Crossbow vs Shotbolt?

[SPOOKY_]

Both are instakill weapons right? What advantage does one grant over the other? Why should I use one and ignore the other?

[Zig the Caver]

Crossbow bolts are completely stealthy and you can pick them up again for additional uses. But damage drops with range quickly. Shotbolt doesn't lose damage with range (like 95% percent sure) so you can one shot at further range but its not a silent weapon and you cannot pick up the shotbolts for reuse of course.

[SPOOKY_]

Originally posted by Pugio:

Crossbow bolts are completely stealthy and you can pick them up again for additional uses. But damage drops with range quickly. Shotbolt doesn't lose damage with range (like 95% percent sure) so you can one shot at further range but its not a silent weapon and you cannot pick up the shotbolts for reuse of course.

Do the shotbolts damage wise do anything else? Like penetration, send shrapnel...? The time it takes to unlock the shotblt looks lengthy and I don't know if it's worth it

[Hartias]

Originally posted by IamTheSpy!:

Originally posted by Pugio:

Crossbow bolts are completely stealthy and you can pick them up again for additional uses. But damage drops with range quickly. Shotbolt doesn't lose damage with range (like 95% percent sure) so you can one shot at further range but its not a silent weapon and you cannot pick up the shotbolts for reuse of course.

Do the shotbolts damage wise do anything else? Like penetration, send shrapnel...? The time it takes to unlock the shotblt looks lengthy and I don't know if it's worth it

You can kill ppl through the thin wooden walls, if the enemy stands close enough, also you will still deal damage even if you miss, if your bolt lands close enough in front of an enemy

[Zig the Caver]

Originally posted by IamTheSpy!:

Originally posted by Pugio:

Crossbow bolts are completely stealthy and you can pick them up again for additional uses. But damage drops with range quickly. Shotbolt doesn't lose damage with range (like 95% percent sure) so you can one shot at further range but its not a silent weapon and you cannot pick up the shotbolts for reuse of course.

Do the shotbolts damage wise do anything else? Like penetration, send shrapnel...? The time it takes to unlock the shotblt looks lengthy and I don't know if it's worth it

You can look at each in the store even if unlocked and mouse over the damage icons. But both do rending.

[SPOOKY_]

Originally posted by Hartas:

Originally posted by IamTheSpy!:

Do the shotbolts damage wise do anything else? Like penetration, send shrapnel...? The time it takes to unlock the shotblt looks lengthy and I don't know if it's worth it

You can kill ppl through the thin wooden walls, if the enemy stands close enough, also you will still deal damage even if you miss, if your bolt lands close enough in front of an enemy

Alright thanks

[Snobby Hobo]

Both aren't very good weapons as they're both essentially shotguns, and shotguns in turn are basically limited to sieging/defending compounds. This is a result of rifles being absurdly strong in the current update.

The shotbolt's arrow creates a cone of damage upon exploding. How the cone interacts with terrain is unclear to me, so I can't really speak about its effective AoE. It will create said cone even though walls, potentially allowing you to kill enemies if they sit right next to it. The shotbolt will kill a hunter instantaneously when shot to the torso or the head. All other body parts offer no guarantee.

The regular crossbow will kill a hunter instantaneously to any part of the body if within "some relatively close range" of the target. It's damage falloff is absurd rendering it practically pointless at longer ranges. It can still be used fairly effectively at some range bordering to mid range if you prepare yourself to immediately finish off the prey with your secondary.

In virtue of the stealth and ammo aspect I would say the regular crossbow is better. The shotbolt isn't particularly bad, it just falls in a gap between better weapons. The regular crossbow at least offers aforementioned advantages.

[SPOOKY_]

Tried the shotbolt a while ago, hit one guy on the leg I believe and didn't kill him, still a better option than the explosive one, that thing is more likely to hit you than the enemy with that drop off

[Soran]

As some one who used the crossbow for basically all 70 of my hours of the game I refuse to except that someone considers the regular crossbow to be "not a very good weapon" silent pretty long range reusable ammo and faster reload than most of the single shot rifles if you have the perk that makes crossbows reload faster, personally the only thing I'd use the shotbolt for would be the butcher if I wanted to fight him specifically but the regular one is just so much better

[SPOOKY_]

I've found getting ''Boss killer weapons'' is redundant. 0 point in bringing bomb lance for boss killing if you can just kill bosses with an axe no problem

[Snobby Hobo]

Originally posted by Soran:

As some one who used the crossbow for basically all 70 of my hours of the game I refuse to except that someone considers the regular crossbow to be "not a very good weapon" silent pretty long range reusable ammo and faster reload than most of the single shot rifles if you have the perk that makes crossbows reload faster, personally the only thing I'd use the shotbolt for would be the butcher if I wanted to fight him specifically but the regular one is just so much better

Why do you kick off the argument by shooting yourself in the foot(with a bolt) by admitting you never even gave the alternatives a chance?

I think most of the community has come to the point where they accepted rifles are the dominant weapons in Hunt at the moment. The crossbow is a unique kind of shotgun. It's very versatile, but all the versatility it offers can be neglected by other means; creeps can usually be ignored and if they can't throwing knives will do the trick. Bosses can easily be killed with the melee weapons found around the compound. The crossbow is quite loud up close, so it offers no real advantage over anything else when engaging either. Especially in comparison to rifles being able to engage from over a hundred meters.

In comparison to some of the other, more expensive, shotguns it's also less likely to come out on top. If you miss a single time you're stuck with your sidearm for the rest of the scrap.

It falls in the underdog category of weapons and even then it's not among the best. It does offer some fun and unique options all of which won't really benefit an experienced player. Ie "it's not great".

[Azrael ♡]

Very informative, thanks.