Elden Ring - Greatbows

Greatbows break stance from range, dealing 150 stamina damage at maximum, more than double a bow's 60, from a weapon that is heavy, slow and limited to 30 great arrows at a time.

Combat

Pros

• Stance pressure is the highest of any ranged weapon short of a ballista, at 150 stamina damage at maximum against 60 for bows and 40 for light bows, which makes this the only bow class that opens critical windows on big enemies.
• Sustained physical damage is the highest of the bow families, with Golem Greatbow at 318 and Greatbow at 306 at maximum, against 200 for the best bow.
• Through and Through fires a great arrow that passes through enemies, so it hits stacked groups and lined-up targets that a normal bow would waste a shot on.
• Great arrows are the heaviest ammunition a bow can fire, with Golem's Great Arrow at 105 physical, Great Arrow at 100 and Bone Great Arrow at 90, the last craftable from a single Hefty Beast Bone.

Cons

• These are the heaviest ranged weapons apart from the ballistas, from 9.5 (Lion Greatbow) to 14.5 (Golem Greatbow), a real equip-load bill on a Dexterity archer.
• Unlike the other bow classes, greatbows cannot fire mid-jump, and the firing animation is long, so the class works from safety rather than under pressure.
• Ammunition is the bottleneck. Great arrows cap at 30 held against 99 for ordinary arrows, and Great Arrows cost 300 runes each and Golden Great Arrows 500, so crafting Bone Great Arrows is the way to avoid running dry mid-boss.
• Only the Greatbow and Igon's Greatbow accept a different Ash of War, and the rest have fixed skills, while no greatbow takes greases, spell buffs or affinities.

Builds

A modest, Strength-leaning quality build fits best.

• Printed requirements are 20 to 24 Strength and 14 to 20 Dexterity, effectively 13 to 16 Strength when two-handed.
• Since 54 invested Strength reaches the 80 soft cap when two-handed (54 x 1.5 = 81), a greatbow build's Strength ceiling is 54, not 80.
• Faith matters only for the Erdtree Greatbow, at 14.
• Dexterity is a requirement stat here rather than a damage stat, since the class's Dexterity scaling never leaves D.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Golem Greatbow		130	14.5	24	18	-	-	-	Golem Greatbow is the hardest-hitting greatbow at 130 physical at +0, the strongest of the whole bow family, and it reaches 318 at maximum. It is the heaviest greatbow at 14.5, but two-handing eases its Strength demand, and Guardian Golems that wield it drop it at a 10% rate, so a Strength build can carry it early.
Greatbow		125	10	20	20	-	-	-	Greatbow sits just behind the Golem Greatbow at 125 physical while weighing 10.0 against 14.5, and it is one of only two greatbows that accept a different Ash of War. For most builds that trade makes it the better pick, since it keeps nearly all of the damage while freeing equip load for armor.
Lion Greatbow		120	9.5	22	18	-	-	-	Lion Greatbow is the lightest greatbow at 9.5, and Radahn's Rain fires a flurry of arrows into the sky for 32 FP, which suits large bosses. Equipping it raises Radahn's Spear great arrows by 20%, and one in each hand stacks that bonus, so it is the greatbow for a build that leans on those spears.
Igon's Greatbow		120	12.5	23	16	-	-	-	Igon's Greatbow is the most flexible greatbow. Its D Strength scaling climbs to C as it is upgraded, the only greatbow to reach that grade, and it accepts Through and Through, Rain of Arrows or Igon's Drake Hunt. Igon's Harpoon great arrows gain 15% power from it, which makes it a strong dragon-hunting tool.
Erdtree Greatbow		60 + 65 holy	11	20	14	-	14	-	Erdtree Greatbow is the only holy greatbow, splitting 60 physical and 65 holy at +0 with D Faith scaling. It is a damage type answer rather than a damage upgrade, useful against enemies that shrug off physical hits, and it can be earned within the first hour, which gives an early archer stance damage at range.

Notes

• Great arrows sit in their own two equipment slots, with up to 600 stored.
• The Through and Through Ash of War drops from an invisible Scarab northwest of Volcano Manor's main entrance.
• The Golden Great Arrow costs 500 runes and deals 40 physical plus 110 holy, the class's main way to change damage type.
• Radahn's Spear (100 physical, 800 runes) gains 20% physical damage with the Lion Greatbow equipped, and Igon's Harpoon (90 physical) gains a damage bonus from Igon's Greatbow.
• Igon's Greatbow belongs to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

All Greatbows

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Range	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Erdtree Greatbow		60 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	65 -	100 -	50	11	E 20	E 14	0	D 14	0	200	Through and Through
Golem Greatbow		130 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	50	14.5	D 24	E 18	0	0	0	200	Through and Through
Greatbow		125 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	50	10	D 20	D 20	0	0	0	200	Through and Through
Lion Greatbow		120 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	50		D 22	D 18	0	0	0	100	Radahn's Rain