Bow

Garrett wielding the bow in Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Garrett's bow is a wooden recurve bow and the only ranged weapon used by Garrett (excluding explosives). It can be used to aim and shoot arrows at targets and zoom in at certain things or places. The bow is almost always available to Garrett excluding certain moments of the first and (possibly) last game.

Basic Info

The bow confiscated by the City Watch in Pavelock Prison (TDS)

Availability: Almost always available to Garrett except in the beginning of the missions "A Keeper's Training" and "Escape!". The bow is also not available in the start of the mission "Pavelock Prison" although this mission is optional.

Cost: None

Use

After selecting one of the arrow types and pressing the mouse (or other button on the console) the player starts to aim the bow and the arrow is pulled back. When enough force is used (the longer the aim the more force) and the button is released, the arrow is shot in the direction the player was aiming. Most arrows are lost after shooting but certain arrows such as Broadheads or Rope Arrows can be retrieved when they are shot in a wood or wood-like substance. The player can always choose to cancel their shot and not waste the arrow. In the PC version of Thief: Deadly Shadows the space bar can be used to cancel the current shot.

Take note however that certain arrows have different behaviors when shooting. The Fire Arrow and Gas Arrow don't have a descending arch but follow a linear path a few degrees higher then the center of the bow zoom. Care should be taken to aim the bow zoom lower then usual.

Bow Zoom

Garrett using the bow to aim and shoot a Broadhead Arrow at a button.

The Bow Zoom is a snipe-like feature that zooms into the direction that is being aimed at with the bow which allows for a more accurate aim. It is automatically activated a moment after docking an arrow.

Mugging

An added use only in Thief: Deadly Shadows is that the bow can be used to "mug" civilians walking The City's streets. Drawing the bow in front of unarmed citizens will cause them to panic after which they will drop all their valuables and flee from danger.

Arrows

The bow is a truly versatile weapon which can be thanked to the many different kinds of arrows that have their own unique properties. Arrows are either available in the starting inventory, have to be purchased or found during missions. Because arrows are not often found in missions, and are relatively expensive, they have to be use sparingly which encourages stealth since Broadhead Arrows can be easily used to kill unaware guards on lower difficulty levers.

Arrows can roughly be divided into two types although some arrows have overlapping uses:

Attack

A Fire Arrow, used for creating explosions.

• Broadhead Arrows - normal damage and pressing buttons
• Fire Arrows - fire damage
• Gas Arrows - gas based Knockout

Stealth

• Water Arrows - dousing torches or fires, cleaning up puddles of blood and (in the first two games) fighting the undead along with Holy Water
• Moss Arrows - suppressing sound of loud surfaces and, in TDS, choking humans
• Noisemaker Arrows - distracting or alerting guards
• Rope Arrows - reaching unavailable places
• Vine Arrows (Only available in Thief II: The Metal Age) - same as Rope Arrow but includes grates

See Also

• Sword
  • Constantine's Sword
• Dagger
• Blackjack