The Evil Within is a horror game full of gruesome zombies, murderous mysteries, and psychological terrors. Taking up the role of Sebastian Castellanos, players must navigate the terrifying world of STEM in order to survive and put an end to the nightmare.
And along the way, Sebastian will come across a varied arsenal of weapons to help him, one of which is the Agony Crossbow. A unique deviation from the many guns of the game, this weapon features unique ammo via Agony Bolts. Each bolt has its own special ability, and so, here’s every bolt, ranked from worst to best.
7 Flash
The flash bolt, while doing a small amount of damage to hit enemies, also temporarily blinds them, alongside nearby foes. At its base, it will stun them for 4 seconds, with a maximum upgrade to 16 seconds of stunning. This can buy players plenty of time to heal, escape hordes, or do some extra damage.
However, while stunned, enemies also take half as much damage as usual, which greatly reduces the bolt’s offensive abilities. While it can also be used for one-hit-kill sneak attacks, this won’t work on bosses or late-game enemies. So it’s best to abandon this bolt during gameplays.
6 Shock
The Shock Bolt has a similar stunning effect to the Flash Bolt. But it does more damage than the flash, and has the added affect of knocking enemies down, opening them up to be burned alive. At its base, it will affect all enemies in 1.2 meters for 4 seconds, with a maximum upgrade ability of 2.5 meters for 10 seconds.
Like the Flash, this bolt is perfect for evasive maneuvers, though it also has slightly better offensive capabilities. One bolt followed up by a well-placed match could ignite multiple enemies at once. Again, though, it also doesn’t work as well on bosses or later-game enemies. So it’s still best to avoid this bolt.
5 Explosive
As its name suggests, the Explosive Bolt sets off a small detonation that consumes its targeted enemy, as well whatever is nearby. It’s base damage can be upgraded from 100% to 150%, though its range cannot be expanded. But this, ultimately, may be for the best.
Part of its range and damaging nearby opponents includes Sebastian, after all. There’s a small delay between the bolt hitting an enemy and detonating, so should said enemy get within range of Sebastian before exploding, he can get caught in the blast and injured (even killed if his health points are low enough). In short, the player’s own ammo can accidentally harm them. So, it’s probably best to give this bolt a hard pass, then.
4 Incendiary
The Incendiary Bolt acts similarly to the Explosive Bolt. Outside of initial damage, there’s a delayed, latter effect that can neutralize multiple enemies. Instead of an outright explosion, though, this attack is pure fire. Setting an enemy on fire is more likely to kill them than even catching them in an explosion, a bigger benefit over the Explosive Bolt.
However, this bolt is one of two that cannot be upgraded by any means. It cannot increase its damage output, or its range. But it may be best to not experience the latter, as again, Sebastian could accidentally get caught in the crosshairs, should enemies charge. And there are plenty of foes that like to rush players, in this game.
3 Poison
The Poison Bolt is the only other crossbow ammo that can’t be upgraded. A slight downside, as this bolt has a rather unique and useful effect. While it does normal damage to enemies it may hit, it can also be used as a lure to nearby foes.
But once lured in, the foes will begin to eat the bolt, and that’s where the true effect of the bow comes in — it will also act as a poison to enemies, that will leave them incapacitated until it or Sebastian offs them. It’s extremely useful, but unfortunately, it’s also a bolt that won’t unlock until rather late in game.
2 Freeze
The Freeze Bolt freezes enemies, to no one’s surprise. While it will clearly affect a hit foe, it also has a small effect radius, encasing other nearby enemies in ice. Being another upgradeable bolt, this affected area starts at 1.5m, and can go all the way up to 3m.
This makes it good at neutralizing larger groups of enemies, as the weakest foes will be near-instantly killed by the effect. If not, Sebastian can easily shatter them by a melee attack (or more ammo if need be). And while bosses obviously won’t be one-hit killed by this weapon, it can still buy players precious time, be it to heal, restock, or do unrequited damage. And this is all compounded by the fact that this bolt will be among the earliest accessed in the game.
1 Harpoon
The harpoon bolt has no special effects of its own. But what it lacks in “extras,” it make up for in higher damage output compared to all the other bolts, on average. This damage is so powerful that it can send an enemy flying — multiple enemies (and even staggering bosses), if players have really good aims.
It’s also the last of the upgradeable bolts, increasing damage output by 240%, alongside an added incendiary affect to the last tier. Though, this time around, the effect will not have as high a risk of hurting Sebastian. And this makes it one of, if not the, most powerful bolts that players can use. Given that it’s also a bolt that’s available early on in-game, the Harpoon is a must-have bolt for any and every Agony Crossbow arsenal.
