How to get the mysterious Isu bow in Assassin's Creed Valhalla

AC Valhalla isu bow nodens' arc
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
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(Image credit: Ubisoft)

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Want to know how to get the AC Valhalla Isu bow? The Nodens' Arc mythical hunter bow is one of the latest discoveries in the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. And unlike the other powerful weapons, getting your hands on it is nowhere near as tricky as you might think.

Unlike the AC Valhalla Excalibur weapon, if you go with the 'quick' method, you won't have to traipse around 9th century England to locate artefacts. And you certainly won't even need to go near an AC Valhalla legendary animal to nab this particular weapon. So if you want to add this Isu bow to your collection, read on to find out how to get the AC Valhalla Noden's Arc bow early on. If you'd rather play it by the book however, the 'correct' way is also detailed further down.

AC Valhalla Isu bow: How to get it the quick way

Nodens' Arc is a mythical hunter bow and comes with three rune slots. The further away you are from your enemy, the harder this bow will hit, making it ideal for picking off targets from a distance.

If you're keen to get your hands on this bow, you'll be pleased to learn that it's pretty simple. First, head to Northumbria, specifically to the northernmost lake in Eurvicscire. From Jorvik, head north and check your map for a large lake, close to the border. It's southeast of Brunson Turret. You can see the exact location in the series of images below.

Once you've located the lake, swim out to the small rocky island and look around for a patch of iron ore. This ore cannot be mined, but hit it anyway—I unloaded two bars of stamina into it—and then make a manual save. Now, exit the game completely.

When you log back in, load your save or hit continue and you should load back into a small pile of sparkly rubble and the Nodens' Arc bow will be added to your inventory. I received the bow on my first try, though you may have to try hitting, saving, and reloading a few more times to get it to pop.

Whether gear score or the type of weapons you use has any bearing on how quickly you get it is unclear. But for reference, I used an upgraded Yngling Seax dagger paired with Varin's Axe, and have a gear score of 178.

AC Valhalla Nodens' Arc: How you're 'supposed' to get it

Soon after the Isu bow was discovered by the above method, narrative director, Darby McDevitt confirmed on Twitter that there is a correct way to get the Nodens' Arc. And players have since uncovered the legitimate way of obtaining this bow within Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Essentially, you need to head to the same island in northern Eurvicscire, as detailed above, and you'll still have to hit the same iron ore deposit. But the correct way to obtain Nodens' Arc adds the requirement of wielding the mythical AC Valhalla Excalibur sword, and only at the end of the day when the sun is about to set. 

If you're wondering exactly how this was discovered, it has to do with the mysterious Isu language, the logo on the Collector's Edition box, and a huge amount of detective work from players. Youtuber, Access The Animus, details the steps that led to the discovery in the video below.

So if you really can't wait to get your hands on this mythical hunter bow, you'll need to use the brute force method. Be quick though—there's no way of knowing it this way will be patched out in a future update.

Sarah James
Guides Writer

Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.