Is it just me or are bows horribly unreliable?

[Grumpy Old Guy]

Is it just me or does the bow not shoot anywhere near where you point like 1/3 of the time?

I'm shooting a zombie in the head, the arrow is clipped through his head, but it's stuck in the floor under him. It seems like every 5th shot or so the arrow just goes right through the zombie and just doesn't do anything. Like it's hit detection just doesn't work.

[SylenThunder]

I use the bow and crossbow as my primary weapons. I haven't noticed any issues. If anything it's much more accurate in a19 than any previous build.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

Originally posted by SylenThunder:

I use the bow and crossbow as my primary weapons. I haven't noticed any issues. If anything it's much more accurate in a19 than any previous build.

Well I don't know what the problem is then because not twenty minutes ago I shot five arrows into the floor THROUGH a zombie's body. I know it was through his body because I could physically see the arrow shafts sticking through him and he was a sleeper and still asleep so I know I didn't hit him.

[3iN4r]

It happens sometimes to me too, but only when I try for headshot on sleepers. I think it's a problem with collision detection.

[Tunguska]

Maybe it has to do with the quality or the type of the bow. Bows does have a spread they don't always shoot where you pointed at but I believe type of the bow decreases this because with crossbows and wooden bows I tend to be more effective with headshots but with primitive bow I just don't even try to headshot because it is just a waste of ammo since it misses like 50% time, I just use it to fall down zombies at close range then finishing them with a sledgehammer. I haven't tried compound bow yet but maybe it can be more accurate(?)

[↯Zindy⛦]

the hitboxes are still trash, that is all...

[jynx]

The hitboxes can be a problem between builds occasionally. Sometimes the throat becomes a void. Sometimes it's the head. Or your tools cant be modded until you use them again. If you haven't already, start a fresh game and see if the problem goes away.

[Chungo Beepis]

Probably uses unity's default collision triggers, which are just basic bound checks and are prone to misses when velocity > hitbox+object bounds, most noticeable on small fast items colliding with small items. Deterministic models drop this ancient problem into the sea. Pimps have really grown as devs so I expect they'll address this at some point, for now pull back on some graphic settings and make sure vsync is on and if they're using continuous checks it'll probably happen less or go away altogether, it's not a magic bullet though, collision should only ever be deterministic, using incremental flagging models has always proven bad since the 80's and in 7Days case there's just no need to trade accuracy for speed, there's like 5 things max colliding in the main game cycle at once :)

[MossRock42]

The bow needs work for sure. It's still the best option for a stealth kill from a distance. Useless for the blood moon in my opinion.

[castitatis]

If I remember right, and someone else please correct me if I'm wrong, didn't they make it so the primitive bow had a chance to completely miss back in like alpha 17? Like, it would fire blank, it wouldn't hit the zombie at all.
Something about the bow being just too accurate when you knew how to play with it and all.

[Zanklev™]

I have the same issue with bows, the have a pretty big bloom so the arrows sometimes miss even if you are aiming right at the head of a zombie. Hitboxes do seem to be an issue, my arrows go through zombies often unless I aim right at the stomach, which of course does basically no damage.

[Witski]

i have no issue with bows with the latest alpha but yesterday my bow had invisible arrows all day, all working but not the arrows, they spawn when hit something, on zombies though, if i hit the head the arrow just fly 1 meters up their head or on the foot (actually a headshot but arrows fly over them and follows the zombie mid air)

[Xilo The Odd]

initially they aren't perfect aim weapons but an upgraded compound bow with the right mods and some skill points into using bows can do wonders for a sneaky person.

the recent buffs to spears have actually made them a bit more reliable too even without points into the skills related to spears. i've been having fun cutting heads off zombies as i crawl through a building with my burning spear. no flash light for me!

[Raithon]

Originally posted by castitatis:

If I remember right, and someone else please correct me if I'm wrong, didn't they make it so the primitive bow had a chance to completely miss back in like alpha 17? Like, it would fire blank, it wouldn't hit the zombie at all.
Something about the bow being just too accurate when you knew how to play with it and all.

all projectile weapons have this

[NocternalDaze]

Originally posted by Witski:

i have no issue with bows with the latest alpha but yesterday my bow had invisible arrows all day, all working but not the arrows, they spawn when hit something, on zombies though, if i hit the head the arrow just fly 1 meters up their head or on the foot (actually a headshot but arrows fly over them and follows the zombie mid air)

I have same issue all i see is the crosshair but no arrow and that was after cleaning out all the old data and starting from fresh by the tool in the launcher..

[BigRowdy]

Originally posted by 3iN4r:

It happens sometimes to me too, but only when I try for headshot on sleepers. I think it's a problem with collision detection.

Originally posted by Zindai:

the hitboxes are still trash, that is all...

Build a better bow. Primitive bow is not supposed to be good or accurate..its fethin grass and sticks.....

But even with that I can kill rabbits and chickens without even being able to see them only using their icons for the animal tracking. I'll let you guys in on a little secret...aim the bow just slightly to the right of your target...

And my last comment...professional archers, stand in the same spot and aim at the exact same spot in competition. Do their shots hit the exact spots they are aiming for? Of course not, and their bows are the finest compound alloy and resin bows in the world. Your starting bow is fethin grass and sticks!!!

So I always get a chuckle about hit boxes from some players.