Bow damages mechanics

[Malyorus]

Hello there,

I'm new to the game and had some questions regarding bows.
A bit of context, I'm on day 12 with a lvl ~25-30 in archery and have a lvl 265ish bow with stone arrows

Yesterday I made a run to a library and on the way i met 2 mini hordes. I Had a really hard time taking down most zeds with bow. It usually took 5 to 10 arrows in the head to kill them.
Not taking into account the misses, I did count only when i saw a hit animation.
I'm talking regular zombie, not fatties

Thing is untill then, it would take like 3 arrows (sometimes 1 when it crits) to the head to take them down so I'm wondering if zeds starts to be that stronger after the first ten days ?

On a side note, as zeds were quite a bit and trying to circle me, i was firing from a greater distance than usual, does the gameplay takes distance into account to compute damages ?

Also, were there any changes from a15 to a16 regarding arrows damages ? I watched some gameplay vids of alpha 15 where ppl would constently one / two shots zed with bow.

Last, i finally found the xbow recipe (hurray) and was wondering if its really worth crafting it, because I can easily make a 500ish quality bow thanks to the workbench while I certainly cant with xbow regarding the mats required. Woudnt a 500ish bow be better than a 150ish xbow ?
Does quality affect damages or only durability ?

Thanks for your answers

[Eightball]

Regarding the bow vs xbow... If you can make a 500 bow, you can make a 500 xbow since both are derrived from your wep smithing skill. As for damage, always keep crouching to get the stealth headshots which end up being a 10x damage multiplier (2x for stealth, 5x for headshot). I'd recommend making a bunch of iron arrowheads in the forge and creating a nice xbow. I think a 500 xbow's base damage would be somewhere around 45-50 so you can easily 1 shot drop most zombies if you get stealth headshots. Oh and lastly, if you want to grind archery skill, use a regular bow, regular arrows, and spam arrows from a rooftop at zombies on hoard nights. EDIT: To directly answer you, yes the wep level/quality affects damage. Make a bow etc, level up your wep smithing and make another then you can compare them by clicking on them and it will list its entity damage.

[Malyorus]

Thanks for your answer.

What I meant is that I can make 500ish bow by combining lots of them, which i can't/don't want to for xbows as it requires more and rarer mats

About the stealth, does the bonus works if the zombie is chasing you ? I'd guess it doesn't since it's no longer a 'surprise shot' ?

[Eightball]

Ahhh combining, that explains it. Maybe just wait until you have 4pts into wep smithing and then make a xbow. In the meantime you can make iron arrows for your regular bow which will add ~5 dmg each. As for stealth, you have to not be noticed by the zombie you are shooting. When you are crouched you have the eye indicator (which makes a great aiming tool) and it also says if you are undetected. I don't even bother using a bow unless I am taking stealth shots (good for clearing sleepers before you get too close). Stick to iron renforced/barbed/spiked clubs for the zombies you can't 1 shot stealth kill.

[Dragonsblade]

They allow steel arrows for the bow/xbow now.
With reguards the compound bow, you have to find all the parts (Like guns), too be able to craft it. You can`t make one like the basic bow.

[Malyorus]

Thanks for your answers guys,

Haven't ran into sleepers so far, unless I didn't notice them waking up, but yeah I guess the bow isquite usefull then.

I'm not that much into melee as I find the range of weap or zeds animation somewhat buggy. Sometimes you don't land a hit even when you're really close whereas the zombie is ripping your face off

About the sudden increase in difficulty (or so it seems) do you find it normal or was I just very unlucky with random damages ?

[Dragonsblade]

Seems random. I have 1 shotted some zombies, and then had to headshot the same type of zombie 3-4 times. But I notice this in the same level range.

[Malyorus]

Ok thanks, I was affraid i coudn't keep up with zeds getting stronger as I haven't been very lucky with loots so far ^^

[MeDaDaddy]

Arrows define an arc when in flight, so distance does affect where the arrow will hit so to get a headshot from a greater distance, you'd have to aim high to allow for the dropoff.

A q500 Bow will do more damage than a q150 xbow; you can see damage from the item description window when you have the item equipped.

Items of similar quality, the xbow has greater damage range but slower rate of fire than the bow.

The advice above regarding iron arrows was good advice, but stone arrows may be best for hunting since they have a higher % of bleed damage in case you don't manage to drop the deer or whatever in 1 shot. Basically, no need to throw away your stone arrows when swapping over to iron.

You can make a stack of 500 or so iron arrow heads at the Forge and carry them in inventory, then just replenish arrows as they are used up & you find feathers. Good for those trips out scavenging where you'll be away from "home" for several days.

EDIT; base iron arrow damage is "rolled" from 20-35
base iron quarrel damage is 25-50

[Malyorus]

Hello MedaDaddy and thanks for providing additional informations.

I'll have to check when I get back home but i don't remember seeing an increase in base damage when I upgraded the ql of my bow or even when I leveled up in archery.

[MeDaDaddy]

Originally posted by Malyorus:

Hello MedaDaddy and thanks for providing additional informations.

I'll have to check when I get back home but i don't remember seeing an increase in base damage when I upgraded the ql of my bow or even when I leveled up in archery.

Pleasure all mine.

For instance, in my current a16 game with archery 8, a 250q bow with an iron arrow knocked the info panel says 27.74 damage.
A 150q bow with iron arrow knocked says 25.10 damage.
The info panel can be accessed from your inventory and highlighting the item .. where it says its durability and base price and burn time etc.

