Crossbow Or Bows, What do you prefer

[Wabbajack]

Pretty straight forward, what do you prefer out of the two. Or do you switch between them for different situations. And please provide a reason.

For me I'd have to go with the bow as its faster to reload especially if you have acquired the perk. Plus it feels more rewarding when you pull of the long shots on a moving target.

 

[Luke the Awsome]

I personly use the crossbow because its well new to the game but they both have good uses. I like the crossbow because it stagers enemies a lot! and it packs at lot of punch. Also you can get explosive bolts. downside is the reload time, which is really slow.

Bows are a lot faster and deal a lot of damage too, but doesn't stagger as much as the crossbow unless you have the perk... they're both fun to use.

 

[Zexks]

Bows, crossbows would be nice, but I went vamp and can't make the ammo so, went with the one I could supply. Also I don't know about the advanced ones but I can't imagine they'd out-do a dragonbone bow by much if at all.

 

[Hildolfr]

Bows. Anybody can fire a crossbow--just point and shoot. It takes real skill to use a bow.

And, yes, I realize in-game there's not that big of a difference, but this is something that just nags at me. How can you have character that's supposed to be an awesome archer and have him use a crossbow? Historically, archers were skilled men, but with the advent of the crossbow, armies would simply recruit peasants.

 

[Valyn]

Crossbows only go up to dwarven, but still a TON of damage. But bows are faster, and still pack a punch.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

I like the bow more, probably b/c I'm used to it.

 

[Wabbajack]

I will admit though, there's a satisfying WHACK when you take someone out with the first shot of a crossbow.

HotShotDelusionz's channel - YouTube

 

[Friday is My Day!]

I prefer the bow. I enjoy getting right behind my target, hitting them with an arrow, then rolling right behind them as they turn around and slit their throat. With the crossbow, I have to wait for the painfully slow reload before I can roll, making such a thing impossible.

 

[Wabbajack]

And something that really bugs me with the cross bow is that after you have shot someone and it goes into that slow motion cut-scene (which seems to be happening a lot more, don't know if it was with the patch or I just never noticed previously) there is a slight delay before you can ready another bolt. Anyone else getting this? Or am I just being picky.

HotShotDelusionz's channel - YouTube

 

[perkecet]

crossbow all the way. not for damage or anything practical, it's just too cool to not use. it makes me feel more like a sniper than a bow does, even if it's a bit unrealistic that a crossbow doesn't seem to alert people any more than a bow does.

 

[i K33L n0085]

It all depends on what bow your comparing the crossbow to.
long bow < crossbow < auriel's bow

 

[morguen87]

crossbow. The bolts have less of an arc making them easier to aim (they're more likely to hit where your crosshair is, even over long distances) and the bolts travel faster than arrows, making it easier to hit moving targets or making it less likely your stationary target moves out of the way just before your bolt can get there.

I'd equate the crossbow to a sniper rifle in fps. Yes it fires slowly, but it's not meant for straight up medium or close range combat. It's best used over long distances or when you are out of sight (makes for an excellent sneak attack weapon...the crossbow is "louder" than the bow, but if you have a decent sneak skill it shouldn't make the difference between getting detected or not).

Basically if you have to reload and your target is either:
(A) Still Alive
or
(B) Is Attacking You Before You Have A Chance To Change Weapons
you're doing it wrong.

It's a great one shot weapon. But it doesn't and wasn't meant to replace the bow in terms of versatility.

[edit]no poll?

I'd imagine more of the pure archers who rely on their archery for dealing the majority of their damage still prefer bows because they are more versatile, but the crossbow makes for a deadly sneak attack weapon and is very accurate and reliable over long range, which makes it the perfect upgrade for me. I never used the bow much at medium or short range or when I wasn't sneaking anyway.

Haha, and I can now sell all the arrows I find instead of OCD collecting all different kinds despite never ever needing like 8 different kinds them. Hurray!

 

[morguen87]

Bows. Anybody can fire a crossbow--just point and shoot. It takes real skill to use a bow.

And, yes, I realize in-game there's not that big of a difference, but this is something that just nags at me. How can you have character that's supposed to be an awesome archer and have him use a crossbow? Historically, archers were skilled men, but with the advent of the crossbow, armies would simply recruit peasants.

Haha, hey now....the dragon slayer who can zoom in his vision and hold his breath to slow down time can use whatever he wants....that dude can fight on my side with a nerf gun for all I care

 

[Nick_Tbolt]

As a CQB person, I prefer the crossbow, it ignores half of the armor and packs quite a bit of a punch for a low level archer

 

[morguen87]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many enemies in the game actually have very high armor ratings. Very few of them actually wear heavy armor or even high quality light armor and even the ones that do don't get the crazy armor perks like the player does, so they only benefit from the base values. Unless there's a hidden armor stat, most enemies simply don't have much armor so while the 50% is nice because it's essentially a free enchantment, it doesn't actually make as big of a difference as it sounds like it would.

 

[Nick_Tbolt]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many enemies in the game actually have very high armor ratings. Very few of them actually wear heavy armor or even high quality light armor and even the ones that do don't get the crazy armor perks like the player does, so they only benefit from the base values. Unless there's a hidden armor stat, most enemies simply don't have much armor so while the 50% is nice because it's essentially a free enchantment, it doesn't actually make as big of a difference as it sounds like it would.

I like it because whatever they have it 50% less, then I put fiery soul trap and fire damage on it, with the fortify archery I put on to get some more damage, it rivaled my dragon war axe, but only with my plopsty archery armor though

Liquid ICS Thunderbolt

 

[morguen87]

lol 50% ignore armor + fire damage + soul trap + fire damage

 

[perkecet]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many enemies in the game actually have very high armor ratings. Very few of them actually wear heavy armor or even high quality light armor and even the ones that do don't get the crazy armor perks like the player does, so they only benefit from the base values. Unless there's a hidden armor stat, most enemies simply don't have much armor so while the 50% is nice because it's essentially a free enchantment, it doesn't actually make as big of a difference as it sounds like it would.

correct, this is also why anyone who takes the mace perk that ignores armor is a fool. you have to sit back and think about how many enemies actually wear armor, maybe 20-25%? now think about who those enemies are, mostly bandits, right? what do bandits tend to wear? leather, fur, hide, iron, etc. with the occasional steel plated chief. these, without perks, have mostly insignificant armor ratings.

so is it worth a single corundum ingot to ignore half of armor? yeah, just don't fool yourself into thinking it makes much of a difference. also, since i mentioned it, please don't waste a perk point, or THREE, on the mace specialty perk. it does next to nothing.

 

[Tman2177]

My archery skill is at 100 and i have 85% of the perks in the archery skill tree. My enchanted daedric bow is awesome. I tried using a crossbow because its new and i thought it would be cool. The damage output wasn't that great, it's slow to reload, so i would have to say that bows are better.

 

[Mr1cammando]

correct, this is also why anyone who takes the mace perk that ignores armor is a fool. you have to sit back and think about how many enemies actually wear armor, maybe 20-25%? now think about who those enemies are, mostly bandits, right? what do bandits tend to wear? leather, fur, hide, iron, etc. with the occasional steel plated chief. these, without perks, have mostly insignificant armor ratings.

so is it worth a single corundum ingot to ignore half of armor? yeah, just don't fool yourself into thinking it makes much of a difference. also, since i mentioned it, please don't waste a perk point, or THREE, on the mace specialty perk. it does next to nothing.

Errr... What about druagr? Or assassins? Or Thalmor? Or Imperials and Stormcloaks? Or hired thugs? Or those random people you find on the roads? Lots of enemies have armor. Don't you dare tell me that they don't count.