Are crossbows just a novelty ?

[Shadanwolf]

Are crossbows just a novelty ?

I love using bows and was hoping crossbows would do significant damage. At lower levels.....they are simply disappointing. Do the ever get better...SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER ...or should I just forget about fighting and actually doing something with one ?

PS .the DLC low level one was really disappointing.

 

[TouPoutsou]

Geralt is not an archer. Crossbows should be a utility tool. They are very helpful, since they bring flying monsters to the ground and stun them for abit.

 

[ironhorse384]

They're probably underwhelming because you could simply sit behind that outer threshold of non pursuit and pick them off with crossbow bolts all day long.

 

[moonknightgog]

Crossbow sould not exist.

 

[Liquidacid]

Meh they are fine. They are a utility tool not a weapon tho so you have to remember that. Tho at higher levels exploding arrows can be used as a weapon to clear out trash mobs

 

[Jinal]

Crossbows are merely used to force flying monsters to land, and also some other minor combat mechanics. You can create exploding bolts, and thus from afar explode the exploding barrels or swamp gas. The crossbows are not very powerful, but that is fine, because sometimes the AI isn't exactly brilliant. If the crossbows would do more dmg, people would start to kite higher level monsters from a distance, using the crossbow.

 

[Hiro_ZA]

crossbows are invaluable for killing drowners underwater. they somehow become amazing one-shot-kill death machines!

 

[iforgotmysocks]

http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/115/?

Have fun.

 

[Shadanwolf]

Thanks for the information. I mistakenly thought you could shape your character more than you can.

As for archery being an exploit(exploitable) ...just because it is a ranged attack...I do not agree with that thinking.. The devs in this game have npc that react to my crossbow shots.Their shots on my character are not as weak as my shots on them.

 

[darxide]

Geralt is not an archer. Crossbows should be a utility tool. They are very helpful, since they bring flying monsters to the ground and stun them for abit.

Aard does a better job.

 

[ttchip]

Thanks for the information. I mistakenly thought you could shape your character more than you can.

As for archery being an exploit(exploitable) ...just because it is a ranged attack...I do not agree with that thinking.. The devs in this game have npc that react to my crossbow shots.Their shots on my character are not as weak as my shots on them.

If you aggro melee enemies they'll only follow you up to a point at which they'll stop and taunt you for a bit. If you move farther away, they'll reset and go back to their camp/spawn/whatever. Just staying at 'taunting distance' and shooting them with the crossbow allows you to kill infinite amounts of humanoids and monsters without taking any damage. That's what ironhorse is referring to.

 

[Tuco]

I think you are just misinterpreting their role in the game. Crossbows are tools that serve a specific role (stunning/shooting down flying enemies), they aren't supposed to be a primary source of damage.
They become lethal just underwater, somehow, but that's because they are also the only form of attack you can actually use there.

Frankly I don't care about their damage at all, my only complaint against crossbows is that I really don't like their steep descending curve even on a 20 meters distance. It feels like shooting meringue projectiles or something.
From that distance a bolt should fly pretty damn straight

---------- Updated at 02:37 PM ----------

Aard does a better job.

Only on a very short range.

 

[Shadanwolf]

Sheeesh.
Maybe they should drop magic attacks . You certainly can hit and run using those ranged attacks. I don't want to make a mountain out of a mole hill I do find it hard to understand why one form of ranged attack is more legitimate and effective than another. If its lore...fine I got it. This appears to not be a game where you can truly shape your character to fit Y O U R play sttle. I wanted to play Geralt as a caster alchemist on one play through then as a mele martial artist on a second play through. I've noticed some mod authors who feel the same way I do. Unfortunately I may have to start using mods sooner rather than later

 

[Liquidacid]

I think you are just misinterpreting their role in the game. Crossbows are tools that serve a specific role (stunning/shooting down flying enemies), they aren't supposed to be a primary source of damage.
They become lethal just underwater, somehow, but that's because they are also the only form of attack you can actually use there.

Frankly I don't care about their damage at all, my only complaint against crossbows is that I really don't like their steep descending curve even on a 20 meters distance. It feels like shooting meringue projectiles or something.
From that distance a bolt should fly pretty damn straight

---------- Updated at 02:37 PM ----------

Only on a very short range.

LOL the ballistic curve of bolts fired from Geralt's crossbow are worse than one would expect from small rocks being thrown by hand

 

[iforgotmysocks]

LOL the ballistic curve of bolts fired from Geralt's crossbow are worse than one would expect from small rocks being thrown by a child's hand

fixed.

 

[mriviecc]

I'm not at higher levels yet, but for engaging stuff underwater they come in quite useful. Im sure if a person was to dedicate a lot of ability poionts to the crossbow tree, the weapon would prove even more useful to creatures you'd normally use the sword against. Additionally, the aesthetics of it slung across Geralts back is justification enough to include it. It doesn't occupy an inventory slot that takes away from another essential weapon, so why not.

 

[Lieste]

Against Sirens, I'm loving the Hornwall. Wait till they are nearby/over land, stun the lot of them and kill. Unlike the bow, it doesn't do them any damage, but that doesn't matter if you can more reliably bring them down (never misses) and then perform a finisher.

Annoyingly cannot be used at the helm, though you can stand up and use it in the boat... but to be honest you are better off just sitting there and shooting them as they grab onto the boat.

 

[Gozeta0075]

Crossbow one shots monsters underwater with you. I'd say best thing to have when after underwater treasure.

 

[Sainur]

Crossbows are only really useful for 2 things, and I only use them for 2 things.

1. Underwater treasure, sometimes there's monsters, sometimes there's not. A lot of underwater treasure I don't even encounter monsters. And explain to me how it would make sense that a crossbow one-shots everything under water while being on land it does like 20 damage, lol. The range is even more lol, 10-20 meters at most with, as another user described, the ballistic angle curve that looks like small rocks being thrown from a child's hand.

2. Boat rides through the Skellige waters and shooting at Sirens, it was cool the first couple of times but gets really reptitive. First shot they'll fall into the water, then they're trying to get on your boat and rip pieces off of it while you shoot them in the head and kill them. Yaaay, crossbows are so awesome. *sigh*

For flying monsters it's just either wait until they land again, which doesn't take long, or use Aard and when they're on the ground just Igni flamethrower and spamattack them to death.

I wish it had more uses, the crossbow, but I barely use it. I only use it when encountering Sirens on the open seas and, on the rare occasion, shitty level 10 drowners that try to piss me off while I'm trying to reach my underwater treasure.

 

[Salfordio]

They're good if you have a high critical chance and get the perk that let's you stop monster abilities with crit crossbow hits.

... but that is very situational and requires a bucketload of points in the combat tree that are arguably better spent elsewhere.