Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Aservan" data-source="post: 4342916" data-attributes="member: 63340">It is an idea that comes up all the time.&nbsp; The crossbow was an inferior weapon to the longbow.&nbsp; It just wasn't as good.&nbsp; It takes longer to fire.&nbsp; Without modern composites it is very difficult to make a crossbow that can hold decent tension (arbalests are different story) because you have to keep the staves short.All this means a long bow can fire faster and hit with more force then a simple crossbow.&nbsp; The advantage to the crossbow is that you can make them out of relatively common materials (no aged ash or yew required) and training people to use one takes an afternoon rather then a lifetime.In the game the crossbow rules pretty closely mimics this.&nbsp; It takes a minor action to load one (which is on the low end for most people but hey you are a hero right?) and has both a lower range and lower damage.&nbsp; I am pretty sure they are not using this to model an arbalest which hits like a ton of bricks but takes a lot longer then a second to load and winch.&nbsp; They even got it right with the idea that it takes training to use the bows but anyone can fire a crossbow.You can make your crossbow ranger but you will be at a disadvantage.&nbsp; There is no way yet to make it fire faster so you can only hit one person a turn with it.The feat you are loving is neat until you get moved by an enemy (any push, pull or slide power will do).&nbsp; Not to mention it is less useful with a warlord in the party as he can't shift you all over the place.Right now if you want to be really effective the best way to go is the elven longbow archer who can with the right feats move 10 squares in a turn (in paragon tier) and still get off an accurate shot.&nbsp; That lets you stay away so you can keep firing.There are of course probably other good builds for an archer, but I don't think that one feat puts the crossbow archer up there.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Aservan, post: 4342916, member: 63340"] It is an idea that comes up all the time. The crossbow was an inferior weapon to the longbow. It just wasn't as good. It takes longer to fire. Without modern composites it is very difficult to make a crossbow that can hold decent tension (arbalests are different story) because you have to keep the staves short. All this means a long bow can fire faster and hit with more force then a simple crossbow. The advantage to the crossbow is that you can make them out of relatively common materials (no aged ash or yew required) and training people to use one takes an afternoon rather then a lifetime. In the game the crossbow rules pretty closely mimics this. It takes a minor action to load one (which is on the low end for most people but hey you are a hero right?) and has both a lower range and lower damage. I am pretty sure they are not using this to model an arbalest which hits like a ton of bricks but takes a lot longer then a second to load and winch. They even got it right with the idea that it takes training to use the bows but anyone can fire a crossbow. You can make your crossbow ranger but you will be at a disadvantage. There is no way yet to make it fire faster so you can only hit one person a turn with it. The feat you are loving is neat until you get moved by an enemy (any push, pull or slide power will do). Not to mention it is less useful with a warlord in the party as he can't shift you all over the place. Right now if you want to be really effective the best way to go is the elven longbow archer who can with the right feats move 10 squares in a turn (in paragon tier) and still get off an accurate shot. That lets you stay away so you can keep firing. There are of course probably other good builds for an archer, but I don't think that one feat puts the crossbow archer up there. [/QUOTE]

Verification