They are made from two components; the metal component is made through smithing while feathers are added through the use of the Fletching skill. Additionally you get some special bolts from monster drops or via specialist shops. If an arrow can possibly make or break the career of any adventurer, wait until you see what these bolts can do! Here are my picks for the absolute best bolts in Old School RuneScape.
14. Steel Bolts
These bolts are crafted by attaching feathers through level 46 fletching to unfinished steel bolts, which is made if you have a steel bar and level 33 smithing. Aside from that, these bolts can also be obtained from Zombie Pirates and Sorebones. These can be fired using a steel crossbrow or any better crossbow, and while they are pretty basic they do exactly what you need.
13. Topaz Bolts
So your steel bolts can be upgraded into Topaz Bolts by enchanting them with Enchant Crossbow Bolt (Red Topaz), accessible when you have level 29 magic. These bolts have a chance to trigger the Down to Earth effect, reducing the target’s magic down by a level. Since the effect only works against players, topaz bolts are only used in PvP.
12. Mithril Bolts
These are made from mithril bars with a smithing level requirement of 53. Then attach the bolts with feathers at fletching level 54 and you’re good to go. These bolts are the go-to ammunition for ranged training since they offer decent damage and are not too pricey to make. And mithril is just a great material to work with.
11. Sapphire Bolts
These are one of the many bolts you can upgrade mithril bolts into. All you need is level 7 Magic and a sapphire. What’s interesting about these sapphire bolt designs is their chance to trigger the Clear Mind effect. Not only does that effect reduce the target’s Prayer points, but it also siphons half of it and gives it to the your own prayer stat. As with Topaz bolts, Sapphire bolts only works in PvP situations.
10. Emerald Bolts
As the green tips suggest, these bolts are used to poison any opponent. These have a 55% chance of applying the Magical Poison debuff. This chance to apply poison can be increased to 10% by completing the Kandarin Diary quest. You can craft 10 emerald bolts at a time by enchanting mithril bolts with the spell Enchant Crossbow Bolt (Emerald). This can only be done if you have level 27 magic but it’s oh so worth it.
9. Broad-tipped Bolts (Normal)
Broad bolts are to crossbows what adamant bolts are to Adamant Crossbows. They require a slayer level of 55 and are mainly used against Turoth or Kurasks. These bolts provide +100 ranged strength and you can get 250 of these by offering 35 Slayer reward points. You may also craft these by buying unfinished broad bolts using coins, then adding feathers. But note this requires at least level 55 fletching skill.
8. Adamant Bolts
Unlike the broad bolt design, these don’t require a certain slayer level to use. Their only requirement is that they must be fired from an Adamant Crossbow or any other crossbow with a ranged level of 46 and higher. You can craft 10 Adamant bolts per one adamantite bar. This means you’ll be doing a lot of mining unfortunately. All you need is smithing Level 73 to get started. You can also obtain them as monster drops from Iron Dragons or Skeletal Wyverns.
7. Broad-tipped Bolts (Amethyst)
Amethyst broad bolts are the upgraded versions of Broad bolts. These require quite a bit to use: Slayer level 65, Ranged level 61, and can only be fired from a few weapons like the Armadyl crossbow, Dragon crossbow, and Runite Dragon Hunter. These amethyst-powered broad bolts are used to slay Turoth and Kurasks. Or pretty much anything really. Add amethyst bolt tips to broad bolts via level 76 fletching and you’ll be able to craft 10 of these easy.
6. Runite Bolts
Runite bolts can only be fired from the armadyl or from the rune crossbow. A ranged level of 61 is needed to be able to use these but they are pretty darn strong. Because Runite bolts are quite expensive, they are used most often in crucial situations such as Boss fights or in PVP. A smithing level 88 allows you to craft the 10 unfinished rune bolts from a single runite bar. Then you’ll need to up your fletching level to 60 to add feathers before you can use them in battle.
5. Ruby Bolts
Enchant Adamant bolts with ruby bolt tips via the Enchant Crossbow Bolt (Ruby) spell and you’ll get these powerful beauties. You’ll need level 49 magic along with a blood rune, cosmic rune, and five fire runes in order to create 10 ruby bolts. And if you do a lot of shooting they’ll go by fast. Ruby suggests the color of blood and, as such, these bolts have the ability to deal 10% damage based on the target’s current Hit Points. This is incredibly useful but it’s worth noting this effect’s damage caps at 100. These bolts are great against targets that have high HP such as Black Dragons as well as certain Bosses like Kre’arra and Commander Zilyana from from the Gods Wars Dungeons.
4. Diamond Bolts
To get these you just have to enchant adamant bolts with diamond using the right spell.
They look amazing and shoot just as well so I highly recommend keeping these around if you go hunting a lot.
To make this bolt you need a level 57 magic, a cosmic rune, two law runes, and 10 earth runes.
These jewel enchanted runes have a chance to increase the maximum hit by 15% while ignoring the target’s defense. A huge thing if you’re up against some heavily armored knights on the field.
3. Dragonstone Bolts
Empower your runite bolts with the breath of the dragon through the spell Enchant Crossbow Bolt (Dragonstone). As a result you’ll get these handy bolts which have the chance to inflict Dragonfire on the target. This can deal huge amounts of damage to targets that have low defensive stats, or are not protected by anti-dragon or anti-fire effects. However just note these bolts are not a good idea if you intend on fighting dragons or fire-type creatures. As you can guess by the name they aren’t really as useful on those enemies.
2. Dragon Bolts
The only type of bolt that cannot be made through smithing are dragon bolts. So these are definitely some of the rarest bolts you can get in RuneScape. Unfinished bolts of this type can only be obtained from adamant dragons, rune dragons, or Vorkath. Plus you’ll still need a level 84 fletching to add feathers before you can use these with certain crossbows. They are incredibly rare and quite powerful so you might keep a few handy just in case. Or maybe hang onto some of them as a keepsake. They’ll probably sell for a good amount at the market too.
1. Enchanted Onyx Bolts
These bolts have a 10% chance to cause the Life Leech effect, dealing an extra 20% damage and healing you by 25% of the damage dealt. Seriously these bolts rock. They’re worth increasing your magic level just to be able to wield them. The effect can only trigger against live targets which means the effect does not work against the undead such as Zombies and Revenants. Still though, definitely worth nabbing some if you can. These bolts are for sure too expensive to be used regularly, which is why most players use these in very special battles where they can offer a huge advantage. And think about it, if there’s any quest you just can’t solve then onyx bolts might be the answer. Side note: you can also obtain these from corporeal beast as monster drops so go out there and start foraging.
