MemesThatMakeMePlay
Terrarian
One with from to start to end game
What is a good guide to a bow only ranger loadout?
- Thread starter MemesThatMakeMePlay
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Official Terrarian
Hi,
My response is a bit late, so I'm not sure if you'll really need this guide, but I'll post this anyways in case anyone else needs it. I'll be covering most of Pre-HM and a bit of early HM. If the guide is too long, I'll also have TL;DRs underlined.
As always in a lot of playthroughs, pick Crimson. You can also choose Corruption if you're in it for the funky dance music.
Very early game, you'll want to acquire the strongest bows that are made of wood: The Ebonwood bow or the Shadewood bow, crafted from 10 ebonwood or shadewood. Both are exactly on par with the Iron Bow, but are cheaper to make and are easily-accessible. You'll also want to have a good supply of frostburn arrows, crafted from 10 wooden arrows and 1 ice torch. Jester's arrows are crafted from 10 wooden arrows and 1 fallen star are a good alternative as well and I also recommend using them. Frostburn arrows are way better than flaming arrows; they deal 9 base damage while flaming arrows deal 7, their debuff (Frostburn) causes enemies to lose 8 health per second as opposed to losing 4 health per second to the On Fire! debuff, their overall knockback and velocity is also higher, and frostburn arrows and their debuff can't be put out by water. Jester's arrows can pierce through multiple enemies and are not effected by gravity, making them one of the best arrows in-game and can even prove to be better than frostburn arrows.
Too long; didn't read: You want to obtain Ebonwood or shadewood bows, and frostburn or jester's arrows.
Important things to remember:
TL;DR again: Head towards the snow/dungeon side of the world. Do not go towards the desert/jungle side of the world.
After obtaining what you need, the only thing you need to have left is armor. Gold/platinum armor are your go-tos, but if you can survive the underground desert without transforming the place into a graveyard, you can also head there to mine desert fossils, which can be used by an extractinator to obtain sturdy fossils. Sturdy fossils can then be used to make the fossil set, which is a really good ranger set.
If you're feeling extra dangerous, you can smash pots in the underworld to gain access to one of the best arrows present in Pre-HM; Hellfire Arrows.
Next is defeating the Eye of Cthulhu, pretty straight-forward. It will drop demonite or crimtane ore, which is used to make their respective bars. 8 bars to craft the demon or tendon bows. This process is optional by the way, and you can skip to the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu, skip straight to Queen Bee, or just ignore all of them and beat up Skeletron.
If you have a corruption world, you can absolutely obliterate the EOW using jester's arrows. For the brain of Cthulhu on a crimson world, you can use either. Defeating these bosses can help you gain access to shadow armor and crimson armor, but these sets are not exactly optimal if you want to prioritize damage. Nightmare and Deathbringer pickaxes are necessary to acquire hellstone though, which can be used to craft the Molten Fury, one of the best bows in-game.
Queen Bee is quite hard, so I suggest this guide:
terraria.wiki.gg
From defeating Queen Bee, you have 1 in 3 chance of getting The Bee's Knees. When using the Bee's Knees, multiple bees will be fired towards the opponent, but remember to use wooden arrows if you're trying out this awesome weapon.
I don't have much to say about Skeletron, so here's another guide:
terraria.wiki.gg
The dungeon has a few useful items that can help you progress through the game.
From the dungeon's chests, you can obtain a shadow key, which can be used to open up shadow chests in the underworld. The hellwing bow is a decent option against the WOF, but I'll let you decide if you want to use it or not. Many players don't use it due to its tendency to fire in a spread and not directly at a target.
From angry bones, you can get bones. With enough cobwebs and bones, you craft necro armor, which is essentially a better version of fossil armor.
For the Wall of Flesh, you have three bows to choose from: Molten Fury, Hellwing Bow, and The Bee's Knees. If you're using the Molten Fury, the best arrows to use at this point are Jester's arrows and Hellfire arrows.
I will not be covering a lot of Hardmode, but after defeating the WOF, you can gain access to a variety of bows:
My response is a bit late, so I'm not sure if you'll really need this guide, but I'll post this anyways in case anyone else needs it. I'll be covering most of Pre-HM and a bit of early HM. If the guide is too long, I'll also have TL;DRs underlined.
As always in a lot of playthroughs, pick Crimson. You can also choose Corruption if you're in it for the funky dance music.
Very early game, you'll want to acquire the strongest bows that are made of wood: The Ebonwood bow or the Shadewood bow, crafted from 10 ebonwood or shadewood. Both are exactly on par with the Iron Bow, but are cheaper to make and are easily-accessible. You'll also want to have a good supply of frostburn arrows, crafted from 10 wooden arrows and 1 ice torch. Jester's arrows are crafted from 10 wooden arrows and 1 fallen star are a good alternative as well and I also recommend using them. Frostburn arrows are way better than flaming arrows; they deal 9 base damage while flaming arrows deal 7, their debuff (Frostburn) causes enemies to lose 8 health per second as opposed to losing 4 health per second to the On Fire! debuff, their overall knockback and velocity is also higher, and frostburn arrows and their debuff can't be put out by water. Jester's arrows can pierce through multiple enemies and are not effected by gravity, making them one of the best arrows in-game and can even prove to be better than frostburn arrows.
