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Crystal bow detail

The crystal bow is a degradable bow made from enchanted elven crystal. It requires the completion of Roving Elves to wield, as well as 50 Agility and 70 Ranged. Along with the crystal shield, crystal halberd and the crystal saw, it is one of the four pieces of crystal equipment in RuneScape.

A crystal bow is created when an elf sings to a crystal seed and enchants it into a bow. The most prominent elf with this talent is Ilfeen, who will perform this service for players for a price.

Crystal bow attack

A player attacks a target with a crystal bow.

Because it is blessed by the elven goddess Seren, the crystal bow does not require any arrows to use, as it generates its own when fired. The bow's fired shots are coated in a green aura, similar to Craw's bow.

Along with being extremely accurate when fully charged, providing a Ranged bonus of +100, the crystal bow also has one of the longest ranges in the game, the same as a longbow, able to hit targets up to 10 squares away. However, Longrange does not increase attack range. This makes it ideal for battles which require long-range attacks such as Dagannoth Kings or the TzHaar Fight Cave. The only attack which can be performed from a further distance is the dragonfire shield special attack, with a range of 13 squares.

Unlike other bows, the Crystal bow has a unique attack speed of 5, which is between that of a shortbow and a longbow in speed. It is faster than a crossbow by 1 game tick.

Combat styles[]

CombatStyles bow Combat style Experience Boosts
Accurate Ranged and Hitpoints Accuracy and damage
Rapid Ranged and Hitpoints Attack speed by 1 tick
Longrange Ranged, Hitpoints and Defence Attack range by 2 squares

Degrading[]

The crystal bow degrades over time. After 250 hits, it degrades into a "Crystal bow 9/10", and thereafter for every 250 hits, it will degrade another 1/10th until it reverts into a crystal seed after a total of 2,500 hits, and must be recharged before it can be used again. As the bow degrades, its accuracy and strength bonuses decrease as shown below.

Condition Attack Bonus
Ranged icon Ranged Strength icon
New/Full +100 +70
9/10 +96 +68
8/10 +92 +66
7/10 +88 +64
6/10 +84 +62
5/10 +80 +60
4/10 +76 +58
3/10 +72 +56
2/10 +68 +54
1/10 +64 +52

The crystal bow can be imbued for 2,000 Nightmare Zone points per charge, requiring 20,000 points to imbue a fully charged bow. Imbuing the crystal bow does not keep it from degrading, however its stats will remain at their maximum, regardless of how much it has degraded. When the bow reverts back to a crystal seed, it will lose its imbue, and players must imbue it again using points from the Nightmare Zone. Additionally, imbuing a crystal bow that has already degraded to 9/10 or below will restore the bow's stats to their maximum.

Recharging[]

Ilfeen will recharge crystal seeds into crystal bows, crystal halberds, or crystal shields. She can be found teleporting back and forth between two clearings in Isafdar.

Initially, Ilfeen charges 900,000 coins to re-enchant a crystal seed into a crystal bow. However, the price is decreased by 180,000 coins each time Ilfeen re-enchants a seed for a player, in the following manner, until reaching the minimum recharge cost of 180,000 coins:

Enchantment Cost for re-enchantment
First 900,000
Second 720,000
Third 540,000
Fourth 360,000
Fifth and thereafter 180,000

The amount that Ilfeen charges is dependent on the number of crystal seeds she has re-enchanted, not the number of crystal bows she has recharged. For example, a player who pays Ilfeen 900,000 coins to re-enchant a crystal seed into a Crystal shield will only have to pay her 720,000 coins to recharge a seed into a crystal bow.

Obtaining & trading crystal bows[]

A crystal bow with 2/10 charges is a possible reward for completion of Roving Elves. (Players who choose a crystal shield can choose to let the shield revert into a seed, then re-enchant that seed into a crystal bow.) Additionally, players can buy new crystal bows from Islwyn for 900,000 coins each. Unlike Ilfeen's recharge price, the price of a new crystal bow does not decrease.

The distinction between a new crystal bow and a full crystal bow is important, as only new crystal bows are tradeable. A crystal bow that is bought from Islwyn is new; a crystal seed that is re-enchanted into a crystal bow by Ilfeen is full. Once a shot is fired from a new crystal bow, it becomes a full crystal bow, and is untradeable.

As crystal seeds are tradeable, players can buy them from other players and pay Ilfeen to re-enchant them into crystal bows.

Analysis and strategy[]

Although crystal bows do not require any ammunition, they still have a cost associated with their use, in the form of their recharge cost. When the recharge price is 900,000 coins, the cost per shot (at 2,500 shots) is 360 coins. However, when the recharge price decreases to 180,000 coins, the cost per shot is 72 coins. Compare this to rune arrows, with a +49 bonus to Ranged Strength, whereas the crystal bow, on average, has a Ranged Strength of +61.

The chief disadvantages that crystal bows have, compared to other bows, are the requirements for using them and the relatively short degrading time. Crystal equipment has the second shortest lifespan of any equipment in the game (ahead of Iban's Staff). One crystal bow will last for 1 hour and 40 minutes of continuous shooting on Rapid, or 2 hours and 5 minutes on Accurate or Long range. Players who plan to use crystal bows on extended trips may wish to bring more than one bow. Additionally, players who would normally pick up their ammunition (either manually or through an Ava's device) may not save money by using a crystal bow, which requires no ammunition and therefore leaves behind no arrows to pick up. 

