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Bow of Faerdhinen

This article is compiled from the videos of GnomonkeyRS. It records what Gnomonkey said, with sources, not verified game fact. See About.

Bow of Faerdhinen

Bow of Faerdhinen
Type Ranged weapon
Requirements Crystal armour to be effective12
Imbue cost 2,000 crystal shards3
Cost ~160m alone; ~240m with crystal armour2
Range 10 tiles; four-tick456
Obtained ~400 Corrupted Gauntlet kills on average7
Videos 12 (first 2021-09-03, latest 2026-02-07)
Main source No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS)

Bow of Faerdhinen (Bofa) is a powerful mid-game ranged weapon that is useless without crystal armour, which boosts accuracy and max hit per piece12. It punches through defence well and has very long range, which can be more useful than a blowpipe in some situations1. Gnomonkey considers it the standard weapon for Inferno and a staple of many encounters, but warns against grinding it early (see #Obtaining).

Contents

Stats and costs

Imbuing takes 2,000 crystal shards3. As of February 2025 the bow costs about 160 million on its own, a full set with crystal armour about 240 million, against about 11 million for the Atlatl set, and the helmet alone about eight and a half million28. In 2021 he estimated about 106 GP per shot, low compared with about 200 GP per tentacle whip swing, and about 150k GP an hour to fire continuously at Bandos9. With crystal armour, solo Bandos kills per hour became similar to twisted bow kills at other God Wars bosses10. He wears the Assembler even with a max cape because it always provides a max hit11.

Compared with the Twisted bow: it is four-tick, which makes it harder to move with at Zuk, so most people put it on accurate to make it five tick5. The Twisted bow scales with the target's magic level while the Bofa does not, but the Bofa is much more accurate, so it is better against very high defence12.

Obtaining

It takes an average of about 400 kills at the Corrupted Gauntlet, which he describes as everybody hating the Red Prison on an iron7. He says it is the first thing an Ironman could grind for that can go horribly dry, notes a streamer was reportedly stuck for about a year, and that this kind of grind sucks1313. It feels like the gateway to late-game PvM and a bottleneck, as the first really low drop-rate item, though there are ways around it14.

His advice has been consistent: avoid the grind immediately, but it is worth getting on a hardcore at some point because it saves so much time on many grinds15. In 2025 he would not grind it early, since the Bofa is better at God Wars but the Atlatl cannot be used there and the Scorching bow annihilates other weapons at Zamorak16. He recommends later getting a Nightmare-style Faerdhinen (his words, 'a NALI') rather than also going for Sailedor, though anyone who enjoys Corrupted Gauntlet can go for a second enhanced crystal weapon15.

Uses

Inferno

The Inferno is its most important use case: trying for a first cape with anything else is almost impossible17. Doing it pre-Bofa is basically impossible for most people18. A Rune crossbow would give roughly 30-40% worse DPS, which he calls extremely bad19. His first Bofa Inferno run (November 2022) followed his twisted bow teaching stream20.

  • Both bows have 10 tiles of range in the Inferno4. The Bofa is better against melees and high-defence monsters such as mages and melees, while on rangers the pipe is better21.
  • A ranger can be picked off at distance without alternating prayers, which he says cannot be done in a twisted bow run22.
  • Waves are about the same difficulty as with a twisted bow23. Overall it is only a little harder, mostly at Zuk because of the four-tick weapon24.
  • In 2024 he rates it a bit better than the blowpipe on melees and very close to the Twisted bow in DPS2526.
  • At Zuk, a six-, seven- or eight-tick Bofa because of hesitation equals a Rune crossbow, so players should not lose ticks27. He wears crystal armour, which has very good ranged defence28.

