[Top 5] Terraria Best Bows (And How To Get Them)

Rain arrows down from the skies!


Every ranger needs their own bow. If you're playing with the ranger class, finding the right bow for you is hard. There are multiple bows in the game that provide different effects than your standard draw and shoot armament. If you're curious about getting the best damage for your loadout, you're in the right place. Here are our Top 5 Terraria Best Bows and how to get them.

5. Pulse Bow

Feels like a techno dance move

The Pulse Bow is a special bow that converts your arrows into high-velocity blue bolts that pierce and bounce through the screen. The special projectiles are not affected by gravity and last for 3.5 seconds before disappearing. This makes it great for foes that you can fight in confined spaces and segmented enemies like the Golem and The Destroyer respectively. It converts all ammunition into the special blue bolt, so using the highest damaging arrows is your best choice for this weapon.

Item details:

  • Damage - 85 (Ranged)
  • Knockback - 3 (Very weak)
  • Critical chance - 11%
  • Use time - 20 (Very fast)
  • Velocity - 23.25 (not affected by ammo)

What makes it great:

  • Converts all arrows into infinitely piercing and bouncing arrows
  • Great for confined spaces
  • Has a base critical chance of 11% as opposed to the regular 4%

How to get it:

4. Daedalus Stormbow

Useless when there's a roof above your head

The Daedalus Stormbow is one of the most popular bows in Terraria. Its signature is that it allows you to rain down arrows from the top of the screen instead of firing straight from the weapon. This is great when fighting bosses in open spaces but is limited when fighting in enclosed arenas. That said, its damage potential is that it shoots down 4 arrows for the price of one, making the damage stack when used with special arrows.

Item details:

  • Damage - 38 (Ranged)
  • Knockback - 2.25 (Very weak)
  • Critical chance - 4%
  • Use time - 19 (Very fast)
  • Velocity - 12.5

What makes it great:

  • Does massive damage in open spaces, which is most boss fights

How to get it:

3. Tsunami

Why shoot one when you can shoot five?

Duke Fishron is one of the biggest challenges to any Terraria player. This is an optional boss fight that gives beneficial rewards to you when you beat it. The Tsunami is one of the said drops and is one of the best bows you can use to defeat the Moon Lord for the first time. Its special ability is that it shoots 5 arrows simultaneously as if it were a shotgun. Arrow effects carry over making the damage dealt pile up using this bow.

Item details:

  • Damage - 53 (Ranged)
  • Knockback - 2 (Very weak)
  • Critical chance - 4%
  • Use time - 24 (Fast)
  • Velocity - 10

What makes it great:

  • Excellent for burst damage, especially when paired with Jester Arrows

How to get it:

2. Eventide

Fires rainbow prisms

The Empress of Light is a boss added in the Journey's End update. With it comes new equipment including the highly deadly Eventide bow. This weapon converts regular wooden arrows into Twilight Lances that converge into where you're aiming. When using other ammo, it shoots only the middle arrow as the Twilight Lance while keeping the special arrows for the rest. The middle lance will always do double the base damage of the bow regardless of what arrows you use.

Item details:

  • Damage - 53 (Ranged)
  • Knockback - 2 (Very weak)
  • Critical chance - 4%
  • Use time - 24 (Fast)
  • Velocity - 10

What makes it great:

  • Converts regular arrows into 5 Twilight Lances which pierce up to four enemies

How to get it:

1. Phantasm

Fire like a machine gun!

The Phantasm is the last bow on our list and is also the last one you can obtain. It's made from Vortex Fragments that can be farmed in the Vortex Pillar fight before facing Moon Lord. This is a beast of a bow when handled correctly. It fires 4 arrows for the price of one, with each arrow that hit summoning 3 magical arrows that deal reduced damage. That means a total of 16 hits per arrow if all 4 shots hit. To top things off, the firing speed of this weapon speeds up the longer you hold it.

Item details:

  • Damage - 50 (Ranged)
  • Knockback - 2 (Very weak)
  • Critical chance - 4%
  • Use time - 12 (Very fast)
  • Velocity - 20
  • 66% chance to not consume ammo

What makes it great:

  • Can do a maximum of 16 hits per arrow
  • Speeds up from 1 hit per 24 frames up to 1 hit per 18 frames when used continuously

How to get it:

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A BardBarian that has explored everywhere from the slums of Midgard, the mountains of High Hrothgard, to beyond the Astral plane to bring wonderful stories and magic to all the uninitiated.
Gamer Since: 1996
Currently Playing: Granblue Fantasy
Top 3 Favorite Games:The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragonborn, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin


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