ByYurii LuzhkoUpdated October 30, 2026

How to Make a Bow and Arrows in The Forest

Game files, pre-1.103 min read

Craft the bow from 1 Stick, 1 Cloth, 1 Rope, then make 5 arrows from 1 Stick, 5 Feather. Arrow damage in the files is 22 for a plain arrow, 25 for a bone arrow and 35 for the modern kind; the crafted bow's code sets its arrows to 14.

Bow3ingredients
Arrows per craft55 feathers + 1 stick
Best arrow35modern kind
Plastic Torch spots3for the Modern Bow

Five steps, from the bare bow to the Modern Bow. Each recipe name opens its page.

On this page

The 5 steps at a glance

Craft the bow. 1 Stick, 1 Cloth, 1 Rope.
Craft arrows. 1 Stick, 5 Feather gives 5.
Upgrade the arrows. Bone, fire and poison, with the damage of each.
Carry more. The quiver and the bow upgrade.
Get the Modern Bow. Crafted bow, Plastic Torch, Electrical Tape.

Step 1: Craft the bow

The bow recipe is 1 Stick, 1 Cloth, 1 Rope. The files list the result as "Crafted Bow". The cloth and rope are the scarce parts: see the crafting guide for where rope comes from.

Step 2: Craft arrows

One craft of 1 Stick, 5 Feather gives 5 arrows (recipe). Arrows also lie in the world: the atlas places 5 arrow pickups, in Hanging Cave, Sinkhole Cave.

Pro tip

A plain arrow does 22 and a head hit multiplies it by 20 in the code, so one arrow to the head is enough for most of the regular tribe (a male cannibal has 52 health on Normal). See mutants for the numbers.

Step 3: Upgrade the arrows

Upgrade recipes take arrows you already hold and add something. The result item is still "Arrows", so the files do not name the variants. The wiki (CC BY-SA) calls the booze-and-cloth arrow a Fire Arrow and the berry and mushroom ones Poison Arrows.

Variant	Recipe	Damage in the files
Plain arrows	1 Stick, 5 Feather	22
Bone arrows	1 Stick, 5 Feather, 5 Bone	25
Booze and cloth (fire, per wiki)	1 Arrows, 1 Booze, 1 Cloth	not stored on the arrow
Poison, per wiki (TwinBerries)	1 Arrows, 4 TwinBerries	not stored on the arrow
Poison, per wiki (Amanita Mushroom)	1 Arrows, 1 Amanita Mushroom	not stored on the arrow
Poison, per wiki (Jack Mushroom)	1 Arrows, 1 Jack Mushroom	not stored on the arrow
Poison, per wiki (Snowberries)	1 Arrows, 4 Snowberries	not stored on the arrow

What the files do not say

The damage over time of a fire arrow and the effect of the berries and mushrooms are not in the files we read. The only related number is that a poisoned attacker deals its damage divided by 1.6.

Step 4: Carry more

The quiver is 1 Rope, 3 Rabbit Fur and "Holds extra arrows". The files also hold an upgrade for each of their 2 bow items (Crafted Bow, Crafted Bow) that adds an ammo bonus of +1; both are on the upgrades page.

Step 5: Get the Modern Bow

The Modern Bow recipe (listed on the crafting page) takes your crafted bow plus 1 Plastic Torch, 1 Electrical Tape. The atlas places 3 Plastic Torch pickups (Chasm Cave, Submerged Cave, Dead Cave) and 6 Electrical Tape pickups (the surface, Hanging Cave).

Arrows of the modern kind store 35 damage, against 22 for plain ones; the table below sets them beside the other projectiles.

Damage of one projectile in the files

Projectile	Damage
Crafted bow (code override)	14
Plain arrow	22
Bone arrow	25
Modern arrow	35
Thrown Weak Spear	40
Flintlock ammo	50

Common mistakes

Expecting a crossbow. The files hold none.
Trusting the plain-arrow number for the crafted bow. The code sets its arrows to 14, not 22.
Aiming at the body. A head hit multiplies the damage by 20; a body hit does not.