Other content

Content Notes
Budget setups Run it as the main weapon with crystal armour; downgrading to a crossbow with mixed hide is not worth it29. A Dragon crossbow setup on Warden means about 25% less damage30
Chambers of Xeric The Vespula portal and Mystics need it, and the portal is one of its best uses31. In his second raid he uses a Bofa setup with Blue Moon armour; Vespula is very tanky and the Bofa cuts through it, giving better DPS than a Tbow, while the Tbow is better on Vasa3233. Vasa is weak to crush and her defence can be drained, so he hammers her34
Leviathan The last part favours the Bofa, though a crossbow is plenty good thanks to its crossbow weakness35
Zulrah About 5 to 8% better than the Atlatl depending on stats, and convenient because the Bellator ring switch is skipped36. A lot better than the Atlatl on blue phase with maxed strength and ranged37
Akkha (Tombs of Amascut) After the change, the main butterfly weapon, far better than the Trident of the swamp, with the gap growing at higher raid levels; shadow is still best in slot but Bofa, ZCB and Atlatl can be used, and 500 Toa is now very achievable with Bofa or budget gear3839. Bofa butterfly is preferred to Zaryte crossbow butterfly, whose DPS is deceptive because no hit can cross the 80% quadrant threshold (a hit at 82% pulls him to exactly 80%)40
Far targets Better than the Atlatl for far targets, with 10-tile range against six tiles, slower attacks and the ability to safespot6

On Zulrah he argues against Bofa camping, which is 12% worse on the green phase and 61% worse on the melee phase than the Twinflame setup, and cannot pillar stall; it brings more damage taken and roughly equal trip length, so not a net positive. It is fine for a chill trip, but he always recommends bringing a mage switch4142. With the Bofa setup, he says to put the recoil back on when it breaks and play brain-off36.

In the Chambers raid he brings a Phoenix necklace for Vasa, and an antidote (about 12 minutes, he believes) because Shamans poison, though anti-poison or a sand few also works3243.

Revision history

Date Video Change
2026-02-07 Tier 3 Corrupted Gauntlet Guide for HCIM (OSRS) Added advice to skip the grind early but get it eventually on a hardcore.
2025-06-25 BOFA 4T BUTTERFLY TOA GUIDE (OSRS) Added Akkha butterfly use after the Tombs of Amascut change.
2025-04-24 Budget Zul'rah Guide (Atlatl + BOFA) OSRS Added Zulrah numbers and argument against Bofa camping.
2025-02-26 EASY MID GAME INFERNO GUIDE (OSRS) Added Inferno budget run, Rune crossbow DPS loss and tick-loss warning.
2025-02-22 No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS) Added prices (about 160m; 240m set), Atlatl comparison and early-grind advice.
2024-10-27 Your First Budget Solo CoX Guide (OSRS) Added Chambers of Xeric setup, Vasa and Vespula notes.
2024-10-03 INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS) Added Inferno DPS against the blowpipe and Twisted bow, and four-tick issue.
2024-07-30 GROUP HARDCORE IRONMAN - BIG DAWGS V1 - DAY 1 (OSRS) Added drop-rate and Ironman grind opinions.
2024-07-07 Ultimate Account Building Guide (OSRS) Added crystal armour dependence.
2024-06-27 TOA 500 BUDGET Meta (OSRS) Added budget-setup guidance and Warden DPS loss with a crossbow.
2022-11-04 Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS Added first Bofa Inferno run and comparison with the Twisted bow.
2021-09-03 SOLO BANDOS (BOFA) 9:0 - 3.5m GP/HR OSRS Page created: Bandos efficiency, Assembler, imbue cost and per-shot cost.
## See also

References

  1. Ultimate Account Building Guide (OSRS), 2024-07-07. ▶ 17:25 ↩↩↩

  2. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 5:16 ↩↩↩↩

  3. SOLO BANDOS (BOFA) 9:0 - 3.5m GP/HR OSRS, 2021-09-03. ▶ 1:53 ↩↩

  4. Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS, 2022-11-04. ▶ 22:50 ↩↩

  5. INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-03. ▶ 44:04 ↩↩

  6. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 14:13 ↩↩

  7. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 7:40 ↩↩

  8. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 5:44 ↩

  9. SOLO BANDOS (BOFA) 9:0 - 3.5m GP/HR OSRS, 2021-09-03. ▶ 9:07 ↩

  10. SOLO BANDOS (BOFA) 9:0 - 3.5m GP/HR OSRS, 2021-09-03. ▶ 0:00 ↩

  11. SOLO BANDOS (BOFA) 9:0 - 3.5m GP/HR OSRS, 2021-09-03. ▶ 0:29 ↩

  12. Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS, 2022-11-04. ▶ 1:11:01 ↩

