Loretta's Greatbow

Lore & Background

Loretta, the Moon Princess, was a figure of quiet, terrible power in the history of the Lands Between. As mother to Ranni the Witch, she embodied the Carian tradition of moon-bound magic, yet her weapon speaks of something deeper than mere sorcery. The Greatbow is a physical manifestation of devotion channeled through form—a weapon that does not merely shoot arrows but hurls the weight of prayer and celestial alignment at its target. Its size is staggering, dwarfing the standard bows of the Academy, and its ornate construction suggests it was crafted not for a soldier but for a sovereign of the moon's court.

The Academy of Raya Lucaria, where the bow rests, is a place of scholars and sorcerers, a floating citadel of blue light and ancient knowledge. That Loretta's weapon is found here, among the remnants of her daughter's domain, adds a layer of poignant absence. Ranni left the Academy, walked her own path of witchcraft and rebellion, but her mother's weapon remained—a relic of a devotion that Ranni herself would eventually question and reshape.

In the broader mythos of the Lands Between, the Greatbow represents the intersection of Faith and the Carian moon. It is not a weapon of war in the traditional sense; it is an instrument of will, of a princess who could call upon the moon's light and focus it into a single, devastating point. Its presence in the player's hands is less about combat efficiency and more about carrying a fragment of that celestial authority across the shattering world.

Reader's Guide

You know that feeling. Three playthroughs of hunting bows, of stacking sorcery arrows, of fumbling with a weapon that feels like a toy in your hands. Then you step into that quiet, blue-lit chamber in the Academy, and there it is. Loretta's Greatbow. And it is NOT a toy.

The first thing that hits you is the size. This is not a bow you flick at a wolf. You draw it, and the string pulls with a slow, tectonic resistance, and when you release, the arrow leaves with a deep, resonant thwum that you feel in your sternum. It is a weapon of commitment. You aim, you commit, you release, and the world rearranges itself around the arrow's path.

Because it scales with Faith, it rewards a build that most players never consider for a bow. You are not stacking Intelligence. You are stacking the quiet, devotional power of the moon, and every point you pour into Faith makes that draw feel more like a prayer being answered. Pair it with a talisman that boosts Faith scaling or arrow damage, and suddenly your arrows are not just hitting—they are arriving, carrying the weight of celestial authority.

The animation is slow. That is the trade-off. You are not a skirmisher. You are the Moon Princess on a balcony, and you do not need to fire four arrows a second. You fire one. And it is enough.

Find it. Draw it. And for a moment, you are not a Tarnished. You are something older, something the moon made.

Did You Know?

• Loretta's Greatbow is one of the few greatbows in Elden Ring that scales primarily with Faith rather than Strength or Dexterity, making it a rare choice for a Faith-focused ranged build.
• Its massive size and slow draw animation contrast sharply with the lighter, faster bows in the game, emphasizing a playstyle built around precision and single powerful shots rather than volume of fire.