot at the same time.
Fire Arrow
- Physical 15, Fire 95
Fire and bleed are two stats that go together and that's no different in this build. Since this build also can always add in spells like Flame, Grant me Strength and Golden Vow, having fire arrows never hurts.
Armor and Essentials:
Helms:
- White Mask- This mask increases players attack power by 10% for 20 seconds when bleed triggers on an enemy
Armor:
- Alberich's Robe- Strengthens thorn sorceries by 6%
Gloves:
- Alberich's Bracers- Strengthens thorn sorceries by 6%
Boots:
- Alberich's Trousers-strengthens thorn sorceries by 6%
Talismans:
- Lord of Blood's Exultation- increases attack power by 20% for 20 seconds when blood loss occurs.
- Arrow's Reach Talisman- This increases the range of bow and some other ranged attacks by 65%.
- Arrow's Sting Talisman- Raises the attack power of arrows and bolts by 10%
- Blue Dancer Charm- increases damage dealt when under a certain weight. The Alberich set weighs under 10 lbs, which makes it one of the better sets for getting the blue dancer charm to trigger
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia- increases damage by up to 13% on successive attacks on an
- enemy.
- Kindred of Rot's Exultation- raises attack power by 20% for 20 seconds when scarlet rot or poisoning occurs
Spells for the loadout:
- Seppuku- Seppuku is a skill that takes a portion of the player's HP to massively boost their attack for a time. It's used in one shot builds as well, but it also has the benefit of triggering Lord of Blood's Exultation, and White Mask at the same time which makes it a great start of battle spell.
- Briars of Punishment- Creates a trail of blood thorns that deal magic damage and 72 blood loss buildup.
- Briars of Sin- Builds up a wall of bloody thorns around the enemy that deal magic damage and inflict 95 blood loss buildup on enemies that they hit.
Stat requirements:
- 50-65 Vigor
- 18-25 Mind
- 25-40 Endurance
- 35-50 Strength
- 65-80 Dexterity
- 16-46 Intelligence
- 45 Faith
- 65-80 Arcane
Build Credits and Further inspirations:
Bloody Bowman build by Fextralife:
http://fextralife.com/elden-ring-black-bow-build-guide-bloody-bowman/
1. Lion's 1-H-K build
Pride of the Lion
The Lion 1-H-K bow does what its name implies at the height of its abilities. It deals pure damage and takes out an opponent in one hit. Some demonstrations online show players doing this to Radahn himself, while others show the player tanking a montage of bosses using greatbow power.
The build is mostly a greatbow sniper build and the player really isn't meant to get that close to an enemy at any given time. It also makes use of the seppuku skill to trigger blood loss to spike the player's damage output which can get triggered multiple times depending on how good the player is at Radahn's Rain.
What makes it good and why it's fun
- This build is meant to be one of the absolute hardest hitting archery builds in the game. The main goal is to pump yourself up to the max and then unleash a devastating shot that can bring down even demigods like Radahn.
- One of the great things about this build is that it's literally made for itself. The starscourge gives us a lot of great weapons like Lion's Greatbow and Radahn's Spears which work together and are meant to do so. So everything in this build is made to go together and it just works well.
- There are greatbow demonstrations that can be found of a player wiping out general Radahn in just one shot, but even maxing out the best of builds, that may not always be possible. This build is still a great place to start because it packs in a bunch of damage including its own greatbow version of Rain of Arrows
- Even though this build is dubbed a '1-H-K' that can still be hard to pull off sometimes. This build opens up really well to have a backup option as a berserker and with weapons like Morgott's Cursed Sword or Bloodhound Fang it's easy to go in for bleed damage up close or to try and get away to stagger an opponent and use another heavy arrow shot to try and bring them down.
Gear Loadout
Primary Weapons:
Lions Greatbow
- Physical 120
- Require: 22 Strength, 18 Dexterity
Lion's Greatbow is the lightest weight greatbow which makes it great for doubling up to use as a hybrid into a berserker build. But it also has the benefit of boosting the Radahn's Spear ammo damage by 20%, and stacking with the abilities of the offhand bow.
Secondary Weapons:
Lion's Greatbow- the player can actually equip two to stack the buffs.
• Physical 120
• Require: 22 Strength, 18 Dexterity
It's possible to get two Lion's Greatbows pretty easily so they can be used to stack for a NG+ build that adds 40% damage to each spear. That with Radahn's Rain can be enough to wipe most enemies off the map in just one hit with the right buffs included.
