How to Get the Infernal Crossbow in 99 Nights in the Forest

The Infernal Crossbow is the Volcanic Biome's S-tier ranged weapon: 55 damage plus burning, infinite ammo, and it cooks your food. All four routes — including the Fire Bandit class that hands it to you for 200 Diamonds.

Updated 2026-09-30

The Infernal Crossbow is the best ranged weapon in 99 Nights in the Forest that does not ask you to find ammo. It hits for 55 plus burning, it has infinite reserve ammo, and any animal it kills drops already cooked. That combination is why it sits in the S tier on our Best Weapons page — and why the fastest way to own one is not to farm for it at all, but to buy the Fire Bandit class for 200 Diamonds, which starts you with one.

This page covers what it does, all four routes to it, and whether it is actually better than the plain Crossbow you can pick up in the same biome.

Last verified: 2026-09-30.

Quick Answer

Question	Answer
Where	Volcanic Biome (and the Fire Bandit class)
Easiest route	Fire Bandit class — 200 Diamonds, spawns you with one
Free route	Volcano ritual — a chance on the 24-charge payout
Other routes	Infernal Chests (Red Spiked); Cultist King (a 50/50 with the sword)
Damage	55 plus a burning tick — roughly 55 + burn per hit
Ammo	Infinite reserve, 1 loaded, ~3-second reload
Special	Burning on hit, cooks meat on kill, arrows arc downwards
Can you craft it?	No
Added	20 September 2025, the Volcanic Biome Update Part 2

What It Does

Stat	Value
Damage	55 direct, plus a burning effect
Ammo	Infinite reserve — no bolts to collect
Magazine	1 bolt; about a 3-second reload
Effect	Burning damage over time
Bonus	Animals you kill drop cooked food
Trajectory	Arrows arc downwards over distance

Three things make it more than "the Crossbow but stronger":

Infinite ammo means no supply line. Every other gun in the game — Revolver, Rifle, Shotgun — needs its own ammo type, and running dry mid-fight is how runs end. The Infernal Crossbow never runs out. You can burn a whole night firing and open the next day with the same weapon.
It cooks for you. Land the killing blow on an animal and the meat drops cooked, exactly like the Infernal Sword and the Flamethrower. Over a long run that is a genuine food source, not a gimmick — no campfire trip needed.
The burn keeps working after you stop. The 55 direct hit is only part of the story; the target keeps taking damage while it burns, which is what makes it strong against bigger animals that take several bolts.

On the burn number, sources differ — one puts the burn at 10 damage per second, another describes 20 additional burn damage, and a third says a full hit can reach up to ~80 damage once the burn ticks land. Treat "55 plus a burn" as the reliable part; the exact tick is not settled.

One mechanic worth knowing: sources say the Infernal Crossbow does not replace the plain Crossbow in your inventory, so you can carry both and dual-wield them. And the arrows arc, so you have to aim above distant targets rather than straight at them.

The Four Routes

Route 1 — The Fire Bandit Class (easiest)

Buy the Fire Bandit class for 200 Diamonds and you start every run with an Infernal Crossbow and a Wildfire. This is by far the simplest route: no biome run, no ritual, no RNG. If all you want is the weapon, this is the answer, and it is one of the cheapest classes in the game.

The class is built around fire, so the crossbow is not a throwaway — it is the core of the kit. See All Classes for the full class table.

Route 2 — The Volcano Ritual (free)

Inside the Volcano in the Volcanic Biome there is a sacrifice pit beneath the star-symbol bridge. Throw offerings — cultist corpses, loot, even downed players — into the magma, and the altar pays out every 8 charges in a fixed, repeating order:

Charges	Reward
8	A Gem of the Forest fragment
16	3× Cultist Gems
24	Infernal Crossbow or Infernal Sword
32	Back to a Gem fragment — the cycle repeats

So the crossbow is the third payout, at roughly 24 charges — not eight. And it is a coin flip against the sword, which shares the same slot. Bring Sacrifice Totems and large cultist bodies (both worth 2 charges) instead of farming 24 individual cultists. The full charge-value breakdown is on How to Get the Infernal Sword.

Route 3 — Infernal Chests

The biome's top-tier chests — the Red Spiked / Infernal Chests — can contain the crossbow, alongside the Infernal Sword and Infernal Sack. Only a couple spawn per map (the Volcanic Church roof and the Ammo Furnace are the documented ones), so treat this as a bonus, not a farm. Chest locations are on Volcanic Biome.

Route 4 — The Cultist King

The boss drops either the Infernal Crossbow or the Infernal Sword per kill, never both — so it is a 50/50, and he costs four Cultist Gems to summon. Worth it only if you are already going for his Antler (which the Infernal Helmet needs). Full tactics on The Cultist King.

