Range

Range is a gameplay mechanic in Dark Souls. It pertains only to bows and their falloff damage.

General Information
Range has two components: damage dropoff over range and arrow flight trajectory. The higher the range a bow possesses, the more damage it will do to far-away targets and the straighter the arrow will fly, making it easier to hit targets at a distance, too.

Certain bows, such as the composite bow, possess very poor range, limiting their threat value to enemies that are fairly close. Other bows, such as the Black Bow of Pharis, have superior range ratings and can be used to effectively snipe distant enemies. Bows with poor range tend to hit below and slightly to the left of targets (demonstrating the Archer's Paradox), with the effect beoming more dramatic the further away the target is. Notably, damage will be drastically reduced to the point of being negligible, although enemies will still be aggroed.

Wearing the Hawk Ring increases the range of any equipped bows.