Golem Greatbow
- Physical 130
- Requires: 24 Strength, 18 Dexterity
If you don't have the backup Lion's Greatbow, the Golem Greatbow is a great backup for this build since it hits a little harder than the lion's greatbow.
Morgott's Cursed Sword
- Requires: 14 Strength, 35 Dexterity, 17 Arcane
An aggressive backup option that can capitalize on the blood loss abilities and works as one of the best dual wield weapons for a berserker or heavy bowman build
Dismounter
- Requires 19 Strength, 16 Dexterity
The dismounter is the blade I chose to give the seppuku skill to. It buffs the player and has a good amount of damage for what it is, and doesn't weigh too much to make the build a little bit lighter. They're easy to farm from any of the Kaiden warriors early in the game as well.
Erdtree Seal
Requires: 40 Faith
The Erdtree Seal is just a good seal to use and it's great for spells like Golden Vow. The only downside is the high faith cost, but for a build like this that can benefit from healing help, that's not really a bad thing.
Ammunition:
Radahn's Spear
- Physical 100
Radahn's Spear is the fastest arrow in the game when it is fired, and it is also one of the strongest. It gets an added advantage of up to 40% stacked damage increase from Lion's Greatbows, and even more if it is used against a gravity enemy. There are plenty of gravity enemies and gravity bosses in the later parts of the game, so this is a good thing.
Golem Great Arrow
- Physical 105
Golem Great Arrows are one of the most powerful damage shots in the game and can get a boost off of anything that buffs up straight damage like Golden Vow and Flame, Grant me strength. These can be used when the player is trying to save their Radahn Spears for some reason.
Golem Magic Arrow
- Physical 40, Magic 125
Golem Magic Arrows do some of the most damage in the game and if the player really wants to, they can make this build a hybrid. If they don't, Golem Magic Arrows grant a mild passive buff when they're in one of the arrow slots to buff up Radahn's Spears even more.
Armor and Essentials:
Helms:
- White Mask- Raises attack power by 10% when blood loss occurs nearby.
Armor:
- Royal Remains Armor- increases health 2hp per second when health is reduced
Gloves:
- Royal Remains Gauntlets- Increases health by 2hp per second when health is reduced
Boots:
- Royal Remains Greaves- Increases health by 2hp per second when health is reduced
Talismans:
- Lord of Blood's Exultation- Increases attack power by 20% when blood loss occurs nearby.
- Arrow's Reach Talisman- This increases the range of bow and some other ranged attacks by 65%.
- Arrow's Sting Talisman- Raises the attack power of arrows and bolts by 10%
- Rotten Sword Insignia- used for Radahn's Rain on bigger targets and boosts successive hits by up to 13%
- Shard of Alexander- Increases damage of abilities by 15% which further boosts skills like Through-and-Through or Radahn's Rain
- Godskin Swaddling Cloth- Successive attacks restore HP which triggers easily with Radahn's Rain.
Spells for the loadout:
- Golden Vow- Increases damage by 15% and damage negation by 10% for 80 seconds
- Flame Grant Me Strength- Increases physical and fire damage by 20% for 30 seconds
- Ash of War: Seppuku- This skill boosts blood affinity for 60 seconds and triggers the lord of bloods exultation talisman, and white mask helm
- Blessing's Boon- This is a healing spell that helps heal the player after using blood triggers to boost damage.
Stat requirements:
- 50 Vigor
- 25-40 Mind
- 35-50 Endurance
- 65-80 Strength
- 65-80 Dexterity
- 22-30 Intelligence
- 45-50 Faith
- 22-35 Arcane
Build Credits and Further inspirations:
Greatbow build by ChaseTheBro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-vBBaLn4B0
Radahn Kill Demonstration by AA_Cc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fBe2EC990I
Lion’s Greatbow build by RageGamingVideos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kpklPboypI
Shoot the Bullseye with the Best Bow for You
Archery is probably one of the most time consuming builds in the entire game because it requires a lot of resource farming and in a lot of places it requires maxing out the caps on some skills just to keep up with more aggressive physical builds. You're going to use a lot of arrows, plain and simple. But there's something satisfying about playing an archer and getting that great headshot. Elden Ring did its fair share in giving us an archery build that we can be proud of, and with the right rig, anyone can snipe out a place on the Elden Throne.