Are crossbows viable for a PVE build?

[Sherlockhemlock]

Want to do a witchhunter build with dex, estroc and crossbows, no magic of any kind but ive heard that crossbows are almost completly uselsss

[NightmareGats]

They're good, if you know how to use them.
The heavy crossbow is really powerful with the Large bolts, you need to usecrossbows when you catch people off guard in the middle of a fight ( when they mid-fat roll, do some slow attack,when they're running)

[Tokebec]

You can do the game naked level 1 so anything is viable

[Dens Aquilae]

I don't know much about crossbows, never used them really. But I think Avelyn is a must. Both aesthetically and efficiently.

[EXPLODENSTEIN]

Originally posted by NightmareGats:

They're good, if you know how to use them.
The heavy crossbow is really powerful with the Large bolts, you need to usecrossbows when you catch people off guard in the middle of a fight ( when they mid-fat roll, do some slow attack,when they're running)

Yeah perfect for a "PVE" build.

[MaenaZ]

Outside of some occasional circumstances Avelyn is definitely the best crossbow in the game.
Although both Sniper Crossbow and Heavy Crossbow can help a guy in need.

Some things to consider :
- Crossbows don't scale, so using them on builds that don't scale or only use a single attribute is recommended.
- In conjuction with above, you can make non-scaling crossbows tied to various types of damage (Fire/Lightning/Magic/Divine) and don't utilize the neccessary attribute to deal with that type. However, as crossbow bolts are only physical or lightning damage based, you'll likely prefer physical and lightning upgrade paths, although a Divine Crossbow might be helpful against skeletons.
- Spacing in key. Make sure you have your ranges down pat against specific enemies.


My recommendation would be to get 1 sniper, 1 heavy, and 1 avelyn crossbow and split them between normal upgrade path, divine upgrade path and lightning upgrade path for various circumstances.

[NightmareGats]

Originally posted by EXPLODINSTEIN:

Originally posted by NightmareGats:

They're good, if you know how to use them.
The heavy crossbow is really powerful with the Large bolts, you need to usecrossbows when you catch people off guard in the middle of a fight ( when they mid-fat roll, do some slow attack,when they're running)

Yeah perfect for a "PVE" build.

For PVE, you just do same thing, roll and shot. Nothing new.

[EXPLODENSTEIN]

Originally posted by NightmareGats:

Originally posted by EXPLODINSTEIN:

Yeah perfect for a "PVE" build.

For PVE, you just do same thing, roll and shot. Nothing new.

Ooohh I did not know that. That is good information to have, I must write this down.

[CazadorDeLobo]

Anything almost completely useless is still not useless, as I always says

[76561197961878065]

If you're new to the souls series you'll die... and die... and keep dying... with the easiest and most op build. With crossbows, it's gonna be the same thing x 10k.

Still viable tho. Your choice.

[AnKalameet]

Anything weak to lightning--Lightning Avelyn with lightning bolts. Anything not, large bolts from a heavy crossbow with the Leo Ring. Make sure you can fast roll. Crossbows are "useless" because you can't aim them the way you can aim bows, so sniping is next to impossible without Binoculars, and even then it's a serious drag and too slow to really be viable, but they function perfectly well within lock-on range.

[Dena Beloved]

Used to use as the offhand weapon. Can help for any foe in long distance indeed. All about experiance and wearyness. Considering it is viable for SL1 challenges, NG or NG+6 may vary however.

[TrueArchery]

Why do you not use a Bow instead of a Crossbow? They're better in basically every aspect.

[CazadorDeLobo]

Originally posted by TrueArchery:

Why do you not use a Bow instead of a Crossbow? They're better in basically every aspect.

Wow, discrimination much? They're worse in the respect of required stat investment.

[AnKalameet]

Originally posted by Wulf Hunter:

Originally posted by TrueArchery:

Why do you not use a Bow instead of a Crossbow? They're better in basically every aspect.

Wow, discrimination much? They're worse in the respect of required stat investment.

Chaos Compound Bow.

[NightmareGats]

Originally posted by AnKalameet:

Originally posted by Wulf Hunter:

Wow, discrimination much? They're worse in the respect of required stat investment.

Chaos Compound Bow.

Lighting large crossbow