Elden Ring - Light Bows

Light bows trade roughly a third of a full bow's damage ceiling for mobility, as the only ranged class that nocks and fires straight out of a roll, a sprint or a jump landing.

Combat

Pros

• A light bow fires immediately after rolling, sprinting or landing a jump. No other ranged class can do this, so it is the only one that can keep shooting while actively dodging.
• These are the lightest ranged weapons in the game. The Harp Bow weighs 2.0 and the Shortbow and Red Branch Shortbow 2.5, so a light bow is effectively free on a melee build's equip load.
• Entry is as cheap as it gets. The Shortbow is the Bandit's starting weapon, costs 600 runes from the merchant southeast of Coastal Cave, needs 8 Strength and 10 Dexterity, and already comes with Barrage.
• Only this class can mount Barrage, a rapid-fire skill usable on light bows alone, which makes it the fastest status-arrow applicator in the game.

Cons

• The damage ceiling is the lowest of any ranged class by a wide margin, at 151 to 166 physical at maximum, against 200 for the best bow, 318 for the best greatbow, 308 for the best crossbow and 672 for the Jar Cannon.
• Stamina damage at maximum is the lowest too, at 40 against 60 for bows and 150 for greatbows, so light bows will not stance-break anything worth stance-breaking.
• Reach is the shortest of any bow, with range 29, and only 25 on the Misbegotten Shortbow, against 50 for bows, greatbows and ballistas.
• Light bows cannot take an affinity, grease or spell buff, so the loaded arrow is the only lever on damage type, with no Blood, Cold or Sacred conversion to lean on.

Builds

Dexterity leads, with almost no Strength.

• Requirements top out at 16 Dexterity on the Red Branch Shortbow and 16 Strength on the Misbegotten Shortbow, and because bows can only be fired two-handed the Strength requirement is effectively two-thirds of the printed number, so the Misbegotten Shortbow's 16 is really 11.
• Past the requirements, everything goes into Dexterity.
• Arcane only matters for poison, bleed or sleep arrows, and it raises buildup only, never damage.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc
Misbegotten Shortbow		68	3	16	8	-	-	-
Bone Bow		66	3	8	11	-	-	-
Shortbow		65	2.5	8	10	-	-	-
Red Branch Shortbow		65	2.5	8	16	-	-	-
Harp Bow		62	2	9	9	-	-	-

Notes

• Allowed Ashes of War are Barrage, Mighty Shot, Enchanted Shot, Sky Shot and Rain of Arrows.
• The Barrage Ash of War drops from a Scarab north of the Seethewater River Site of Grace in Mt. Gelmir.
• Mighty Shot penetrates the enemy's guard and drops from a Scarab near the Castle Morne Rampart, so it is available within the first couple of hours.
• Rain of Arrows costs 20 FP and deals 50% less damage and status buildup per arrow, but fires many arrows per use for more total damage than other bow skills.
• Arrow damage is added on top of the bow's, and early on it is the larger share: a plain Arrow deals 45 physical and a Stormwing Bone Arrow 55, against a +0 Shortbow's 65.

All Light Bows

The table below lists all Light Bows in Elden Ring.

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Range	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Composite Bow		65 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	29	3	E 15	D 15	0	0	0	200	Mighty Shot
Harp Bow		62 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	29	2	E 9	E 9	0	0	0	200	Barrage
Misbegotten Shortbow		68 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	25	3	D 16	E 8	0	0	0	100	Barrage
Red Branch Shortbow		65 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	29	2.5	E 8	D 16	0	0	0	100	Barrage
Shortbow		65 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	0 -	100 -	29	2.5	E 8	E 10	0	0	0	100	Barrage