The Forsworn Bow is a rough, tribal-looking bow made from wood, bones and leather, with sharp spikes carved along its edge. It deals 12 base damage and weighs 11, which is surprisingly decent for something that looks assembled in a hurry.
It doesn’t belong to any craftable material tier, but it makes a solid early-to-mid game bow for archers who get tired of being shot at with it. Combine it with Forsworn Armor if you want to go fully native in the Reach.
Stats
| Type | Bow |
|---|---|
| Skill | Archery |
| Material | Forsworn |
| Damage | 12 |
| Weight | 11 |
| Value | 145 gold |
| Speed | 0.88 |
| Stagger | 0 |
| Critical damage | 6 |
| Add-on | Base game |
| Item ID | 000CEE9B |
Where to find
Most types of Forsworn carry one, and the bows are plentiful in Forsworn camps and strongholds throughout the Reach. Clear a camp or two and you’ll have more than you can carry.
Crafting and upgrading
This weapon cannot be crafted at a forge – you have to find, loot or buy it.
Improving at a grindstone: 1 × 
Steel Ingot. The Arcane Blacksmith perk doubles the improvement.
Compared with other bows
Base stats of all regular (unenchanted) bows in Skyrim, weakest first:
| Weapon | Damage | Weight | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Bow | 6 | 5 | 30 |
| Hunting Bow | 7 | 7 | 50 |
| Ancient Nord Bow | 8 | 12 | 45 |
| Imperial Bow | 9 | 8 | 90 |
| Orcish Bow | 10 | 9 | 150 |
| Nord Hero Bow | 11 | 7 | 200 |
| Dwarven Bow | 12 | 10 | 270 |
| Falmer Bow | 12 | 15 | 135 |
| Forsworn Bow | 12 | 11 | 145 |
| Elven Bow | 13 | 12 | 470 |
| Nordic Bow | 13 | 11 | 580 |
| Supple Ancient Nord Bow | 14 | 18 | 235 |
| Falmer Supple Bow | 15 | 20 | 410 |
| Glass Bow | 15 | 14 | 820 |
| Ebony Bow | 17 | 16 | 1440 |
| Stalhrim Bow | 17 | 15 | 1800 |
| Daedric Bow | 19 | 18 | 2500 |
| Dragonbone Bow | 20 | 20 | 2725 |
Tips and notes
- It can’t be crafted, but a steel ingot improves it at a grindstone, and Steel Smithing doubles the improvement.
- At 145 gold base value, extra copies are a handy source of coin.
Stats from the Skyrim LE 1.9 master files (Skyrim.esm, record ForswornBow). Values are base values before perks, smithing improvements and enchantments.