Too long; didn't read: You want to obtain Ebonwood or shadewood bows, and frostburn or jester's arrows.
Important things to remember:
- Pick Crimson as your world evil.
- Ebonwood and shadewood bows are crafted from 10 of their wood-type respectively.
- Frostburn arrows are crafted from 10 wooden arrows and 1 ice torch. Additionally, ice torches are crafted from 3 torches and one block of ice.
- Jester's arrows are crafted from 10 wooden arrows and 1 fallen star.
TL;DR again: Head towards the snow/dungeon side of the world. Do not go towards the desert/jungle side of the world.
After obtaining what you need, the only thing you need to have left is armor. Gold/platinum armor are your go-tos, but if you can survive the underground desert without transforming the place into a graveyard, you can also head there to mine desert fossils, which can be used by an extractinator to obtain sturdy fossils. Sturdy fossils can then be used to make the fossil set, which is a really good ranger set.
If you're feeling extra dangerous, you can smash pots in the underworld to gain access to one of the best arrows present in Pre-HM; Hellfire Arrows.
Next is defeating the Eye of Cthulhu, pretty straight-forward. It will drop demonite or crimtane ore, which is used to make their respective bars. 8 bars to craft the demon or tendon bows. This process is optional by the way, and you can skip to the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu, skip straight to Queen Bee, or just ignore all of them and beat up Skeletron.
If you have a corruption world, you can absolutely obliterate the EOW using jester's arrows. For the brain of Cthulhu on a crimson world, you can use either. Defeating these bosses can help you gain access to shadow armor and crimson armor, but these sets are not exactly optimal if you want to prioritize damage. Nightmare and Deathbringer pickaxes are necessary to acquire hellstone though, which can be used to craft the Molten Fury, one of the best bows in-game.
Queen Bee is quite hard, so I suggest this guide:
Queen Bee strategies
The Queen Bee is a pre-Hardmode boss. It does not need to be killed to progress the game, but it has some useful drops and the Witch Doctor NPC will spawn when it is killed.
terraria.wiki.gg
From defeating Queen Bee, you have 1 in 3 chance of getting The Bee's Knees. When using the Bee's Knees, multiple bees will be fired towards the opponent, but remember to use wooden arrows if you're trying out this awesome weapon.
I don't have much to say about Skeletron, so here's another guide:
Skeletron strategies
Skeletron is a Pre-Hardmode Boss protecting the Dungeon. It's typically the last boss players will fight before the Wall of Flesh. Like any other boss fight in Terraria, defeating it is helped by preparing armor, buffs, and an arena. After this are some hints, tips, and strategies to help other...
terraria.wiki.gg
The dungeon has a few useful items that can help you progress through the game.
From the dungeon's chests, you can obtain a shadow key, which can be used to open up shadow chests in the underworld. The hellwing bow is a decent option against the WOF, but I'll let you decide if you want to use it or not. Many players don't use it due to its tendency to fire in a spread and not directly at a target.
From angry bones, you can get bones. With enough cobwebs and bones, you craft necro armor, which is essentially a better version of fossil armor.
For the Wall of Flesh, you have three bows to choose from: Molten Fury, Hellwing Bow, and The Bee's Knees. If you're using the Molten Fury, the best arrows to use at this point are Jester's arrows and Hellfire arrows.
I will not be covering a lot of Hardmode, but after defeating the WOF, you can gain access to a variety of bows:
- Adamantite and/or Titanium repeaters are crafted from their respective bars. They can auto-fire, which makes them decent options.
- The Marrow is a bow rarely dropped by Skeletron Archers in the underground. It has a straighter shot, and its arrows travel at higher velocities than average. It also has a higher critical strike chance. It uses wooden arrows as ammo.
- Alternatively, the Ice Bow can be dropped by Ice mimics in the underground tundra/snow biome. Its similar to the Marrow, but a bit weaker. Despite this, it is easier obtain than the Marrow. It uses wooden arrows as ammo.
- The Shadowflame Bow can be dropped from the Goblin Summoner, which can spawn during the HM goblin army. It inflicts the shadowflame debuff, which causes foes to lose 15 hp per second. It is useful against Mech bosses, aside from the Destroyer. It uses wooden arrows as ammo.
- The Tsunami can be obtained from Duke Fishron. It is a very powerful bow as it can shoot 5 arrows at a time. Duke Fishron however, is a very powerful foe, and can easily kill you early-game.
- The Daedalus Stormbow is one of the best options at this stage. It can fire a bunch of arrows from the sky. Despite being nerfed multiple times, it is still very effective against the mechanical bosses, especially when paired with holy arrows.
- Cursed arrows, obtained in the HM corruption, inflict Cursed Flames, which makes victims lose 24 hp per second.
- Ichor arrows, obtained in the HM crimson, inflict Ichor, which reduces the victims defense.
- Holy arrows, obtained in the HM hallow, causes two falling stars to fall to the point of impact.