Enshrouded Arrows: Which Ones Are Actually Worth Crafting (Update 8)

Last updated for Update 8: Forging the Path

Enshrouded throws over two dozen arrow types at you, and the game does a great job of making you feel like you should craft all of them. You shouldn’t. Most are filler. After plenty of hours on a bow build, the truth is that maybe five arrows actually matter — and one of them you never have to craft at all.

This guide cuts to it: the arrows worth your Twigs and metal, the ones to skip, and a full reference table at the bottom for when you just need a recipe. If you only read one section, read the next one.

The Short Answer

If you want the quick version before the details:

• Craft these: Explosive Arrow I (your main damage), Stun Arrows (for bosses), and one Shroud Arrow for chokepoints.
• Grab this for free: Eternal Frost Arrow I in the Blackmire — reusable, no farming.
• Skip these while levelling: Copper, Bronze, Scrap, and every poisoned variant. They cost good materials for almost no gain.
• Late-game only: Golden Steel and the higher Explosive tiers, once materials stop being precious.

How Arrows Work (the Part That Actually Matters)

An arrow’s listed damage is just the starting point. The real number comes from your bow’s base power plus the arrow, then multiplied by your Dexterity and Ranger skill passives. A Steel Arrow on a strong bow with a built-out Ranger tree hits far harder than its “29” suggests.

Arrows split into three groups:

• Normal: straight physical damage (Wooden, Copper, Steel, and so on).
• Special: effects like fire AoE, Shroud or poison damage-over-time, light, or stun.
• Eternal: never deplete — they cost Mana per shot instead of being consumed.

Update 8 note: Special arrows got better, not worse. Food now boosts ranged damage directly, and armour/rings can carry skill bonuses — so fire and frost arrows scale higher than they did in Update 7 if you build for them.

One thing worth knowing up front: Explosive Arrows deal fire damage, which means the Wizard tree’s Arsonist passive buff them. Knowing your arrow’s damage type is how you turn a decent arrow into a great one.

The Arrows Worth Crafting

1. Explosive Arrow I — Your Everyday Damage

This is the one to build around. Explosive Arrows hit an area, deal fire damage, and trigger a stack of skills across the Ranger and Assassin trees. The reason to use tier I specifically is crafting cost: it only needs Flint Arrows, Tar, and Lump of Clay, so you can make them in bulk. Tiers II and III hit harder but demand Black Powder and Iron Dust, which turns every restock into a farming session.

Combo tip: With the Shell Shock passive (Assassin), Explosive Arrows also stun. Spam them into a pack and you can lock down a whole group while your fire-damage passives chew through them.

2. Eternal Frost Arrow — Never Craft Again

If the constant arrow-crafting wears on you, this is the fix. Eternal Frost Arrows don’t get consumed — they cost Mana instead.

1. Eternal Frost Arrow I: a free pickup. Head to the Hermit Camp in the northwest corner of the Blackmire and grab the blue arrow.
2. Eternal Frost Arrow II: kill a Cyclops in the Albaneve Summits to unlock the recipe, then craft it at the Hunter. Over double the damage of the first, but 24 Mana per shot.

Heads up: Always keep a stack of cheap Wooden or Flint Arrows as backup. If your Mana runs dry mid-fight, an Eternal Arrow gives you nothing to shoot.

3. Stun Arrows — The Boss-Fight Requirement

These deal almost no damage (3 Blunt) but fill an enemy’s stun bar fast. That makes them mandatory for the hardest fight in the game: the Fell Dragon Youngling in the Albaneve Summits. The game literally signposts it — no other arrow knocks the dragon out of the air. Carry a stack before you go.

4. Shroud Arrows — Chokepoint Control

Shroud Arrows leave a damaging cloud on impact. Anything standing in it takes repeated damage-over-time — and oddly, those ticks count as backstab damage, so backstab passives make them hit surprisingly hard. Use them at the start of a fight or where enemies funnel through a doorway. Cheap to make, too.

Downside: Some Shroud enemies resist or ignore Shroud damage entirely, so these aren’t universal. Keep a physical option on hand.

5. Bone Arrows — The Smart Early Save

This is the one most guides bury. If you’re farming the Hallows, you’ll drown in Bones and Ectoplasm. Turning those into Bone Arrows at the Collector lets you keep your Copper, Iron and Steel for gear instead of burning it on ammo. They’re Blunt and punch through targets, so they shine if you’re also using a mace.

