Like in most survival horror games, range is king in Sons of the Forest. Being able to deal with threats from a distance is a must-have skill. And, thankfully, the game offers players several ranged weapons to take on the mutant threat. The first, and least expensive, option will always be your trusty bow. However, the controls for how to make arrows work is awkward, to say the least. If you’re wondering how to use, equip, and swap arrows in Sons of the Forest, we can help you out!
How to Equip and Use Arrows in Sons of the Forest
If you want to use arrows in Sons of the Forest, you’ll need to have a bow to shoot them with. The standard bow works fine for any arrow that you craft, and equipping the bow will automatically knock an arrow type from your inventory. Once you have your bow equipped, look down at the floor and hit the button prompt on screen to swap your arrow type. For standard keyboard controls on the PC, this defaults to “R”.
Crafting arrows is something you’ll have to do quite often. Basic stone arrows take two Feathers, four Small Rocks, and two Sticks. This will get you a batch of four arrows. Thankfully, these materials are easy to farm while walking around.
As you advance through the game, you’ll be able to collect 3D Printed and Carbon Fiber Arrows. These ammunition types are strict upgrades to your stone arrow, but are harder to find and tend to be more expensive. If you need to deal with a threat, learning how to quickly look down and press “R” in combat is a must-have skill.
Since the game is in early access, it wouldn’t surprise us if new arrow options aren’t added to the game. Right now, switching ammunition types just replaces a bad arrow with an expensive one. Over time, we hope that different types have different qualities, such as exploding or dealing fire damage at range.
The bow is far from your only ranged options. From firearms to the stun gun, you won’t have to just rely on arrows, even at this stage of the early beta!
