Bow-Type Weapons

Bows are undoubtedly the most complicated class of weapons. To start off with, they're projectile weapons, but they use the Weapon Level system like melee weapons, so you'll need to train with a weaker Bow before being able to use stronger ones. Next, whereas gun ammo usually comes in packs that contain a set number of bullets, arrows are individual items, more like a single missile for a Bazooka; in order to carry a bunch of them to use your Bow effectively, you'll need a Quiver, which is a separate item from the Bow that can be separately equipped or unequipped, and can hold a specified number of arrows. If that wasn't already complicated enough, different types of arrows can be mixed and matched within a given Quiver, making it essentially another type of item inventory, but one that can only hold arrows. To add to this, whereas a gun's power depends on the kind of ammunition fired, with Bows it's reversed: an arrow's power depends on the Bow used to fire it. This means that if you upgrade to a better Bow, you can keep using the same arrows (in contrast to different guns needing very specific ammo packs), and since the Quiver is a separate item, you can keep using that too, or you can upgrade to a larger-sized Quiver, allowing you to carry more arrows irrespective of which Bow you're using to fire them. However, just to make things even more confusing, Crossbows are bows that don't require a Weapon Level to use, making them more like guns, albeit still with the Crossbow determining the projectile's damage (these projectiles are called "bolts" instead of arrows, but look like shorter arrows) instead of vice versa. Crossbows use the same Quiver system as regular Bows, so your Quiver may contain a mix of arrows and bolts. While Crossbows don't require a Weapon Level, they are still classified as Bow-type weapons, and so they can be used to perform special attacks designed for Bows.

As a rule, Bow-type weapons deal extra damage to targets who are flying, whether from the Status Benefit or their own inherent power; regular Bows deal +2 while Crossbows deal +5. You'll see these pluses indicated on both the Bow and the arrow or bolt, but they don't add together; it's just +2 or +5 total. Lastly, Bows, despite being projectile weapons, have been included in the Secondary Weapon Triangle, being good against Whips but bad against Knives.