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Genshin Impact may come off as a simple game at first, but building a character is a lot more complicated than it lets on. There are several artifact sets to choose from, different item qualities, and tons of weapons up for grabs. What works for Tartaglia may not work for Fischl, and vice versa. In the case of bow users, players need to take into account both normal and elemental damage. Quick shots are fast, but they don't have any elemental effects.

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Charge shots are powerful elemental attacks, but they take longer to get off. In addition, the five-star bow users both have burst shots that work differently than the rest of the four-star characters. To help make playing a bit easier, below are the best bows and what they are primarily used for.

Updated December 26, 2021 by Kim Dailey: As the world of Teyvat continues to grow in Genshin Impact, more characters and weapons are being released. There are tons of bows to choose from, with some naturally being more powerful than others or better suited to certain characters. With Aloy's recent inclusion into the game, travelers have been keen to equip her with the best of the best, prioritizing the futuristic warrior above the other archers at their disposal. Below are the top bows currently in the game, ranked from worst to best. Keep in mind that some bows may only be available during certain parts of the year or during certain in-game events, but will likely be a repeat item in future events of the same type.

14 Compound Bow

Compund Bow

The Compound Bow is the easiest to get a hold of on the list as it can be forged. It's a bow that free-to-play players can easily access, and it doesn't have bad stats either.

The Compound Bow has a base stat of 41 with a 15% damage bonus to the amount of physical damage the character puts out. In addition, the bow gives a 4% increase to attack, which can stack three times. Player speeds are also increased by 1.2% for six seconds with stacks. This effect doubles at bow level five.

13 Favonius Warbow

Favionius Bow

The Favonius Warbow is a common four-star pull and a reward for completing the Mondstadt questline. The bow also has a base attack of 41, but it has an energy recharge bonus of 13.3%.

The bow gives the user a 60% chance to get an elemental orb upon landing a critical hit; this ability can only be activated once every twelve seconds. At level five, the chance of getting an elemental orb from critical hits jumps to 100% with a cooldown time of six seconds. This bow may not be available at the moment, but keep an eye out for it when it comes back around.

12 Royal Bow

Royal Bow

The Royal Bow is also a bit easier to get than normal since it can be bought from Paimon's Bargains for 24 masterless starglitter. The Royal Bow has a base attack of 42 with a 9% bump to attack power.

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Damaging an enemy gives an 8% bonus to critical chance that stacks up to five times. The effect will go away after the critical hit, but at level five, the crit chance doubles to 16%.

11 The Viridescent Hunt

Virdescent Hunt Bow

This bow is only available from buying the battle pass and reaching level 30. The Viridescent Hunt has a base attack of 42 with a critical hit rate of 6%. Its ability increases give the player a 50% chance of summoning a cyclone that deals 40% attack damage for four seconds. The cool downtime for this ability is 14 seconds. At level five, the chance for creating the cyclone jumps up to 50% and deals 80% damage, with a cooldown of only ten seconds.

This is also a good choice of bow for Aloy, as her critical rating is another soft spot for the transplanted archer. Though, the passive ability doesn't help or impede her much either way.

10 Blackcliff Warbow

Blackcliff bow

The Blackcliff Warbow can also be obtained from Paimon's Bargains for 24 masterless starglitter. The bow has a base attack of 44 with an 8% crit damage change. The bow gives the user a 12% damage boost for killing an opponent. The 12% can stack three times, but each individual kill only gives the user a 30-second buff. Hitting level five doubles the stack percent to 24% without an increase in time or stacks. Built around crit damage, this bow is a solid choice for any archer, including Aloy.

9 Sacrificial Bow

Sacrificial Bow

The sacrificial bow has a base attack of 44 with an energy recharge of 6.7%. When the player uses an elemental shot, they have a 40% chance of their CD ending every thirty seconds. At level five, the chance of reset jumps to 80%, and the cooldown timer falls to just 16 seconds.

