Crossbows skill

Combination of the light and heavy crossbow skills.
It requires 50 ranks of Shield skill to use a crossbow with a shield (have not checked arbalests though).

Adding to the widespread use of these weapon is the fact that multiple bows may be loaded and worn on the shoulder. This allows a marksman to hold up to three quick shots in reserve, and is extremely useful in PVP.

Load times are usually given as two numbers, such as 8/9, 9/10, or 10/11. The first number denotes the number of seconds of load time if the projectile is being held in the hand while loading. The second number denotes the amount of time in seconds to load if the projectile is coming from a container. Depending on a crossbow's type, the load time associated with it can be reduced if the user has sufficient skill and their stats are high enough.

The advent of the Tinkering discipline has resulted in player-crafted crossbows that can far exceed their store bought counterparts, although for low level players the 8/9 store bought light crossbows and the museum bow recommended below are more than adequate to train with.

Spells and abilities that boost Crossbows

• Eagle Form (Barbarian)
• Khri Steady (Thief)
• See the Wind (Ranger)
• Tailwind (Warrior Mage)

Spells and abilities that decrease Crossbows

None

Light crossbow

The light crossbow is, as its name implies, the smaller and quicker version of the heavy crossbow. It tends to fall somewhere between its heavy cousin and the composite bow in terms of power, and is only marginally slower to load than the composite bow, making it a popular choice.

Unlike its heavy counterpart, this weapon does not require the use of both hands while aiming. Thie allows the user to use a shield or weapon in the off hand while aiming.
The weapon relies primarily on agility to reduce its load time, making it more popular among characters who focus on agility rather than strength.

• Basic type: Light crossbow

-First Load Time Reduction:
36 Agility
Strength + Agility = 60
251 ranks

-Second Load Time Reduction:
61 Agility
Strength + Agility = 110
501 ranks

*Note: Numbers above are when the load time is reduced 100% of the time. Each reduction reduces load time by 1 second

Heavy crossbow

The Heavy crossbow is just like a longer loading, harder hitting version of the light crossbow, but require an open hand to load and aim.
With high enough stats, a character can slightly reduce the hefty roundtime associated with loading a heavy crossbow. Since strength is the most significant stat for reducing load time, the heavy crossbow is sometimes favored over the light crossbow for stronger characters.

• Basic type: Heavy crossbow

-First Load Time Reduction:
31 Strength
Strength + Agility = 60
201 ranks

-Second Load Time Reduction:
46 Strength
Strength + Agility = 80
351 ranks

-Third Load Time Reduction:
61 Strength
Strength + Agility = 110
501 ranks

*Note: Numbers above are when the load time is reduced 100% of the time. Each reduction reduces load time by 1 second

Arbalest

The arbalest is the slowest class of bow in Dragonrealms. A arbalest type crossbow has load times starting at 18 (unhidden) and 21 seconds (while hidden) and can be loaded and fired while the off hand is full, but can not be worn.

• Basic type: The Soldier's siege arbalest from Theren or the nondescipt Arbalest from boar clan

-First Load Time Reduction:
26 Strength
Strength + Agility = 40
151 ranks

-Second Load Time Reduction:
36 Strength
Strength + Agility = 60
251 ranks

-Third Load Time Reduction:
46 Strength
Strength + Agility = 80
351 ranks

-Fourth Load Time Reduction:
56 Strength
Strength + Agility = 100
451 ranks

*Note: Numbers above are when the load time is reduced 100% of the time. Each reduction reduces load time by 1 second

Notable weapons

Light crossbow

Classified by load times:

• 10/11: The slightly rusty crossbow mounted with a ironwood goat's foot cocking handle from the Museum of Imperial History has a 10/11 load time. It also compares as more suited to strength than the standard store-bought light crossbow with a 9/10 load time.
• 9/10: The standard store-bought light crossbow has a 9/10 load time.
• 8/9: The Muspar'i Trader-shop's forester's crossbow has an 8/9 load time as do many other crossbows, such as the Laminated oak and horn crossbow with a blued steel cranequin from Ilaya Taipa. The 8/9 is so common now that few use a 9/10 crossbow.
• 5/6: Stonebows have a 5/6 loadtime, but use sling ammo instead. Store-bought sling ammo is no good, but stone ammo can be crafted that is considerably better. Although they do no lodging damage, some favor stone shards because they are hard to lose.

Heavy crossbow

• The Slurbow, regarded as the heaviest-hitting heavy crossbow
• Repeating crossbows or Repeaters that allow multiple bolts to be loaded at once and then fired with a small RT in between them. One of the earliest (if not the earliest) is the heavy repeating crossbow constructed from sun-bleached mammoth bones from the Curse of the Ghost Ship quest that holds 4 bolts. A more recently made item from the Grey Raven Commissary holds 14 bolts.
• The Steel-plated ironwood crossbow with a sculpted dragon-head cranequin or museum bow with a 1 second shorter load time

Ammunition

Standard bolts, which are cheap and act like it: Crossbow bolt
There are also rare, expensive bolts that make things explode:

• Steel-tipped pulzone
• Ironwood quadrello
• Frog-crotch bolt

The arrival of the Tinkering discipline has allowed players to craft bolts that are equal to or better than the old quads and pulzones

Guild-specific abilities

• Rangers and Thieves can SNIPE with any bow-type ranged weapon, allowing them to attack while remaining hidden.
  Requirements: 40th circle.
• Barbarians and Rangers can receive the load-from-hand time when loading from a quiver.
  Requirements: 30 in both Agility and Reflex

Related Forum Posts

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Additional Information

• Combat 3.0#Ranged
• Slings skill
• Bows skill