Bow

The bow is a Y-item in ALttP that allows Link to fire arrows.

Location

The bow is found in the big chest in Eastern Palace.

Description

The bow is a strong ranged weapon used often in speedruns.

It has a 17 frame animation that plays out each time an arrow is fired. The game doesn't allow more than one arrow in flight at a time, so if an arrow is shot over a long distance, Link may be temporarily prevented from firing another shot. To optimize arrow shooting, you generally want to keep close to your target.

If the player has no arrows, the bow's animation will still play but no arrow will be fired. Also if the player shoots while a previous arrow is still in flight, the animation will play but with no arrow.

An item dash with the bow generally isn't very useful. The animation is started with the dash charge but an arrow is not fired until after the dash is canceled.

Silver arrow upgrade

At the Pyramid Fairy, Link can toss the bow into her fountain, and he will receive the silver arrow upgrade. Normally, accessing the Pyramid Fairy requires crystals #5 and #6 (from completing Ice Palace and Misery Mire, respectively), which will make the bomb shop put the super bomb up for sale. Buying the super bomb for 100 rupees and taking it to the Pyramid to blow up the cracked wall will grant Link access to the Pyramid Fairy fountain. The Pyramid Fairy can be accessed early and without the super bomb quest through various glitched means.

The silver arrows are the most powerful weapon in the game, dealing 100 damage to anything vulnerable to arrows. This is enough to 1-shot almost every enemy.