Gleason's Gielinor Guide

UnchargedCharged
Venator bow (uncharged)

Released							11 January 2023 (Update)
Members							Yes
Quest item							No
Properties
Tradeable							Yes
Equipable							Yes
Stackable							No
Noteable							Yes
Options							Wield, Drop
Examine							A bow used by hunters from a forgotten empire.
Values
Value							750,000 coins
High alch							450,000 coins
Low alch							300,000 coins
Weight							4.5 kg
Grand Exchange
Exchange							61,748,180 coins (info)
Buy limit							8
Daily volume							584
View real-time prices
Advanced data
Item ID							27612
Link							MOID

The venator bow is a two-handed ranged weapon that was once used by the venators, who were hunters and scouts that served the Zarosian Empire. Requiring level 80 in Ranged to wield, it is made by combining five venator shards. It can fire any type of arrow, including dragon arrows, and has an attack range of 6 (8 when using the "Longrange" combat style).

The bow can be charged with ancient essence to gain a unique passive effect that consumes charges, although the uncharged version can still be used as a regular bow. The passive effect enables the bow to be used against multiple targets with one attack, with the arrow bouncing up to two other nearby monsters.

Combat stats

UnchargedCharged

Attack bonuses
+0	+0	+0	+0	+90
Defence bonuses

+0	+0	+0	+0	+0
Other bonuses				Slot

+0	+25	+0%	+0	List

	Attack type	Weapon style	Attack speed	Range	Level boost
Accurate	Standard	Accurate	5 ticks (3.0s)	6 tiles	+3 Ranged
Rapid	Standard	Rapid	4 ticks (2.4s)	6 tiles	None
Longrange	Standard	Longrange	5 ticks (3.0s)	8 tiles	+3 Defence

Creation

Requirements
Members		Ticks	? (edit)

Materials
Item		Quantity	Cost
	Venator shard	5	61,400,915
Total cost			61,400,915
	Venator bow (uncharged)	1	61,748,180
Profit			347,265
Profit after GE Tax			−887,698

Passive effect and charging

An illustration of the bow's ricochet effect:
- Blue squares: Initial target.
- Purple squares: Potential secondary targets.
- Orange squares: Potential tertiary targets.
- Black squares: Unreachable targets.

The venator bow has a passive effect that requires ancient essence to use. When attacking a target in a multicombat area, the arrow will try to bounce to another target near the first. Then, the attack can bounce again, either back to the first target or to a third one. Each hit rolls accuracy independently, and the second and third hits both have a max hit equal to two-thirds of the original max hit, rounded down.

Bouncing arrows from the venator bow will only hit targets within two tiles of the original target’s centre, except for 2x2 targets which search for centre tiles within 2 tiles of any of the 2x2 target's tiles. Bounces can still occur if an attack misses or one of the targets dies. A different sound effect plays depending on if the arrow hits one, two, or three times.

Each ancient essence adds 1 charge to the bow, with it being able to hold up to 50,000 charges (costing 18 coins per attack, and a total of 900,000 to fully charge it with 50,000 essence). Players can configure the charges while the weapon is in their bank by right-clicking on Configure-Charges, as long as players have the required materials. One charge is deducted per attack, and it will always lose one charge regardless of how many bounces occur from that projectile. Assuming the bow is used on rapid, the hourly rate of using it is 27,000 coins. The fully charged bow will last for 33.33 hours of continuous combat before reverting to its uncharged form, Upon death in the Wilderness, if the item is protected, no charges will be lost.

The bow will notify the player of the charges remaining at increments of 500 charges. It will also notify the player when 100 and 50 charges remain. Un-charging the bow returns all essence to the player's inventory.

Arrows that bounce to undead targets while wearing a Salve amulet(ei) do not benefit from offensive prayer bonuses, such as those granted by rigour.

This image shows example centre/SW tiles which the venator bow utilises in determining if it can bounce.

