The Sharpshot Bow is a ranged weapon in Horizon Zero Dawn. It is a slow-firing yet highly accurate bow, and excels in long range combat where precision is required. Its arrows specialize in dealing high impact and tear damage, and consist of Precision, Tearblast, and Harvest Arrows.
Special Variant
The Banuk Powershot BowFW is a specialized Sharpshot Bow available only once per playthrough, from Bluegleam Merchants in The Cut. It normally costs 14 Bluegleam, though the AdeptNG+ version requires additional resources. It is capable of 'overdrawn' shots where the user can draw the string longer than the limit of regular variants for exceedingly powerful shots. It has 3 slots and is capable of using all 3 varieties of Sharpshot Bow ammo like the Shadow variant. Combine this with nocking triple arrows and some decent damage mods, and a fully power-drawn shot can do some very, very serious damage per (very slow) shot from a rather surprising range, perfect for sniping. Its range is enough that a fully drawn shot can hit an enemy from a range where they can't actually find you; even a Thunderjaw can be taken down like this without it ever firing at you. Similar to the Banuk Striker and Champion Bow, undercharged shots deal less damage and tear than even standard bows, with Tearblast Arrows being the only exception.
Ammo
Precision Arrow
|
A highly damaging arrow that deals high impact damage and medium tear damage. Very effective for sniping for headshots and machine weakpoints alike.
Tearblast Arrow
|
Deals no damage but very high tear shortly after impact. It utilizes a powerful compressed air blast to easily strip armor and components off machines. This arrow also knocks down weaker human enemies, rendering them vulnerable to Critical Strikes. The blast can attract a lot attention, however.
Harvest Arrow
|
Deals low impact damage and moderate tear. It removes machine parts with high precision. Removed parts that can be looted will yield more resources.
Weapon Stats
Numbered value of damage are presented from left to right following the Difficulty order from Story to Ultra Hard, numbers in Bold are of Normal difficulty. Numbers in brackets are the base values of Powershot bows. Tear damage remains the same between Easy and Very Hard.
| Ammo Type | Variants | Damage 
|
Tear 
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Precision Arrow | Basic Carja Shadow AdeptNG+ |
240-75-60-54-48-42 | 60-30-15 |
| Banuk PowershotFW Adept PowershotFW NG+ |
400(200)-125(63)-100(50)-90(45)-80(40)-70(35) | 100(50)-50(25)-25(13) | |
| Tearblast Arrow | Carja Shadow AdeptNG+ |
None | 200-100-50 |
| Banuk PowershotFW Adept PowershotFW NG+ | |||
| Harvest Arrow | Shadow AdeptNG+ |
40-13-10-9-8-7 | 100-50-25 |
| Banuk PowershotFW Adept PowershotFW NG+ |
200(20)-63(8)-50(5)-45(5)-40(4)-35(4) | 120(100)-60(50)-30(25) |
Ammo and Modification Slots by Variant
| Bow Variant | Precision Arrow | Tearblast Arrow | Harvest Arrow | Mod Slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic |
|
1 | ||
| Carja |
|
|
2 | |
| Shadow |
|
|
|
3 |
| AdeptNG+ |
|
|
|
4 |
| Banuk PowershotFW |
|
|
|
3 |
| Adept PowershotFW NG+ |
|
|
|
4 |
Acquisition Details
| Variant | Sources | Regular Cost | Ultra Hard Cost | Sell Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic |  General Merchants
|
 105
|
525
|
25
|
| Carja | Tier 2/3/4 Merchants
|
210 10 Metalburn |
1,050 20 Metalburn |
50
|
| Shadow | Tier 3 & 4 Merchants
|
800 1 Sawtooth Heart |
4,000 2 Sawtooth Heart |
100
|
| AdeptNG+ | Tier 3 & 4 Merchants
|
1,600 1 Sawtooth Heart 1 Longleg Heart |
8,000 2 Sawtooth Heart 2 Longleg Heart |
100
|
| Banuk PowershotFW |
Bluegleam Merchants (1 per playthrough) |
14 Bluegleam | 14 Bluegleam | 100
|
| Adept PowershotFW NG+ |
Bluegleam Merchants (1 per playthrough) |
1,250 14 Bluegleam 1 Scorcher Heart |
6,250 14 Bluegleam 1 Scorcher Heart |
100
|
Trivia
- If the Player chooses to fight Nil to conclude Cause for Concern - Farewell, he is able to fire an arrow similar to that of Tearblast. It has an effect similar to a sonic explosion or a Watcher's flash attack on Aloy, momentarily reducing her hearing and vision.
- The bow Rost carried throughout his appearance during Aloy's childhood in the game is a Sharpshot bow, judging by its physical appearance.
References
| Horizon Zero Dawn Weapons | |
|---|---|
| Ranged Weapons | Blast Sling - Forgefire - Hunter Bow - Icerail - Rattler - Ropecaster - Sharpshot Bow - Sling - Stormslinger - Tearblaster - War Bow |
| Melee Weapons | Spear - Sylens' Lance |
| Stealth Weapons | Traps - Tripcaster |
| Heavy Weapons | Deathbringer Gun - Disc Launcher - Firespitter - Firestriker - Mine Launcher - Oseram Cannon - Ravager Cannon |