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    Crossbows - what is it with them?

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    Post by MiketheMushroomMan Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:24 pm

    Hi all,

    Would love to know the views of the community on crossbows. 5 playthroughs in and several toons trialled and not yet have I gotten to grips with them. Are they an acquired taste? Or are they really just a little bit crappy? Anybody swear by them?
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    Post by morte Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:32 pm

    Well, I've never tried them. They're helpful for hitting an enemy quickly if you are far away, but bows have better reload speed, albiet at the cost of slower start up speed, and are easier to use at range, although they are slower traveling.

    Basically, crossbow bolts travel faster, in my experience, and the first shot comes out of the bow faster, but they reload slower and aren't as accurate at range.
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    Post by Kuragari Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:37 pm

    my sl40 uses them, he dont really have the dex for much bow use, and i use the crossbow because he dont have any real ranged attacks if and when needed. because of the reload time you would not use them like you would a bow. ill post more on how i use it in a little bit
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    Post by Dibsville Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:37 pm

    Crossbows are a more subtle weapon, they are the fastest long range attack out there, thus they can be used to surprise people and get in a large amount of damage. They don't really shine in PvE because a bow has the sight, faster AR, and different varieties of arrows, while the crossbow is only useful at lower levels, but in PvP, they can be used in the off-hand to get the killing blow. For example, the Heavy Crossbow can easily do 200 damage, assuming you're using Large Arrows and a +15 version, so say you're in a long fight, the person starts backpedalling and puts his shield down, you can shoot them with the crossbow for the kill.
    In terms of PvE, the only reason I've ever used one is for my SL 1 runs, you can snipe Quelaag with them while Mildred is tanking all the blows, easiest and safest way I've found to kill her.
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    Post by DigitaLinsanitY Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:43 pm

    crossbows are great for shooting the wasps in blight town if you can't wield a bow or magic.
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    Post by User1 Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:44 pm

    They're good, in my experience, for follow up attacks, or, as Dibs pointed out, getting someone who's shield is down at range.
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    Post by Tanklord Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:45 pm

    I used to use them a lot when I first started playing the game. The advantage that I find that they have over bows is that you can go one-handed with them so u could still use your shield.
    A +5 Lightning Avelyn with a good stack of Lightning bolts is great for taking down retreating players in PvP I find. It's a bloody pain of a weapon to get though, I died tons of times trying to get it in the Duke's Archives.
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    Post by LunarFog Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:02 pm

    An extra 300-ish damage instantly at a distance
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    Post by Odinbear Mon Apr 15, 2013 9:37 pm

    I think they are crappy, but several times I see peeps pelting me with Bolts, or trying to. They're ez to dodge.
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    Post by sparkly-twinkly-lizard Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:05 pm

    great for ctaching runners, and its an excellent addition to a slow str build to randomly shoot an opponent while he's backing out of range of your giant club.
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    Post by KrazykevS10 Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:30 pm

    They have an awesome stun function.In PVP,if you wait until your opponent is mid attack when they are very close,firing your crossbow will usually get a headshot with some counter damage,stunning them for a moment.I find it kinda funny with they start bleeding out from their head.
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    Post by Flankydizzle Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:23 pm

    The only one I ever use is the Avelyn and it's cake to get if you use the save/reload glitch.


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    Post by morte Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:27 pm

    Flankydizzle wrote:The only one I ever use is the Avelyn and it's cake to get if you use the save/reload glitch.



    Which glitch is that? Do you save/reload on the platform and let the game drop you down onto the shelf?
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    Post by Dibsville Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:28 pm

    morte wrote:
    Flankydizzle wrote:The only one I ever use is the Avelyn and it's cake to get if you use the save/reload glitch.



