So you’ve typed “what are the best Skyrim bow mods?” on your favorite search engine, and you’ve landed here. As a Skyrim player, you know that archery is one of the most satisfying ways to play the game. But you also know that sometimes, it’s just not enough. The bow feels clunky, and there are just too many arrows sticking in the ground around you. You need to take your archery skills to the next level. And we’re here to help.
We’ve set out to find the 10 best Skyrim bow mods out there, and we think you’ll like what we’ve found. We didn’t just look for the most popular mods, but rather mods that fit the bill. Of course, a majority of the bow mods created were released recently, so many of them don’t have long track records compared to other Skyrim mods available.
Some of these bow mods allow you to create new arrows to help you deal extra damage. Some add new bows and even crossbows that deliver a real punch! While others allow you to freeze time for extra accurate shots and for those enemies getting too close for your comfort.
Let’s keep this intro fluff-free, Below you’ll find a list of the best Skyrim bow mods that are guaranteed to make you feel like Legolas.
The Best Skyrim Bow Mods In 2022
The best Skyrim bow mods are:
- The Huntsman Mod
- Skyrim Realistic Archery
- Engraved bow (Hammerfell armory)
- Skyrim Fancy Bows
- Witcher-style Crossbows Mod
- Compound Bow Collection
- Better Bows
- Unique Bows Collection
- Automatic Crossbows
- Scoped Bows
The Huntsman Mod
The Huntsman is one of the most vibrant and impressive bows ever created for Skyrim. It is so beautiful that no other mod doesn’t have anything remotely similar, except maybe the Scoped Bows mod.
An ideal companion for all sorts of players, but particularly for hunters. Moreover, the mod is designed so that the weapons are upgraded with the player, to ensure that the bow won’t become unusable once you reach a certain level. You can even improve the bow and change its parameters. The upgrades are a nice addition to the mod and are not seen in the basic version of the game.
Skyrim Realistic Archery Mod
This mod is bound to appeal to all archers and hardcore fans. Its author introduced some changes to the in-game mechanics of archery, which resulted in it becoming more realistic and more challenging.
Some of the features this mod contains are removed AIM assistance, modified arrow speed, the arrow trace effect being removed, and also a very noticeable altered gravity effect on arrows.
Engraved bow (Hammerfell Armory Mod)
Mod will add a new engraved bow to the game. The bow is quite simple, it does not contain any unique abilities, however, fans of minimalism will love it. Likewise, the bow has a very high quality, the textures of the bow itself have a resolution of 4k, and the quiver and arrows of 2k. the Engraved bow can be both found ad crafted at the Aetherium Forge
Skyrim Fancy Bows
If you’re planning to take on another Skyrim playthrough, however this time you decide to do it as an archer main, then this is the perfect mod for you. While the whole archer aspect & experience are pretty appealing, However, the vanilla bow might seem too basic.
So the author of this mod decided to design something a little fancier. Somewhat more magical, flamboyant, and animated. So these 10 fantastical bows came to light, all of which are based on a vanilla-tied bow.
Witcher-style Crossbows Mod
This mod will add a new, self-contained single-handed crossbow to the game based on The Witcher 3. The crossbow comes in 6 versions, to create them you need the appropriate diagrams. 3 diagrams are hidden somewhere fairly easily, while the other 3 are hidden in places full of danger.
What makes this bow mod pretty challenging is the fact that even when Diagram maps are scattered throughout the Skyrim taverns, you don’t know where, and you’ll only find out which one it is for when you find the diagram itself.
Compound Bow Collection
While the multitude of weapons in Skyrim is to be envied, the bows, however, all look alike and are rather lacking in appearance. The Compound Bow Collection mod is intended to improve this mess by introducing a highly refined and well-detailed Compound Bow, similar to the ones seen in many other games like Elden Ring & the Witcher 3.
It revitalizes a long-neglected branch of archery development. Once the mod is installed, the bows can be crafted in any blacksmith shop, as long as you have sufficiently pumped up your blacksmithing levels.
Better Bows
The Better Bows mod allows you to enhance the bows from the base version of the game by adding a wider range of ranged weapons to improve your arsenal and lend it some badly needed diversity. Furthermore, all bows have been designed using Skyrim’s basic ranged weapon templates, making them not look out of place.
Unique Bows Collection
Like the previous mod, Unique Bows Collection also adds 10 all-new uniquely designed bows to the game. Although they are slightly more simplistic than the Better Bows mod, they are much better supported and better compatible with enchantments. Should you be seriously interested in archery, you will certainly appreciate these cool bows.
Automatic Crossbows
As the name suggests, this mod brings automatic crossbows into the Skyrim lore, presenting you with a story in which Talmor uncovered old gnome blueprints outlining how to create these fearsome weapons.
Therefore, you can now unleash arrows like bullets from a machine gun! Be aware that these crossbows are a bit out of balance, so unless you’re interested in ancient superguns, this mod is very unlikely to be to your liking.
Scoped Bows
If you like bows with telescopic sights, then Skyrim is probably not the best game to look for it. However, some modders think differently. They have succeeded in bringing weapons with scopes to Skyrim without undermining the very essence of the game.
It’s quite tough to explain where a telescopic sight would come from on a bow in these times, but it’s just a small insignificant detail, isn’t it? This mod adds lore-appropriate bows with scopes that look very natural and match the overall atmosphere of Tamriel’s world perfectly.
And voila, you’ve reached the very end of this Skyrim Bow mods, make sure to give these a try whenever you get a chance. Also, let us know how your archery journey went on in the comments section below.
In case you’ve missed it, here are some of our other Skyrim guides:
- Best Skyrim Armor Mods
- Best Skyrim SE Knife Mods
- How To Become A Vampire In Skyrim
- Best Two-Handed Weapons In Skyrim
- How To Become A Werewolf In Skyrim
- How To Call Your Horse In Skyrim
- Best Skyrim Builds