Summary
- Melee and magic are popular in Elden Ring, but powerful ammunition for crossbows and bows can be deadly in skilled hands.
- Greatbolts like Igon's Harpoon and Rabbath's Greatbolt offer extra damage against dragons and explosive magic damage for players.
- Various types of arrows, such as Serpent Arrows and St. Trina's Arrows, offer unique effects like poison buildup and putting foes to sleep.
Elden Ring has a variety of ways for players to deal with various enemies, though players tend to focus on melee weapons and magic to quickly deal with foes. While crossbows and regular bows are usually seen as being some of the weakest weaponry in Elden Ring, the ammunition that players can purchase or craft for these various ranged weapons can be incredibly lethal in the right hands.
Elden Ring: Best Intelligence Spells
Players looking to specialize in sorceries in Elden Ring have a good variety of powerful Intelligence-based spells to choose from.
While they may not do a lot of base physical damage in some situations, they are the best when it comes to placing certain status effects on an enemy while managing to stay a distance away from them.
10 Ballista Bolt
A Basic Yet Powerful Greatbolt
Greatbolts are arguably one of the strongest types of ammunition available for players to use with ranged weapons. These Greatbolts can only be used with the Hand Ballista and Jar Canon Weapons, meaning players that want to use such deadly ammunition are limited by the type of ranged weapon they use.
While the Ballista Bolt may be quite basic as it only does physical attack damage, it can still be great for dealing with regular enemies the player is likely to encounter across the entirety of Elden Ring.
- 160 Physical Attack Power
- Cannot be crafted but can be purchased from various merchants for 300 Runes.
9 Flaming Bolt
Fire Is a Friend Early Game
While using ranged weapons near the start of a player's journey in Elden Ring may be quite a weak start, there are ways to make it better through various ammunition types. One great example is the Flaming Bolts, which can be used with any crossbow in Elden Ring.
As the name of the bolt suggests, this ammo type does not only physical damage but also a strong amount of fire damage too, which is sure to burn a hole in enemies that find themselves vulnerable to that damage.
- 20 Physical Attack Power
- 80 Fire Attack Power
- Cannot craft Flaming Bolts, but can be purchased from the Nomadic Merchant in South Calelid for 120 Runes.
8 Igon's Harpoon
Extra Damage To Dragons
Igon is one of many interesting NPCs who were introduced within the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. This broken Drake Warrior has an assortment of gear for the player to find or purchase to look exactly like him, with one of his creations being Igon's Harpoons.
Elden Ring: Spells & Incantations That Are Surprisingly Good For Stance-Breaking
Players are always talking about which Spells & Incantations melt bosses the fastest in Elden Ring, but what about the ones that Stagger them?
These harpoons are perfect for any player looking to take down the various dragons that litter both the DLC and the base game of Elden Ring. Besides this, these Greatarrows can also be used to deal with regular enemies due to also dealing physical damage, though it would be a waste.
- 90 Physical Attack Power
- Deals extra damage to dragons
- Cannot be crafted but can be purchased from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable for 1000 Runes after giving them Igon's Bell Bearing.
7 Serpent Arrow
Perfect For The Serpent Bow
Like any deadly snake, these arrows are perfect for those who wish to cause a build-up of poison in an enemy. While there are only a few bosses that are weak to poison, these arrows are still perfect for those who wish to cause such damage, as well as the initial physical damage caused by the arrow hitting them.
These Serpent Arrows can be used with any bow, though players are sure to benefit more from pairing the Serpent Arrows with the Serpent Bow due to it quickening the poisoning effect.
- 30 Physical Attack Power
- Causes heavy poison buildup (78)
- Cannot be crafted but can be purchased from Dragonbarrow's Isolated Merchant for 120 Runes.
6 Rotbone Bolt
Craftable Bolts Of Scarlet Rot
Unlike the other ammunition mentioned that can only be purchased or found while exploring in Elden Ring, Rotbone Bolts are one of the few ammunition types available that players can craft once they have found the Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook [15].
Besides the Rotbone Bolts being easy to craft, they are also perfect for any player who is looking for a ranged ammo type that can be used to easily cause the buildup of Scarlet Rot on a foe. Crossbows can also be used quite quickly, which means from a ranged position the player can rapidly cause an enemy to face the consequences of the lethal Scarlet Rot.
