Crossbows

Crossbows land the hardest single hit in the game, 200 to 332 before the bolt is counted, on a 6-second cycle. Firing costs nothing; reloading costs everything.

Combat

Pros

They deal 200 to 332 base damage, nearly twice what the best bow carries, and the bolt is added on top before the multipliers.
A loaded crossbow fires for no stamina at all and stays loaded indefinitely, so the shot is ready before the fight starts instead of during it.
The whole cost is 4 stamina on the reload, less than one swing of almost any melee weapon.
There is no draw to hold steady and no accuracy ramp. The shot is the same every time, which suits opening on something across a valley.

Cons

You get one shot every 6 seconds, counting the reload, ready and firing animations. Nothing else in the game has a cycle that long.
Sprinting or jumping resets the loading progress, and you cannot load a bolt while sprinting at all, so you cannot retreat and reload at the same time.
Bolts do not stay loaded when you switch weapons. Swapping to a melee weapon and back costs you the 3.5-second load again.
Every crossbow deals pierce, and pierce is the most resisted type in the game.

Builds

Load before you need it. The shot is free and you can hold it, so a crossbow build is a positioning build: load out of sight, walk into range and spend the 332 on whatever is worst in the room.

Do not plan to reload in a fight. A reload takes 3 and a half seconds and a sprint or a jump cancels it, so it is not something to do while an enemy walks at you. Carry a one-hander and a shield for the 6 seconds after the bolt lands.

The bolt matters as much as the crossbow. Bolt damage is added before every multiplier, and the class only fires 12 times a minute, so every shot should use the best bolt you have, not the cheapest.

It pairs naturally with Sneaking. An unaware target takes triple damage, and 332 plus a bolt at triple is the largest single number a player can produce.

Crossbows are made at the Black forge and the Frost Foundry.

The skill is Crossbows, and it levels up through use, not choice.

Best Crossbows

Build	Weapon	Image	Key Figure
Hardest hitter	Frostfire Crossbow		332 damage across all types
Cheapest to swing	Arbalest		1 stamina a swing

Notes

Loading takes 3.5 seconds and 4 stamina. Once you add the ready and firing animations, you can only fire once every 6 seconds.
Jumping or sprinting resets your loading progress, and you cannot load bolts while sprinting.
Switching weapons loses a loaded bolt: the crossbow reloads from empty every time you equip it again.

All Weapon Categories

All Crossbows

*stats displayed are item's base values. See upgrades under each item for item stats per level.

Name	Pierce	Elemental Damage	Stamina	Durability	Crafting Materials	Crafting Station	Spawn ID
Arbalest	200	-	1	50	10x Wood 8x Iron 4x Root (item)	Black forge	`spawn CrossbowArbalest`
Ripper	220	-	1	50	10x Ashwood 8x Flametal 2x Morgen sinew 4x Bonemaw tooth	Black forge	`spawn CrossbowRipper`
Wound Ripper	220	-	1	50	1x Ripper 8x Flametal 1x Bloodstone	Black forge	`spawn CrossbowRipperBlood`
Root Ripper	220	10 Poison	1	50	1x Ripper 8x Flametal 1x Jade	Black forge	`spawn CrossbowRipperNature`
Storm Ripper	220	10 Lightning	1	50	1x Ripper 8x Flametal 1x Iolite	Black forge	`spawn CrossbowRipperLightning`
Frostfire Crossbow	232	12 Fire, 88 Frost	-	300	1x Nord Crossbow 20x Bloodgold 1x Frostfire Essence	Black Forge	`spawn CrossbowGold_FrostFire`
Nord Crossbow	264	-	-	300	1x Cast: Nord Crossbow 5x Liquid Frost	Frost Foundry	`spawn CrossbowGold`
Thunderblood Crossbow	274	45 Lightning	-	300	1x Nord Crossbow 20x Bloodgold 1x Thunderblood Essence	Black Forge	`spawn CrossbowGold_BloodLightning`