Despite the fact that Clint Barton aka Hawkeye has no special powers, it would be a mistake to think he's powerless. Hawkeye is highly skilled at hand-to-hand combat, and his intelligence and ability to improvise make him a remarkable superhero. An important part of Hawkeye's gear that allows him to be an effective fighter is his bow and arrows.
But since Hawkeye wouldn't be a proper superhero without some unusual equipment, the arrows he uses are far from the ordinary. Each one fulfills a different purpose and has saved Clint many times. Not just in the comics but in the MCU as well. It's more than possible that Clint's unique arrows will get more space in the upcoming TV show Hawkeye, but he had already used some truly impressive arrows in the comics and in the MCU films.
10 Explosive Arrow
Explosive arrows are one of the most popular ones because they're effective and look good. Hawkeye used them multiple times both in the comics and in the MCU. They have the potential to surprise Hawkeye's enemies when they explode near them.
Hawkeye can detonate the arrow at his will by pressing a button on his bow since the explosive arrows have explosive tips. One of the most famous examples of their use in the MCU is when Hawkeye used such an arrow to blast Loki from his flying vehicle during the battle in Avengers (2012).
9 Boomerang Arrow
Arrows usually don't have the habit of returning back to the person who shot them once they've been shot. However, Hawkeye's boomerang arrows are an exception to this rule. He's been using them since his initial appearances in the comics and even decided to fight Iron Man with this type of Arrow.
This arrow could very well appear in the upcoming TV show since in the comics, Clint and Kate Bishop use them to fight the villainous team the Tracksuit Draculas who have already been confirmed as villains in the show. Boomerang arrow might seem like a silly idea at first but it does come in handy since Clint doesn't have an everlasting supply of arrows at his disposal.
8 Sonic Arrow
Superheroes such as Black Canary manage it on their own but since Hawkeye can't emit a sonic scream, he uses an arrow that does it for him instead. While they don't seem to do much physical damage, certainly not as much as other types of arrows Hawkeye works with, the sonic arrows are good for distracting his opponents with the sudden noise.
The disadvantage is that if Hawkeye is trying to keep his presence a secret, using the sonic arrow pretty much gives it away. Using it can also potentially be dangerous for the archer if they don't cover their ears if close to the arrow. However, both Clint and Kate know better than to make mistakes like that.
7 Hacker Arrow
Hawkeye doesn't need to be an accomplished hacker since his arrows do it for him. The hacker arrow is less violent than other of his arrows but just as effective. Hawkeye can use it to quickly hack into computers and gain sensitive data from them or plant a computer virus into them.
Clint did the second thing when he was brainwashed by Loki in Avengers and he brought down a Helicarrier's engine. So even though the hacker arrow is small, it's certainly dangerous.
6 Grapple Arrow
Unlike many superheroes, Clint can't fly (Thor, Iron Man), or swing around (Spider-Man). Luckily, he has his grapple arrows to transport between buildings when he needs to move fast in the air and not to fall.
Just like Batman, Hawkeye recognizes the power of a grappling hook/arrow. He demonstrated this in Avengers when he had to jump from a building and shot a grappling arrow in order not to fall and die.
5 Acid Arrow
A lot of Hawkeye's arrows serve a different purpose than an arrow originally did. A good example of this is the acid arrow. As its name suggests, it can burn through metal.
So even though it's not usually aimed at living enemies, it can come in handy when Hawkeye has to break somewhere or break out, for example. Clint got this type of arrow thanks to Tony Stark who designed it for him since Iron Man likes to design combat gear for the Avengers in the comics.
4 Electric Arrow
Unlike some other MCU superheroes, Hawkeye doesn't prefer hand-to-hand combat as his primary defense. Instead, he seems to keep a safe distance from his opponents and uses his arrows instead. Thanks to his trick arrows, he can knock his opponents out without ever touching them.
The electric arrow serves this purpose. As its name suggests, it emits a small electrical discharge when it comes to contact with someone's skin. The force from it is then enough to knock the person out. Clint used it against Wanda Maximoff in the MCU while they were still enemies and Wanda was working for Ultron.
3 Smoke Arrow
Just like the electric arrow, it's obvious what a smoke arrow does. It emits smoke upon impact and has the capacity to blind Hawkeye's opponents. That gives him enough time to either escape, knock them out or use another arrow against them.
Since Clint can shoot arrows from a larger distance and still not miss (as Hawkeye told Iron Man in the 2016 Captain America: Civil War - "I never miss."), he can fire the smoke arrow from a safe distance and be unaffected by it, unlike his enemies.
2 Adamantium Arrow
By far one of the most powerful arrows Hawkeye ever used hasn't made it into the MCU just yet. The problem is it's made from adamantium, the same metal Wolverine's claws are from - and X-Men have so far stood strictly outside the MCU.
However, if the MCU was like the comics, Hawkeye would have used an adamantium arrow to fight Ultron. That would have come in handy in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), but instead, Hawkeye had to rely on his remaining arrows (and Quicksilver).
1 Vibranium Arrow
Adamantium isn't the only rare metal Clint used for his arrows. But unlike adamantium, vibranium has already made it into the MCU. It's the hard metal that Captain America had his shield made of, and most of the adamantium belongs to Wakanda and Black Panther.
However, Black Panther has never been unwilling to share his resources with his friends and allies, so Clint could potentially get his hands on many vibranium arrows in the future. They would be very useful since they pierce even the adamantium, one of the hardest existing metals.