Jotnar Bow vs Talon Bow – Which should you use in God of War Ragnarok?

For most of God of War Ragnarok, you’ll play as Kratos, who wields a handful of powerful, mythical weapons. You’ll also be playing as his son, Atreus, who specializes in archery and relies on his skills as an established marksman.

While playing as Atreus, you’ll have the option to upgrade his gear, giving him powerful bows that he can unleash against his enemies. However, based on your play style, these bows all have unique powers, making some better. You’ll have the option of picking between the Jotnar Bow and the Talon Bow. Should you be using the Jotnar Bow or Talon Bow while playing as Atreus in God of War Ragnarok?

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Should you use the Jotnar Bow or the Talon Bow in God of War Ragnarok?

It all comes down to your playstyle when picking between the Talon Bow or the Jotnar Bow in God of War Ragnarok. The Talon Bow has a passive called Hunter’s Instinct, increasing the stun effect of ranged and melee attacks, while the Jotnar Bow has a passive called Warrior’s Instinct, increasing the damage of Runic Arrows, and you can shoot three at a time.

Between the two, I found that the stun effect of the Talon Bow was exceptionally useful in nearly every situation. While an enemy is stunned, you can do a good amount of damage to it or perform a more powerful finishing attack against an enemy, giving you the chance to make short work of them while playing God of War Ragnarok.

However, although the Talon Bow does offer an increased stun effect, getting a stun to land with the Jotnar Bow is relatively easy. I didn’t notice much difference between the two weapons in God of War Ragnarok, and the significant change between these two weapons was the arrow spread from the Jotnar Bow, firing three arrows simultaneously.

While the Jotnar Bow’s spread fire doesn’t make much difference against single enemies at mid to long range, it can be extremely powerful against groups of enemies and larger enemies at close range. When you shoot at a group with the Jotnar Bow, you can often hit a different enemy with each arrow, which means they all take damage and usually get slowed down, too. And using the Jotnar Bow at close range so that all three arrows hit the same enemy means you’re doing three times as much damage as the Talon Bow with every shot.

So yes, unless you want to treat Atreus primarily as a melee character (in which case the Talon Bow is a little better), you should choose the Jotnar Bow over the Talon Bow. I preferred this during my playthrough, and I think you’ll find it endlessly helpful as well, but you don’t play Atreus alone enough to feel too uncomfortable with either choice.