Crossbow or Compound Bow for taming?

[Fogno]

I assume the compound bow does more damage, but is it better than the crossbow for taming? I can't find any wiki info on damage or torpor points for the compound bow so I was curious. Not sure if I want to bother with making it if it's not any better since I play on PvE anyway.

Based on aim, damage, and torpor points per hit, is the compound bow better than the crossbow for taming?

[Stonemuzzle]

Less damage is better. Doing more damage reduces the quality of the tame.

Crossbow does more damage with tranq arrows than a compound bow. Compound is really only good for shooting armor-piercing metal arrows and so shouldn't be used for tranqs. On a PvE server, I wouldn't waste the resources on a compound bow since build and repair cost is nuts. A regular bow is a much better choice.

As to what weapon to use: it depends on the dino. Crossbow is my favorite for consistent damage and no wavering. A bow can be used for smaller dinos that you might worry about killing with a crossbow as it gets the same torpor to damage ratio, just less total per shot. Partial draws do less damage than full draws so you can meter the size of the hit.

Space your shots out five seconds apart to allow the tranqs to run to completion and reduce total damage done. Also remember that headshots do 2.5x more damage so you can either try to hit the head or avoid it as needed.

A slingshot is also a good choice and punching is slightly better. Less efficient than tranq arrows but you can keep firing until they drop since there is no torpor over time effect like with a tranq arrow.

Don't forget that scorpions are very good for tames. 300% torpor-to-damage ratio that takes effect over ten seconds, so space those hits out. Increasing melee damage increases torpor done per hit.

I found this wiki article (http://ark.gamepedia.com/Weapon_Damage) that provides some metrics on the different weapons and their torpor bonuses. Incomplete, but it might help.

[GeekyGek]

o.O sense when can you shoot armor piercing arrows from the crossbow? last i heard they only worked for the compound bow

[Aschran]

Originally posted by caleb68:

o.O sense when can you shoot armor piercing arrows from the crossbow? last i heard they only worked for the compound bow

you right, you cant shoot piercing arrow with crossbow

[Evir the Warrior]

The last 3 Trexes I tamed with a crossbow, started off with 99% effectiveness and 50% health after well over 100 cross bow bolts.

[taters]

Originally posted by caleb68:

o.O sense when can you shoot armor piercing arrows from the crossbow? last i heard they only worked for the compound bow

you apparently didn't read what was written. he says compound uses armor piercing, not the crossbow

[Darckray]

Crossbows are better than compound bows, sure, they do more damage, but they also cause higher torpor (tested it on my sp game)

[SgtSausagepants]

Originally posted by Memitim:

Less damage is better. Doing more damage reduces the quality of the tame.

Torpor scales with damage. They changed it so now only damage done AFTER the dino is knocked out reduces the effectiveness.