Survival Bow

General

Item Type

Wintermute

No

Statistics

Weight
0.50 kg (1.1 lbs)

Harvest	Repair
Unharvestable	Unrepairable

“

A simple, improvised bow, suitable for hunting small game.

In-game description

”

This article is about the normal Bow. For variants, see Woodwright's Bow and Sport Bow.

The Survival Bow is a maple self-backed longbow that shoots Simple Arrows and Fire Hardened Arrows at targets such as Wildlife. Hitting a living target with a fired arrow provides experience to the Archery skill.

Overview

The Survival Bow is an effective ranged weapon and hunting tool. It features unique advantages and disadvantages from other weapons, such as the Hunting Rifle. The Survival Bow is the primary weapon in Interloper mode, considering the limited availability of Distress Pistols and its ammunition, and the limited utility of Stones.

Arrows travel slower than bullets and at a steep arc, making their accuracy more difficult, especially at long ranges, and also making it more effective for offense than defense. However, the Survival Bow can be very effective at stopping a charging Wolf, if the player waits until the last moment to shoot.

Bows are much lighter than firearms, but their ammunition is heavier.
Arrows cause heavier bleeding than bullets, but lower chances of a critical hit.
Arrows may be retrievable after being fired; however, the arrow loses some condition each time it lands (with hard surfaces causing more damage to the arrow).
Bow condition degrades 2-3% per shot and cannot be repaired. New bow and arrows may be crafted, and all materials to craft bows/arrows is renewable (see: Beachcombing).
Bows decay slowly over time (~1% per 5 days on Interloper).

The only time when the Rifle is objectively better is when fighting Moose. Because Moose do not bleed, the Bow's more effective bleed-out is rendered useless; making the Rifle's higher critical hit chance superior.

Mechanics

To fire a Survival Bow, it must first be carried and wielded (1) with at least 1 Simple Arrow in the player's inventory. Wielding it will cause an arrow to be loaded. To fire the bow, it must first be drawn (LMB), and then released (RMB). Left-clicking twice will cause the bow to lower again, as it will if the Stamina meter is depleted (which drains constantly, when the bow is drawn).

The bow requires practice to use effectively, but also becomes easier to handle at higher levels of Archery:

Draw speed: It's slower than aiming the rifle.
Horizontal sway: When drawn, the bow will sway from left to right affecting the arrows flight accordingly. When it tilts to the right or left, the arrow will fly a bit to the right or left of the center of your aim. The sway increases if the player is tired.
Vertical targeting: Arrow flight trajectory forms an arc, following in-game physics, similar to the real world. Farther targets will require aiming higher.
Arrow flight speed: Arrows fly much slower than bullets, so take a target's movement into consideration.
Usability: The bow, unlike the rifle, cannot be fired while crouched unless one's Archery skill is Level 5.

Drawing a loaded bow will cause the player's view to zoom, enabling the bow to be used as a weak optic or pointing tool.

Hunting

Main article: Hunting

The survival bow is a crafted tool which fires Simple Arrows. Arrows may kill animals instantly with a critical hit, they more commonly cause bleeding wounds that drain the animal's health over time. When hunting it is wise to consider the weather, time of day, and ability to track a wounded animal as it flees. Arrows may be retrieved from the ground or an animal's carcass by left-clicking on it.

Bleed-out time

Each species of animal takes a specific amount of time to bleed out, as follows:

Zone Hit	Bear	Deer	Wolf	Rabbit
Head	45 minutes	Instant	Instant	Instant
Chest	120 minutes	25 minutes	40 minutes	Instant
Hind	240 minutes	40 minutes	45 minutes	Instant
Foot	240 minutes	120 minutes	60 minutes	Instant

Rabbits and Ptarmigan die instantly when hit by an arrow. Moose do not bleed out.

Note: The bleed-out time diminishes with higher levels of the Archery survival skill.

Crafting

Locations

The survival bow can randomly spawn in the game world (excluding Interloper) on different playthroughs. Some observed spawn points include:

Desolation Point

On the edge of a glade in Katie's Secluded Corner

Mystery Lake

In the hut at the Unnamed Pond
Next to the corpse at Max's Last Stand
Next to a corpse in a clearing north of the cabin that is north of unnamed pond. (Post refresh).

Pleasant Valley

Misty Falls Picnic Area, the cave which is an indoor area with arrows and bedroll

Forlorn Muskeg

By a corpse on the Marsh Ridge.
In the High Blind

Broken Railroad

Near the Hunting Lodge, by the corpse close to the fallen trees.
Near the crashed Train next to a deer carcass

Hushed River Valley

Next to a frozen corpse inside an ice room, in the Ice Cave containing waterfalls.
At an abandoned camp north of Cloudtop Falls.
In an unnamed cave near the northern edge of the map, somewhat west of Mammoth Falls.
Next to a frozen corpse at Moose Overlook.

Tips

The Survival Bow cannot be used with a Sprained Wrist.
To choose which arrow is loaded into the bow, use the R key.
Moose require a maximum of 5 arrows to be killed.
Crafting Simple Arrows for hunting Rabbits are effective at quickly increasing Archery skill.
Arrows are less likely to cause a critical wound than bullets.
Arrows cause more bleeding than bullets, causing a shorter bleed-out time.