Bows or crossbows?

[RaggedyBrom]

I'm later on in the game (chapter 4) and I think I've pretty much spent skill points on everything I need as far as melee is concerned, so I was thinking about putting some points into the ranged skills. I have both bows and crossbows available to me; is one class of weapon better than the other? If I had to choose between the two, which should I prioritize?

[Sugar]

Id say go for crossbows.As far as I remember they deal more damage than the bows.They also look better while carrying a two hander,which is way important than the statistics if you ask me.Still id have a hard time recommending them,because I personally almost never used ranged weapons in the game. Which is weird,because no armor which you can buy has a good resistance to arrows and bolts.They mostly have from blades so i think that projectile weapons should do a ludicrous ammount of damage.Still no idea.It was just a thought.But yeah, go for crossbows.

[Oneeyed]

Ranged Weapons are OP in this game. That's why all the bad players use bows and crossbows.

Bows: Can hit opponents over large distances - even larger than they can see you. With a bow it is possible to kill orks while they are just standing around and take the hits.
Note: Bow skill determines if you hit someone with your arrows. But 100 % doesn't mean you hit every time because the to hit chance decreases the farther away you are from your target. Dexterity decides what bows you can use.

Crossbow: Do "officially" more damage than bows but don't have the same range. Still nice to get in 1 hit into an opponent before melee starts. Using crossbows has a longer animation time than bows so you can't switch weapons as fast as using a bow. Crossbow skill decides if you hit. Strength decides which weapons you can use.

NOTE: The damage is always: Dexterity+Weapon damage no matter if you use bow or crossbow. Armor reduces the damage dealt by ranged weapons of course. And everything has armor in Gothic 2 even if you don't see one. The minimum damage is 5 damage.

And since crossbow users mostly don't increase their dexterity the damage dealt by crossbows looks so weak and they never find out how OP ranged weapons are in this game.

I personally only use bows because you need dexterity for picking pockets anyway. And for pickpocketing everyone you need 120 dex. And with NOTR it doesn't matter because later int the game you only get 1 strength for 5 learning points which I don't think it's worth it so I spend it elsewhere like increasing dex.

[DonTonberry]

Originally posted by Oneeyed:

Everything you said is true, but this is Gothic I forum. :D

In Gothic I crossbows use dexterity, and are just better version of bows.
Its just like with 1H/2H weapons, you use bows, and when you get crossbow trainers and merchants in chapter 4(I think), you upgrade to crossbows.

[DonTonberry]

Accuracy. You will miss less often, from greater distances. Also critical chance, like with swords.

[Sugar]

Even in Gothic 1 though the crossbows had a longer put away animation so someone with a crossbow would have to prepare for melee sooner than someone with a bow.Still playing with ranged in Gothic 1 and 2 is boring.You cant actually aim your shots like in Gothic 3 so whether you hit or not is decided mostly by RNG and makes combat really boring imo.

[DonTonberry]

Yup, its boring. And actually in GI, its so op, that you dont even need to fight melee, you can still shoot while they are hiting you, and most of the time you will kill them faster. :p

[Oneeyed]

Oops sorry. Totally had G2 in mind.

In Gothic 1 damage is as high as your weapon damage e.g. if a bow says 30 damage than it does 30 damage if you hit. But you can have critical hits which does double damage. Your critical hit chance is determined by your weapon skill while your dexterity determines your to hit chance.

BTW: It's the same in G2 you can shoot while you are being attacked and most of the time you kill the attacker. And yes ranged combat is boring but it has it's uses. Especially against blood flies. They are easily killed with ranged weapons while it is a chore to kill them in melee. Mostly because they hang over your head and you cannot hit them with your sword.

Originally posted by Lagard:

Yup, its boring. And actually in GI, its so op, that you dont even need to fight melee, you can still shoot while they are hiting you, and most of the time you will kill them faster. :p

[Sugar]

Originally posted by Lagard:

Yup, its boring. And actually in GI, its so op, that you dont even need to fight melee, you can still shoot while they are hiting you, and most of the time you will kill them faster. :p

Its OP because all armors including the restored ore armor have very bad resistance against projectiles. Its like hitting someone wearing digger pants. :p

[TomiB]

Ranged Weapons are OP in this game. That's why all the bad players use bows and crossbows. Doesn't make any sense man.