  13. GROUP HARDCORE IRONMAN - BIG DAWGS V1 - DAY 1 (OSRS), 2024-07-30. ▶ 19:35 ↩↩

  14. GROUP HARDCORE IRONMAN - BIG DAWGS V1 - DAY 1 (OSRS), 2024-07-30. ▶ 20:08 ↩

  15. Tier 3 Corrupted Gauntlet Guide for HCIM (OSRS), 2026-02-07. ▶ 12:57 ↩↩

  16. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 20:04 ↩

  17. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 19:12 ↩

  18. EASY MID GAME INFERNO GUIDE (OSRS), 2025-02-26. ▶ 55:00 ↩

  19. EASY MID GAME INFERNO GUIDE (OSRS), 2025-02-26. ▶ 53:00 ↩

  20. Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS, 2022-11-04. ▶ 0:00 ↩

  21. Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS, 2022-11-04. ▶ 12:30 ↩

  22. Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS, 2022-11-04. ▶ 22:40 ↩

  23. Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS, 2022-11-04. ▶ 1:11:00 ↩

  24. Inferno (BOFA) Guide OSRS, 2022-11-04. ▶ 1:43:00 ↩

  25. INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-03. ▶ 15:49 ↩

  26. INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-03. ▶ 26:18 ↩

  27. EASY MID GAME INFERNO GUIDE (OSRS), 2025-02-26. ▶ 1:06:30 ↩

  28. EASY MID GAME INFERNO GUIDE (OSRS), 2025-02-26. ▶ 2:15 ↩

  29. TOA 500 BUDGET Meta (OSRS), 2024-06-27. ▶ 0:02 ↩

  30. TOA 500 BUDGET Meta (OSRS), 2024-06-27. ▶ 9:00 ↩

  31. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 19:06 ↩

  32. Your First Budget Solo CoX Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-27. ▶ 40:53 ↩↩

  33. Your First Budget Solo CoX Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-27. ▶ 41:26 ↩

  34. Your First Budget Solo CoX Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-27. ▶ 42:26 ↩

  35. No More Bofa Rush! (OSRS), 2025-02-22. ▶ 20:29 ↩

  36. Budget Zul'rah Guide (Atlatl + BOFA) OSRS, 2025-04-24. ▶ 16:52 ↩↩

  37. Budget Zul'rah Guide (Atlatl + BOFA) OSRS, 2025-04-24. ▶ 25:55 ↩

  38. BOFA 4T BUTTERFLY TOA GUIDE (OSRS), 2025-06-25. ▶ 0:00 ↩

  39. BOFA 4T BUTTERFLY TOA GUIDE (OSRS), 2025-06-25. ▶ 0:03 ↩

  40. BOFA 4T BUTTERFLY TOA GUIDE (OSRS), 2025-06-25. ▶ 15:59 ↩

  41. Budget Zul'rah Guide (Atlatl + BOFA) OSRS, 2025-04-24. ▶ 23:45 ↩

  42. Budget Zul'rah Guide (Atlatl + BOFA) OSRS, 2025-04-24. ▶ 24:12 ↩

  43. Your First Budget Solo CoX Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-27. ▶ 41:54 ↩

Items

Inferno gear • Bow of Faerdhinen • Burning claws • Tumeken's shadow • Toxic blowpipe • Atlatl • Dagannoth Kings • Scythe of Vitur • Soulreaper axe • Confliction gauntlets • Mixed hide armour • Voidwaker • Perilous Moons • Twisted bow • TzHaar-Ket Breaker • Osmumten's fang • Eclipse atlatl • Oathplate armour • Eye of Ayak • Venator bow • Bone dagger • Emberlight • Heka of Tumeken • Rubium • Sanguinesti staff • Dark crab • Eldritch veil • Void Knight equipment • Avernic treads • Crossbow bolts • Blood fury • Daeyalt Essence Mine • Noxious halberd • Torva armour • Divine potion • Soulflame horn • Surge potion • Ascension crossbow • Dharok's armour • Amulet of rancour

Category: Items