How to use a bow - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Learn how to equip a bow, nock an arrow, and cancel a shot in Tears of the Kingdom.

1

Link has access to a variety of weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and one of the most useful is the trusty bow. Equipping the bow, nocking and firing arrows, and even canceling shots is important if you want to survive fights, solve puzzles, and more.

How to use the bow

You gain access to a bow pretty quickly in Tears of the Kingdom. Those who played Breath of the Wild will be familiar with how it works, but it’s worth a quick brush up. To equip the bow and immediately nock an arrow, hold the ZR button. Release ZR to loose the arrow at your target.

Link using a bow, aiming an arrow at the ground
Hold ZR to nock an arrow. Press B to cancel the shot.
Source: Shacknews

If you’ve taken aim and decided you do not want to fire, you can simply cancel arrow shot by pressing the B button. Note that this input will be the X button if you’ve opted to swap the jump controls.

Sometimes you’ll only want to equip the bow and not automatically load an arrow. To do this, just tap the ZR button. Link will hold the bow in his hands. You can now hold right on the D-pad to see what other ranged weapons you have at your disposal. This is great if you want to save the durability of a weapon.

Keep in mind that when you have the bow equipped, Link won’t have a shield in his hand. This means you won’t be able to parry and will be susceptible to damage. You can still dodge out of the way. There’s more to learn about bows in Tears of the Kingdom, including how to make unique arrows like the homing one seen in the 10-minute gameplay showcase. Keep it locked to the Shacknews Tears of the Kingdom Strategy Guide for all the help you’ll need saving Hyrule.

Guides Editor

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as a Guides Editor. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler 

From The Chatty
Hello, Meet Lola