Bow Crafting & Arrows

Bows in RuneScape: Dragonwilds are two-handed ranged weapons that consume arrows. Shortbows favour faster draw times and quickfire attacks, while longbows trade speed for greater damage, reach, and a kick mechanic. Your first practical setup is an Ash Shortbow with Stone Arrows: build a roofed Spinning Wheel, turn Flax into three Coarse Thread, and combine the thread with 12 Ash Logs at a Crafting Table.

The listed damage values below help compare weapons within the same category, but they are not complete damage-per-second calculations. Draw speed, reach, ammunition, special effects, and the way you use each bow can change the result. Crossbows are also ranged weapons, but they form a separate weapon family and consume bolts instead of arrows.

How Bows Work

Every bow occupies both hands and needs arrows before it can fire. The main decision is therefore not simply which weapon has the largest damage number. You also need to decide whether you want the fast rhythm of a shortbow or the deliberate range and power of a longbow.

An in-game aiming view that clearly shows the Ash Shortbow in use.

Choose a shortbow when fast shots and quick reactions matter more than maximum reach. Choose a longbow when you can create enough space to complete the slower draw and take advantage of its higher listed damage. Switching to a crossbow means rebuilding your ammunition supply around bolts, so treat it as a different ranged loadout rather than the next bow tier.

Craft Your First Ash Shortbow and Arrows

The Ash Shortbow is the Power Level 1 entry point for a bow-focused character. Its crafting chain requires a Spinning Wheel because the bow uses Coarse Thread rather than raw Flax.

Materials for the first bow setup

Crafting sequence

1. Collect at least 12 Ash Logs, four Flax, and two Stone for the Spinning Wheel. Ash Logs and Stone are available around the starting areas. Flax can be found in the area between Bramblemead Valley and Temple Woods.
2. Build the Spinning Wheel inside a roofed structure. The station must be under a roof before you can use it.
3. Gather additional Flax and use the wheel to produce three Coarse Thread for one Ash Shortbow.
4. Take three Coarse Thread and 12 Ash Logs to a Crafting Table, then craft the Ash Shortbow.
5. Prepare ammunition before leaving your base. Take one Stone, one Ash Log, and one Feather to a Crafting Table to craft Stone Arrows. Chickens provide Feathers.
6. When you can handle Giant Rats, collect Small Animal Fangs from the rats at the windmill in northern Temple Woods. Replacing Stone with a Small Animal Fang produces the stronger Fang Arrow.

The most common early failure is finishing the bow and leaving without ammunition. A bow cannot replace arrows, and arrows cannot be fired without the appropriate ranged weapon. Keep both parts of the loadout together when preparing for a fight or a resource run.

Shortbow Progression and Stats

Shortbows are the faster bow family. Their quickfire mechanic supports repeated shots, but their listed damage and reach remain below their longbow counterparts at similar stages. The progression is not completely linear because several named weapons exchange raw damage or durability for a special effect.

Do not assume that a higher Power Level always means a larger number in every field. The Power Level 3 Wild Scout's Shortbow lists 18 damage, below the Power Level 2 Oak Shortbow's 20, because the named bow supplies Draw Time Reduction. At the same Power Level, the Crystal Bow lists 22 damage and Scattershot. The choice between these weapons therefore depends on the special behaviour you want, not just their place in the tier sequence.

The Undead Ranger's Bow presents another explicit trade-off. It adds 15% damage but loses 25% durability. That makes its 43 listed damage only part of the decision: the durability penalty also matters when planning a long expedition.

Longbow Progression and Stats

Longbows provide greater reach and higher listed damage than shortbows, but they draw more slowly. They replace quickfire with a kick mechanic, making them better suited to measured attacks from a safer distance than rapid close-range shooting.

Named longbows again complicate a simple tier comparison. At Power Level 4, the Hunter Stagbow lists 52 damage and 10% Draw Time Reduction, while the Blightwood Longbow lists 48 damage without a special effect. At Power Level 5, the Willow Longbow and Ulv's Longbow both list 65 damage, but Ulv's weapon adds increased damage against unsuspecting targets.

Use these special effects as decision points. Draw Time Reduction directly addresses the longbow family's slower attack rhythm. Increased damage against unsuspecting targets instead rewards an opening attack made before the target is prepared. Neither effect changes the underlying need to carry arrows.

Arrow Progression and Status Effects

A better bow is only half of a ranged upgrade. Standard arrows increase in Power Level from Wooden and Stone ammunition through Rune Arrows. Their listed base-damage ranges rise through the tiers, although Adamant and Rune Arrows share the same displayed range.

Several tiers also have specialised ammunition. Barbed arrows apply Bleed, poisoned arrows apply Poison, and fire arrows apply Burn. The displayed damage range remains tied to the underlying material tier.

The table does not establish a universal best status. It shows the effect attached to each ammunition variant. Select ammunition for the effect you actually need, and avoid comparing a weapon's listed damage with an arrow's damage range as though the two values form a complete damage formula. The supplied statistics do not provide that calculation.

Bow of Elidinis

The Bow of Elidinis is a Power Level 7 masterwork longbow. Its recipe is awarded by completing Mapping The Sands II, and crafting it requires Artisan level 100 and a Fletching Bench. This places it far beyond the starter Ash Shortbow route.

Lunar Rain calls down a barrage of arrows over a targeted area, with a chance to create a Water Orb. Blessing of Elidinis gives the weapon its water-focused identity, including a chance for kills with water arrows to produce Water Orbs that provide health regeneration when collected.

Bow of Elidinis recipe

The bow can be ascended at the Mystic Forge with Ascension Cores. One Power Level 8 Ascension Core raises it to Power Level 8 and 118 base damage. Although a Power Level 9 row lists 138 base damage, the supplied game data states that the means to create that version is not currently available because of a bug. Plan around the obtainable Power Level 8 upgrade rather than treating Power Level 9 as an actionable goal.

Practical Bow Loadout Checklist

Before leaving your base with a bow, confirm the complete loadout rather than checking the weapon alone:

• Equip either a shortbow or a longbow according to the attack rhythm you want. Shortbows prioritise speed and quickfire; longbows prioritise reach, damage, and kick.
• Carry enough arrows for the entire trip. A higher-tier bow does not remove its ammunition requirement.
• Keep crossbow bolts separate from arrows. Bolts work with crossbows, while bows require arrows.
• Match specialised arrows to the effect you intend to use: Bleed from barbed ammunition, Poison from poisoned ammunition, or Burn from fire ammunition.
• Consider a named bow's trade-off before replacing a standard weapon. Draw-time bonuses, Scattershot, damage bonuses, durability penalties, and conditional opening damage can matter as much as a modest difference in listed damage.
• Treat the displayed damage columns as comparison data, not a complete DPS promise. The tables do not account for every factor involved in firing speed or combat performance.
• Keep the Spinning Wheel roofed when producing Coarse Thread for the starter bow. If the station cannot be used, check its shelter before collecting the materials again.

For a new character, the shortest usable route remains straightforward: construct the sheltered Spinning Wheel, make three Coarse Thread, craft the Ash Shortbow, and prepare Stone or Fang Arrows at the Crafting Table. Later upgrades split into two clear paths—faster shortbows or harder-hitting longbows—while specialised ammunition and named weapon effects let you refine the loadout without changing that basic bow-and-arrow relationship.