The Bow of Shadows is a powerful Daedric artifact created by the Daedric Prince Nocturnal, the patron of night and darkness who rules over the Oblivion plane of Evergloam. The Bow of Shadows previously appeared in otherElder Scrollstitles before being introduced toSkyrimwith therelease ofSkyrim Anniversary Edition.
RELATED:Skyrim: Complete Guide To Fishing
The Bow of Shadows grants two major boons to its wielder: invisibility and weapon draw speed. The base damage of the Bow is higher than almost any other Bow inSkyrim, but in order to acquire this artifact, players must first complete a short questline tied to its Daedric creator.
Updated Aug 06, 2025 by Erik Petrovich: The Bow of Shadows continues to be one of the most powerful weapons included in Anniversary Edition, to the point that any Stealth or Ranged player does themselves a disservice by avoiding its associated questline. The Shadow Bow is found in Whiterun after a short detective-style quest, and each step of the journey is practically within a stone’s throw of Whiterun, making it acquirable ridiculously early on. When it comes to how to get the Bow of Shadows Skyrim makes the player finish a series of fetch tasks capped with a powerful encounter, but there are ways to avoid the more tedious parts.
The Bow of Shadows Effects And Stats
The Bow of Shadows is, as the name suggests, a bow that is primarily ofuse for stealth-based playthroughsand sneaky characters. It has two major enchantments that are passive, meaning they activate without an associated charge bar being depleted, and the Bow of Shadows never needs to be charged with Soul Gems.
The Invisibility effect seems to only activate when the Bow of Shadows isequipped and drawn from the inventory, not when the player draws back the bowstring. Theeffect lasts 30 seconds, which is plenty of time to get around enemies or set oneself up for the perfect stealth kill. Its increased draw speed makes the Invisibility effect happen almost instantly, too.
How To Get The Bow of Shadows
The Bow of Shadows is acquired through a new questlinerelated to the Daedric Prince Nocturnal. To start the “In The Shadows” quest, head to Dragonsreach and talk to the Jarl’s Steward Proventus Avenicci.
RELATED:Skyrim: How To Install Skyrim Together
Step One: Starting “In The Shadows”
When you reach Dragonsreach, ask Proventus if there’s anything more you’re able to do for him when you bring up the dialogue menu, after which he gives the player a letter explaining the situation - an assassination plot against Jarl Balgruff. Thereappears to be either a level barrier or a progression barrierto starting this quest, however, so don’t be surprised if the dialogue option doesn’t appear at first.
Step Two: Investigating the Plot
After reading the note players are lead to several locations.First, stop by Arcadia’s Cauldronto read her ledger.Then, head to the Whiterun Catacombsand look for a poison bottle next to a body and a note.Finally, head to the Whiterun Stablesand look in one of the stalls for the body of a Nord - read the note on his body, and head to Silent Moons Camp. If you want tofinish the questline soonerand don’t care to see the development of this plotline, you canhead straight to the Stablesafter leaving Dragonsreach and skip Arcadia and the Catacombs.
Step Three: Silent Moons Camp
Located Northwest of Whiterun, Silent Moons Camp is overrun with bandits who can either be killed or avoided by jumping over the wall at the back of the camp. Just outside of the Lunar Forge there is atable with a note lying on it. Read this, and head back to Dragonsreach.
Step Four: Stopping The Assassin
After the player heads back to Dragonsreach they will find the assassin on the upper decks – the assassin ison the balcony behind the stairs to the second floor, and will be invisible when first approached. The Bow of Shadows is found on the corpse of the assassin, and picking it up completes the quest and grants use of the Shadow BowSkyrimplayers have asked for since release.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Editionis available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S
MORE:The Complete Guide to Skyrim - Items, Quests, Mods, Builds, and Tips
