Emerald Bow

The Emerald Bow fires pierce arrows that pass through multiple enemies in a line — and crucially, each successive enemy hit by the same arrow takes more damage than the one before it. That reverse falloff mechanic is what makes this item exceptional. On dense, grouped waves, the last enemy in line takes the most damage, which means the Emerald Bow rewards your Archer for targeting the middle of a crowd rather than the front. Added in the v1.0.3 Cauldron update.

Pierce + Ramp — How the Mechanic Works

When the Archer fires with the Emerald Bow equipped, the arrow does not stop at the first enemy it hits. It continues through each enemy in the line until there are no more enemies ahead of it (or it travels past its effective range). Each subsequent enemy hit receives increased damage compared to the previous one.

This inverse damage model is unusual. Most pierce items deal decreasing damage to later targets. The Emerald Bow does the opposite — meaning its theoretical maximum damage output scales with how many enemies are lined up. Against dense waves with 6–8 enemies in a row, the back enemies take nearly double the base damage.

Targeting Strategy — How to Maximize Damage

The default Archer targeting is "first enemy" — which means it prioritizes the front of the enemy path. For the Emerald Bow, this is actually fine because the arrow will still pierce through to the enemies behind. However, switching to "last enemy" targeting via the skill tree makes the bow even more effective because it fires earlier at approaching enemies, giving the arrow more enemies to pass through before the first target dies.

Optimal Emerald Bow placement is at an angle where enemies spend as much time lined up in front of the Archer as possible — typically at a path bend where the lead enemy has just turned and the rest of the wave is still approaching in a column.

Best Builds Using Emerald Bow

Lone Ranger Interaction

The Lone Ranger skill tree node grants +20% damage when the Archer is placed alone (no adjacent towers). For the Emerald Bow, this +20% applies to the base damage of the first hit, which then multiplies into the ramp. This means the ramp effect compounds on top of an already-boosted base — making Lone Ranger + Emerald Bow one of the strongest damage combinations in the game for dense waves.

Emerald Bow vs. Venom Bow

These items have strong synergy (see the Pierce + Poison build above), but when forced to choose just one:

• Emerald Bow is better for burst wave clearing — it deals its damage immediately when the arrow passes through, with no stack-up delay. Dense waves die faster.
• Venom Bow is better for control and sustained damage on tougher individual targets that survive multiple hits. The slow is also more useful against sprint enemies.

If your Cauldron offers both, pick Emerald Bow for early-mid Endless Mode (Round 20–70) and consider switching to Venom Bow or keeping both if you find a second item slot.

Item FAQ

Does the Emerald Bow's ramp reset between waves?

Yes. The damage ramp is per-arrow, not cumulative across waves. Each arrow fired starts fresh at the 100% base for the first enemy hit.

Does pierce work with the Headshot skill node (crit)?

Yes. Each individual enemy hit by the piercing arrow can independently crit. A crit on hit 3 applies the crit multiplier to that hit's ramped damage value — which can be significantly higher than a crit on hit 1.