All damage from the venator bow benefits from the minimum damage of seeking arrows. While the first hit of the venator bow benefits from the minimum damage of flat armour combined with seeking arrows, the second and third bounced hits do not benefit from negative flat armour.

Bouncing rules

Due to an update, the information in this article may be out-of-date.

Reason: The venator bow now finds targets "more reliably".
You can help improve it by updating the information.

This image illustrates how the Venator Bow interacts with 2x2 monsters. Blue squares indicate the tile from which the arrow is bouncing, while purple squares show the potential bounce range. Green squares represent successful bounce examples, and red squares show unsuccessful ones. Each colored square includes directional callouts such as "C" for centre tile or "SW" for south-west tile to clarify the logic behind each interaction.

There are 2 main rules to follow, with sub set of their own rules.

Can monster accept the bounce.
Can monster send the bounce.

For "Can monster accept the bounce" rules are as follows:

1x1 accepts bounce to it, if targeting monster finds 1x1’s tile.
2x2 accepts bounce to it, if targeting monster finds 2x2’s SW tile.
3x3 accepts bounce to it, if targeting monster passes these rules.
1. Odd sized (1x1,3x3,5x5) needs to find 3x3's CENTRE and SW tiles.
2. 2x2 needs to find 3x3's CENTRE tile.
3. 4x4 needs to find 3x3's SW tile.
4x4 accepts bounce to it, if targeting monster passes these rules.
1. Odd sized (1x1,3x3,5x5) needs to find 4x4's CENTRE and SW tiles.
2. 2x2 needs to find 4x4's CENTRE and CENTRE SW tiles.
3. 4x4 needs to find 4x4's SW and CENTRE SW tiles.
5x5 accepts bounce to it, if targeting monster passes these rules.
1. Odd sized (1x1,3x3,5x5) needs to find 5x5's CENTRE and SW tiles.
2. 2x2 needs to find 5x5's CENTRE and CENTRE SW tiles.
3. 4x4 needs to find 5x5's SW and CENTRE SW tiles.

For "Can monster send the bounce" rules are as follows:

1x1, 3x3, and 5x5 sends bounce if it finds targets SW and CENTRE tile from its CENTRE tile.
2x2 sends bounce on two different rule sets depending on target monster size.
1. If it finds targets CENTRE tile from any of its tiles (monster is ≤ 3x3).
2. If it finds targets CENTRE and CENTRE SW tile from any of its tiles (monster is ≥ 4x4).
4x4 sends bounce if it finds targets SW and CENTRE SW tiles from any of its middle 2x2 tiles.

Uses

Because of its potential to deal up to 233% of its standard max hit per shot, the venator bow is highly efficient at killing tightly-packed enemies in multicombat areas. Additionally, the arrows' tendency to bounce into nearby non-aggressive targets can help draw aggro, requiring less attention from the player. As such, the bow can be considered a lower cost-per-hour alternative to barraging or chinchompas. Popular spots to use it include abyssal demons and mutated bloodvelds in the Catacombs of Kourend.

The bow is ineffective in single-combat areas, and on most enemies with a size of 3x3 or larger (such as greater demons), since the bounce radius of 2 tiles makes it impossible for arrows to bounce from one large enemy to another unless stacked. It is very effective against the Grotesque Guardians due to the bosses' very low Defence and being stackable, allowing players to hit Dawn twice if Dusk is on top of her. Similarly, it is very useful in dealing with the Fremennik Warband Seer in the Fortis Colosseum, as it always bounces back and defeats the seer in one attack provided the berserker has already been defeated. It is also one of the best weapons for the Attacker in Barbarian Assault, as the enemies spawn out on top of each other, and all 3 hits benefit from the flat +5 damage from Attacker levels. The bow is also an effective weapon for farming monsters that drop champion's scrolls.

