Bow is the faster of two Bowman weapons, alongside the crossbow. Bows are always 2-handed, require arrows equipped in the off-hand slot to fire effectively, and scale damage with DEX in the ranged damage formula. The corresponding Bow Mastery skill is learned by the Hunter sub-job at second job.
Bows fire faster and with a smoother attack rhythm than crossbows, at the cost of slightly lower per-shot damage. The classic-era trade-off between bow and crossbow is similar to the 1-handed vs 2-handed decision for warriors: same total throughput, different feel and skill compatibility.
What a bow does
- Fires arrows at long range. Bowman attacks are screen-spanning; few monsters can close the distance before being hit.
- Scales damage on DEX. The ranged damage formula uses DEX as the dominant multiplier; STR contributes a small secondary amount.
- Requires arrows. Each shot consumes one arrow from the off-hand slot. Higher-tier arrows grant bonus attack. Running out of arrows reduces the bow to a weak melee swing.
- Hunter skill access. Bow-specific Hunter actives require a bow in hand.
Used by
Both bowman sub-jobs (Hunter and Crossbowman) can equip bows, but only the Hunter branch's Bow Mastery skill provides the per-type mastery bonus, and most bow-specific actives are Hunter-only. A Bowman planning a bow-based build should advance to Hunter at second job.
Beginner characters can equip basic-tier bows without restriction, though without bow skills the damage is poor and arrow consumption is wasteful.
Bow vs crossbow
Hunters wield bows; Crossbowmen wield crossbows. The two weapons are mechanically symmetric (same range, same DEX scaling, same general role) but each sub-job's actives only work with the matching weapon type. The choice is effectively made at second-job advancement rather than weapon-by-weapon at any later point.
List of bows
Every bow tracked on the wiki, sorted by required level ascending then weapon attack descending. Click any column header to re-sort.
| Lv | Item | Job | Atk speed | WA | STR | CRIT | CRIT DMG | Slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 |  War Bow
|
Bowman | Normal | 30 | 7 | |||
| 10 |  Beginner's War Bow
|
Bowman | Normal | 29 | 7 | |||
| 15 |  Composite Bow
|
Bowman | Normal | 35 | 7 | |||
| 20 |  Hunter's Bow
|
Bowman | Normal | 42 | 7 | |||
| 25 |  Battle Bow
|
Bowman | Fast | 44 | 7 | |||
| 30 |  Ryden
|
Bowman | Normal | 50 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 35 |  Red Viper
|
Bowman | Fast | 52 | 7 | |||
| 40 |  Vaulter 2000
|
Bowman | Normal | 60 | 7 | |||
| 50 |  Olympus
|
Bowman | Normal | 70 | 7 | |||
| 60 |  Asianic Bow
|
Bowman | Normal | 80 | 7 | |||
| 70 |  Red Hinkel
|
Bowman | Normal | 90 | 7 | |||
| 70 |  Blue Hinkel
|
Bowman | Normal | 88 | 2% | 7 | ||
| 70 |  Golden Hinkel
|
Bowman | Normal | 88 | 2% | 7 |