The Sacrificial Bow's unique benefits are particularly good for negating Aloy's shortcoming. Namely her elemental skill, "Frozen Wilds" which boosts her attack bonus but then leaves her with an odd gap in her attack power as the effects wear off in half the time of the skill's cool down. It's the bow's Elemental Skill Reset ability that makes it a good pairing for Aloy, or any other archer that is impeded by their cooldown times.

8 Windblume Ode

Windblume Event Shop

The Windblume Ode was a prize for getting enough tickets from Peculiar Wonderland during the Windblume festival. It has a base attack of 42 and a secondary skill that gives that character 36 extra points in elemental mastery, and both will level with the bow. When the character uses their elemental skill, they get a 16% attack boost for six seconds.

7 Rust

Rust bow weapon details in Genshin Impact

Rust is a popular bow for pairing with DPS bow users like Tartaglia. Rust has a base attack of 42 with a 9% attack increase. Its ability increases normal attack damage by 40% while reducing special damage by 10%. This effect is always active as long as the bow is being used. At level 5, the damage increase is doubled to 80%, while the decrease stays at 10%.

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Rust is also a worthwhile consideration for Aloy, thanks to its boost to normal attacks. An all-around DPS bow is a good go-to regardless, at least until you can grab a bow tailored to your archer's specific needs.

6 The Stringless

Stringless bow

The Stringless is great for elemental powerhouses like Ganyu. The bow has an attack of 42 with an elemental mastery of 36. As long as the bow is equipped to the character, they receive a 24% bump in elemental and burst damage, which can deal a substantial amount of damage. When upgraded to level five, this bump is doubled to 48% damage. The Stringless is also a good choice for Aloy as its abilities directly bolster hers.

5 Skyward Harp

Skyward Harp

This is a five-star bow that is perfect for those focusing on critical damage, again making it one of the best bows for Aloy. It has a base attack of 48 and a 4.8% crit rate. The special ability gives the player 20% increased critical damage, and attacks have a 60% chance of causing 125% AoE damage every four seconds. At level five, the crit damage jumps to 40%; hits also now have a 100% chance to inflict 125% damage every two seconds.

4 Amos' Bow

Amos

Amos' Bow is another five-star weapon that concentrates on damage. It has a base attack of 46 with a 10.8% attack increase. The bow increases attack damage by 12%. In addition, it also increases the damage of attacks by an additional 8% every 0.1 seconds and can stack up to five times. When upgraded to level five, the attack percent is increased to 24%, and the damage increase is 16%

3 Elegy For The End

Elegy For The End Bow

Elegy for the End is another five-star bow that is an excellent choice for players using Venti. It has a base attack of 46, and its secondary stat gives a 12% boost to elemental recharge. The skill will also increase elemental mastery by 60 points when the character's skill or burst is used.

The bow can place sigils on enemies, and when four sigils are placed, all party members will receive 100 elemental mastery points and a 20% attack increase for twelve seconds, making the team bursts more powerful than ever.

2 Polar Star

Polar Star Genshin Impact

The Polar Star was featured in a banner back in October and has since taken a spot as one of the most powerful bows in the game. A five-star bow with 46 base attack and a 7.2% critical rating. Heading straight to the big leagues with pieces like Amo's Bow and Elegy of The Wind, Polar Star has the second-most devastating base damage of any bow. Polar Star is also an elemental powerhouse with a 12% bonus to both Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst damage.

Its other unique ability is that it acquires a stacking bonus of Byakuya Kyousei. Here's a quick chart to display the scaling bonuses.

Byakuya Kyousei Stack(s)

Attack Bonus

x1

10%

x2

20%

x3

30%

x4

48%

No doubt this makes it an easy choice as the best bow for Aloy, but it's really a no-brainer for any archer.

1 Thundering Pulse

thundering pulse genshin impact

The Thundering Pulse bow is not only one of the best bows in the game, it is also the single best bow for Aloy. It has a base attack of 46 and a 14.4% crit damage, not to mention the bow's attack and normal attack passive bonuses are perfectly tailored to Aloy's abilities. With each stat dependably bolstering, some part of Aloy's build, this would be our top recommendation when selecting a bow, so hopefully, you were able to snag one when they were featured on a previous banner this past summer.

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