Bow

General

A Two-Handed projectile weapon that causes piercing damage, there are a variety of bows in Guild Wars. The Ranger's Marksmanship attribute improves the damage of and is generally a requirement for this weapon type. Bow Attacks can only be performed when equipped with a bow.

Bow Classes

There are five different classes of bows, each of which has different range, attack speed, arc size, and projectile speed. Refire rate directly affects the DPS of the bow. Additionally, arc size also affects the pathing of the arrow -- some obstacles might obstruct a bow with small arc size, but a bow with large arc size may be able to fly over the obstacle.

Weapon	Refire Rate	Range1	Flight Time2	Arc Size	Special Feature
Longbow	2.4 seconds	1.6	0.59 seconds	Medium	None
Flatbow	2.0 seconds	1.6	0.88 seconds	Large	None
Hornbow	2.7 seconds	1.4	0.59 seconds	Medium	+10% Armor penetration
Recurve Bow	2.4 seconds	1.4	0.40 seconds	Small	None
Shortbow	2.0 seconds	1.05	0.59 seconds	Medium	None

¹ Range is approximated in the radius of the aggro circle measured on approximately flat ground.

• Being at a higher elevation than your target increases the range your arrows can reach, and at a lower elevation your range is shortened. Having height advantage to your target will also increase your damage by up to 100% of the listed damage, depending on the amount of elevation.

²Flight Time is for a target at Shortbow range distance.

• Note that Guild Wars does not factor in accuracy of bows the same way other games do. Accuracy is determined by Flight Time and Arc Size.

Max damage range of a bow is always 15-28, regardless of bow class. Bows with maximum damage have been observed with attribute requirements as low as 7. Bows with an attribute requirement of 0 have been observed with damage ranges as high as 9-13, although the Candy Cane Bow and Wintergreen Bow (only available during Wintersday) both do 15-15 damage (modified normally) but have no attribute requirement.

Bow Types

Please consult our visual gallery or see them listed by campaign and type below.

Core

Standard	Flatbow	Hornbow	Longbow	Recurve Bow	Shortbow
PvP Bows	PvP Flatbow	PvP Hornbow	PvP Longbow	PvP Recurve Bow	PvP Shortbow
Starter Weapons				Starter Bow
Realms of the Gods		Shadow Bow	Storm Bow	Eternal Bow Grinning Recurve Bow Dead Bow

Prophecies

Bow Class	Flatbow	Hornbow	Longbow	Recurve Bow	Shortbow
Collector / Crafter	Ascalon Flatbow	Ascalon Hornbow	Ascalon Longbow	Ascalon Recurve Bow	Ascalon Shortbow
Deldrimor Bows	Deldrimor Flatbow	Deldrimor Hornbow	Deldrimor Longbow	Deldrimor Recurve Bow	Deldrimor Shortbow
Other Bows	Ithas Bow Nevermore Flatbow	Ivory Bow		Composite Bow Dead Bow	Half Moon
Unique Bows	Deldrimor Flatbow (unique) Drago's Flatbow Drago's Vampiric Flatbow Stoneherder's Flatbow	Deldrimor Hornbow (unique) Stinger Thornbeard's Horned Bow	Deldrimor Longbow (unique) Elswyth's Longbow Forgerunner Tarnok's Longbow	Deldrimor Recurve Bow (unique) Elswyth's Recurve Bow Gargash's Recurve Bow Rotwing Recurve Bow Tarnok's Recurve Bow	Boulderbeard's Shortbow Deldrimor Shortbow (unique) Graygore's Shortbow Graygore's Zealous Shortbow

Factions

Bow Class	Flatbow	Hornbow	Longbow	Recurve Bow	Shortbow
Bramble Bows	Bramble Flatbow	Bramble Hornbow	Bramble Longbow	Bramble Recurve Bow	Bramble Shortbow
Naga Bows			Naga Longbow		Naga Shortbow
Plagueborn Bows		Plagueborn Hornbow		Plagueborn Recurve Bow
Other Bows			Amber Longbow Celestial Longbow Jade Longbow Platinum Longbow		Half Moon
Elite Mission bows	Ironwing Flatbow		Zodiac Longbow
Unique Bows (Shing Jea Island)		Jin's Hornbow	Ahvha's Longbow
Unique Bows (Canthan Mainland)	Chkkr's Flatbow Ironwing Flatbow (unique)	Inallay's Hornbow Razorjaw's Hornbow Royen's Hornbow	Chehbaba's Longbow Ironwing Longbow (unique) Lorelle's Longbow Meynsang's Longbow	Brrne's Recurve Bow Nandet's Recurve Bow Nundak's Recurve Bow Razortongue's Recurve Bow	Ryver's Shortbow Swiftscale's Shortbow
Unique Bows (Urgoz's Warren)	Urgoz's Flatbow		Urgoz's Longbow		Urgoz's Shortbow