But the ammo has a range of possible damages that is "rolled" when it hits.

With a sneaked headshot you get a massive damage increase, so even if you roll the lowest possible damage, it'll usually kill whatever you shot at.
Headshot has a damage "critical" multiplier applied so will usually drop most foes unless you roll the lowest value for damage in which case it may need another arrow, depending on such stuff as its hitpoints or whether it's sensed you already &c.

With the arrow dropoff at range, you may be aiming for the head in the sights, but the arrow will arc into the body so you lose the headshot multiplier (but may get the sneaked damage bonus applied to torso on the first shot until you are "hunted".)

Aiming high and missing isn't too bad though, since the foe will sense the noise of the arrow hitting dirt (or a tree or whatever) and turn to face that noise (provided it isn't already hunting you) allowing you to do a Brave Sir Robin, or try again for a headshot.

Happy to Help

[Malyorus]

Originally posted by MeDaDaddy:

Originally posted by Malyorus:

Hello MedaDaddy and thanks for providing additional informations.

I'll have to check when I get back home but i don't remember seeing an increase in base damage when I upgraded the ql of my bow or even when I leveled up in archery.

Pleasure all mine.

For instance, in my current a16 game with archery 8, a 250q bow with an iron arrow knocked the info panel says 27.74 damage.
A 150q bow with iron arrow knocked says 25.10 damage.
The info panel can be accessed from your inventory and highlighting the item .. where it says its durability and base price and burn time etc.

But the ammo has a range of possible damages that is "rolled" when it hits.

With a sneaked headshot you get a massive damage increase, so even if you roll the lowest possible damage, it'll usually kill whatever you shot at.
Headshot has a damage "critical" multiplier applied so will usually drop most foes unless you roll the lowest value for damage in which case it may need another arrow, depending on such stuff as its hitpoints or whether it's sensed you already &c.

With the arrow dropoff at range, you may be aiming for the head in the sights, but the arrow will arc into the body so you lose the headshot multiplier (but may get the sneaked damage bonus applied to torso on the first shot until you are "hunted".)

Aiming high and missing isn't too bad though, since the foe will sense the noise of the arrow hitting dirt (or a tree or whatever) and turn to face that noise (provided it isn't already hunting you) allowing you to do a Brave Sir Robin, or try again for a headshot.

Happy to Help :praisesun:

Ahah, yeah, sometimes performing a 'Brave Sir Robin' is the only way to get out alive !
Sadly, we do not have any minstrels to solve food shortage issues ...

Btw I still can't figure out if the current version is still A15 (a16 beeing alive on a small number of servers) or if we're already on A16 ?

[Scar]

the bows need a buff thats for sure lol, whether its a well crafted bow or not, an arrow or gun shot to the end should take them down

[YamaKami]

Originally posted by Malyorus:

Thanks for your answer.

What I meant is that I can make 500ish bow by combining lots of them, which i can't/don't want to for xbows as it requires more and rarer mats

About the stealth, does the bonus works if the zombie is chasing you ? I'd guess it doesn't since it's no longer a 'surprise shot' ?

You can only combine to 100 points above the level you can craft. So unless you can craft a 400 quality xbox you cannot easily or even at all make a 500 quality one.

The bonus only counts if you shoot an enemy that is not detecting you. Therefore no you cannot get the bonus on a zombie hunting aka chasing you.

As for your OP arrows have drop off so not all of your shots were likely head shots. As for the difference you see in arrows used/ damage dealt. There are various difficulty levels and this will affect how many shots it takes as does your skill and choice of arrow type, as well as quality of weapon. Also bear in mind the green glowing ones (irradiated) have health regen. And glowing eye zombies are "feral" and will take more to kill.

[Malyorus]

Originally posted by Trickster:

the bows need a buff thats for sure lol, whether its a well crafted bow or not, an arrow or gun shot to the end should take them down

Yep I tend to agree with you even if I don't know the game well yet. I also understand the dev's point of view, as in a weapon crafted in the very beginning of the game shouldn't be used as an end game weap.

I'm much more into primal stuff than using guns, I'd like to see a way of crafting more accurate and powerfull bows at the workbench for mid to end game. I know they added the coumpound bow but it requires you to find both the recipe and the parts, which can take ages if you're not so lucky or get panwed by dogs every time you enter a city (like me ^^ )

[YamaKami]

Originally posted by Malyorus:

Originally posted by Trickster:

the bows need a buff thats for sure lol, whether its a well crafted bow or not, an arrow or gun shot to the end should take them down

Yep I tend to agree with you even if I don't know the game well yet. I also understand the dev's point of view, as in a weapon crafted in the very beginning of the game shouldn't be used as an end game weap.

I'm much more into primal stuff than using guns, I'd like to see a way of crafting more accurate and powerfull bows at the workbench for mid to end game. I know they added the coumpound bow but it requires you to find both the recipe and the parts, which can take ages if you're not so lucky or get panwed by dogs every time you enter a city (like me ^^ )

They added a compound bow and bows do have a skill/perk now too. It works the same as guns do and is not meant to be craftable from scratch as it is a later game weapon that is OP compared to the old bow and fires faster than a X-bow as well. In combination with functional stealth being completed as well. The Compond bow is most assuredly a late game weapon.