Summary
The survival gameplay ofGreen Hellcan get pretty hardcore. In an environment where stepping through the wrong patch of water oreating a bad mushroomcan mean a painful death, combat is far from the player’s only worry. Hostile creatures and natives are a constant threat though, and bows are essential tools both for combat and survival.
While the bows inGreen Helldon’t have the variety of upgradesother weapon categorieshave, they all offer lethal headshots, which are a powerful edge in both combat and hunting. Using them effectively requires some skill, but every player should carry a bow throughout the game for its utility. The essential ingredients that players need to look for are long sticks from cutting down medium trees, and rope from collecting liana vines on large trees. Read on to learn about the best bows in the game and their specific crafting recipes.
5Fire Bow
Not What It Sounds Like
While it’s not a bow in the same sense as the others on this list, the fire bow is an essential tool for survival that players need in the jungle. The fire bow is based on a real world survival tool that uses a bow made of string and sticks, which the user draws rapidly across wood to produce heat from friction and ignite kindling.
The fire bow works exactly the same way in-game, offering a method for playersto start fires. In this dire situation, fires are essential for cooking, boiling water and staying warm. The fire bow requires a crafted basic bow to make, though, and has no use in combat, so it comes in at the bottom of the list.
4Bow
Old Reliable
This is the first bow players can make in Green Hell, and arguably it remainsviable for the whole game. That’s because bows in the game all deal the same amount of base damage. Damage is affected by the arrow type, and overall bow effectiveness is determined by a player’s archery skill.
With those stats in mind, the determining factor that makes one bow “better” than another is weight. At 3kg, the basic bow is the joint-heaviest of the three types. In the early game (which is typically when this bow is used), players will likely be relying on basic arrows (crafted withfeather x2, small stick x1).
3Tribal Bow
Spoils Of War
Tribal bows are more or less the same as basic bows. The difference is that players can only get this variant as a drop from the Waraha hunters. This gives them the slight advantage of beingreliably farmable, as opposed to the player having to craft bows.
Tribal arrows are also available to collect from the missed shots of Waraha hunters. They’re slightly heavier than regular arrows and take up more inventory space, but players can get as many as they want by baiting the hunters to fire at trees. Just be sure to avoid getting hit in the process.
2Bamboo Blowpipe
Technically Not A Bow
The bamboo blowpipe isn’t a bow, but as it’s the only other ranged weapon inGreen Hell(not counting throwing a spear), it belongs on this list. It isn’t very effective at fighting the Waraha, since they have a lore-related reason for being resistant to the poison darts. Yet, if players want to master animal husbandry inGreen Hell, it’s an essential tool.
The blowpipe lets players create poison darts (unfinished dart (x1), poison dart frog (x1), frog stretcher), which can both kill and sedate creaturesin the jungle. The Capybara, Peccary, and Tapir can all be sedated and tamed using the darts. Other creatures, though, will die if the same poison darts are used on them.
1Bamboo Bow
The Survivalists' Choice
While there isn’t much that separates the individual bows inGreen Hell,the bamboo bow is still the best choiceamong the available options. It’s more lightweight than the other two bows, which makes more of a difference than most players might think. Having an extra 0.5g can be critical in a game where gathering resources is a necessity.
Of course, players' existing archery skills will still determine shot speed and sway. That means there’s no reason not to upgrade to a bamboo bow as soon as bamboo is discovered. By this point, players may also be able to craft metal arrows (metal arrowhead cast x1, feather x2, small stick x1, rope x1). These are the superior choice for damage.
Damage testing by the communityshows that it takes around 6 fewer metal arrows to kill a Caiman than standard arrows (18, as compared to 24). That means the damage difference is slight, but there is a clear benefit against enemies with a larger health pool.
