Bows

All Bows are effective as silent weapons that Lara uses to hunt or assassinate targets. Using headshots, she’s able to take down many unarmored enemies without making a peep or risking a melee attack. Bows also serve as a way to get fire, poison, or explosives across the field. Using Specialty Arrows, Lara can take down heavier targets without needing to switch to her firearms.

Bows do not have any attachments, so all of their stats are improved through traditional upgrades.

Makeshift Longbow

Upgrades

Tier I

-Reinforced Limbs (Improved damage)

-Grip Wrap (Faster Draw Speed)

-Wrapped String (Improved Hold Time)

-String Nocks (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier II

-Waxed String (Faster Draw Speed)

Tier III

-None

Tier IV

-None

Bare-bones Bow crafted from sticks. Simple yet dependable.

You craft this Bow during your time in the Siberian Wilderness. It’s a very poor quality weapon, and you won’t use it for too long. Once you get the recurve bow, you no longer use this one.

Recurve Bow

Upgrades

Tier I

-Reinforced Limbs (Improved damage)

-Grip Wrap (Faster Draw Speed)

-Wrapped String (Improved Hold Time)

-String Nocks (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier II

-Waxed String (Faster Draw Speed)

-Notched Rest (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier III

-Shooting Glove (Improved Hold Time)

-Reinforced Shaft (Improved Damage)

Tier IV

-Custom Shaft (Improved Hold Time)

A hand-crafted Bow that is balanced for effectiveness in all situations.

You find this in the Gulag, in the Soviet Installation map. It’s part of the main storyline, and you cannot miss it. The Recurve Bow isn’t as much of an assassin’s weapon as the Compound Bow. It’s lighter, faster, and performs wonderfully in a drawn out battle. You get more shots off and can aim very well due to the longer Hold Time. This is good against long-range targets that are mobile and tough to hit. If you use Bows to start fights, then the Compound Bow remains an amazing choice. If you rely more on your Bow in the middle of engagements, it’s worthwhile to switch to the Recurve.

Compound Bow

Upgrades

Tier I

-Reinforced Limbs (Improved Damage)

-Grip Wrap (Faster Draw Speed)

-Wrapped String (Improved Hold Time)

-String Nocks (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier II

-Waxed String (Faster Draw Speed)

-Trigger Release (Improved Hold Time)

-Adjusted Limbs (Improved Damage)

Tier III

-Stabilizer (Faster Firing Rate)

-Improved Cams (Improved Hold Time)

Tier IV

-Lubricated Cams (Faster Draw Speed)

-Drop Away Rest (Improved Damage)

A technically advanced Bow focused on high damage.

You gather parts for this weapon from Strongboxes. The Compound Bow is very powerful, and it remains a serious addition to your arsenal for a long time. The damage per hit is, by itself, a great reason to continue using this weapon. It’s superb for ambushes.

Combine the Compound Bow with Triple Shot and True Shot to become a master assassin at range. You can frequently start battles with multiple kills, even against enemies that are alert and watching each other.

Ancient Horn Bow

Upgrades

Tier I

-Reinforced Limbs (Improved Damage)

-Grip Wrap (Faster Draw Speed)

-Wrapped String (Improved Hold Time)

-String Nocks (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier II

-Waxed String (Faster Draw Speed)

-Weighted Horn (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier III

-Shooting Glove (Improved Hold Time)

-Thumb Release (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier IV

-Custom Horn Shaft (Improved Damage)

An ancient Byzantine Bow built for high firing speeds. Adorned with pieces of mountain ram horn.

This Bow is given to Lara as a reward for completing Surveillance Disruption, a Mission in Geothermal Valley. It’s not very good at killing people outright; the Bow has low damage output, but it fires very quickly. You get the most out of this if you use your Bows for Specialty Arrow attacks and don’t do very much direct killing or sniping with it. Specialty Arrows need to be on target, and you don’t usually have much time to put them where they need to go. This Bow’s crazy Draw Speed and Rate of Fire ensures that you can pepper an area with fire, explosives, or poison without missing a beat.

Grim Whisper

Upgrades

Tier I

-Reinforced Limbs (Improved Damage)

-Grip Wrap (Faster Draw Speed)

-Wrapped String (Improved Hold Time)

-String Nocks (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier II

-Waxed String (Faster Draw Speed)

-Weighted Horn (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier III

-Shooting Glove (Improved Hold Time)

-Thumb Release (Faster Firing Rate)

Tier IV

-Custom Horn Shaft (Improved Damage)

An ancient horn bow with decorative snow leopard fur-wrapped limbs.

You get this Bow by looting the Sarcophagi at the end of Crypts. It has four pieces and can be used as soon as you find all the pieces and return to a Base Camp.

This weapon is another combat Bow (as opposed to a sniping Bow). It has a very high rate of fire and draw speed, so you’re able to react quickly in combat, take out new threats, and get back to cover. Grim Whisper has one of the best hold times in the game and its damage is second only to the Compound Bow. Once it is fully upgraded, it is nearly as powerful as the Compound Bow, but has almost double all the other stats.