Crossbow uses?

Yeah, I'm confused as to why crossbows are even in the game, they fire maybe just a little faster than a bow, you cant scope with them and the damage on the shots are fairly low, and the shots are easy to dodge as well, what are applications of crossbows in this game?

The only useful one is avelyn...

so other than avelyn, they are 90% useless?

Well, for pvp they aren't the best. But, for PvE, it's like magic for non magic users.

Lightning Avelyn +5 with Lightning Bolts is truly a death dealer, try it sometime. But other than that, they're meant to give characters that aren't focused on ranged attacks a way to hit enemies from somewhat of a distance. Some will actually do decent damage when upgraded, so they make a fairly useful offhand weapon considering their low weight.

If you mean strictly for PvP, well say someone is casting a weapon buff, or a homing crystal soul mass. Chances are, they're too far away for melee range, and if you're a melee character you can hit them with a bolt, hopefully interrupting their cast. Bottom line, don't mock it til you try it. And if you have the materials and souls to spare, the Avelyn really is the best crossbow out there, it shoots three bolts in one second, and has a quicker reload IMO

Yeah, on my 4 playthroughs I havent cared enough to even find Avelyn, because i like my bows too much, but when you put it that way, they dont seem too bad, just not the best idea of a weapon.

Crossbows are good because of high base damage and no worries about scaling, so if you are liw lvl or keeping dex/strength low then they can be very useful in pve and even pvp if used right.

The helpful thing about cross bows is that you can one hand them, meaning that you can quickly take a shot after you use your melee. This way you don't need to switch to a bow, so if a duelist takes a swing and you roll away you can get a quick shot off.

If you are using a powerful crossbow or avelyn this can do quite alot of damage.

They're pretty effective if used well.

^Your siggy is proud of its negative rep, however, -4 is not a very round number, 5 seems better no? xD

If I cosplay an NCR Ranger or something I'll 2H an Avelyn for its 'Rifleish' vibe.

Yarxov wrote:^Your siggy is proud of its negative rep, however, -4 is not a very round number, 5 seems better no? xD

Would you do the honors?

Sorry, someone beat me to it lol!

They can be spectacular for glass cannoning. I have a build that uses power within, the red tear stone ring, and a chaos light crossbow. The crossbow isn't my primary weapon, but I have killed several PvPer's with it before they've gotten anywhere near me. A lot of people tend not to bother dodging when they see the light crossbow come out. They just continue to run towards you. With a +5 chaos, 10 humanity, and lightning bolts it's not too difficult to one shot people.

Wouldn't lightning bolts be counter-effective since they split your damage 3 ways?

I'll give that a shot. I wasn't aware lightning had that effect.

Affect? I dunno.

affect is a verb
effect is a noun

That makes sense.

I'm an English major too. I constantly break balls for grammar. Affect/effect is the one I always forget.

crossbows are also good againsy glass cannon mages, if you can't get close it should only take one shot to kill them so dodge a spell and fire as thats quiker than running up for a hit which often gives them time to dodge. besides crosbows are sexy.

After reading this I'm giving it a shot too. Bows are really not my thing, and Throwing Knives are... well Throwing Knives

I use the Fire Heavy Crossbow+10 and it is especially useful for low level users. With Heavy Bolts I can take out most game enemies on NG with one shot. Even going against Nito, the Heavy Crossbow does more damage than my Drake Sword+5 in NG+ (solo). It doesn't use stamina either.

My funniest moment was going against an invader in Undead Parish. He was a pyromancer and my crossbow had a higher trigger rate than his spell. He kept trying to cast and I kept hitting him. He died. I'm trying to be sad (just a little bit).

Don't overlook the Heavy Crossbow, especially when it is upgraded. In my opinion, 700 Souls for the Lightning Bolts are not worth the cost.

Well to effect a person properly with a crossbow, you need to practice with them without lock on for the full affect.

I tend to use it in the forest without lock on and for harassment. A little known trick, if you hold up and aim the centre of your screen at a person and fire, you'll aim at them. It's difficult to learn and judge at first, but effentially you can use it effectively in combat. The affentual damage done will also really confuse people, because they'll not understand how the hell you are aiming haha.

They can be useful if used correctly.