Infernal Crossbow vs Crossbow

Both live in the same biome and neither uses ammo — so the choice is real:

	Crossbow	Infernal Crossbow
Damage	~30–40	55 plus burning
Ammo	Infinite reserve	Infinite reserve
Magazine	1 bolt	1 bolt
Reload	~3 seconds	Slightly faster than the Crossbow
Effect	None	Burning; cooks meat on kill
Source	Volcanic Hot Chests, carried by cultists	Infernal Chests, Fire Bandit, ritual, Cultist King

The crossbow is the strictly better one, and you do not have to choose. Because it doesn't replace the base Crossbow, the strongest setup is both equipped — the plain Crossbow stays useful while the Infernal version reloads. If you only carry one, carry the Infernal.

Is It Better Than the Infernal Sword?

They share almost every source, but they are not competitors — they cover different ranges:

Infernal Sword — melee, ~40–50+ per hit, the strongest fire melee weapon. You have to close the distance.
Infernal Crossbow — ranged, 55 plus burn, and infinite ammo. You fight from where it is safe.

If you are choosing which to chase, the crossbow is usually the more useful half: ranged fire is what keeps you alive in the Volcanic Biome, and the infinite ammo removes the one thing that makes range unreliable. The sword's edge is raw per-hit damage and the melee slot it fills.

The Fire Bandit Class (If You Go That Route)

If the crossbow is your goal, the class is the shortcut — and it is a genuinely strong pick in its own right:

Cost: 200 Diamonds.
Starter tools: 1 Infernal Crossbow + 1 Wildfire (a thrown fire explosive).
Level 2: your other weapons gain a chance to set enemies on fire, so the burn build works with any gun you pick up.
Level 3: a 10% chance for chests to drop a bonus Wildfire.
Level-up goals: kill enemies with fire, and set enemies on fire — so you level the class just by playing the way it wants you to.

The one catch: Wildfire is limited and rare, so it is not a spammable weapon. And per the same sources, bunny kills do not count toward its level requirements — the same quirk the Assassin has.

FAQ

Can I craft the Infernal Crossbow? No. It cannot be crafted at any bench.

Does it use ammo? No source of ammo is needed — its reserve is infinite. You still reload after each bolt.

How much damage does it do? 55 direct plus a burn. The burn tick is reported differently across guides (10/sec vs 20 total), so treat "55 + burn" as the figure.

Can I get it without going to the Volcanic Biome? Yes — buy the Fire Bandit class (200 Diamonds) and you spawn with one.

Is it better than the normal Crossbow? Yes — higher damage, burning, and a slightly faster reload, with the same infinite ammo. And it does not replace the Crossbow, so you can carry both.

Does it cook food? Yes. Animals it kills drop cooked meat, no campfire needed.

What is the downside? The arrows arc downwards, so distance needs aim, and the ~3-second reload leaves you open — pair it with a faster weapon like a Revolver.

Was there a secret upgrade? One source says the developers mentioned an Infernal Crossbow upgrade nobody has found yet. That is unconfirmed trivia — we mention it, we do not repeat it as fact.

Sources

Checked 2026-09-30. The 55 direct damage plus burning, the infinite reserve ammo, the 1-bolt magazine with a ~3-second reload, the arching projectile, the "does not replace the standard Crossbow" note and the cooks-meat-on-kill behaviour are described by 99-nights-in-the-forest.com's item page, Sportskeeda's guide, Deltia's Gaming and BloxSwaps' / Bloxodes' weapon tables. The burn figure is where sources split (10 per second vs 20 total vs a full hit near 80) and is presented as a range rather than a single number. The four routes — the Volcano ritual on the 24-charge payout, Infernal Chests, the Cultist King 50/50, and the Fire Bandit class — are corroborated across 99-nights-in-the-forest.com, Sportskeeda, Deltia's Gaming and BloxSwaps; the 200-Diamond Fire Bandit cost and its Infernal Crossbow + Wildfire starter kit are from Sportskeeda and Deltia's Gaming. The 20 September 2025 (Volcanic Biome Part 2) release date is from the item page's "added at" field and the guides' own dating. The "secret upgrade" claim and the dual-wield tip are single-source and flagged as such. We did not use the Fire Bandit or Infernal Crossbow pages on 99nightsintheforest.wiki or rosenberryrooms.com: one is on our blacklist for fabricated weapon data and the other for contradicting itself across its own articles.

How to Get the Infernal Sword — the melee half of the same set, and the shared 24-charge ritual
Volcanic Biome — where the crossbow drops, and the chest types that carry it
The Cultist King — the boss route, and the Antler for the Infernal Helmet
All Classes — the Fire Bandit at 200 Diamonds, and every other class's starter weapon
Best Weapons — why the Infernal Crossbow sits in the S tier