The bow is highly effective in a range of Slayer tasks, such as:

Ankou (Catacombs of Kourend)
Araxytes (Level-146)
Abyssal demons (Catacombs of Kourend)
Custodian stalkers (Auburnvale dungeon)
Dagannoth (Lighthouse or Catacombs of Kourend)
Dust devils (Catacombs of Kourend, Smoke Dungeon)
Fire giants (Catacombs of Kourend)
Hellhounds (Level-122 in the Catacombs of Kourend)
Mutated bloodvelds (Catacombs of Kourend or Meiyerditch Laboratory)
Warped jellies (Catacombs of Kourend)

Venom

When paired with a serpentine helm and poisoned arrows, the venator bow can inflict venom on multiple targets with a single shot, significantly boosting damage output in multi-combat areas. A cost-effective approach is using adamant arrows (p++), which are commonly obtained from various monsters. There appears to be little to no difference in venom application rates between poison types, so regular weapon poison suffices. The slight DPS loss from weaker arrowheads is outweighed by the substantial DPS increase from applying venom so efficiently and affordably.

Products

Item		Members	Skills	XP	Materials
	Echo venator bow		None	None	1 × Venator bow 1 × Echo venator bow ornament kit

Sound effects

Name	Description	ID
`equip_ranged`	Wielding	2244
`sotn_muspah_venator_bow_fire_07`	Attacking	6797
`sotn_muspah_venator_bow_ricochet_p1_01`	First ricochet	6672
`sotn_muspah_venator_bow_ricochet_p2_01`	Second ricochet	6735

Used in recommended equipment

Rank	Method
1	Slayer training (Ranged)
1	Nightmare Zone/Strategies (Ranged (Absorption, AFK))
1	Nightmare Zone/Strategies (Ranged)
1	Barbarian Assault/Strategies (Ranged)
2	Krystilia/Strategies (Ranged)
1	Grotesque Guardians/Strategies (Ranged switches)
3	Ultimate Ironman Guide/Equipment
1	Slayer task/Dust devils (Ranged)
1	Slayer task/Abyssal demons (Ranged)
1	Slayer task/Jellies (Ranged)
1	Slayer task/Suqah (Ranged (North))
1	The Whisperer/Strategies (Magic)
1	Fortis Colosseum/Strategies (Ranged)
1	Fortis Colosseum/Strategies (Mage)
1	Fortis Colosseum/Strategies (Budget)
1	Fortis Colosseum/Strategies (Melee)
1	Fortis Colosseum/Strategies (GM time)
1	Fortis Colosseum/Strategies (High efficiency)
1	Slayer task/Custodian stalker (Ranged)
1	Maggot King/Strategies (Ur-maggot larvae)