Nightfall

Bow Class	Flatbow	Hornbow	Longbow	Recurve Bow	Shortbow
Ancient Bows	Ancient Flatbow	Ancient Hornbow	Ancient Longbow	Ancient Recurve Bow	Ancient Shortbow
Azure Bows				Azure Recurve Bow	Azure Shortbow
Bramble Bows	Bramble Flatbow	Bramble Hornbow	Bramble Longbow	Bramble Recurve Bow	Bramble Shortbow
Skull Bows	Skull Flatbow	Skull Hornbow	Skull Longbow	Skull Recurve Bow	Skull Shortbow
Tormented Bows	Tormented Flatbow	Tormented Hornbow	Tormented Longbow	Tormented Recurve Bow	Tormented Shortbow
Vabbian Bows	Vabbian Flatbow	Vabbian Hornbow	Vabbian Longbow	Vabbian Recurve Bow	Vabbian Shortbow
Other Bows	Feathered Flatbow (Feathered Longbow skin)	Dragon Hornbow Stoneshard Hornbow ('fleshy' Hornbow skin)	Aureate Longbow Wooden Longbow (Ascalon Bow skin)	Bladed Recurve Bow Dead Bow Spiked Recurve Bow Sturdy Recurve Bow (Recurve Bow skin)	Caged Shortbow Composite Shortbow (Shortbow skin) Zehtuka's Shortbow Half Moon
Unique Bows	Forgotten Flatbow Koahm's Flatbow Seedborn Flatbow	Custo's Hornbow Dzabel's Hornbow Forgotten Hornbow Vah's Hornbow	Bearer's Longbow Emeju's Longbow Bansheh's Longbow Deatheater Longbow Forgotten Longbow Mallyx's Longbow Zelnehlun's Longbow	Benwah's Recurve Bow Bolten's Recurve Bow Forgotten Recurve Bow Mallyx's Recurve Bow Saushali's Recurve Bow Stygian Recurve Bow	Chiggen's Shortbow Forgotten Shortbow Tenezel's Shortbow Tenshek's Shortbow Tundoss' Shortbow Uhiwi's Shortbow

Eye of the North

Bow Class	Flatbow	Hornbow	Longbow	Recurve Bow	Shortbow
Asuran Bows	Asuran Flatbow	Asuran Hornbow	Asuran Longbow	Asuran Recurve Bow	Asuran Shortbow
Charrslayer Bows	Charrslayer Flatbow	Charrslayer Hornbow	Charrslayer Longbow	Charrslayer Recurve Bow	Charrslayer Shortbow
Maplewood Bows		Forked Hornbow	Maplewood Longbow
Destroyer Bows	Destroyer Flatbow	Destroyer Hornbow	Destroyer Longbow	Destroyer Recurve Bow	Destroyer Shortbow
Norn Bows	Norn Flatbow	Norn Hornbow	Norn Longbow	Norn Recurve Bow	Norn Shortbow
Other Bows			Darksteel Longbow (Promotional) Platinum Longbow Turtle Shell Longbow	Dryad Bow Oaken Recurve Bow Silverwing Recurve Bow
Unique Bows	Droknar's Flatbow Nooseknitter's Flatbow	Destructive Hornbow Droknar's Hornbow Koren's Hornbow	Arachni's Longbow Droknar's Longbow Johon's Longbow	Bow of the Hierophant Bow of the Kinslayer Droknar's Recurve Bow Korg's Recurve Bow Petraj's Recurve Bow	Ashlyn's Shortbow Droknar's Shortbow Xalnax's Destiny

Bonus Mission Pack

Bow Class	Flatbow	Hornbow	Longbow	Recurve Bow	Shortbow
Charr Bows	Charr Flatbow	Charr Hornbow	Charr Longbow	Charr Recurve Bow	Charr Shortbow
Mursaat Bows	Mursaat Flatbow	Mursaat Hornbow	Mursaat Longbow	Mursaat Recurve Bow	Mursaat Shortbow
Tengu Bows	Tengu Flatbow	Tengu Hornbow	Tengu Longbow	Tengu Recurve Bow	Tengu Shortbow
Undead Bows	Undead Flatbow	Undead Hornbow	Undead Longbow	Undead Recurve Bow	Undead Shortbow

Upgrades and Modifiers

The weapon upgrades for the bow are Bowstring (prefix) and Bow Grip (suffix).