Crossbows: The Final Verdict

Heyo! I am posting this to get some answers about the two crossbows, heavy and light, as well as starting a discussion about them (perhaps). First off, firing times. I've heard that the Light and heavy fire at the same speed. Is this true? Second, Reload times. Does the time they take to reload change from the two? Third, different bolts affect speed? Does a wooden bolt travel faster than a Heavy bolt? And lastly, up for discussion, factoring all these into account, which is the best and why? Damage/weight or vice versa? Cheers.

Both Light and Heavy Crossbows fire and reload at the same speed.

Different Bolts affect damage and range, but their speed is identical. Since we can't effectively aim crossbows manually, it's best to use Heavy, or Lightning Bolts. For PvE, Lightning Bolts can be better, but it depends on the enemy's defences and for PvP, Heavy Bolts are better, since they don't have split damage.

Heavy Crossbow deals a bit more damage than Light Crossbow, but it's also heavier. It's up to your Equip Burden. If you can use the Heavy Crossbow, there's no reason to use Light, but if Heavy is too heavy for you, then use Light. Simple as that.

However, if you can use Heavy Crossbow, take a look if you can use Avelyn. It requires more Dex and is one unit heavier than Heavy Crossbow, but it's triple shot burts does more damage to both HP and Poise (if all three bolts hit). But since it fires three bolts, the time it takes to fire them all is longer than for a single bolt, thus it leaves you more vulnerable after firing.

In the end, it's always a good idea to have at least some sort of ranged attack options, with Light Crossbow being able to fit on most builds. It's great to finish off people that try to run away and to interrupt certain castings, such are Fire Storms and TWoP, because crossbows and bows will do a headshot thanks to the caster crouching, or kneeling.

Cheers for that! Well now I know for sure.  +1

Crossbows can be very helpful off hand. If you opponent tries to distance themselves, or charge at you, a bolt to the face may make them rethink. Especially with the RTSR active.

I don't suppose there's any reason to use sniper bolts without the sniper crossbow? I've tried them with the light crossbow but the range seems to be the same, despite what the wiki says. The only advantage I've seen is a very marginal difference in damage falloff at long range.

Sniper bolts are feather arrows for crossbows. There's a slight damage and range increase, but since it doesn't affect lock-on, you won't find it all that useful. Especially since manually aiming with a crossbow can be rather difficult.