Ranking the bow types in Fortnite Chapter 3, Season 1

Bows are back in Fornite but which one should you look out for?

Bows and arrows have brought a fun, new element to the game for Chapter 3′s first season. The weapons aren’t new to longtime fans, but they are new to the chapter. They further diversify how to play the game and up’s the difficulty with eliminations.

They are weapons you have to be accurate with. There’s no way around that. If you aren’t accurate and are more of a spray-and-pray player; stick to the SMGs, auto pistols, and burst shotguns of the game.

Yet, if you like the rifles, pistols, and other precision-based weapons, not only are bows a fun new wrinkle for you, but they also provide unexpected kickbacks. All bow types have an epic and legendary version, so we’re ranking these based solely on them having the same rarity classifications.

The shockwave bow will propel opponents into the air and away from you, making them a great last-resort weapon if you’re low on health. Explosive bows will cause several small explosions after impact, which can be fun (not for them) surprise. Stink bows produce a mist that is useful if the person is hiding behind a wall, and flame bows light things on fire, which is always fun if you’re a fan of the fireflies or the flare guns.

Yet, which order would I put them in?

Ranking the bows in order of effectiveness

4. Mechanical Shockwave Bow

The Shockwave Bow is great for getting enemies away from you but if you’re trying to inflict damage, the added effect of the shockwave isn’t going to harm them. All bows can register 222 damage if it’s a headshot, but the accuracy needed makes going for a headshot unrecommended.

3. Primal Stink Bow

The Primal Stink Bow will inflict five damage on any player that is in the range of the gas it inmates, but they’re generally not as impactful as it’s easy to get away from the gas before taking more damage

2. Mechanical Explosive Bow

If you’re going to miss the Mechanical Explosive Bow, you have to miss short, otherwise, the explosive capabilities of the arrows will skip right past the opponent and do no damage. Yet, if you make contact, it’ll add about 30+ damage on top of the damage received from the arrow itself. If you’re accurate, this is a good weapon.

1. Primal Flame Bow

The Primal Flame Bow lights whatever it hits on fire. Even if you miss, you can still corner the opposing player in a fire trap, and that in itself is pretty useful. For that reason alone you don’t need to be as accurate, and if you hit the player you’re targetting, they’ll be inflicted with damage from the fire on top of the damage from the arrow. That ease of access makes the flame bow the best in my opinion.