Karliah's Bow

Base Damage	25
Speed	0.625
Weight	9
Value	5
Level	1+
Category	Bow
Class	Ebony
Variants	Nightingale Bow
Skill	Archery
Unique	Yes
Item ID	000DEED8
Game/DLC	Skyrim

Karliah's Bow is the version of the Nightingale Bow that Karliah carries. It deals 25 base damage, the highest of any bow. Only console commands can add it to the inventory.

Weapon Enchantment

The Enchantment Effects page lists every weapon enchantment.

Enchantment
Cannot be enchanted

Smithing Guide

Enchanted weapons require the Arcane Blacksmith Perk to upgrade.

Crafting Materials	Upgrade Materials	Smithing Level	Smithing Perk
Cannot be crafted	Cannot be upgraded	-	None

Weapon Levels

Some weapons in Skyrim are Levelled. The power of a levelled weapon is based on your charcters level when you get them. Some get stronger in both physical and magical aspects, while others only improve their enchantments. These items don't get better as your character levels up.

Karliah's Bow has the same damage at every character level.

Level	Damage	Weight	Value	Enchantment	Level ID
1+	25	9	5	Cannot be enchanted	000DEED8

Karliah's Copy

Karliah's Bow is the copy of the Nightingale Bow that Karliah carries through the Thieves Guild story. It looks exactly like the bow she gives away at the end of Blindsighted. The two are separate items, however, and Karliah keeps her own copy for good.

Her copy is a plain, unenchanted bow worth almost nothing to a merchant. In return, it hits harder than the strongest Nightingale Bow. Even counting the Dawnguard DLC, no other bow has a higher base damage.

Compared with the Nightingale Bow

On paper, Karliah's Bow looks like the better weapon. Its base damage beats every bow in the game. The Nightingale Bow answers with its frost and shock enchantment, which adds a large amount of damage to every arrow.

Smithing changes the picture further. Smithing perks leave Karliah's Bow untouched, so tempered bows that gain from those perks pass it once a smith is skilled. Karliah never drops the bow, and it does not appear when she is pickpocketed. For a normal playthrough, the Nightingale Bow is the one to use.

Ranged Weapon Categories

All Unique Bows

Name	Damage	Speed	Weight	Value	Enchantment	Item ID	Level	Upgrade Material	Crafting Perk	Skill	DLC
Angi's Bow	7	0.937	7	50	Cannot be enchanted	000CC392	1+	Steel Ingot	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Auriel's Bow	13	1	11	1000	21 points of sun damage. Undead targets take triple damage	XX000800	1+	Refined Moonstone	Elven Smithing	Archery	Dawnguard
Bow of the Hunt	10	0.937	7	434	Animals take 20 points of extra damage	000AB705	1+	Steel Ingot	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Drainspell Bow	14	0.875	6	458	Absorb Magicka 15 points	000F82FC	1+	Cannot be Upgraded	None	Archery	Skyrim
Dravin's Bow	7	0.937	7	50	Cannot be enchanted	0006B9AD	1+	Leather Strips	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Dwarven Black Bow of Fate	13	0.75	10	1446	50% chance for each attribute to absorb 25 pts. of Health, Stamina, and/or Magicka	XX02C01A	1+	Ebony Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Dragonborn
Firiniel's End	13	0.687	12	785	Target takes 20 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina	00017059	1+	Refined Moonstone	Elven Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Froki's Bow	6	1	5	307	Does 10 points of Stamina damage	000C0186	1+	Iron Ingot	None	Archery	Skyrim
Gauldur Blackbow	14	0.875	18	972	Absorb 30 points of magicka	000F5D22	36+	Steel Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Glass Bow of the Stag Prince	16	0.625	14	375	Wielder receives an increasingly powerful blessing for every 20 animals killed by the bow	XX018ED5	1+	Refined Malachite	Glass Smithing	Archery	Dragonborn
Karliah's Bow	25	0.625	9	5	Cannot be enchanted	000DEED8	1+	Cannot be Upgraded	None	Archery	Skyrim
Nightingale Bow	19	0.5	18	3405	Freezes the target for 30 points and shocks the target for 15 points	000F652C	46+	Ebony Ingot	None	Archery	Skyrim
Zephyr	12	1	10	670	Fires 30% faster than a standard bow	XX00CFB6	1+	Dwarven Metal Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Dawnguard
Bow of Shadows	19		18	2500	Weapon draw is 20% faster and casts invisibility for 30 seconds.	XX000807	1+	Ebony Ingot	Arcane Blacksmith	Archery	Creation Club
Ruin's Edge	12	0.875	7	750	Randomly applies one of these effects to the target: - Demoralize, 100 pts for 20 seconds - Drain Magicka, 1000 pts for 20 seconds - Frenzy, 100 pts for 20 seconds Frost Damage, 25 pts - Paralyze, for 15 seconds Paralyze, for 1 second	FEXXXD63	1+	Daedra Heart	Daedric Smithing	Archery	Creation Club