Best Bow – Horizon Zero Dawn
The bow is Aloy’s primary weapon of choice, and as such, it’ll likely become your primary damage dealer in Horizon Zero Dawn. As such, you’re going to want to get the best bow as soon as possible so you can crush any machine or human that stands in your way.
Horizon Zero Dawn doesn’t have an outright best bow. Instead, weapons fall under a color-coded tier from green up to purple. The purple weapons are the Shadow weapons, and there are three of these bows that you can get.
The Shadow Hunter Bow is the most powerful version of the weapon you start out with at the beginning of Horizon Zero Dawn. It can shoot Hunter, Fire, and Hard Point arrows and will set you back 650 Metal Shards and one Crystal Braiding. You can get it from the merchants in Meridian.
The Shadow War Bow is a smaller, more lightweight bow that allows you to fire off arrows faster than either of the other types. The Shadow War Bow can shoot Freeze, Shock, and Corruption arrows, and is particularly useful for dealing fast elemental damage to enemies close up. You’ll have to pay up 800 Metal Shards and one Watcher Heart to get your hands on this bow.
The Shadow Sharpshot Bow should be your long-range weapon of choice. This bow takes a long time to draw, but packs a serious punch when it lands a hit. It can fire Tearblast, Hardpoint, and Harvest arrows and will cost 800 Metal Shards and a Sawtooth Heart.
Out of the three Shadow bows, we’d say that the Sharpshot bow is the best bow in Horizon Zero Dawn. Not only does it deal more damage and can hit accurately from further away, but its three arrow variants can be combined to literally dismantle a giant machine before your eyes. Do be warned, though, that this isn’t the best bow for close-range encounters. Instead, you may be better off with the Hunter and War bow.
That’s all you need to know about the best bow in Horizon Zero Dawn. For more tips, tricks, and information about the game, be sure to check out our ever-expanding wiki guide.