Watch the Yield, Not Just the Damage

Here’s the detail most arrow guides skip: you don’t get the same number of arrows per craft. Base metal arrows yield 50 per batch, but every special and poisoned arrow yields only 25, and Eternal arrows are a single reusable arrow. That changes the maths on what’s actually “cheap.”

Two things fall out of this once you look at the yields:

• Flint quietly beats Wooden. Wooden gives 10 arrows for 2 Twigs; Flint gives 50 for 10 Twigs and 10 Flintstone — the same Twig cost per arrow, but a full stack in one craft and a point more damage. Once the Hunter is up, there’s little reason to keep crafting Wooden.
• Poison arrows cost you twice. A poisoned variant eats 25 finished arrows as an ingredient and gives back only 25. You’re not adding poison to your stack — you’re converting it and halving your batch size in the process. Fine when you’re swimming in materials, painful while levelling.

Rule of thumb: A 25-yield arrow needs to be roughly twice as good as a 50-yield one to break even on crafting time. Explosive I clears that bar easily. Poisoned Copper does not.

What to Skip (and Why)

Here’s where the “craft everything” instinct costs you. These exist, but they rarely earn their materials:

• Scrap Arrows: use metal scraps, which are precious early. Stick with Flint.
• Copper / Bronze Arrows: a point or two over the free alternatives, for real metal cost. Not worth it.
• Poisoned variants (while levelling): they consume 25 finished arrows and yield only 25 back, so you halve your stack to add a DoT tick. Great for a dedicated poison build later, a trap early.
• Explosive II & III (most of the time): marginal damage gains for Black Powder and Iron Dust farming, and still only a 25-yield like tier I. Tier I carries you the whole game.

The honest rule: If a better arrow costs materials you’re also using for gear or upgrades, skip it. Cheap-and-plentiful beats slightly-stronger-but-rare almost every time in Enshrouded.

Full Arrow Reference Table

Every arrow in the game, sorted by unlock level, with damage, type, and recipe. Bookmark this for when you just need a number.

Damage values are base figures before bow power, Dexterity, and skill scaling. Yield is the number of arrows produced per craft (Eternal arrows are reusable and drain Mana per shot).

Enshrouded Arrows FAQ

What’s the best all-round arrow in Enshrouded?

Explosive Arrow I. It deals fire AoE damage, scales with both the Ranger and Wizard skill trees, and the materials (Flint Arrows, Tar, Lump of Clay) are cheap enough to mass-craft. The higher tiers hit harder but the crafting cost rarely justifies it.

Do I have to craft arrows constantly?

Not if you grab an Eternal Frost Arrow. It never depletes — it costs Mana instead of being consumed. Eternal Frost Arrow I is a free pickup in the Blackmire and solves the “I don’t want to farm Twigs all day” problem for most of the game.

Where do I unlock most arrow recipes?

At the Hunter’s crafting station. Rescuing and placing the Hunter is the single biggest upgrade to your ranged combat. The only exceptions are Bone Arrows (Collector) and Eternal Frost Arrow I (a quest pickup).

Are poisoned arrows worth it?

Only later. Poisoning converts 25 existing arrows plus a couple of extra materials, so you’re spending your good metal arrows to add a damage-over-time tick. Skip it while levelling — it slows you down. It shines once you have a stockpile and a poison/backstab build.

Why won’t my arrows hurt the Fell Dragon Youngling?

You need Stun Arrows. The fight is built around them — they fill the enemy’s stun bar and knock the dragon out of the air so you can actually hit it. Keep a stack in your inventory before you go.

Does Update 8 change which arrows are best?

The arrow stats themselves are unchanged, but Update 8 reworked food (it now boosts ranged/melee/magic damage instead of max stats) and lets armour and rings grant skill bonuses. That makes fire and frost arrows even stronger if you build into the right food and gear.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need a quiver full of every arrow type. Build around Explosive Arrow I, grab an Eternal Frost Arrow so you’re not farming Twigs forever, keep Stun Arrows for bosses, and save your good metal for gear. That covers 95% of what Enshrouded throws at you — and you’ll spend your time playing instead of standing at the Hunter’s station.