Short bow

Short bow

A simple short selfbow made from a single piece of wood.

Base Stats

Type

Equipment – Weapons

Tech Level

Neolithic

Weapon Class

Neolithic

Market Value

45 

Mass

0.8 kg

Ranged Combat

Mode

Single-Shot

Damage

11 dmg (Arrow)

Armor penetration

16%

Warm-Up

81 ticks (1.35 secs)

Cooldown

99 ticks (1.65 secs)

Range

22.9 tile(s)

Accuracy

75% - 65% - 45% - 25%

Velocity

44 (m/s)

Burst Count

1 (per burst)

DPS

3.67

Stopping power

0.5

Melee Combat

Melee Attack 1

Limb
9 dmg (Blunt)
13% AP
2.0 seconds cooldown

Melee Attack 2 

Limb
9 dmg (Poke)
13% AP
2.0 seconds cooldown

Creation

Crafted At

 /  / 

Skill Required

Crafting 2

Work To Make

2,400 ticks (40 secs)

Resources to make

30

Technical

Has Quality

True

weaponTags

Neolithic, NeolithicRangedBasic

tradeTags

WeaponRanged

The short bow is a very light, single-shot ranged weapon in RimWorld which deals a moderate amount of damage per shot; slightly longer time between shots; slightly shorter range and moderate accuracy.

Obtaining

Short bows can be crafted at a Crafting spot, Fueled smithy or Electric smithy. They require  30 Wood, 2,400 ticks (40 secs) of work, and a Crafting skill of 2.

Alternatively, short bows can be purchased from neolithic war merchants and orbital combat suppliers, tribal and outlander faction bases, and obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Archer	92.27%	Poor	50-180%

You also start with two short bows in the Lost Tribe scenario.

Analysis

Short bows are one of the easiest ranged weapons to create, so are an important item for the Lost Tribe and Naked Brutality scenarios. A crafting spot can be created almost anywhere, instantly, and wood is typically not hard to find. Any ranged weapon at all allows you to safely hunt animals; even 0% manhunter animals will retaliate in melee combat, but not at range. Any weapon at all also gives a basic defense against hostile wildlife and raiders.

As they are so cheap, they aren't great as actual weapons. Short bows have the 3rd lowest DPS of all player-craftable ranged weapons in the game, ahead of only the pila and incendiary launcher. Other weaknesses include low accuracy and inability to stagger humans, something all other neolithic options can do. The short bow is best suited for close-quarters engagements due to its high close accuracy and slow projectile velocity.

Naturally, a short bow will be significantly overshadowed in terms of combat performance by even the most basic of firearms such as autopistols and revolvers. Two short bows are roughly equal to one of the aforementioned firearms. New Tribes also begin with the recurve bow researched, offering an immediate upgrade, assuming someone has a Crafting skill of 5 or more. Replacing the short bow with better ranged options should thus be your second priority, only after making sure everyone has a weapon of any kind.

Stats

Against an unarmored human, a short bow can kill with 4 hits to the torso, 3 hits to the head or neck, or 1 hit to the brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 3 hits; and cripple or destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 6 hits (~28.35 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Overall, the short bow is best paired with a careful shooter until level 9, and with a trigger-happy shooter beyond that point.

Attack table

Ranged

Short bow			Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Quality	Dam.	AP
Awful	9.9	14.4%	60%	52%	36%	20%	3.3	1.98	1.72	1.19	-	23
Poor	11	16%	67.5%	58.5%	40.5%	22.5%	3.67	2.5	2.17	1.5	-	34
Normal	11	16%	75%	65%	45%	25%	3.67	2.75	2.39	1.65	-	45
Good	11	16%	82.5%	71.5%	49.5%	27.5%	3.67	3.05	2.64	1.84	-	56
Excellent	11	16%	90%	78%	54%	30%	3.67	3.3	2.86	1.98	-	68
Masterwork	13.75	20%	100%	87.75%	60.75%	33.75%	4.59	4.59	4.04	2.8	-	113
Legendary	16.5	24%	100%	97.5%	67.5%	37.5%	5.51	5.51	5.39	3.74	-	225

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality. Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band.
The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Melee

Feature	Toggle
Attacks

Short bow			Limb (Blunt)					Limb (Poke)					Human: Left & right fist (Blunt)					HP	Value
Quality	DPS	AP	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance
Awful	3.98	11.6%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	12.5%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	12.5%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 37.5%	100	23
Poor	4.08	11.85%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	25%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 25%	100	34
Normal	4.4	12.75%	9	2s	13%	4.5	37.5%	9	2s	13%	4.5	37.5%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	45
Good	4.74	13.73%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	37.5%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	37.5%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	56
Excellent	5.08	14.7%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	37.5%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	37.5%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	68
Masterwork	5.92	17.14%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	37.5%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	37.5%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	113
Legendary	6.59	19.09%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	37.5%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	37.5%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	225

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

Short bow vs. comparable weapons

This section goes over how well the short bow fares against comparable weapons (similar value, tech level or similar characteristics) in 1 vs. 1 combat.

Methodology

• All testing is semi-automated which allows for large sample sizes to be gathered per set of results with ease
• All pawns have a skill level of 8 in shooting
• No pawns have any traits that affect combat performance
• All pawns are of 18 years of age and completely healthy
• Pawns are divided by walls to prevent stray shots from skewing results in any way
• Weather conditions are kept clear and no cover is used

Results in the tables below are the percentages of battles that short bows either won or tied against the weapon listed in the first column of said tables, with a sample size of 2,000 battles per result. Higher percentages are better.

Unarmored

For the unarmored testing, all pawns wore normal quality plainleather pants and plainleather button-down shirts.

Short bow vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Recurve bow	38.85%	31.25%	25.70%	22.75%	-	-	-
Pila	82.20%	77.60%	66.05%	64.50%	-	-	-

Flak armor

For the flak armor testing, all pawns wore normal quality steel simple helmets, flak jackets, flak vests, plainleather button-down shirts and flak pants.

Short bow vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Recurve bow	36.60%	31.75%	20.75%	22.80%	-	-	-
Pila	90.15%	84.80%	74.65%	72.60%	-	-	-

Marine armor

For the marine armor testing, all pawns wore normal quality marine helmets, marine armor, plainleather button-down shirts and plainleather pants.

Short bow vs.	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Recurve bow	34.60%	25.50%	20.70%	18.85%	-	-	-
Pila	89.75%	83.45%	71.80%	70.85%	-	-	-

Graphs

The graphs assume a normal quality short bow against an adult human that's out in the open in clear weather. For DPS, projectile speed has also been factored into the equation, with the weighting based on the base amount of attacks that it'll take to put the aforementioned target into pain shock.

Version history

• 0.3.410 - Added

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Weapons

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Breach axe • Club • Ikwa • Knife (Jade) • Spear

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Gladius • Longsword • Mace • Axe • Warhammer

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Improvised

Beer • Elephant tusk • Thrumbo horn • Wood

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Greatbow • Pila • Recurve bow • Short bow • Flamebow

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Spacer

Charge lance • Charge rifle

Consumables

Doomsday rocket launcher • Triple rocket launcher

Throwables

EMP grenades • Frag grenades • Molotov cocktails • Tox grenades

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