Crossbows would be great as an opening shot to kill that ultra heavily armoured knight you spot in the group of bandits that you know would take a half-a-dozen arrows to kill with a bow. What I want is a damn sling so I have a means to distract NPCs while I’m sneaking.
Yea, I could see lobbing one bolt in and then switching to your actual weapon…at least on most battles. I’ve tried to chase boar and shoot them with a bow and my stam depletes pretty fast…i can assume once you catch aggro from a xbow bolt and now you have to run and shoot you’re going to run out of stam fast as well.
I would use one in Pribyslavitz but that is not enough for me to want them to spend time on adding it to the game. Maybe in a DLC where there are more large scale battles or something.
Crossbows didn’t really have a lengthy reload, an experienced crossbow user could load up a crossbow and fire in around 5 seconds, like I said before, you use a lever to load it and not just your hands.
Of course a longbow in itself is more powerful, but the amount of energy you can put into the projectile is higher than that of a longbow, but it is also slower. A 350lbs or 160kg crossbow would be very effective in battle. Also, 5 seconds is realistic since you used a lever which was one movement, so actually drawing back the “string” would take maybe 1-2 seconds.
Not even the most powerful of crossbows (Unless we’re talking modern day super powerful crossbows lol) would be able to punch through plate, maybe they would make a small hole but would be completely stopped by mail or gambeson, no crossbow goes right through a decently made breastplate, it wouldn’t hurt the “ultra heavily armoured knight” at all, unless you shot him in the face of course, also the crossbows which were available around this time period were roughly 350lbs or 160kg, which would have about the same power as a longbow, and longbow arrows just bounce right off plate.
I’m gonna need your source on that. Some crossbows had crank mechanisms to load them…and the crossbows they were using werent some 50-70lb draw xbows you could throw your foot into a loop and load. They took more than 5 seconds and you, not that you said this, would not be shooting from horseback.
If you can prove me wrong go for it, but I have a feeling 5 seconds is really generous
Well, the crossbows bid not exceed the longbows power, until relatively late adn very high in draw weight. Your average crossbow is not more likely to penatrate plate than an average bow.
Just that you can take more time and care to aim the very first shot.
What I am growing increasingly tired of in games, and what is a bit of a nuissance in KC:D, too, is how fast and easily one set of weapons is put away to swith to the other.
In real life…what do you do to switch from longbow to sword? What options do you have to switch from crossbow to sowrd?
I find crossbows to be incredibly unwieldy, and gunslings weren’t invented yet, as far as I know. The only option I see is dropping the damn thing straight away, to draw your sword.
And if you live long enough to do so, search for, find and pick it up.
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5 seconds? what draw weight? Sounds like a ver optimistic assumption of time, even for a hand spanned bow, which really is low on power.
The levers (goatsfoot) are somewhat unwieldy. you have to grab it from whereever you store it, put it in place on the tiller of the bow, get it to hook the string well and dead-centre, change your grip without dropping it or having one of the numerous points of contact get out of the place they need to be (remember, left hand is busy holding the bow) and pull. Also, you have to put the goats foot somewhere, and it is a bitt fiddly to get the lever back behind your belt etc. Then you have to grab a bolt, and place it on the tiller.
After the shot, you have to first re-set the nut. etc. etc.
It’s like Mauser stripper clips: in games it is incredibly smooth and fast to shove in a 5 round clip of 8mm Mauser rounds into a Gew98. but in reality, it is more or less always somewhat of a struggle to get the damn rounds into the magazine well. Because they just cant be too loose in the clip or they’d fall out on their own.
yupp. 5 seconds sound VERY optimistic even for a hand spanned crossbow. Also, I believe though some heavy bows sprang up rather quickly, in general they became more and more, or excessively, powerfull as time went on. It seems for defense purposes, some clever lever mechanisms were devised, that, if placed in a tower or gate house, could be manned buy a quick rapidly quick-spanning the heaviest crossbows. but the implement is a rather immoble station…
The crossbows requiring a “crank” weren’t used in 1403 which is when this game takes place, they used crossbows which were ca 350lbs draw weight (Or 160 kg) and loaded with the help of a lever, from personal experience you can pull back the “string” in less than 3 seconds, and if you are fast I would estimate you could load a bolt and shoot within 2 seconds. Maybe 5 seconds is a bit generous for a skinny person, but if you have the physique of the average man then you should be able to at least draw it back in less than 3 seconds, and then it depends on how used you are with using the crossbow if you are able to load the bolt, aim and fire within 2 seconds, maybe 6 seconds would be a better number :))
I was talking about if you have already put out all the tools you needed, the goatsfoot can be used really fast and removed very fast, if you are experienced with a crossbow you should be able to load, aim and fire in like 6 seconds. I am not saying anyone could do it in 5 or 6 seconds, but only those who are used to using the crossbow and use it regularly, they could definitely pull that off if we’re talking about 350lbs; 160kg draw weight.
So what you’re saying is a random blacksmiths son wouldn’t have the skills to efficiently use a crossbow for more than maybe a shot or two, if it’s already set up…Henry is a kid as far as skills and intelligence go. What’s im saying is it doesn’t make sense in this game…modders will add them I bet
I dont quite understand your question, but yes that is true, but if you think about how the progression goes in this game, after a month you can be the best bowman, swordman and spearman in all of Bohemia lol, why couldnt he become the best crossbowman in the same time xDDD
Fair enough, that’s does need work lol, but I think they’re working in that…balancing how OP you get so fast
define what you mean by all tools being out.
I can reload a musket much faster, if I use a ramrod on the shooting bench and load from a lidded box placed there as well. But for realistic actual use, I have to account for the time and effort it takes, to blindly fumble for a cartridge in a pouck on my hip and the effort of pulling a ramrod from underneath the barrel, and returning it every time.
The actual spanning of the crossbow is fast, but just how much time is spent getting the lever in place? how much time is spent taking it from the belt? how much returning it? If you place the lever on the ground or a table, … you’re essentially static and cant move without losing your means of reloading.
Also, these reloadings seem much faster in person, than they are, when using a stopwatch to measure time.
(I have 550 lbs crossbow with goatsfoot lever, and the actual spanning is the very least time onsuming part of the whole reload.)
Hopefully more Stealth gear, Hoods that Work and mask, or Bandanas
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This is what he refers to, it was very real.