Wiki / Weapons
Bow
A ranged weapon: arrows that arc on a tap, a straight drawn shot on a hold, kicks up close, and a leap back for a guard.
Status: Built, not yet played by people · Last checked: 14 Nov 2026
A hero holding a bow fights from a distance. Taps loose quick arrows that arc, a hold draws one strong straight shot, and up close the hero kicks and strikes with the bow itself. Instead of a block, its guard is a leap back that fires an arrow. It runs on stamina. Built on 14 Nov 2026; not yet played by people.
The rule to remember
Every arrow costs stamina as it leaves, hit or miss. Range is paid for, as with the staff. With the stamina bar empty an arrow does no damage and flies half as far; the kicks still work.
Arrows
| Move | How | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Quick shot, Second arrow, Twin arrows | Attack, three taps | Light arrows, lobbed a little and then falling: they come down about half the floor away |
| Drawn shot | Hold attack | One strong arrow, straight and fast, across the whole floor. A longer draw does more |
| Rain shot | Up + hold attack | Lobbed high: it flies over an enemy right in front and comes down further away, driving them down |
| Pinning shot | Guard + attack | A straight arrow that staggers |
| Sunpiercer | The ultimate | One great arrow straight across the stage after a draw. The same strength as Sunfall. It works at full strength with the stamina bar empty |
Arrows are stopped by solid ground, can be guarded, and a staff's perfect guard sends them back. They cannot be aimed by hand: a tap arcs, a hold flies straight, up + hold lobs. There are no shots in the air.
Up close
So the bow is not helpless at arm's length, it strikes with the bow's limb, the feet and the shoulder.
| Move | How |
|---|---|
| Bow jab / Rising kick / Sweeping kick | Standing: side, up, down + attack |
| Shoulder check / Stomp | Side, down + hold attack |
| Air spin kick / Flying kick / Air bow swing / Heel drop, Diving heel | In the air |
| Running swing, Driving knee | Running: attack, attack |
| Shoulder rush, Leaping kick | Sprinting: attack, attack |
The guard is a leap back
| What Guard does | One hop away from the way you face, and one arrow leaves in mid-hop. Never a block. Holding a direction does not change it |
| Cost | Some stamina (the arrow included). Not possible with the bar empty |
| Perfect leap | Press just before a hit arrives: the hit passes through, the rest of the leap is untouchable, and the bar fills a good amount |
| Sprint + back | The same leap |
| Out of a perfect combo | The Guard press in the escape window is a perfect dodge |
Guard + attack: the Pinning shot. Press attack with the leap or during it and keep Guard held: the hero drops to one knee and looses an arrow that staggers.
When to use it
- Keep your distance and make the enemy come to you.
- Use the Drawn shot as your one real blow.
- Leap back when they get close, then shoot again.
What beats it
- Corner it: the leap back stops at the edge of the platform, and cornered there is nowhere to go.
- Make it waste arrows: an empty stamina bar leaves only the kicks.
- A guard stops arrows; so does standing behind solid ground.
- Get close: its kicks are a little shorter and weaker than a sword.
How it is carried
Low in front while standing and walking; held close to the body in a run. Between arrows the string hand reaches over the shoulder for the next one. No quiver is drawn.
Nerd section: the exact numbers
Built on 14 Nov 2026, checked by 16 automatic tests (tests/bow.test.ts); not yet played by people. Adding ?weapon=bow to the address tries it with any hero.
Numbers changed on 14 Nov 2026 by the balance pass. The table of changes is on How the weapons compare; the values below are the new ones.
Arrows in numbers
| Move | Damage | Cost | How it flies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick shot, Second arrow, Twin arrows | 1 / 1 / 1% (perfect 1 / 2 / 3%) | 5 / 5 / 6 stamina | Comes down about 180 pixels away (half the floor). Leaves on frame 7 / 8 / 9 |
| Drawn shot | 7% (more with a longer draw) | 9 | Straight, fast (6.5 px a frame), the whole floor. Leaves 9 frames after you let go |
| Rain shot | 6% | 9 | Comes down about 95 to 110 pixels away |
| Pinning shot | 2% | 10 | Straight; staggers for at least 0.33 s (20 frames) |
| Sunpiercer | 14% | A full ultimate bar | After a 0.47 s draw (frame 28) |
Up close in numbers
Each close move is the sword's move with the same job, with 1 pixel less reach and 1% less for heavies.
The leap back in numbers
| The arrow | Leaves in mid-hop (frame 6) |
| How far | About 38 pixels |
| Cost | 10 stamina (the arrow included) |
| Whole move / wait before the next | 24 frames (0.4 s) / 16 frames more |
| Perfect leap | A hit that arrives within 10 frames (0.17 s) of the press passes through, the rest of the leap is untouchable, and the bar fills by 20 |
| Pinning shot | From the leap's sixth frame the hero drops to one knee and looses the arrow |
Not built
- No quiver is drawn. A quiver is part of a hero's look (the clothing work), not of the fight; the string hand already reaches to where it would be.
- Arrows cannot be aimed by hand. No shots in the air.
Fairness, measured
Ten seconds on a still target (hand and shield: 28% mashed, 62% perfect, at arm's length):
| Distance | Mashed | Perfect |
|---|---|---|
| 20 px | 21% | 49% |
| 60 px | 20% | 48% |
| 110 px | 20% | 39% |
| 150 px | 13% | 27% |
Forty fights of the old test opponent per pairing: the bow loses nearly all of them (against hand and shield 0 won, 25 lost, 15 out of time; against the staff 6 / 11 / 23; against dual wield 1 / 31 / 8; against two hands 3 / 22 / 15). This number says little about the bow: the test opponent walks up to arm's length and mashes, which is the one thing a bow should never do, and it spends its stamina on leaps back. The same is true of the staff. Both ranged weapons need a real opponent that keeps its distance, and people playing, before their numbers are trusted.