Skyrim Archery Guide
Dealing Devastation with Bow and Arrow
Archery is a skill under the Warrior archetype in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Raising the skill will allow you to do more damage with bows, while also unlocking powerful perks to augment your use of a bow and arrow. This guide to Archery will teach you trainer locations, tips for leveling the skill, and benefits of the various Archery perks.
Benefits of Training Archery
Archery is important to many character types in Skyrim, namely for the purpose of slaying Dragons before the Dragonrend shout is learned. This will allow a melee to weaken dragons and all other foes until they are within melee range. That said, archery also stands very well on its own as a combat skill, especially when coupled with Sneak.
With Sneak, Archers can get sneak attack bonuses from afar. Given the range, they'll often get multiple sneak attacks in before the enemy detects them. This is especially true if you find a good sniping position and have a high level with perks spent in Sneaking. You should always start combat with a good sneak attack. With perk points in Archery, you can slow time to allow yourself more time to aim as the enemy approaches, at the cost of some stamina. This style of play is even better with Poisons.
Arrows can also be used to distract enemies when fired from stealth, perhaps separating a couple from a larger pack. When they find the arrow, they'll come looking for you!
Bows can be upgraded with Smithing, so that skill also complements Archery. Further damage boosts and effects can be acquired by using Enchanting. Arrows are neither upgraded nor enchanted.
Raising the Archery Skill
The skill experience you receive when using Archery is determined by the base damage of the bow and arrows you are using. Simply deal damage to enemies to raise the skill. If you want to power level it, you can use Shadowmere from the Dark Brotherhood quest line, or fire at any high health opponent.
Archery is bugged in Skyrim without the unofficial patch and benefits from the thief stone instead of the warrior stone.
Using Skill trainers can help keep your Archery well ahead of the growing power of opponents you face. Faendal in Riverwood can train you up to level 50, while only Thieves' Guild members can access Niruin who is a Master trainer. All players can go to Angi's Camp to train against targets and gain a total of six levels in Archery. There's also an Archery skill book to be found there.
Bows and Arrows
Here I'll list the base damage of each type of Bow and Arrow. Arrow values are largely irrelevant to this guide, so I'll leave those out. To avoid making two tables with sparse info, I'll simply list the arrow damage value for each type of material. I'm starting with the craftable bows, as Long and Hunting bows are just for getting started. There are several types of inferior arrow not listed as well. Note that all arrows have 0 weight. The Dawnguard DLC allows you to craft arrows from Smithing with firewood and an ingot of the chosen material. A Dragonbone Bow can also be made. An entirely new weapon type is also added, crossbows - which I'll add to this guide at a later time.
| Skyrim Bow and Arrow Damage Values | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Arrow Dmg | Bow Dmg | Bow Weight |
| Iron | 8 | ||
| Steel | 10 | ||
| Orcish | 12 | 10 | 9 |
| Dwarven | 14 | 12 | 10 |
| Elven | 16 | 13 | 12 |
| Glass | 18 | 15 | 14 |
| Ebony | 20 | 17 | 16 |
| Daedric | 24 | 19 | 18 |
| Dragonbone | 25 | 20 | 20 |
Aiming Tip
Don't bother with headshots, as they do nothing and are more likely to miss due to your smaller target. Aim for the chest. If a target is far away, aim slightly above them as the arrow will drop a bit. Arrows go in an upward arc, that drops with distance.
The distance an arrow will fly, as well as the amount of damage it does is determined by draw. At full draw, a bow can stagger an opponent which is incredibly helpful. Firing rapidly does less damage but can also finish a weakened opponent much faster, preventing them from getting another attack in.
Bound Bow and Mystic Binding
Bound Bows do great damage, but require conjuration level 50 for the spell to become available in shops. With the Mystic Binding perk, they go from 18 to 24 damage, the highest unmodified damage value for a bow. While using one, you receive 100 daedric arrows which do 24 damage. However, given Bows can be improved with Smithing, the spell falls in power as soon as you're able to upgrade a Daedric or Ebony bow. Firing with a Bound Bow raises the archery skill, while casting it near enemies grants conjuration experience. You can work in sneak experience if you also perform a sneak attack. Doing so might require the Quiet Casting perk from Illusion, unless you've got your bow conjured ahead of time. The duration is only 120 seconds but may be boosted with Conjuration dual casting.
Skyrim Archery Skill Perks
If you're going to play an Archer, you'll probably want every perk in this tree.
Overdraw (5 ranks 20% Each)
(level 0/20/40/60/80 Archery Skill required)
The Overdraw Perk raises damage 20% for each point, fully doubling all archery damage by the fifth point. It's an essential if you want to maximize damage and truly master archery.
Eagle Eye
(level 30 Archery Skill required)
Hold block with an arrow drawn zooms your view. Helps with sniping at range, and as a prerequisite for Steady Hand's time slowing effect. You'll definitely want this, especially if you're going for sneak attacks. It'll allow you to start combat from a greater distance, delaying the time until you're detected. This costs stamina. More stamina is more time zoomed.
Steady Hand (2 Ranks 25% each)
(level 40 Archery Skill required)
Slows time by 25%/50% when you've zoomed in with Eagle Eye. While this will affect you as well, it can help you as a player to get more shots off in a set amount of time. With time slowed, the time spent aiming is reduced so you can let loose your arrow and prepare another shot. It's better to zoom partially through your draw to waste less stamina. Remember your target will be moving at normal speed relative to the arrow, so you'll still need to fire slightly ahead of moving targets.
Power Shot
(level 50 Archery Skill required)
Arrows stagger all but the largest foes 50% of the time. A great perk! Arrows need to be fully drawn to stagger opponents. This can really cripple an advancing melee attacker, preventing you from being hit at all. Obviously dragons, giants, and mammoths are far too large to be affected by this.
Quick Shot
(level 70 Archery Skill required)
Draw a bow 30% faster. Paired with the prerequisite power shot, this is an amazing perk. Be sure to get Critical Shot as well. You'll be able to fire more arrows and see more crits in a given period of time. A must-have for all Archers.
Critical Shot (3 Ranks)
(level 30/60/90 Archery Skill required)
Gives a 10% critical hit chance on first point, 15% crit with 25% extra damage on second, and 20% crit with 50% damage boost on third. It's a great perk, and will raise your overall damage per second. In bigger fights, it can make all the difference, as you could one-shot something charging at you and move to a second target. Targets like Dragons will be brought down much easier once you have three ranks in this, as you are firing many arrows at them and likely to see this go off a number of times in a fight.
Hunter's Discipline
(level 50 Archery Skill required)
Recover twice as many arrows from dead bodies. A good perk if you're a dedicated archer, as you must be using many arrows to really want to invest a perk point here. It's also a prerequisite for Ranger. This'll keep you from running out of ammunition in a long dungeon, and save you money on arrows in the long term. Arrows are craftable with Dawnguard, but those valuable materials can be used elsewhere.
Ranger
(level 60 Archery Skill required)
Move faster with bow drawn. Helps with kiting, so you can be moving backward while an attacker comes at you. Strafing is assisted as well, helping you dodge arrows when going head to head with a ranged enemy.
Bullseye
(level 100 Archery Skill required)
15% chance of paralyzing a target for 3 seconds. Ahh, nothing quite like watching an enemy fall limp to the ground, helpless and vulnerable to attack. Bullseye tops off a wonderful archery perk set, making Archery my favorite damage dealing option in Skyrim. Combine this perk with the paralysis enchantment on a bow, and you'll have a nearly 50% chance of enemies being paralyzed each time you fire.
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