Crossbows

Crossbows are widely available throughout the game and are decent alternatives to bows, which usually require more patience to master. Crossbows initially do more base damage than other weapons but don't receive the same damage bonuses from player skills like other ranged or melee weapons so they quickly fall behind. Crossbows are unique in that they must be manually reloaded after every shot before they may be used again - loading itself requires the wielder to stand still to draw back the bow and lock it in while loading the bolt allows movement. Once loaded and unlike drawing back a bow, a crossbow will typically take less time to level at a target and can hold fire while aiming without losing accuracy.

The more powerful crossbows may be shot, but not reloaded, on horseback - the player may dismount, reload, and continue to shoot, or remain mounted and pursue the enemy with other weapons. Crossbows make effective sidearms for cavalry players since they can often finish off wounded enemies where bows would be too slow or lack killing power. On horseback, crossbows may be fired in a roughly-250-degree arc starting 90 degrees to your right and ending 160 degrees to your left, making it impossible to fire directly behind your horse.

Enemy troops will almost never fire their crossbows' last shot since loading the bolt empties their quiver, typically triggering melee behavior before they can finish aiming. A crossbowman on foot bends down when reloading, briefly reducing their profile and sometimes driving their back-mounted shield into the path of incoming fire.

List of Crossbows

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Weapon	STR	Damage	Accuracy	Attack Speed	Missile Speed	Weight	Price	Modifiers	Other
Hunting Crossbow	-	37 (pierce)	99	47	50	2.3	22	Masterwork • Bent • Cracked
Light Crossbow	8	44 (pierce)	99	45	59	2.5	67	Masterwork • Bent • Cracked
Crossbow	8	49 (pierce)	99	43	66	3.0	182	Masterwork • Bent • Cracked	Cannot be used on horseback
Heavy Crossbow	9	58 (pierce)	99	41	68	3.5	349	Masterwork • Bent • Cracked	Cannot be used on horseback
Siege Crossbow	10	63 (pierce)	99	37	70	3.8	683	Masterwork • Bent • Cracked	Cannot be used on horseback

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Bolts

Crossbows require bolts in order to be used, but start combat already loaded with a single bolt. When all ammunition is gone, the weapon can no longer shoot any projectiles. Bolts automatically refill after battle. Larger bags with increased ammunition capacity (and price) are available to the player.

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Projectile	Stack Amount	Damage	Weight	Price	Modifiers
Bolts	29	1 (pierce)	2.3	64	Large Bag • Bent
Steel Bolts	29	2 (pierce)	2.5	210	Large Bag • Bent

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