As a passionate Resident Evil fan, I live for finding and mastering the coolest weapons in each game. Resident Evil 4 Remake delivers in spades with its arsenal of pistols, magnums, shotguns, and more – but one special weapon stands out for its versatility and reusable ammunition. I‘m talking, of course, about the Bolt Thrower crossbow.
This semi-automatic crossbow may seem unconventional, but offers excellent mid-range firepower once fully upgraded. In this guide, I‘ll cover everything you need to know about acquiring, improving, and wielding the Bolt Thrower to decimate Los Ganados hordes. Let‘s get to it!
Where to Buy the Bolt Thrower
The Bolt Thrower first becomes available for purchase from the Merchant at the start of Chapter 2, in the small cabin safe room. I highly recommend picking this up as early as possible, since ammo is still scarce and the reusable bolts help conserve your limited supplies.
The asking price is a steep 10,000 Pesetas – if you haven‘t found much treasure yet, you may want to keep playing until the Merchant‘s return in Chapter 3. During this appearance at the campsite, his entire inventory sees discounts up to 80%! This discount applies to the Bolt Thrower‘s base price, making it much more affordable if you‘re strapped for cash early on.
Once you‘ve bought the weapon itself, you‘ll also need the Bolt Recipe which lets you actually craft standard bolts. This can also be purchased from the Merchant for 6,000 Pesetas. Make sure to pick that up!
Later on, an Explosives Recipe is also available to turn your basic bolts into devastating explosive tips. But the normal bolts are still your bread-and-butter ammo.
Upgrading the Bolt Thrower
Simply buying the Bolt Thrower isn‘t enough – to really maximize its potential, you‘ll need to sink some cash into crucial upgrades over time. These boosts raise various stats:
- Power – Higher power means more damage per bolt
- Reload Speed – Faster reloads let you get back to shooting sooner
- Fire Rate – Increased shots per second pours on more pain
- Ammo Capacity – More bolts before you need to reload
I recommend prioritizing Power, Fire Rate, and Ammo Capacity to really up the Bolt Thrower‘s damage and sustainability in fights. Here‘s an overview of the weapon‘s statistical progress across the five upgrade levels:
|| Power | Ammo Cap | Reload Speed | Fire Rate |
|-|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|
|Level 1| 1.2 | 3 | 0.35s | 0.7/s |
|Level 2 | 1.5 | 4 | 0.58s | 0.72/s |
|Level 3 | 1.8 | 6 | 0.67s | 0.75/s |
|Level 4 | 2.1 | 8 | 0.78s | 0.79/s |
Level 5 | 2.4 | 10 | 0.94s | 0.85/s |
You can really see the boosts in damage and capacity. When fully upgraded, the Bolt Thrower reaches formidable levels of speed and power while also hugely extending the amount of shots before needing to reload. It‘s a neglected weapon, but this improved versatility at Level 5 makes it seriously viable later on.
Advanced Bolt Thrower Techniques
Simply buying, upgrading, and shooting the Bolt Thrower is one thing – but mastering some key techniques can help you engage targets rapidly across various ranges.
Lead targets – The bolts have a slight arcing trajectory, so you‘ll need to aim slightly ahead of moving targets to lead them properly and score consistent hits even at mid-range. This allows you to snipe distant or approaching enemies right in the head.
Prefire corners – Got an enemy closing in just around a nearby corner? Loose a bolt at corner level to hit them as they emerge without exposing yourself first.
Aim high – Staying stationary and firing from the hip? Compensate for the arc by aiming slightly higher up on immobile targets. This guarantees chest or headshots.
Explosive ambushes – Land an explosive bolt directly at a group‘s feet, then detonate it with a second shot to damage tightly packed enemies. Great for ambushes!
Here‘s a quick visual example of leading a target and scoring a clean bolt headshot:
Pulling off these advanced shots takes some adjusting from traditional gunplay, but practice makes perfect. And you‘ll conserve way more ammo in the long run.
How the Bolt Thrower Compares to Other Weapons
The Bolt Thrower occupies a unique slot in Leon‘s arsenal – slower than his trusty pistols, but harder hitting at range. Let‘s see how it stacks up to his other options:
Pistols – Superior rate of fire and reload speed to quickly drop regular Ganados. Less durable against bosses or armor.
Shotguns – Immense upfront damage, but very limited range compared to bolts. Also less precise.
Rifles – Sniper rifles boast unmatched range/precision and stopping power. Very costly ammo though.
Magnums – Best raw damage output, but same ammo limitations as rifles. Excels against singular tough targets.
Explosives – Incredible damage in a large area, but extremely finite ammunition. Risky friendly fire potential too compared to bolts.
Knife – Fastest melee weapon, but requires getting dangerously close first. Bolts let you engage from safer ranges.
As you can see, the Bolt Thrower provides an excellent balance of power, speed, range, precision, and ammo efficiency – making it one of the most cost effective and versatile tools in Leon‘s survival kit once upgraded.
Pros and Cons of the Bolt Thrower
Before cementing the Bolt Thrower as an essential pickup, let‘s examine some key pros and cons from my experience using it extensively on my playthroughs:
Pros
- Reusable Ammo – Retrieving bolts saves a ton of resources over time
- Efficient Crafting – Bolts are cheap to mass produce from common materials
- Reliable Mid-Range Damage – Upgraded bolt throwers quickly kill regular enemies
- Headshot Capable – Precision shots deal massive damage
- Large Ammo Reserves – Up to 10 bolts ready to fire rapidly
- Stuns Targets – Headshots leave enemies open to devastating knife follow ups
Cons
- Slow Initial Fire Rate – Sluggish until upgraded for intense fights
- Arcing Trajectory – Leading shots has a learning curve
- Close Quarters Hindrance – Long weapon size can impede movement
While the Bolt Thrower has limitations in close spaces, its versatile mid-range potency can‘t be ignored – especially once you start landing those delicious headshots.
Final Verdict: An Essential Tool
After significant testing and analysis from my gamer perspective, I can safely call the Bolt Thrower one of the best investments you can make early on in Resident Evil 4 Remake. The reusable ammo means you‘ll rarely need to craft additional bolts, making it extremely resource efficient compared to other firearms. Fully upgraded, it boasts speed, capacity and precision rivaling Leon‘s trusty pistols.
Is it the absolute highest damage dealer? No – but when combined with its retrieval ability, the consistent DPS (damage per second) ratio is incredibly reliable. This allows you to swiftly delete waves of basic Ganados so you can save the big guns for deadlier adversary types. Using explosives bolts on clusters or tough singular enemies then maximizes the carnage.
Your skill with the Bolt Thrower also progresses smoothly from early areas all the way through end-game zones. Few feelings match landing that perfect headshot across a courtyard and watching enemies crumple lifelessly to the ground. The sense of power and accuracy is immensely satisfying.
In short – if you‘re looking for a versatile, renewable ranged threat available early on, look no further than Resident Evil 4 Remake‘s Bolt Thrower. Consistent retrieval of bolts, cheap ammo crafting costs, formidable upgrades, and sheer stopping power at mid-range give Leon a phenomenal tactical asset. Once you master leading targets and maximize your headshot ratio, you‘ll be eliminating hordes while conserving your reserves for the true heavy weaponry against bosses. This is one crossbow not to be underestimated!