- 28 Physical Attack Power
- Causes Scarlet Rot buildup (55)
- Crafted from the Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook [15] that is purchased from the Nomadic Merchant in southern Caelid for 4,000 Runes.
- Crafted with x2 Thin Beast Bones and x1 Aeonian Butterfly.
5 Golem's Magic Arrow
Arrows Can Do Magic Damage Too
Players are likely to have been on the receiving end of these magic arrows, as these are exactly the arrows that the huge Golems across the Elden Ring map fire at the player.
Elden Ring: Best Bosses In Shadow Of The Erdtree, Ranked
Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC features an array of great bosses for players to take on. These, however, are the best of the bunch.
While many of the other ammunition types tend to still do a decent amount of physical attack power, Golem's Magic Arrows are instead entirely focused on dealing magic damage to its foe. This makes them great when dealing with foes susceptible to that sort of damage, as they can be incredibly lethal, though otherwise they should be saved.
- 40 Physical Attack Power
- 125 Magical Attack Power
- Cannot be crafted or purchased. They are occasionally dropped by Magic Golem Archers.
4 St.Trina's Arrow
Sleeping Is Incredibly Overpowered
While other buildup effects cause an immense amount of damage to both regular enemies and foes, players may be surprised to see that sleep arrows like St. Trina's Arrows outrank them.
St. Trina's Arrow not only puts an enemy to sleep, making them susceptible to a flurry of up-close attacks but also allows the player to do a small amount of damage while they try to put them in this state. There are other craftable items that can put foes to sleep, but these arrows and ammunition like them are perfect for players who wish to remain as far away as possible while also doing more than putting an enemy to sleep.
- 30 Physical Attack Power
- Causes Sleep buildup (96)
- Cannot be crafted but can be purchased from various merchants or dropped by Albinauric Archers.
3 Golden Great Arrow
Holy Damage Is No Joke From Afar
Holy damage is one of the most interesting damage types in Elden Ring, especially as many players tend to create purely Faith Strength builds to make the most of the holy embrace of the Erdtree and carry heavy yet lethal weapons.
However, the Golden Great Arrow, which can be used with any bow, allows players to deal an immense amount of holy damage even with a dexterity build. Near the end of Elden Ring, players may feel that holy damage isn't as powerful against bosses, but that still leaves them plenty of game time to use this ammo.
- 40 Physical Attack Power
- 110 Holy Attack Power
- Cannot be crafted but can be purchased from the Hermit Merchant at the Hermit Merchant's Shack for 500 Runes.
2 Rabbath's Greatbolt
Explosive Magic Greatbolts
As mentioned, Shadow of the Erdtree added more ammunition options for players, including plenty of other magical arrow types that do more than simply hit a single target. Rabbath's Greatbolt was one of his finest inventions that not only does physical damage to the foe it strikes but then explodes to deal an incredible amount of magic damage to both that foe and the ones surrounding it.
Elden Ring: Things You Should Sell To Merchants
In Elden Ring, it's usually a good idea to sell the following items when players have the chance.
This makes Rabbath's Greatbolts a perfect option when dealing with a group of enemies or a large boss that is especially vulnerable to magic damage.
- 50 Physical Attack Power
- 150 Magical Attack Power
- Cannot be crafted but can be purchased from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold after giving them Spellmachinist's Bell Bearing.
1 Lightning Greatbolt
Lethal Lightning Lasts
Out of all the ammunition types in Elden Ring, players who are adamant about using a ranged weapon should look no further than purchasing plenty of Lightning Greatbolts. These deadly bolts strike from a distance and deal a substantial amount of lighting damage to whoever they hit.
Players may be surprised at how lethal these bolts are for dealing with various bosses in Elden Ring, as they can rely on the few weapons that are able to use greatbolts to have a lasting effect. With an unlimited amount of them available too, players don't need to worry about running out.
- 50 Physical Attack Power
- 150 Lighting Attack Power
- Cannot be crafted but can be purchased from the Nomadic Merchant in the East Mountaintops for 500 Runes.
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
