How to Craft Bow and Arrows in Survival: Fountain of Youth

Having a bow and arrows is critically important for players from the early stages of the game. Sooner or later, you’ll have to deal with predatory animals on the islands, not to mention that the bow is excellent for hunting boars, peccaries, and jackals. In this small guide, I will teach you how to craft a bow and arrows in Survival: Fountain of Youth.

Crafting a Weak Bow

There are 2 types of bows in Survival: Fountain of Youth: the Weak Bow and the Wooden Bow. To create a Weak Bow, you’ll need 1 Liana Rope and 4 Long Sticks. A Regular Workbench is also required for crafting.

First, stock up on the necessary resources. To see them on the map, you should craft several Mapping Charcoals using a Campfire, climb a Cartographer Tree, and draw a map.

Just in case, I have marked key locations for you. Lianas for crafting the Liana Rope can be obtained in the jungles in the center of the Island of Hope from specific trees, which look like this:

For a newbie, it might be difficult to recognize it visually, even though lianas hang from it. The location on the map is also marked with an icon of a twisted liana.

Trees from which Long Sticks are extracted are abundant in the eastern and northern parts of the island. They look as follows:

Once you have gathered the necessary resources, build a Regular Workbench in your camp and craft the bow with its help.

Don’t worry about unlocking the recipe: once you have a Regular Workbench and all necessary resources, it will surely become available.

Crafting a Wooden Bow

Creating a Wooden Bow is much more complex, and you won’t be able to do this at the beginning of the game. First, you will need a Tanner Workbench and Skin Dryer to create Dried Hide and Tendon Thread.

From 2 x Tendon Thread, you will be able to craft a Bowstring, and from Dried Hide – a Rope Made of Skin.

From 2 x Rope Made of Skin and 3 x Flexible Branch, using an Improved Workbench, you will create an Indian Bow Frame.

Finally, from 1 x Indian Bow Frame and 1 x Bowstring, you can craft the Wooden Bow itself (also on the Improved Workbench).

As you understand, it makes sense to consider the Wooden Bow only when you already have an Improved Workbench. And honestly, at normal difficulty, I personally did not experience any particular difficulties in fights with animals even when armed with a Weak Bow…

Anyway, here is a list of places where you can find the necessary resources.

• Fresh Hide for the production of Dried Hide can be obtained from Boars and Peccaries in the jungles in the center of the island.
  
• Animal Tendons can be acquired from Boars (jungles) and Jackals (north-western savannah). Animal Tendons are a rare and very valuable resource in the early stages of the game. Use wisely!
  
• Flexible Branches can be obtained from the special Dalbergia plant in the mountains in the western part of the island.
  
• Split Logs for building an Improved Workbench are created using a Carpentry Workbench from Common Logs, which are extracted from any palms.
  

Types of Arrows and Their Crafting

At the time of writing this guide, I counted 5 types of arrows in the game:

• Wooden Arrows x 1 (crafted from 1 Small Stick and 1 Narrow Leaves),
• Stone Arrows x 3 (crafted from 1 Small Stick, 1 Feather, 1 Stone),
• Bone Arrows x 1 (crafted from 1 Small Stick, 1 Feather, 1 Bone),
• Obsidian Arrows x 3 (crafted from 3 Small Stick, 3 Feather, 1 Obsidian Shard),
• Cooper Arrows (crafted from Small Stick, Feather, Cooper Arrowhead) – these arrows become available only after you start mining Cooper Ore in the Buffalo Region.

The arrows differ in durability and minimum damage inflicted. The most optimal option for a beginner is the Stone Arrows, as they are crafted in sets of three and their crafting doesn’t require particularly valuable resources.

Nevertheless, here is a list of places where you can find the necessary resources for crafting arrows:

• Feather – Harpy nests, and Harpies;
  
• Bone – killed animals (also can be found around ancient altars on the Island of Hope);
  
• Obsidian Shard – can be found piece by piece in certain places on the Island of Hope as you progress through the story, and also mined in special mines in the southwestern part of the island.
  

Mining Cooper Ore on the Island of Hope is impossible. The opportunity to mine Cooper Ore is only possible in the Buffalo Region, where you will go following the plot after fully passing the Island of Hope. Guides for both regions are already available on the site.

Note that arrows can be used multiple times. After shooting, the arrow remains in the place it hit, even if it’s stuck in an animal carcass. After unlocking the Concentration perk (hotkey “V“), arrows and other interesting items will be highlighted after its activation. Thus, having 5-10 arrows is enough for successful hunting and protection against predators.