Comparison between other ranged weapons

Ranged weapons comparison table [
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Name		level required	Ranged attack	Ranged strength (Max ammo)	Price	Notes
	Twisted bow	85	+70	+20 (+80)	1,370,196,669	Has a passive effect where the higher the target's Magic level or Magic attack bonus is, the more accurate and damaging it becomes. Against high magic levels, it is usually the strongest ranged weapon in the game. Uses arrows as ammunition up to and including dragon. Has the maximum attack range of 10. Attack speed of 5 ticks on rapid.
	Zaryte crossbow	80	+110	(+122)	351,691,791	The strongest crossbow in the game. Has a special attack which provides double accuracy on the next shot and guarantees the special effect of any enchanted bolts used if it hits, costing 75% special attack energy. Its passive effect strengthens the effects of enchanted bolts by 10%. Can fire up to dragon bolts.
	Bow of Faerdhinen	80	+128	+106	106,635,875	Has the highest ranged bonus of any ranged weapon, including a +106 Ranged Strength bonus. Receives significant damage and accuracy bonuses if worn alongside pieces of crystal armour. When created, the bow starts off at 10,000 charges and degrades. The bow can be upgraded to the Bow of Faerdhinen (c) for 2,000 crystal shards to stop it from degrading - usage contributes to this cost. Has the maximum attack range of 10.
	Venator bow	80	+90	+25 (+85)	61,748,180	Has a passive effect when charged with ancient essence that allows arrows to ricochet to nearby targets when in a multicombat area. Poor single target performance but excels in multicombat. Uses arrows as ammunition up to and including dragon. Has an attack speed of 4 ticks on rapid, between that of a shortbow and a longbow.
	Scorching bow	77	+124	+40 (+100)	38,629,331^{[n 1]}	Untradeable; created from a tormented synapse and magic longbow (u) with 74 Fletching. Has a passive effect that increases accuracy and damage by 30% against demons, making it incredibly strong against them. Offers a special attack that binds demonic creatures in place for 20 ticks (12 seconds) and deals burn damage. With an innate 40 strength bonus, it performs decently well against non-demonic targets. Uses arrows as ammunition up to and including dragon. Has the maximum attack range of 10.
	Toxic blowpipe	75	+30	+20 (+55)	10,309,049	The strongest blowpipe, with an innate ranged strength of 20. Relatively weak accuracy but fast, high damage, making it great against low defence targets. Requires Zulrah's scales and any unpoisoned darts to charge. Ranged strength bonus stacks with the darts that are used to charge the blowpipe (up to +55 ranged strength with dragon darts). Offers a special attack where accuracy is increased by 100% and damage is increased by 50%, and heals the user by half of the damage dealt. Costs 50% special attack energy. Has 25% chance per shot to inflict venom on an opponent. Has an attack speed of 2 ticks on rapid (non-pvp; 3 ticks in pvp).
	Heavy ballista	75	+125	+15 (+165)	965,628	Has the second highest ranged bonus of any ranged weapon, including a +15 Ranged Strength bonus. Slow-firing but very high damage, with low average DPS, but good KO potential. Only accepts javelins as ammunition. Offers a special attack which increases accuracy and damage by 25% each for one shot. Costs 65% special attack energy. Requires completion of Monkey Madness II to equip.
	Eclipse atlatl	75	+87	+40 (Melee)	672,806	Uniquely uses the player's melee strength bonuses when determining the amount of ranged damage dealt to a target. The max hit is based off of visible boosts to melee stats (eg. super combat potion) and ranged boosting prayers (eg. Rigour). Only accepts atlatl darts as ammunition. If worn with the rest of the eclipse moon armour set, it offers a set effect which has a 20% chance to inflict a stackable burn effect on the targets. Offers a special attack which consumes the remaining burn effect in exchange for increasing the player's minimum and maximum hit. Costs 50% special attack energy.
	Armadyl crossbow	70	+100	(+122)	34,283,313	Offers a special attack where the player's accuracy and enchanted bolts activation chance for that shot is doubled. Costs 50% special attack energy. Along with the Zaryte crossbow, has a slightly longer attack range than other crossbows. Can fire up to dragon bolts.
	Dragon hunter crossbow	70	+95	(+122)	30,758,603	Similar base stats to the Armadyl and dragon crossbows. Increases accuracy and damage by 30% and 25% respectively when fighting draconic creatures. Can fire up to dragon bolts.
	Crystal bow	70	+100	+78	495,331^{[n 2]}	Does not use ammunition, instead uses charges, provided either with crystal shards or by purchase for GP. Available as a quest reward and becomes cheaper to charge with usage. Has an attack speed of 4 ticks on rapid, between that of a shortbow and a crossbow. Has the maximum attack range of 10. Receives noticeable damage and accuracy bonuses if worn alongside pieces of crystal armour.
	Webweaver bow	70	+85	+65	14,505,688	Upgraded version of the Craw's bow, which requires the fangs of Venenatis to create. Must be charged with revenant ether to be fired, and does not require ammo, similar to the crystal bow. While charged, an additional 50% ranged accuracy and damage boost is applied when attacking any NPC in the Wilderness. This effect will stack with a Slayer helmet or a Salve amulet, making it the strongest ranged weapon in the Wilderness. Has a special attack that hits an enemy four times in succession with increased accuracy, each dealing up to 40% of the player's max hit, along with a chance to inflict poison, starting at 4 damage. Costs 50% special attack energy.
	Karil's crossbow	70	+84	(+55)	97,615	One of the fastest crossbows, together with the hunters' crossbow. Can only fire bolt racks, which cannot be retrieved by an Ava's device. 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). Wearing an Amulet of the Damned together with the whole equipment set grants a 25% chance for an attack to hit twice, in which case the second hit will inflict half the damage of the first. Like all Barrows equipment, it degrades and will fully degrade after 15 hours of combat. It is repairable.
