Best Ranged Weapon Types In Avowed

Ranged weapons in Avowed have their own interesting mechanics, and players looking for the best option when diving into their new adventures through the Living Lands will have plenty of options to pick from.

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Avowed only features four ranged weapon types for players to make use of, but deciding what works best can still be a little tricky. For those unsure of which type is the best, below is a detailed overview, with each of the ranged weapon types being separated by categories, making it easy for players to see what makes them must-haves for certain builds.

4

Bows

Have Some Good Qualities, But They Got The Short Straw

• Pros:
  • Good balance between Speed and Damage
• Cons:
  • Pretty awful projectile falloff

Bows are among the best weapons for ranged combat in most games, but in Avowed, they feel a little undervalued. With a poor range/projectile falloff, Bows are quite hard to master and really difficult to include in a balanced build. That said, they certainly do tons of damage with Power Attacks, and for Rangers starting their adventure, they prove to be great companions.

But then there are Pistols, Arquebuses, and even Wands, and all of them have better overall stats, attack speed, and projectile control. The good thing about Bows, though, is that they’re quite decent at making surprise attacks (a.k.a. sniping) and don’t make noise, so they don’t alert enemies as much as other weapons. They can be used for stealth play, and some Unique Bows even offer extra bonuses to ‘Stealth Damage,’ which is called Damage to ‘Unalerted Enemies.’ Another great thing about Bows is that their Special Attack shoots a barrage of arrows at a single target, and if players have a chance to get a Unique Bow that causes Elemental Accumulations, their Special Attacks on Stunned enemies will be even more deadly.

3

Arquebuses

Great For Landing Critical Shots

• Pros:
  • The highest damage with Power and Special Attacks
• Cons:

The Arquebuses are the ranged weapons with the highest damage output in Avowed, but they come with their own downsides: the slow recharge rate. This trade-off makes using Arquebuses something that is reserved for only the most skilled of ranged players who prefer to use crowd control effects, like Tanglefoot and certain Wizard spells, and striking down foes with a powerful critical shot. They are a little bit easier to control than Bows, and they have significantly better precision and less projectile falloff. This makes Arquebuses excellent for aiming at the heads of enemies in order to cause precision damage.

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On the other hand, they have a pretty decent Stun accumulation rate, and landing a Special Attack on Stunned enemies with them will cause Critical Damage, putting these weapons a notch above every other weapon in the game. There’s no boss that cannot be taken down with a few precision shots from these loud contraptions, but players shouldn’t expect to use them for surprise attacks or sniping, since they make lots of noise and alert large groups of enemies every time they are shot.

2

Pistols

Fast And Deadly Weapons That Should Be Dual Wielded

• Pros:
  • Can be dual wielded
  • Precise and powerful
• Cons:
  • Slow reloads
  • Lower damage tier than other ranged weapons

The Pistols are the best weapons for Rangers in Avowed, more so if players keep in mind that many of the encounters in the game will happen at close and mid-distance, and there are few chances for surprise attacks in the many dungeons. They’re a little bit hard to control and have a slightly slow recharge rate (still better than Arquebuses), but they really pack a punch. Power attacks of guns land powerful precision shots at mid-distance and can cause severe damage, more so while dual wielding.

Dual wielding these beauties will make players feel like buccaneers, shooting around enemies with bravado and grit. The only downside is that Power Attacks consume quite a bit of Stamina. Having some Resolve as the main Stat could fix this, but still, it is an investment that players will have to draw from other important stats like Dexterity and Constitution. Another good thing about Pistols is that they can be fired while Sliding, which is honestly a cool detail, but it can be hard to control.

1

Wands

Wizards Can Go On A Rampage With These

• Pros:
  • Fast
  • Powerful
  • Can parry
  • Can be dual wielded
• Cons:

Wands are arguably the best ranged weapon type in Avowed, and they are among the most broken tools of destruction players will find in the game. A Wizard wielding dual Wands will soon find out how brutally efficient they are at culling down foes, as many Wands also have Elemental Accumulation effects (Shock, Frost, Fire) that deal either CC effects or Damage over Time. Unique Wands tend to have additional effects like increased range, additional elemental damage, and special effects that trigger when projectiles bounce between targets.

With the correct perks, Wands become even more lethal, with projectiles bouncing between enemies and power attacks decimating foes through and through. The coolest thing, however, is that Wands are even useful when Parrying, so if players have unlocked this skill from the Ranger ability tree, they can make a versatile and powerful hybrid build that synergizes perfectly with the Wand as the main ranged weapon. On the downside, Wands tend to cause less damage than most ranged weapons in Avowed, but they’re faster and more precise at mid-distance than Pistols.

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Systems

Released

February 18, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios