[Top 11] Warframe Best Bows and How to Get Them (2024)

In most games, bows are stealthy weapons, designed to deal damage and keep you out of your enemies sight. Warframe switches that up a bit. Warframe’s bows are typically super heavy hitters, capable of dealing massive damage numbers.

11. Lenz

Bolts from this Corpus bow deliver a one-two punch of an icy pulse, followed by a conventional explosion. Excess ammo picked up for other weapons will be converted into charges for the Lenz.

Warning, safety protocols do not exist on this prototype.

What Makes Lenz Great?

The Lenz actually holds the second highest base damage among Warframe’s bows, next to the Kuva Bramma, and deals blast damage, which is highly effective against machinery and fossilized foes.
Lenz has the highest critical chance of all Warframe bows.
On impact, each arrow explodes, while direct arrow impact with an enemy has the chance to deal impact damage and stagger enemies. The first explosion deals cold damage, while the second explosion deals a high amount of blast damage.
Lenz has an innate Arrow Mutation effect which converts all other ammo types picked up into extra charges for the bow.

How to Get the Lenz:

The Lenz Blueprint can be researched in the energy lab in your dojo.
Lenz Details

10. Rakta Cernos

A finely tuned instrument of assassination.

In my opinion, the Rakta Cernos is one of the best bows in the Cernos family. Some of its features make for an amazing weapon, though, acquiring it may take some time.

What makes Rakta Cernos Great?

Since the Rakta Cernos is a syndicate weapon, it has the Blight effect, meaning that whenever affinity is gained while using the Rakta Cernos, enemies within 25 meters of you receive 1,000 viral damage, you recover a quarter of your base energym and your movement speed is increased by 10% for 30 seconds.
This bow is completely silent, making it perfect for spy and rescue missions.
The Rakta Cernos deals a high amount of damage: 235 per uncharged shot, and 470 per charged shot, each dealing 90% impact damage.
The Rakta Cernos features the highest charge time of all bows, meaning a faster damage output with high damage.

How to get Rakta Cernos

Rakta Cernos Details

9. Dread

Dread is the calling card of the stalker. It fires arrows that can decapitate.

Dread is one of the Stalker’s signature weapons. It’s a hunting bow that fires bladed arrows, and more often than not, inflicts bleed damage on unsuspecting enemies.

What Makes Dread Great?

Dread deals slash damage, which is my ultimate favorite. It bypasses enemy armor and deals higher damage to enemies’ health!
Both the charged and uncharged shots fired from Dread have the highest critical chance of all Warframe’s bows, sitting at a whopping 50%
Dread has a very high status chance, capable of inflicting bleed status on enemies

How to Get Dread

Dread Details

8. Daikyu

7. Zhuge Prime

Tenno artistry. Ancient Craft. A weapon of surgical precision and devastating effect. Each bolt fired from Zhuge Prime explodes shortly after embedding.

Released alongside Wukong Prime, this Mastery Rank 14 Tenno crossbow is the primed variant of the Zhuge.

What Makes Zhuge Prime Great?

Zhuge Prime has the second highest fire rate of all fully automatic Weapons in Warframe, making it nice when you don’t have to wait forever to reload the crossbow.
The accuracy on the Zhuge Prime is very high, as well as its critical and status chance.
Dealing primary slash damage, the Zhuge Prime is great against enemies’ health and infected targets.
When the bolt fired reaches its target, it explodes, dealing higher damage and even dragging along killed enemies with your bolt, dealing damage to any enemies behind them as well.
The Zhuge Prime can benefit from certain rifle mods, even though it is a crossbow, making the modding process easier and more effective.

How to Get Zhuge Prime

Zhuge Prime Details

6. Mutalist Cernos

Overcome with infestation, this bow’s arrows now spread poisonous contagion to any surface they hit.

This infested variant of the classic Cernos is a mean one. Possessing the ability to spread toxic spores make it particularly deadly.

What Makes Mutalist Cernos Great?

Mutalist Cernos’ high impact damage output makes it amazing for taking down enemies’ shields, and even better paired with a decent slash weapon.
The Mutalist Cernos is a status bow, making it great for inflicting status damage on enemies. On impact, each arrow produces a spore cloud, which releases toxins into the air surrounding your targets. Its status chance is higher than any other bow in Warframe.
This bow is completely silent, and has amazing accuracy as well.

How to Get Mutalist Cernos

5. Cernos Prime

A noble bow to hunt hellish beasts.

This primed variant of the Cernos is quite extraordinary with its alternate firing mode.

What Makes Cernos Prime Great?

The Cernos Prime has a pretty good base damage output, along with a very high critical and status chance.
This bow has a multishot of 3 arrows rather than one, which helps with damage output, as well as the ability to use the Thunderbolt mod, which gives the arrows a chance to explode on impact as well.
The Cernos Prime has an alternate firing mode that allows arrows to be shot vertically rather than horizontally, which allows for more headshots. With the increased headshot damage that this bow offers, mixed with the alternate firing mode, it is quite deadly.

How to Get Cernos Prime

Cernos Prime Details

4. Nagantaka

Sash targets with a single precise bolt from Garuda’s signature crossbow. Alt-fire to let loose a barrage of bolts. All bolts have a chance to cause Bleeding and Headshots have a chance to increase reload speed. When wielded by Garuda, Nagantaka gains a slight punchthrough.

What makes Nagantaka Great?

Even though the Nagantaka is a crossbow, it is considered an automatic rifle, and holds the second highest base damage for that category as well.
When Garuda wields the Nagantake, since it is her signature weapon, the crossbow gains a slight punchthrough.
The Nagantaka holds the highest status chance among semi-automatic rifles, and third highest status chance among bows.
Direct bolt damage causing a headshot kills increases your reload speed by 50% for a short time!

How to Get Nagantaka

The Nagantaka can only be purchased from the market.

Nagantaka Details

3. Nataruk

Hunhow’s gift, carved from the bones of his kin. Shots can be charged and held; release them for before full charge for maximum effect.

What Makes Nataruk Great?

This bow is my absolute favorite, because it holds infinite ammo. You will NEVER run out.
The Nataruk gives you the option to perform a perfect shot, to do this you need to fire the bow at ⅔ of full charge and it will produce much more damage.
Insanely high status chance, critical chance, reload speed, and base damage
There is an infinite body punchthrough with the Nataruk

How to Get the Nataruk

Nataruk Details

2. Proboscis Cernos

Each arrow spawns a swarm of sticky appendages on impact. These tongue-like probes latch onto nearby unfortunates and drag them close before bursting into a mess of diseased goo.

What Makes Proboscis Cernos Great?

The Proboscis Cernos is the new and improved version of the Mutalist Cernos, still dealing Viral damage, but with a trap-like quality to it as well.
Dealing both Viral and Slash damage, the Proboscis Cernos is great for many enemies. The Viral damage can bypass shields and armor, while the Slash damage is extremely effective against health as well.
The Proboscis Cernos’s arrow explosions strongly benefit from the Firestorm and Cautious Shot mods

How to Get Proboscis Cernos

Proboscis Cernos Details

1. Kuva Bramma

The Grineer bow delivers vengeance in the form of cluster bomb-tipped arrows that can be detinated mid-air on impact. Low quiver capacity, arrows are recovered singly.

What Makes Kuva Bramma Great?

The Kuva Bramma features the highest base damage of all bows, along with a high critical chance, critical multiplier, and high status chance.
The Kuva Bramma has innate blast damage, making it great against fossilized enemies and machinery.
You can polarize this bow, maxing its rank at 40 rather than the typical 30.
Depending on the Kuva Lich that you received the Kuva Bramma from, you can get an increased status effect from it, up to 60%

How to Get the Kuva Bramma

Kuva Bramma Details