	Hunters' sunlight crossbow	66 50	+79	(+60)	4,788	Significantly cheaper than other options while still being quite strong, especially against lower-defence targets. Unlike most crossbows, it has an attack speed of 3 on rapid, making it comparable to a Magic shortbow (i) but with a slightly higher range (8 tiles) and accuracy, along with being one-handed. It is also easier to obtain for Ironmen, requiring 74 Fletching to make. However, Ironmen can only obtain the ammunition via Hunter. Uses Sunlight antler bolts or Moonlight antler bolts as ammunition, giving +55 and +60 ranged strength which are equivalent to Amethyst arrows and Dragon arrows, respectively.
	Dragon crossbow	64	+94	(+122)	521,933	Has similar base stats to Armadyl and Dragon Hunter crossbows, while being markedly cheaper. 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. Costs 60% special attack energy. Can fire up to dragon bolts.
	Rune crossbow	61	+90	(+115)	9,290	Considerably cheaper than dragon-bolt firing crossbows, but of course weaker. Good low-budget option for higher defence/HP enemies, compared to a Magic shortbow (i). Can fire up to runite bolts.
	Craw's bow	60	+75	+60	14,527,169	Must be charged with revenant ether to be fired, and does not require ammo, similar to the crystal bow. While charged, an additional 50% ranged accuracy and damage boost is applied when attacking any NPC in the Wilderness. This effect will stack with a Slayer helmet or a Salve amulet and their variants. This makes it the second strongest ranged weapon in the Wilderness. Shares the same bonuses as the magic shortbow (i) with the ranged strength of dragon arrows.
	Dark bow	60	+95	(+60)	579,849	Has the ability to shoot two arrows at a time. The slowest weapon in the game, with an attack speed of 8 ticks on rapid - at 4 ticks per arrow, this makes it worse than other bows for raw DPS, but has much stronger KO potential. Offers a powerful special attack, which if used with dragon arrows increases damage dealt by 50% with a minimum hit of 8 (30% with any other arrow type with a minimum. hit of 5). Costs 55% special attack energy.
	Magic shortbow	50	+69	(+55)	751	Remarkably cheap, even when imbued. Weaker accuracy than the rune crossbow but the fast firing makes it good budget DPS. The only shortbow to offer a special attack, which fires 2 shots in rapid succession but with reduced accuracy. Costs 55% special attack energy. Can be imbued with a magic shortbow scroll, increasing its ranged attack bonus to +75 and lowering the special attack cost to 50%. Can fire up to amethyst arrows.
	Magic shortbow (i)	50	+75	(+55)	49,627
	Magic comp bow	50	+71	(+55)	1,159	The only composite bow to offer a special attack, which is guaranteed to hit the target but is not boosted by damage-boosting prayers or the Slayer helmet (i). Costs 35% special attack energy. Shares this special attack with the magic longbow. Is slightly more accurate than the magic longbow and 1 tick faster (1 tick slower than the shortbow), while keeping the same attack range of the longbow.
	Seercull	50	+69	(+55)	44,326	Has slightly less accuracy but otherwise identical stats to the magic comp bow. Has a special attack that targets mages by lowering their Magic level, costing 100% special attack energy.
	Magic longbow	50	+69	(+55)	1,153	The only longbow to offer a special attack, which is guaranteed to hit the target but is not boosted by damage-boosting prayers or the Slayer helmet (i). Costs 35% special attack energy. Shares this special attack with the magic comp bow. Like all longbows, is 2 ticks slower than the magic shortbow, in exchange for 3 additional attack range. Unlike the magic shortbow, cannot be imbued.
	Adamant crossbow	46	+78	(+100)	923	Similar to the rune crossbow with slightly less ranged accuracy. Can fire up to adamant bolts.
	Chinchompas	45 (Grey)	+45	N/A	Varies^{[n 3]}	One of the four ranged weapons that offers the ability to hit more than one opponent at a time (similar to burst or barrage Ancient Magicks), the others being the special attack of the dragon crossbow (with a similar attack), the rune thrownaxe (with a ricochet special type attack), and the Venator bow with a passive ricochet attack. Excels against multiple close-together targets, where at least one has a low defence. Regarded to be the best way of training Ranged, but at a very high cost. Has an attack speed of 3 ticks on rapid/medium fuse.
		55 (Red)	+70	+15
		65 (Black)	+80	+30
	Salamanders	30 (Green)	+20	(+16)	97	Unique and versatile two-handed weapons that facilitate the use of all three combat styles. Notably lower DPS than other options.
		50 (Orange)	+29	(+22)	144
		60 (Red)	+47	(+31)	38
		70 (Black)	+69	(+49)	341
		80 (Tecu)	+87	(+60)	394,078
	Dorgeshuun crossbow	28	+42	(+49)	2,403	Is one tick faster than most other crossbows and it is able to fire bone bolts, which are significantly cheaper than most other ammunition of similar strength. Popular for low-cost ranged training.
	Shortbows	40 (Yew)	+47	(+49)	368	Offer slightly less damage output than using rune knives, but are a lot cheaper.
	Darts	30 (Adamant)	N/A	+17	Varies^{[n 3]}	Are cheap, deal decent damage and are easy to buy from the Grand Exchange. Adamant darts have comparable damage output to using a shortbow with rune arrows, so players should use whichever is cheaper.
	Dwarf multicannon	N/A	N/A	N/A	745,520	Can be set up and used alongside other weapons for passive Ranged damage and experience. Cannot be set up in all areas. Has a static max hit of 30 with steel cannonballs and 35 with granite cannonballs. Derives accuracy from player's current attack style (Ranged while ranging, Melee while meleeing, and whichever is higher with powered staves) while rolling against the target's heavy Ranged defence.
^ Untradeable; cost is of the tormented synapse and magic longbow (u) required to craft it. ^ Cost of having Ilfeen charge a crystal weapon seed after obtaining minimum cost. ^ ^3.0 ^3.1 Cost of thrown weapons is only that of the ammo.

