Bow · Ranged · air and distance · burst opener
Infinite Explosive Bow
Infinite Arrows II + III = 100% arrow return, so one Explosive Arrow lasts forever. Flame-imbued Charged Shots trigger the glove gears at range.
≈ 33% crit chance on the main weapon · Attack Speed at 78% of the cap's benefit · Movement at 100%. Health, Stamina and Spirit come from your Abyss Tree, not gear. Attack counts weapon + necklace + rings + Destruction gears; Crit counts weapon, chest and necklace; speed counts every global source. Gold bars are refinement; orbs are sockets.
Vow of the Dead King
Halberd · spear moveset · Tier 5 · +10
- Attack 35
- Critical Rate Lv 4
Abyss gear sockets · 5/5 (ships with 3, a Witch opens the rest)
Recipes below are crafted at any Witch's Altar under Craft Abyss Gear, and only after you have read that gear's Gear Blueprint from your inventory. The listed Tier I gears are the ingredients and are consumed.
GroundsurgeTurning Slash · SpiritShatters the ground in a frontal cone of stone spikes. Hits on impact and again on burst, high stagger, no imbue needed. Roughly 2× Wound of Darkness in a side-by-side wiki test.
Get it Extract from Melted Ambition (Myurdin, Chapter 6-7) at a Witch, or craft: Destruction I + Fortification I + Aegis I with the Gear Blueprint. · pinned on the map
Greysoul HowlingTurning Slash · SpiritCalls Goyen's phantom to repeat the slash as a wide sweep of shadow energy. Stacks with Momentum.
Get it Ships in Fated Shadow (Goyen, Nest of Valor, Chapter 9). Craft: Destruction I + Swift I + Haste I + Insight I.
Shadow ClawHeavy Attack / Forward Slash · StaminaThree forward swipes, Black Fang's own move. Strong single-target damage.
Get it Reward of the faction quest Legendary Wolf (Howls from the North Gate). To craft one instead you must first read Gear Blueprint: Shadow Claw (a 2% drop from Exploration Dispatch missions at the Timeworn Ruins or Kingshield Dig Site); the recipe then appears at any Witch's Altar under Craft Abyss Gear and consumes Destruction I + Swift I + Haste I + Vitality I. · pinned on the map
Destruction III+3 Attack on the weapon it sits in.
Get it Craft at Elowen: two Destruction II.
- Destruction III
+3 Attack on the weapon it sits in.
Get it Craft at Elowen: two Destruction II.
Where to get it
Citadel of the Forgotten King, under the Frostveiled Castle Ruins in northern Pailune. Also sold by Gorio at Skog Equipment.
Where it all drops
Every pin is a confirmed map marker for this build's items and abyss gears. Select a slot above to highlight its pins; tap a pin to jump to the slot.
Where to get it
No fixed pin: Any cloak, Witch's Ring. Crafted at any Blacksmith, bought from a travelling vendor, or dropped somewhere the map data does not list (the Nest of Valor island).
Coast, rivers and relief traced from the public Pywel tiles at crimsondb.gg; pin coordinates from its marker data. World coordinates are the game's own.
How it plays
Two gears make arrows free. Elemental Charged Shot (Imbue Element Lv2) with Flame lights the same Volcanic Eruption and Flames of Judgment from your gloves at range. Evasive Shot Lv3 fires two arrows per dodge, so the bow handles anything in the air or out of reach, and opens boss fights with a charged explosive that staggers.
- 1Select Explosive Arrow on the weapon wheel once; it never runs out.
- 2Charged Shot (R2 while aiming) with Flame imbue as the opener: explosion + boulder + sparks on a stationary boss.
- 3Evasive Shot (dodge twice while aiming) spam for sustained damage; it fires two arrows at Lv3.
- 4Focused Shot for up to four aimed shots on birds and fliers.
Skills
Marksmanship maxed
Base bow damage, including explosive arrows.
Charged Shot, Evasive Shot Lv3 + Expertise
The burst and the spam.
Focused Shot + Focused Charged Shot
Slow time, four shots.
Imbue Element Lv2
Unlocks Elemental Charged Shot.
Why it works
Why not a crit or speed bow
Bows are 33 attack flat or 30 with a Lv2 stat. Global crit from the core already sits at Lv7, so the 3 attack is the better trade.
Fifth socket
Insight III here because bow crit is Lv7 before it, still on the steep part of the curve. Destruction III is equal within a percent.
Crit from sources that cost no weapon socket
The Kuku Flame-Resistant chest (Lv3) and the White Lion Necklace (Lv4) give crit to every weapon you own. With a Lv4 weapon that is Lv11 before a single Insight gear, which is where the game's crit curve has already paid out 82% of its cap.
Attack Speed where it is global
Attack speed on gloves, boots and rings applies to every weapon; on a weapon it only works while that weapon is drawn. Tariv Cloth Gloves (Lv3), one Swift III in the boots (Lv3) and the Witch's Ring (Lv4) reach Lv10, which is 78% of the cap's benefit. Chasing the last five levels costs more sockets than it returns.
Movement Speed on exactly 15
Tariv boots 3 + two Lv4 earrings + the stowed shield's 2 + Haste II = 15. Nothing wasted, and mobility is what lets a 20-Spirit nuke build reposition instead of trading hits.
A shield you never raise
Defense and Movement Speed from a shield count while it hangs on your back. Damage Reduction (Aegis) does not, so both shield sockets are Fortification III for +18 Defense.
Momentum on the helm
The helm has one socket and nothing else competes for it. +35% Turning Slash damage is the largest single multiplier in the game.
Alternatives
- Bow. Any 33-attack bow: Noble Man's, Divine Echoes, Aeserion, Crimson Warden's, Shadowleaf, Kylus.
- Infinite Arrows. Greater Infinite Arrows gives 100% in one socket but has limited durability. Save it for Overwhelming Beings.
Story gates
- Infinite Arrows II: Karanda, Pailune faction
- Infinite Arrows III: Witch synthesis
- Explosive Arrows: Back Alley vendors in Calphade, Demeniss, Tashkalp
Confidence. Arrow-return stacking to 100% is confirmed by multiple guides and the source videos.