Iron Bullet

Overview

A well-made iron bullet with good ballistics. Where you fire, it flies.

Iron Bullets are the mid-to-late-game firearm projectile in Windrose and the first bullet that applies a meaningful damage bonus. Every craft converts one Foothills Iron Ingot into five bullets and grants a 10% boost to Ranged Damage, with Good ballistics that mark a clear accuracy upgrade over Copper Bullets. Once the Foothills biome opens and iron smelting becomes routine, Iron Bullets are the default firearm ammunition across Pistols, Muskets, and Blunderbusses.

Item Info

Crafting

Iron Bullets are crafted at the Workbench upgraded to level 2. A single Foothills Iron Ingot produces five bullets per craft, so a full stack of 40 costs 8 ingots.

Crafting only produces the projectile. Firing any firearm also spends one Homemade Gunpowder charge per shot, so keep a powder stockpile from the Mortar Joe powderman or your own Millstones alongside the bullet supply.

Where to Get Iron

Foothills Iron Ingots are smelted from Foothills Iron Ore at a Smelting Furnace. The Foothills biome unlocks after defeating the first Coastal Jungle boss and provides consistent iron access. Routine mining on Foothills islands keeps the iron stockpile ahead of bullet consumption for the mid-game.

Loot Sources

Iron Bullets drop from a wider spread of mid-tier chests than Copper. Guaranteed 100% chest caches are concentrated in dungeon and boss POIs, while the 1% chest roll spreads across the recurring camp/ruin chest types.

Chest drops (guaranteed)

Chest drops (1% roll)

Bullet Tier Comparison

Iron Bullets sit in the middle of the firearm ammo ladder. The table compares the bullets confirmed in the current build by tier, ballistics rating, and damage modifier so it is clear where the iron tier lands.

Best Used With

The 10% Ranged Damage bonus applies to every firearm in the player's hands, so Iron Bullets pair well with whichever weapon you already favor. Common pairings:

• Reliable Pistol / Drake's Double-Barreled Pistol, where the accuracy upgrade over Copper turns mid-range shots into reliable finishers.

• Reliable Musket / Infantry Musket, because long-range musket shots are where Good ballistics matter most.

• Reliable Blunderbuss for close-range burst, where the flat 10% damage boost stacks across the entire pellet spread.

When to Upgrade

Iron Bullets remain competitive across the entire mid-game. Most players only switch up to Bullet Arborum once they reach the Ingot Arborum crafting tier, and even then the switch is typically partial: keep Iron Bullets as the default patrol load and reserve Bullet Arborum for boss openers and elite pirate officer fights where the critical damage bonus pays off.

See Also

• Ammo

• Stone Bullet

• Copper Bullet

• Bullet Arborum

• Gunpowder

• Pistols

• Muskets

• Blunderbusses

Details

Properties

Crafted By

Crafted at: Workbench

Unlocked By

• DISCOVERY Iron tools, crafting stations upgrades and larger ship cannons

• Foothills

• Foothills Iron Ore

Where Found