# Arrow

) 

Name

arrow

Appearance

arrow

Damage vs. small

1d6

Damage vs. large

1d6

To-hit bonus

+0

Weapon skill

bow

Size

one-handed

Base price

2 zm(+10/positive enchant)

Weight

1

Material

iron

An arrow is a projectile that can be thrown but is best used with a bow. 
Besides the standard arrow shown here, there are several other types:

elven arrow
orcish arrow
silver arrow
ya (samurai arrow)
It is easy to obtain a large supply of arrows by untrapping an arrow trap. 
As with many projectiles, arrows may break and disappear when they hit a monster. See Projectile#Breakage for more information.

Contents

1 Using arrows

1.1 Multishot

2 Average damage calculation
3 Encyclopedia entry
4 References

Using arrows
Although not necessary to throw or fire arrows, the best use of arrows is with an appropriate launcher.
The character must wield a bow and then throw arrows for them to be most effective. This process can be streamlined by quivering arrows and then using the fire command, but this is simply a convenience and is not necessary. However, crossbow bolts will not be fired from a wielded bow—they must be used with a crossbow instead.
The range for an arrow is  when you are wielding a bow[1][2], and  when you are not[3]:

Strength:

3
4, 5
6, 7
8, 9
10, 11
12, 13
14, 15
16, 17
18–18/31
18/31–21
22, 23
24, 25

Range of arrow (with wielded bow)

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Range of arrow (without wielded bow)

0
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6

Along with other cursed missile weapons or launchers, cursed arrows occasionally "slip from your hand" when you throw or fire them, and end up on the ground.
Since arrows are used with a bow, they are affected by bow skill.

Bow

Max
Role

Basic

Barbarian, Knight, Priest, Tourist

Skilled

Caveman

Expert

Ranger, Samurai

Multishot
The number of arrows shot at once depends on the character's bow skill. You will shoot 1 arrow at a time at unskilled or basic skill, up to 2 arrows at skilled, and up to 3 at expert. There is a +1 bonus to this counter for rangers, and an additional +1 for elven characters shooting elven arrows from an elven bow, orcish characters shooting orcish arrows from an orcish bow, and samurai shooting ya from a yumi. This means, for example, an elven ranger using elven arrows and an elven bow can fire up to 5 arrows at once.

Average damage calculation
The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from weapon skills or from using a blessed weapon against undead or demons. However, these bonuses apply per arrow, so they may cause far more damage than when attacking in melee.
The calculations for poisoned arrows assume the monster is not poison resistant.

Weapon

Number of arrows fired at once

1

1d2 (average 1.5)

1d3 (average 2)

1d4 (average 2.5)

+0 arrows

+7 arrows

poisoned +0 arrows

poisoned +7 arrows

Encyclopedia entry

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
&nbsp;
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?
&nbsp;
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

[ The Arrow and the Song,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ] 

References

↑ dothrow.c in NetHack 3.6.1, line 1177

↑ dothrow.c in NetHack 3.6.1, line 1197

↑ dothrow.c in NetHack 3.6.1, line 1202

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