Crossbow (weapon type)

Crossbows (also known as Pistol crossbows) are weapons used in ranged combat that require a certain Ranged level to wield. Unlike bows, crossbows use bolts instead of arrows and come in mainhand, offhand, and two-handed varieties, with the former allowing access to dual-wielding and the ability to use a shield or god book. Most crossbows have an attack range of 7 spaces. Higher level crossbows have greater accuracy, and while usually not directly influencing damage dealt, higher level crossbows can receive the full damage of higher level bolts. Off-hand crossbows have half the damage output of their normal counterparts, while the two-handed versions have a damage stat to compensate for the potential loss of attack or defence on the unequipped arm. Both dual-wielding and two-handing will do on average 150% the damage of a single mainhand crossbow.

Non-members are recommended to stay with bows as the crossbows available to them (only the regular crossbow and the phoenix crossbow) are weak, while members have much better crossbows to choose from. In addition to the various metallic crossbows, hunter's crossbow, dorgeshuun crossbow, zanik's crossbow, Karil's crossbow, the chaotic crossbow, the Royal crossbow and the Ascension crossbow are available in pay-to-play. Crossbows require ammunition in the form of bolts (or racks for Karil's).

Metal crossbows can be created through the Fletching skill. The stocks must first be cut from logs; the limbs have to be made via the Smithing skill. The player then needs to add those two together and string it with a crossbow string, at which point the player can choose whether to make a normal crossbow, off-hand crossbow or 2h crossbow. Most limbs and stocks can be purchased at the crossbow stall in the dwarven city of Keldagrim.

In addition to combat, crossbows can also fire mithril grapples for Agility shortcuts.

See also: Crossbow and Bolt Compatibility chart



Trivia

 * According to a conversation with the Bow and Arrow salesman in the Ranging Guild, crossbows are made only by the dwarves (although cave goblins and players can make crossbows too).
 * The difference in damage output and attack speed of pistol crossbows compared to two-handed crossbows relates to their real-life use, with two-handed crossbows having a higher draw-weight hence taking much more effort to pull back and reload.