Where to get a crossbow in Elden Ring, and how to aim it

Crossbows in Elden Ring generally do more damage than bows, but they take longer to reload. This makes them an excellent ranged weapon against large, slow enemies that are a long way away (a Pumpkin Head, for example). But where do you get a crossbow? Bolts are abundant early in the game, but the weapons to shoot them are somewhat scarce. Not one of the early-game merchants — not Yale, not Patches, and not the Twin Husks — sells crossbows, and they don’t commonly drop.

To get your first crossbow in Elden Ring, you’re probably going to have to kill a soldier who has one, and hope he drops it. The location at which we pillaged our first crossbow — a Soldier’s Crossbow, to be precise — was at the cliff tops overlooking Saintsbridge. There’s a cluster of crucifixes there, guarded by a small group of soldiers, two of whom are crossbowmen. They aren’t guaranteed to drop crossbows, but they certainly can.

Related: How to craft arrows in Elden Ring

Once you have your crossbow, you’ll find it works a little differently to a bow. First of all, you have to tap the fire button once to load it, before tapping it again to fire. Aiming a crossbow from the hip works the same as a bow; you just lock onto your target and fire. But if you want to aim down sights, you have to wield the crossbow two-handed first. You don’t have to do this with a regular bow, for some reason.