Bow

Bows are weapons used in ranged combat that require a certain Ranged level to wield. They require ammunition in the form of arrows. Bows can be created by members through the Fletching skill and come in two varieties: shieldbows and shortbows. Some bows, such as composite bows and the dark bow, cannot be fletched, and are instead a possible reward from Treasure Trails and monster drops. Bows are distinct from crossbows, in that all bows are two-handed weapons, but not all crossbows are.

Shortbows
Shortbows fire at a faster rate than shieldbows and hit harder, but restrict the access of most defensive abilities and have a smaller attack range.


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Shieldbows
Effectively, a shieldbow is similar to a one-handed crossbow wielded alongside a shield, although it fires a bit slower, and hits harder. Its damage is slightly lower than a shortbow's. They have the unique aspect of being both a two-handed weapon and a shield at the same time.















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Composite bows
Composite bows are identical to shieldbows (except for the composite ogre bow), but they have a longer attack range. Only the ogre composite bow can be fletched, other composite bows must be obtained via Treasure Trails.


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Bow vs crossbow or thrown weapons
Many rangers choose the bow style of range weapon for its higher damage in comparison to crossbows and throwing weapons, and to fight monsters that are weak to arrows. Most bows sacrifice speed in comparison to their crossbow and thrown equivalents. The main disadvantage for bows is the fact they are two handed weapons whereas most crossbows and throwing weapons are only one handed, giving the flexibility to use them with any suitable off-hand weapon or shield.

Trivia

 * The elves taught humans how to make and use bows sometime near the God Wars.
 * When Runescape 2 was released, bows had no visible bowstrings. Jagex fixed this together with the RuneScape HD update.
 * Bows were formerly held in the player's right hand, implying that they were left-handed archers. This has been changed since the Evolution of Combat update.