Fortnite: The Complete Bow Guide for Chapter 2 Season 6- Strategies, Crafting, Upgrades

Bows have been available in Fortnite throughout the seasons, but never have been featured as heavily as in Chapter 2 Season 6. Here’s everything you need to know to become a master archer this season.

Fortnite: The Complete Bow Guide for Chapter 2 Season 6

The Basics

The standard bow you can find is the Makeshift Bow, at uncommon. It deals 52 damage and needs to be charged up to get its maximum range. It will deal the same amount of damage no matter how long you charge it, but will fire significantly faster at full charge.

Edit: As of April 15, Bows now have a headshot multiplier of 2.5x.

Bows now consume arrows, which can be commonly found as ammo this season. Bows have a double damage headshot modifier.

But you’re not here to learn how to use the Makeshift Bow, you’re here to unlock its potential and upgrade it.

Upgrading the Makeshift Bow

With a Makeshift Bow in tow, you can upgrade it into either the Mechanical Bow or the Primal Bow.

To make a Mechanical Bow, you need the Makeshift Bow and Mechanical parts, obtainable by destroying cars.

To make the Primal Bow, you’ll need the Makeshift and Animal Bones. Bones can be acquired by destroying bone structures or by hunting animals.

You can also get either of these bows in chests or in floor loot.

Mechanical vs. Primal: Which to Choose

Primal Weapons typically do more damage than their Mechanical counterparts, but the Primal Bow does less damage than the Mechanical one. Primal Bows deal 65 damage, where Mechanical ones do 85. Primal Bows take .8 seconds to nock an arrow, where Mechanical Bows take 1 second. Primal Weapons also don’t have a first shot accuracy bonus, but I haven’t noticed this effect as much on the Bow compared to other Primal Weapons.

Edit: As of April 15, Mechanical Bows can now do over 200 damage to one-shot enemies on a headshot. 

There are four more Bow upgrades you can make based on these: two for the Mechanical and two for the Primal.

Mechanical Bow Upgrade Recipes

Fully charging one of these upgraded bows gives an additional effect. Both do 89 damage at Epic rarity.

Shockwave Mechanical Bow- Mechanical Bow+2 Shockwave Grenades

Charged shots have a shockwave effect, but are less potent than the Shockwave Grenades themselves. You can use this to get an opponent of a structure, or knock them into the storm. They can even be used on yourself as a mobility tool. Players hit with the Shockwave Effect will prevent fall damage, so you can use this as an emergency escape button.

This is Bow can also be Legendary, dealing 94 damage on hit.

Explosive Mechanical Bow- Mechanical Bow+6 Grenades

Letting loose a fully charged shot from this bow bounces three smaller bombs on hit. They do 20 damage each, and have lowered structure damage. I find this bow is rather cumbersome, but there are opportunities to ricochet bombs off walls to get some extra damage. The bombs take a few moments to explode, so it’s not as versatile as the old Boom Bow or Rocket Launcher.

Primal Bow Upgrades

The Primal bow makes up for its lower damage with faster reload times and some great secondary effects. Both do 68 damage at Epic Rarity.

Flame Primal Bow- Primal Bow+Gas Can/Firefly Jar

A fully charged shot from this Bow will cause wooden structures to catch on fire. These are great for destroying enemy builds or (literally) smoking out hiding enemies.

Stink Primal Bow- Primal Bow+Stink Sac/Stink Fish

Hits from fully charged shots of the Stink Primal Bow leave behind a cloud of stink gas, dealing damage through shields to anyone caught in the cloud. You can use these to get camping enemies to move. The stink clouds deal 5 damage per second.

Bow Strategy

Unlike a real bow, you don’t need to hold out the shot to get maximum damage. If you’re stuck in close range, consider just flinging arrows off to get enemies off your tail. Most players will charge the bow to its maximum (naturally) before firing unless they know that this doesn’t matter. Take advantage of this knowledge to get ahead of your opponents if you find yourself facing down another archer.

Since you only get one shot before having to reload, Bows are punishing to players who aren’t good at aiming. You only get better by practicing.

Bows really shine when you’re playing with friends, as the utility of the upgraded Bows make for great support weapons. A squad-mate with one of the special bows can focus on destroying structures or forcing enemies to reposition while the others can take shots at them while they’re running.