Comparison between other ranged weapons[]

Picture Name Levels to equip Ranged Attack bonus Notes
Twisted bow Twisted bow 75 Ranged icon +70
  • Has a passive effect where the higher the target's Magic level is, the more accurate and damaging the bow becomes
  • Uses arrows as ammunition up to and including dragon
  • Offers an attack speed of that of a longbow
Toxic blowpipe Toxic blowpipe 75 Ranged icon +60
  • Requires Zulrah's scales (up to 16,383) and any unpoisoned darts to charge.
  • Bonuses stack with the darts that are used to charge the blowpipe (up to +78 ranged attack and +60 ranged strength with dragon darts).
  • Has an attack speed of 7 (same as darts) in a non-pvp encounter or attack speed of 6 in a pvp encounter (same as shortbows).
  • Offers a special attack where damage is increased by 50% and heals the wielder by 50% of the damage dealt. Costs 50% special attack energy.
  • Has 25% chance to inflict venom on an opponent.
Heavy ballista Heavy ballista 75 Ranged icon +125
  • Has the highest ranged bonus of any ranged weapon, including a +15 Ranged Strength bonus.
  • The ballista is 2-handed, forfeiting your options to use any type of shield.
  • Requires completion of Monkey Madness II to equip.
  • Only accepts Javelins as ammunition
  • Ava's accumulator and device will not retrieve fired javelins, neither can they be picked up.
  • Offers a special attack which increases accuracy and damage by 25% each for one shot. Costs 65% special attack energy.
Armadyl crossbow Armadyl crossbow 70 Ranged icon +100
  • Has a slightly longer attack range than other crossbows.
  • It is the only crossbow that offers a prayer bonus.
  • Offers a special attack where the player's accuracy is increased by 100% (dependent on ranged level and gear used). Costs 40% special attack energy.
Crystal bow Crystal bow 70 Ranged icon +100
  • The bow must be imbued or fully charged to maintain its highest ranged bonuses.
  • Offers a ranged strength of +70 when imbued or in top condition.
  • Has the attack speed between that of a shortbow and crossbow.
  • Has the furthest attack range of any bow or crossbow in the game (tied with composite bows) of 10 squares.
Karil's crossbow Karil's crossbow 70 Ranged icon +84
  • It is the only two-handed crossbow in the game and is also the fastest crossbow.
  • Can only be fired with bolt racks.
  • If worn with the rest of Karil the Tainted's equipment, it offers a set effect which lowers the target's agility level (only works on players).
  • Like all Barrows equipment, it degrades and will fully degrade after 15 hours of combat. It is repairable.
Dragon hunter crossbow Dragon hunter crossbow 65 Ranged icon +95
Dragon crossbow Dragon crossbow 64 Ranged icon +94
  • Offers the third highest one-handed Ranged attack bonus in the game, outclassed only by the armadyl crossbow and dragon hunter crossbow
  • Offers a special attack where the player can hit any target in a 3x3 area, while in a multicombat area, making it one of three range weapons that can hit multiple targets. This costs 60% of special attack bar.
Rune crossbow Rune crossbow 61 Ranged icon +90
Dark bow Dark bow 60 Ranged icon +95
  • Offers the third highest Ranged attack bonus in the game, behind the Heavy ballista, which offers +125 ranged attack, and the crystal bow and armadyl crossbow, both offering +100 ranged attack.
  • It is the slowest weapon in the game, offering only an attack speed of 2.
  • Has the ability to shoot two arrows at a time.
  • Offers a powerful special attack, where if used with dragon arrows, it increases damage dealt by 50% with a minimum hit of 8 (30% with any other arrow with a minimum hit of 5). Costs 55% special attack energy.
Magic shortbow Magic shortbow 50 Ranged icon +69
  • It is the only shortbow to offer a special attack. The special attack fires 2 shots, but with reduced accuracy in rapid succession. Costs 55% special attack energy.
  • The bow can be imbued by using a magic shortbow scroll on a normal magic shortbow. The imbued version increases accuracy to +75 and lowers the special attack cost to 50%.
Chinchompa
Red chinchompa
Black chinchompa
Chinchompas 45 Ranged icon (Grey)

55 Ranged icon (Red)
65 Ranged icon (Black)

+45 (Grey)

+70 (Red)
+80 (Black)

  • It is the only one of three ranged weapons that offers the ability to hit more than one opponent at a time (similar to burst or barrage ancient spells), the others being the special attack of the dragon crossbow, with a similar attack, and Rune thrownaxe, with a ricochet type attack.
  • Regarded to be the best way of training Ranged at the cost of it being expensive.
  • Has the attack speed of 6 (same as scimitars or the abyssal whip).
  • If a player dies with chinchompas equipped or in their inventory, they will disappear as they are live animals. Dying with black chinchompas to a player in the wilderness does not make them disappear.


Trivia[]

  • The number of shots fired by crystal bows is tracked per player rather than per bow, making it possible to prevent a fully charged bow from degrading by using another crystal bow for every 250th shot.
  • Attempting to cast Low Level Alchemy or High Level Alchemy on a crystal bow results in the message "You can't do that to elven crystal!" This is due to a glitch that allowed players to alchemise crystal bows on free-to-play worlds for 540,000 coins each. Players could buy crystal seeds, enchant them into bows for 180,000 coins, and alchemise the bows for significant profit. Because of this, Jagex made it impossible to alchemise members' objects on free-to-play worlds, and made it impossible to alchemise crystal equipment.
  • The crystal bow requires 50 Agility to equip, however it is impossible to navigate the forests of Tirannwn during the required quests without level 56 Agility (or as low as 51 with a summer pie boost). (Unless using charter ships during regicide and roving elves)
  • 10 tiles is the maximum distance for any attack in 'RuneScape'. The Crystal bow's attack range on Accurate and Rapid is 10, therefore Long Range can have no effect on this.


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