Though rangers are most often seen with bows - drawing back their strings to let an elegant arrow soar through the air in an arc before plunging into its target - some rangers prefer the raw power and efficiency of dwarven design: the crossbow. Crossbows are essentially a single-handed version of a bow, replacing one of your arms with a stock and trigger mechanism.

Because of their compact size, and the force with which the crossbow hurls its projectiles, a new form of ammunition is necessary. The bolts that crossbows fire are invariably metal, occasionally tipped with the sharp edges of precious stones.

Crossbows can be constructed using a variety of skills, but those keen to shoot their prey with these powerful weapons can purchase crossbow parts from three salesdwarves located in Keldagrim, under White Wolf Mountain, and in the Dwarven Mines.

Crossbows come in a wide variety of styles and strengths, and almost all of them can be made from scratch by someone with the requisite Fletching, Smithing, Cooking and Crafting levels.

Note that blurite crossbows and bolts can only be obtained after completing The Knight’s Sword, and, being blurite, are untradable.

Karil’s crossbow is designed specifically to use bolt racks, which no other crossbow may use. Equally, Karil’s crossbow may not use any of the other kinds of bolt.

The Dorgeshuun Crossbow may use bone bolts, which no other crossbow may make use of. On the other hand, it cannot use enchanted or tipped bolts.

The Hunters’ crossbow will only take kebbit bolts, which are made from either tracking the razorback kebbit or deadfalling the prickly kebbit.

There is a wide variety of bolts that a ranger may use with their crossbows, and most of these can be made by the enterprising ranger provided they have the requisite Smithing and Fletching levels. Silver bolts are crafted rather than smithed.

All of the bolts above can be poisoned, except kebbit bolts (which cannot be enchanted) and those with gem tips (which can be enchanted). The mithril grapple is not a weapon as such, so it cannot be poisoned.

If you have gem-tipped bolts you may like to try enchanting them. Each type of gem can have a different spell imbued into it, so that certain bolts become far superior against certain foes.

In your spell book you will discover the level 4 spell ‘Enchant Bolt’. This is a collection of spells that allows you to enchant whatever gem-tipped bolts you happen to have on you. As it is the gem that stores the enchantment, only gem-tipped bolts can be enchanted in this way.

As you can see, Enchant Bolt is not necessarily a level 4 spell, and you will need a higher magic level in order to enchant the higher level bolts.

If you have the appropriate type of bolt in your inventory, as well as the requisite runes, you will be able to enchant your bolts. Each casting of the spell will enchant up to ten of the same type of bolt (it will only enchant less of them if you do not have ten equipped or in your inventory).

Note that enchanted bolts are untradable.

The grapple is a cunning tool devised for scaling high obstacles which mere agility is not enough to surpass. Rangers may create mithril grapples and attach them to mithril bolts provided their Smithing level is high enough. To then use the grapple, you will need to combine it with a length of rope and use that on the shortcut. You will need to have a crossbow equipped to make use of your grapple.

Each time you use your grapple there is a small chance that it will break, so it’s a good idea to have a couple, making sure you can make the return journey.

As these shortcuts require Ranged, Strength and Agility to use, you will find a list of them in your Strength Skill Guide. Each shortcut listed will also show the Ranged and Agility requirements.

Further information about grapple shortcuts can be found in Agility - Shortcuts.

While many rangers discover that they adore a single type of bolt, and use that exclusively, some prefer to keep a variety in their inventory so they can deal with a number of situations. The pouches that the dwarves fashion are ideal for those rangers who wish to keep the right bolts at hand.

Pouches are designed for storing bolts, allowing the ranger to keep inventory space free for all the loot their prey drops. Each pouch has four ’slots’, as well as access to equipped ammunition. To store bolts in your pouch, right-click on them and select ‘Use’, then click on the pouch. Left-clicking on the pouch will open a menu showing you what you have stored inside:

Each of the four slots available can hold up to 255 bolts. Bolts can be removed from the pouch or equipped by right-clicking on them. Note that due to their size, grapples cannot be stored in your pouch.

Bolt pouches are untradable, and if you drop a pouch it will be destroyed and any bolts in the pouch will appear on the ground. For this reason, it is a good idea to make sure you have inventory space for all of the bolt types inside the pouch before you destroy it.

Pouches can be purchased from the crossbow salesdwarf in Keldagrim.