If you’ve spent even a few hours exploring Enshrouded’s early zones, you’ve probably run into a situation where a melee approach just doesn’t cut it. Maybe you’re trying to pick off a Shrouded scout from a distance, or you don’t want to get close to a poisonous plant enemy that explodes on contact. Ranged weapons are a lifesaver here, and copper arrows are the first reliable ammo type you can craft at scale. This guide breaks down exactly how to make copper arrows in Enshrouded, plus everything you need to know to get the most out of this early-game ammo.
What You’ll Need Before Crafting Copper Arrows
You can’t just craft copper arrows as soon as you spawn into the world, unfortunately. You’ll need to hit a few small milestones first, and gather a small set of common materials to get started. All of these resources are available in the starting Springlands zone, so you won’t have to venture into dangerous high-level Shroud areas to get them.
- Hunter workbench: You’ll unlock this crafting station once you rescue the Hunter NPC from her early-game Shroud prison. It takes 10 wood, 4 stone, and 2 animal fur to build once she’s unlocked.
- Copper Bar x1: Smelted from copper ore you mine from exposed copper veins in the northern Springlands, near the first Ancient Spire. Each copper ore stack of 3 makes 1 copper bar at a smelter.
- Feather x2: Dropped by any bird you kill, or found in small nests scattered on tree branches across the starting zone. You can also get feathers from killing turkey-like land birds that roam open fields.
- Resin x1: A common drop from cutting down any type of pine tree, which grow in abundance in the northern and western parts of the Springlands.
You don’t need any special skills or character upgrades to craft these arrows, as long as you have the workbench unlocked. That makes them accessible even if you’re playing a melee-focused build that doesn’t put points into ranged perks. It’s always worth keeping a stack on hand, even if you rarely use a bow.
How to Make Copper Arrows in Enshrouded: Exact Crafting Steps
Once you have all your materials gathered and your Hunter workbench placed, the actual crafting process takes just a few seconds. First, interact with the Hunter workbench to pull up its crafting menu. Scroll down to the ammo section, and you’ll see copper arrows listed right after the basic stone arrows you probably used in your first hour of play.
Select the copper arrow recipe, and choose how many stacks you want to make. Each craft of the recipe produces 10 copper arrows, so you’ll get way more ammo than you put in for materials. That’s a huge upgrade from stone arrows, which only give 5 per craft for similar material costs.
Wait, make sure you don’t accidentally smelt all your copper for tools before setting aside some for arrows. I made that mistake my first playthrough, and I had to spend an extra 20 minutes running back to the copper veins when I ran out of ammo for a boss fight. It’s a tiny mistake that can derail your progress if you’re on a tight schedule to clear a Shroud zone before your purification buff runs out.
Best Uses for Copper Arrows in Your Enshrouded Playthrough
Copper arrows deal 22 base damage each, which is almost double the 13 damage you get from basic stone arrows. That extra damage makes them useful for a ton of early-game scenarios where stone arrows just aren’t strong enough to get the job done quickly.
First off, they’re perfect for taking out Shroud Wraiths that float around the edges of Shroud zones. These enemies can teleport right to you if you get too close, so picking them off from 50+ meters away with copper arrows keeps you safe, and you won’t waste valuable healing items trying to fight them up close.
They also work great for early-game base defense if you get raided by bandit groups. You can perch on the roof of your base and take out raiders one by one before they even get close enough to damage your walls or crafting stations. I prefer this over running down to fight them melee, because it means I don’t have to repair my armor after every raid.
You can also use copper arrows to take down the first few world bosses, including the Fell Wisp and the first version of the Ravager. They don’t work as well once you get to mid-game zones like the Kindlewastes, but they’ll carry you through the first 10 to 15 hours of your playthrough with no issues.
Pro Tips to Maximize Your Copper Arrow Efficiency
You can make your copper arrows go a lot further if you follow a few simple tricks I’ve picked up over multiple playthroughs. You don’t have to follow all of these, but they’ll save you a ton of time farming materials if you rely on ranged weapons a lot.
First, always pair copper arrows with a hunter’s bow instead of the basic wooden bow you get at the start of the game. The hunter’s bow gives a 15% damage boost to all arrows, so you’ll take down most common enemies in one hit instead of two, cutting your arrow usage in half. You can craft the hunter’s bow at the same workbench you use to make the arrows, so it’s easy to get both at the same time.
Second, don’t use copper arrows on low-health enemies like regular bandits or small wild animals. Save them for enemies that actually need the extra damage, and use stone arrows for easy targets. That way you won’t burn through your copper supplies unnecessarily.
Third, if you’re playing with friends, have one person focus on farming feathers and resin while another mines copper. You can build up a stack of 500+ copper arrows in less than an hour if you split the work, which is more than enough to get your entire group through the early game. It’s way faster than everyone farming their own materials separately.
One last trick: You can recover around 30% of the arrows you fire from enemy corpses or the ground where they missed. Always take a few seconds to pick up arrows after a big fight, especially if you just cleared a bandit camp or a small Shroud zone. You’d be surprised how much materials you save over time just by picking up used arrows.
Copper arrows are one of the most underrated early-game items in Enshrouded, and they’re way easier to make than a lot of players realize when they first start playing. Even if you don’t main a ranged build, keeping a stack of 50 or so in your inventory at all times will get you out of so many tricky situations you’d otherwise have to run from. Now that you know how to make copper arrows in Enshrouded, you can stop wasting time with weak stone arrows and start clearing content way faster.