Transcript

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Gallery

Concept art of the venator bow by Mod Jerv.

Changes

Date	Changes
19 August 2026 (Update)	Updated the venator bow to take advantage of new engine capabilities, allowing it to find new targets more reliably.
5 March 2025 (Update)	The venator bow supports a bank item option for changing charges.
Date unknown	The venator bow now counts as a Zarosian item in the God Wars Dungeon.
2 February 2023 (Update)	Remaining charges chat message are now broadcasted more frequently, at every increment of 500 charges, and when hitting 100 and 50 charges. Secondary hits should now roll their own accuracy checks instead of using the one from the initial hit. Arrows can now ricochet even if their target dies. The speed of the ricocheting arrows has been increased.
12 January 2023 (Update)	Hotfix All bounces will correctly hit up to 66% of max hit damage. The Venator bow is now able to be used within Barbarian Assault.

Trivia

"Venator", in Latin, means "hunter".
"Venator" was a rank used in the Zarosian Empire. According to the tatty page found during Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire, venators served as scouts.
The charged venator bow is currently the only bow in-game to show its bow string when wielded.
When pitched in the poll blog, the item's name was "Bloodletter bow". This was because the name of the quest and its rewards were polled by the development team as a "Mysterious Quest", where they wished to keep the Zarosian nature of the rewards a secret.
- The true name of the quest and its rewards from the boss were then revealed in the Winter Summit 2022 a month later.
The Zaryte bow, a proposed reward from Nex, closely resembles the venator bow, including its Zarosian origin.
A Jagex Moderator-exclusive rotten variant of this item exists which allows the user to kill any player instantly.