'Horizon Zero Dawn' Best Bows: How and where to get the weapons

Assuming you're not lamenting the lack of a PC or PS3 port of Horizon Zero Dawn, it's safe to assume you've managed to dig your heels into Guerrilla Games' giant open-world extravaganza. 

If you're planning on taking down the biggest and baddest robo-dinos in the new open-world RPG, however, you're going to need the best neo-Neolithic arms and armament available. Luckily, we've got you covered with the best bows available in Horizon Zero Dawn.

Horizon Zero Dawn best bows: How to find the best weapons in the game

If you're not interested in comparing stats on a million different weapons Diablo-style, you're in luck. According to Polygon, the best version of every weapon (indicated as ones having the "shadow" descriptor) are available from mid- to late-game merchants in and around Meridian and can be purchased for a number of metal shards and a rare drop from one of the machines you'll be hunting.

You can also pick up a lodge version of the war bow for beating all 15 hunting ground trials with a perfect score, according to Polygon, but it'll only be marginally better than the shadow war bow, which can be purchased.

Regardless, the increased power and modification slots on the shadow weapons make them very important upgrades, and Polygon recommends picking up several versions of the same weapon and slotting in different modifications to get the damage or effects you'll need to take out some of the more powerful late-game enemies.

Which are the best bows in Horizon Zero Dawn?

According to USgamer, the best standard bow you can acquire is the shadow hunter bow, which will cost you 650 metal shards and an item called a watcher heart. It fires hunter, hardpoint and fire arrows, so it's useful in a variety of situations.

If you're looking to do more damage, you'll want to pick up the shadow sharpshot instead. USgamer said it costs 800 metal shards and a sawtooth heart to buy, and it forces you to take a pretty heavy dip in rate of fire for increased damage output. It fires hardpoint, tearblast and harvest arrows, and even allows Aloy to fire three arrows at once.

Finally, there's the shadow war bow. Much like the shadow sharpshot, it costs 800 shards, in addition to a trampler heart, per USgamer. It has low damage, but it's useful against enemies in a vulnerable state because of its ability to fire shock, freeze and corruption arrows.

Chances are you'll need all three bows to get to the end of Horizon Zero Dawn. You'd better get started collecting those hearts and shards as soon as possible!

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