    Which glitch is that? Do you save/reload on the platform and let the game drop you down onto the shelf?
    Reload before you hit the ground.
    Not even a glitch, it puts you back in the last stable area.
    People just exploit it for no reason.
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    Post by steveswede Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:12 am

    Slightly off topic but has anyone fired a crossbow when you don't have the strength to one hand it? Every time I see that animation it gives me a bit of a laugh every time.
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    Post by Tchuwib Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:13 am

    Like Dibs mentioned, its more effective if you do it at low level or that (in my case) don't have enough dex to wield bow. I've used the crossbow quite often on my low level in burg. Actually get a few kill with it when invader are not prepare for that. Once, an invader climbed in burg bomb dropping spot. I had him damage a bit and still on lock on. So I switched to my CB and as soon as he turned the corner of the last bomber I gave him the final blow. For PvE I'm always in to much of a rush to take the time to shoot them, when I know I can just get it done quicker with hand to hand. But if you have to lure out certain enemies and you don't have any other mean, it can be handy.
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    Post by Green__Eagle Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:47 am

    Crossbows are handy for low-level guys. Upgrade the CB to max and it's great against the game. Use the binoculars to aim beyond lock-on range.

    CBs are good against bosses, too. Avelyn is good against moving targets, such as Kalameet. Seath is too easy using a crossbow because you can lock-on anywhere in his cave.

    I gave up trying to kill the four kings with a crossbow, but since I did it with a shortbow, I think it should be able to be done.
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    Post by Flankydizzle Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:59 am

    morte wrote:
    Flankydizzle wrote:The only one I ever use is the Avelyn and it's cake to get if you use the save/reload glitch.



    Which glitch is that? Do you save/reload on the platform and let the game drop you down onto the shelf?

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    Post by Solid Knight Thu Apr 18, 2013 4:15 am

    I didn't think much of crossbows until I did my SL6 Deprived run. In that run, the heavy crossbow + sniper bolts + hawk ring were instrumental in my success. Since crossbows don't scale I could do fairly good damage (can even boost it with Power Within). I also got fairly decent at free aiming the bolts to hit targets beyond lock range.
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    Post by Green__Eagle Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:05 am

    Avelyn using lightning bolts can be useful against invaders, too, if they are running away from you. When will people learn not to run away in a straight line? :-)
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    Post by Veradox Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:45 am

    CB offers the best dmg'per'upgrade ratio, meaning that you can get quite a boost upgrading even Light CB to +5, and shine brightly with Red Tearstone Ring on low levels. I always do that to hunt down titanite Demons, Painting Guardians, moskitoz, ratz and other low poise PVE.
    PVP shines brightly as a surprising attack or Pyromancer'/miracle trolling.
    I always prefer Heavy Bolts, but still have Lightning ones as an alternative for cheap turtles. Also, CBs do mixed damage when upgraded to Divine.
    I just like them.
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    Post by bl0odyMe5s Thu Apr 18, 2013 2:13 pm

    I love crossbows because of personal taste but overall, I'd say they are not as popular as I expected them to be. Useful for pulling enemies, certain bosses are actually a lot easier if you use crossbows only for example Seath, Kalameet, Manus. Nito can turn into a complete cakewalk if you know how to dodge his ranged attack (not like he's challenging in the first place lol). And it's also a nice change in PvP, you can catch some people off guard silly
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    Dual wielding crossbows is completely useless, but it looks fun^^

    I hope, FROM will improve crossbows in DkS2...I think about a ring for faster reload or maybe a ring which enables you to do the Chester sweep kick, would be fakken cool happy
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    Post by Soulfirexp Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:09 pm

    I find them to be a simple easy to use wep that most builds can use but lack of scaling and the lack of proper aiming dissuades me from using one primarily. Shame as love crossbows
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    Post by Animaaal Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:26 pm

    Crossbows are viable for low level, high level, pve and pvp.

    It's all in how you use them.

    For instance a mage using HCSM and an avelyn can be deadly.

    Pursuers --> Avelyn would be great too, but I refuse to use pursuers.

    Crossbows have been an established viable weapon for some time now.

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