- For the Dark Souls variant, see Ammunition.
- For the Dark Souls III variant, see Ammunition (Dark Souls III).
Ammunition are a class of items in Dark Souls II. They are divided by what weapons use them, these being Bows, Crossbows and Greatbows.
General Information[]
Each Ammunition type corresponds directly to a weapon class that can use them. Arrows work with Bows, Bolts work with Crossbows and Greatarrows work with Greatbows.
Ammunition must first be equipped in the menu to either one of the Arrow Slots for Arrows and Greatarrows or the Bolts Slots for Bolts. Players have two slots for each type, allowing them to choose which projectile to fire each time. The Light Attack of the weapon uses the first type, the Strong Attack of the weapon uses the second.
All Ammunition types use the Attack Rating of the weapon that fires them. Unlike Spells, which only use the corresponding damage type, all damage types that the weapon has Attack rating for or the Ammunition adds are used for calculating damage.
All Ammunition types inflict Thrust damage, allowing them to deal counter damage when using the Old Leo Ring.
Projectile Physics[]
Projectiles in Dark Souls II all have defined physics properties. These are:
- Duration: time it takes for the projectile to despawn naturally.
- Initial Speed (Horizontal and Vertical): initial speed at which it moves, for aimed projectiles, the Vertical speed tends to start at 0.
- Acceleration Delay (Horizontal and Vertical): an amount of time the projectile can exist before changing either movement speed value.
- Speed Difference(Horizontal and Vertical): the amount of speed the projectile will gain/lose, starting at the end of the Acceleration Delay and ending at the limit of their Duration.
- Maximum Speed (Horizontal and Vertical): the maximum speed the projectile can move at, often unused as the Speed Difference usually doesn't increase the speed past this number. In cases it is used, the projectile will accelerate as normal but stay at its maximum speed once it reaches it.
- Effective Range: distance from where the player is where the damage starts to reduce, continuing to decrease until another limit.
Components that say Horizontal and Vertical have separate values for each of these.
Ammunition Physics[]
Each Ammunition type has a set value for each of these variables, however Maximum Speed will be omitted as none of the Ammunition types have the ability to reach these values, as well as Initial Vertical Speed as it's set to 0.
These properties are represented in Meters, Seconds and Meters/Seconds.
Here is a datasheet that can graph the trajectory of projectiles.
Properties Table[]
| Ammunition Name | Duration | Initial Horizontal | Horizontal Delay | Horizontal Difference | Vertical Delay | Vertical Difference | Effective Range Limit | Damage Reduction Range Limit |
| Wood Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 1 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Iron Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 1 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Magic Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 1 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Lightning Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 1.5 | -10 | 1.50 | -1.8 | 48 | 84 |
| Fire Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0.5 | -10 | 0.50 | -1.8 | 32 | 56 |
| Dark Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0.25 | -10 | 0.25 | -1.8 | 24 | 42 |
| Poison Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0.5 | -10 | 0.50 | -1.8 | 32 | 56 |
| Lacerating Arrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0.25 | -10 | 0.25 | -1.8 | 24 | 42 |
| Iron Greatarrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Lightning Greatarrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 48 | 84 |
| Fire Greatarrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Destructive Greatarrow | 1.5 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Wood Bolt | 1.4 | 30 | 1 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Heavy Bolt | 1.4 | 30 | 1 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Magic Bolt | 1.4 | 30 | 1 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 40 | 70 |
| Lightning Bolt | 1.4 | 30 | 1.5 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 48 | 84 |
| Fire Bolt | 1.4 | 30 | 0.5 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 32 | 56 |
| Dark Bolt | 1.4 | 30 | 0.25 | -10 | 0.70 | -1.8 | 24 | 42 |
Unaltered Flight Charts[]
These charts were made using the values from the above chart and having an approximate starting point for all the arrows (Distance and Height are in Meters):
Changes to Physics[]
The weapon used to fire Ammunition has influence over its physics, as do Durgo's Hat and the Hawk Ring.
These tables represent the changes they apply, the percentages multiplying the base values the Ammunition have.
Here's an example of this, using the maximum and minimum air time gear for Arrows.
Durgo's Hat and Hawk Ring[]
These are the only items that can change Effective Range values
| Gear | Duration | Vertical Delay | Effective Range |
| Hawk Ring | 105.0% | 105.0% | 105.0% |
| Durgo Hat | 107.5% | 107.5% | 107.5% |
Bows[]
| Gear | Duration | Vertical Delay |
| Bell Keeper Bow | 100% | 100% |
| Bow of Want | 100% | 100% |
| Composite Bow | 95% | 50% |
| Dragonrider Bow | 95% | 50% |
| Hunter's Blackbow | 120% | 100% |
| Long Bow | 100% | 100% |
| Sea Bow | 125% | 100% |
| Short Bow | 95% | 100% |
Crossbows[]
| Gear | Duration | Vertical Delay |
| Light Crossbow | 85% | 50% |
| Heavy Crossbow | 100% | 100% |
| Sanctum Crossbow | 100% | 100% |
| Shield Crossbow | 110% | 100% |
| Avelyn | 85% | 50% |
| Sanctum Repeating Crossbow | 100% | 100% |
Greatbows[]
| Gear | Duration | Vertical Delay |
| Alonne Greatbow | 100% | 100% |
| Possessed Armor Greatbow | 100% | 100% |
| Dragonslayer Greatbow | 100% | 100% |
| Twin-headed Greatbow | 100% | 100% |
Damage Values[]
Each Ammunition type has a set of values that, along with their Weapon's Attack Rating, determines the damage each hit deals. The values shown in the menu do not directly correlate to these values.
Note, Crossbows, particularly repeating crossbows, have lower multipliers than their Bow and Greatbow coutnerparts.
Lacerating Arrow and Poison Arrow in this table instead note how much status buildup they inflict on an enemy with zero defenses.
Datasheet that can calculate damage Ammunition type inflicts when used by a player.
| Name | Damage Multiplier | Added AR 1 | Added AR 2 | Element 1 | Element 2 | Poise Damage |
| Wood Arrow | 1.176 | - | - | - | - | 20 |
| Iron Arrow | 1.176 | 30 | - | Physical | - | 20 |
| Magic Arrow | 1.176 | 110 | - | Magic | - | 20 |
| Lightning Arrow | 1.176 | 90 | - | Lightning | - | 20 |
| Fire Arrow | 1.176 | 110 | - | Fire | - | 20 |
| Dark Arrow | 1.176 | 110 | - | Dark | - | 20 |
| Poison Arrow | 1.176 | 43.2% | - | Poison | - | 20 |
| Lacerating Arrow | 1.176 | 54% | - | Bleed | - | 20 |
| Iron Greatarrow | 1.176 | 50 | - | Physical | - | 35 |
| Lightning Greatarrow | 1.176 | 150 | - | Lightning | - | 35 |
| Fire Greatarrow | 1.176 | 100 | - | Fire | - | 35 |
| Destructive Greatarrow | 1.176 | 100 | - | Physical | - | 35 |
| Wood Bolt | 0.392 | 200 | - | Physical | - | 20 |
| Heavy Bolt | 0.392 | 280 | - | Physical | - | 20 |
| Magic Bolt | 0.392 | 200 | 200 | Magic | Physical | 20 |
| Lightning Bolt | 0.392 | 200 | 200 | Lightning | Physical | 20 |
| Fire Bolt | 0.392 | 200 | 200 | Fire | Physical | 20 |
| Dark Bolt | 0.392 | 200 | 200 | Dark | Physical | 20 |