[KCD2] Question about KCD longbow historical accuracy because I want to make one of the bows from the game

Question :drinking:

I've started to make bows after loving how good they felt in the first and second game, and I always was curious about the different types of bows available. For context, I've made a couple of crappy yew longbows (worse than villager's) from branches that shot about 40 pounds, but I don't have access to yew anymore on account of moving. At my new location, I have a much cleaner yet non-traditional pyramid style red oak flatbow, but that is absolutely not a bow they would have shot in 1403 so I want to try for something in the game and historically accurate.

peasant's yew bow

My new red oak flatbow

But as I really want to make a bow like the ones in KCD2, I'm just curious whether they are also historically accurate.

For example, Ranyek's bow has a riser and fades on the handle, and cordage wrapped around the entire bow with no apparent purpose. I can't find any example of a longbow built with a riser around that time period, and this design is found in a few more bows in the game, such as the Hazel longbow, which is a flatbow, and the Elm hunting bow.

https://preview.redd.it/p1y1h0odv8mf1.png?width=1069&format=png&auto=webp&s=8fac320de9f6556e75c295cd0ddfb1bb67d01596

This is a riser, where the bow handle is built out towards the shooter

Here you can clearly see the flatbow geometry

Apparently peasants did make simple self-bows (bows made from a single piece of wood) but I cannot find any example of what they looked like back then, and the most mention of bows in that time period were made of yew, ash or elm in the D-cross section style of the English Longbow.

It certainly wouldn't stop me from making a functioning replica of a bow from this game, but I still want to know if the designs are historically accurate apart from the English style longbows! Because it'd be really cool lol

Did bows like this exist in as wide usage throughout the region as they are depicted in game?

Posted Aug 31, 2025, 12:19 AM UTC

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