The Black Bow takes some effort to acquire, and bows aren’t endgame DPS monsters, but they do have their uses in PvP or singling out enemies in PvE.

Black Bow Location

The Black Bow is in Leyndell, Royal Capital. Getting your hands on it requires you to defeat two shard-bearing demigods (Godrick and Renalla are good choices), then make your way to the Altus Plateau, past the Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss, and into the city proper.

Follow the ramparts down until you reach the main thoroughfare. The closest Site of Grace is called “Avenue Balcony.”

Defeat or avoid the Erdtree Avatar miniboss there, and continue west until you see a small square with a fountain inside it. 

To the right of the square is a hall with a Crucible Knight in it. Don’t go that way. Instead, take the elevator across from it down and exit.

Jump onto the rooftops to the right of that exit and make your way across them.

You’ll need to jump across a few gaps, but you’ll eventually see the Black Bow as a shiny item on your right.

Black Bow Passive Effects and Abilities

The Black Bow is the only standard bow that can equip the Barrage Ash of War. It’s also impossible to give it any other Ashes of War, and it’s upgraded through Somber Smithing Stones.

As a standard bow, the Black Bow’s version of Barrage will deal more damage than it would on a light bow, but the weapon weights double what most other bows do. It also requires 20 Dexterity to even use, far more than most other bows.

Black Bow Stats

Here are the Black Bow’s base stats.

Damage type: None Ability: Barrage (FP cost — 2) Weight: 4. 0 Attack Power Physical: 70 Magic: 0 Fire: 0 Lightning: 0 Holy: 0 Critical: 100 Range: 50 Guarded Damage Negation Physical: – Magic: – Fire: – Lightning: – Holy: – Guard Boost: – Attribute Scaling STR: E DEX: D Attributes Required STR: 9 DEX: 20 Passive Effects None

That’s everything you need to know about the Black Bow in Elden Ring, from where to find it to what it takes to wield it. Its availability in the mid-game belies its usefulness no matter what point in the game, especially as a harassment tool in PvP. It’s especially useful for high Dexterity builds that lack a consistent long-range tool.

We’ve covered where to find plenty of other weapons and gear in Elden Ring, including the Blasphemous Blade, Nagakiba, and Grave Scythe. Our guides hub for the game has so much more.