You don't recover arrows at Grace Sites? Is a Bow a viable main weapon?

[Fried Noodles]

I'd only just installed the game this afternoon and had a bit of a run around in the tutorial dungeon.
I started out as a 'Bandit' which got me a bow and 30 starting arrows.

I ended up trying to use it as my main weapon and burned through most of the ammunition.

When I rested at a site of grace after leaving the tutorial dungeon and reaching the overworld, I noticed that I still only had four arrows remaining.

I assume I have to purchase or craft the arrows somewhere. But as the ammo is so finite (and I cannot recover arrows from enemies), is the Bow a viable weapon to try to build a character around?
Or is it just a utility item / sidearm?

[DDDHunter]

The only thing you need to craft arrows are thin animal bones, which you get from killing animals.

[ressenmacher]

Bows are viable as a main weapon (in PvE, not PvP), but my impression is that they are not intended to be used without a backup melee weapon or spells.

This is less due to ammunition issues and more due to the bow's limited damage and poor crowd control, though. A merchant found very early in the game will sell you infinite basic ammunition very cheaply, and by endgame you will be swimming in more ammo than you could ever use.

[F.O.A.M]

my brother tried using only bows, he said the dmg wasnt bad at all as you can animation cancel and such, he did however have a problem with the small amount arrows (arrows drains pretty fast if they are your only dmg) and the amount of times he had to go hunting for more bones so he stopped

[oChalko]

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

I'd only just installed the game this afternoon and had a bit of a run around in the tutorial dungeon.
I started out as a 'Bandit' which got me a bow and 30 starting arrows.

I ended up trying to use it as my main weapon and burned through most of the ammunition.

When I rested at a site of grace after leaving the tutorial dungeon and reaching the overworld, I noticed that I still only had four arrows remaining.

I assume I have to purchase or craft the arrows somewhere. But as the ammo is so finite (and I cannot recover arrows from enemies), is the Bow a viable weapon to try to build a character around?
Or is it just a utility item / sidearm?

Id try samurai bow user. You start with a nice bow and melee weapon

[Scraps]

Bows (and crossbows) throughout Souls and Elden Ring are typically designed as range coverage for builds without magic. The option to do things from a distance is lovely, but the most problematic part of it is the carry limit. As with DS3, you're only allowed 198 arrows on your guy; this being in comparison to 1998 in DS1 and I THINK DS2.

This isn't terribly problematic until you fight beefier bosses. You'll usually see that melee options are better as bow damage is fairly low in many PvE scenarios and may not be worth the resources, especially in the early game.

[ressenmacher]

Originally posted by Nox ☾ Nightweaver:

...but the most problematic part of it is the carry limit. As with DS3, you're only allowed 198 arrows on your guy; this being in comparison to 1998 in DS1 and I THINK DS2.

This was not the case in DS3; arrows did only stack to 99 and you could equip two types at once for 198 total, but you could carry 99 of every type and just swap them out when you ran dry of one.

Maybe that changed in ER?

[Ars Nova]

Yes, you have to buy or craft them, like in every single other Souls game ever. Except you could only buy them in previous games.

Bows are never meant to be a viable main weapon, they're a weaker tool for ranged poke or drawing aggro. Stuff can be killed with them, but it's an exercise in extreme tedium.

[Daegon]

Bows aren't meant to be played as a main weapon.
And you need to craft/buy more arrows if you want to recover them every time you rest at a grace

[Joe_Mayo]

Bows are absolutely not a main weapon because the arrow flow out of your inventory

[Izuzul]

Pulley Crossbow 3 shot burst. burns thru ammo fast but it's pretty great. And if you have extra ammo in your chest it should refill when you rest (can have 600 in chest i think.)

[JudasPhysicist]

They are good for when you need to apply bleed/poison etc. with special arrows. So think of them as situational tools.

[Joe_Mayo]

I think the cost of regular arrows should be halved and you should get 15 per two bones