Crossbows are Kenshi's only ranged weapons that can be carried. To use a crossbow, equip the crossbow, make sure that the character has the correct ammunition in their inventory, and ensure that RANGED is active under JOBS.
Crossbows can do a decent amount of damage and cause significant bleeding. It is important to note that the size of the target (and its hitbox) plays an important role in the accuracy of crossbows. As such, large animals are easier to hit than humanoids, which are in turn much easier to hit than spiders. It is not rare for high-powered crossbows to kill weaker enemies, and allies, outright.
NOTE: There is an intentional mechanic from the developers that makes all faction leaders are 'immune' to crossbows. Attempting to shoot units with Diplomatic status will usually result in your character aiming at someone else entirely. However, it is possible to have your marksmen target something behind the faction leader you want to hit. This way your marksmen have a chance of 'accidently' hitting the faction leaders in front of the target. On occasion (Sometimes after stealing something from them, assassination attempt etc...) you will be able to target Diplomatic targets with a Crossbow.
Crossbows can be crafted through the Crossbow Smith stat.
See Turrets for their immobile counterparts.
Crossbow Stat[]
Stats Affected: | Description: Skill at shooting with crossbows. Affects accuracy, reload speed, and target acquisition. |
-Accuracy -Rate of fire -Reload speed | |
Ways to Train: | |
-Using crossbows and ranged weapons | |
-Ranged- |
The Crossbow stat affects the accuracy, rate of fire, and reload speed of a crossbow user, allowing more skilled crossbowmen to shoot faster and with greater accuracy the more they use crossbows in combat.
Certain Light Armour pieces can be worn to directly increase a character's Crossbow stat.
- Assassin's Rags (1.10x) (Also increases Dexterity by 20%, making Crossbows even more effective)
- Drifters Leather Jacket (1.10x)
- Ninja Rags (1.10x)
The Steady Arm can be worn as a Robot Limb, but it will only provide a bonus at [High] grade or above.
Racial Experience Multipliers | |
---|---|
Negative Multiplier: There are no races which have negative experience multipliers for this stat. |
Positive Multiplier: -Skeleton Log-Head MKII |
All multipliers are either 0.8x or 1.2x unless marked otherwise. |
Crossbow Ammunition Types[]
Image | Name | Charges/Shots | Cost | Used with |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bolts [Toothpicks] | 40 | 243 | ||
Bolts [Regulars] | 30 | 243 | ||
Bolts [Heavies] | 20 | 272 | Spring Bat | |
Bolts [Longs] | 10 | 389 | Eagle's Cross |
Crossbow Weapons[]
Name | Damage | Accuracy deviation | Reload time | Range | Projectile Velocity | Required Skill
(Does not actually matter) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Junkbow | 12-30 | 6-12° | 2.0-4.0s | 30 - 40 m | 82-102m/s | 90 |
Tooth Pick | 11-32 | 6-11° | 1.3-3.0s | 38 - 50 m | 82-102m/s | 90 |
Ranger | 23-57 | 3-5° | 2.0-4.5s | 61 - 79 m | 93-114m/s | 60 |
Spring Bat | 35-101 | 4-8° | 3.5-8.0s | 41 - 54 m | 116-137m/s | 70 |
Oldworld Bow MkI | 23-64 | 2.5-4.0° | 2.5-4.5s | 82 - 109 m | 116-137m/s | 70 |
Oldworld Bow MkII | 40-77 | 2.3-4.0° | 2.3-7.9s | 82 - 118 m | 116-137m/s | 80 |
Eagle's Cross | 56-127 | 1.6-2.5° | 4.1-10s | 152 - 188 m | 162-183m/s | 80 |
Crossbow Analysis[]
The damage, accuracy, range, projectile velocity, reload time are all affected by the quality of the weapon. A low-quality weapon will never reach the best values while the highest quality bows have minimum values much higher than the worst quality versions. Unlike other weapons Crossbows use the same quality as Armour; ranging from Prototype to Masterwork. Contrary to what is listed on a Crossbow's description they all have a Bloodloss value of 2.0x. (As in if a shot would do 100 damage against a Greenlander then they will instantly lose 40 blood)
About a character using a crossbow
Two skills and two attributes contribute to crossbow usage:
- The Crossbows skill itself is a value of 0 to 100[1], multiplied by any equipment Crossbows effect ratios (such as from Ninja Rags). The effects are multiplicative; that is, 1.1x Crossbows effect from Ninja Rags and 1.25x Crossbows effect from a Steady Arm is 1.375x total (1.1*1.25, or a 37.5% bonus) rather than a 1.35x total (1.1+1.25, or a 35% bonus). Crossbows effect multipliers also apply to the Precision Shooting skill. This skill applies to accuracy deviation and reload time.
- Precision Shooting skill is used to calculate the accuracy of a shot, as well as the friendly fire avoidance. Friendly fire avoidance increases by 1.5% per level until capped at 100% at 66.66...% Precision Shooting.
- Dexterity is used alongside the Crossbows skill to determine reload time.[1]
- Perception is used alongside the Crossbows skill to determine accuracy deviation. The in-game tooltip also suggests it affects range and shooting moving targets.[1]
Several or all of these stats then affect heavily or slightly the performance while using a crossbow such as:
- Accuracy deviation is a range of degrees by which a shot can be off-center, it's determined by crossbow type and quality. The deviation is reduced by a percentage equal to the sum of a character's Perception and Crossbows skill, to theoretically no deviation at 200 total. Higher Crossbows skill can substitute for Perception and vice versa.[1]
- Reload time, as told above, minimum and maximum values are also set by crossbow type and quality, but these are not randomized during play. Actual reload time is determined by a ratio of the sum your Crossbows skill and Dexterity compared to the maximum of 200 total. Unlike with accuracy deviation, for the purpose of reload time, this maxes out at 100 for each stat. Going over 100 for either stat via prosthetics or equipment bonuses confers no extra benefit (for example, having 120 Crossbows skill and 50 Dexterity only counts as 150 total). Lowering reload time is the only way to increase DPS, which means the Crossbows skill and Dexterity are the only factors that contribute to DPS gains for a given type and quality of crossbow.[1]
- Range is the distance in Kenshi units (0.1 meters) that a crossbow can be fired and is affected by type and quality, modified by Perception[1]. The range is increased as well by firing from a higher elevation.
- Required skill appears to be meaningless or not a reliable stat for using a crossbow at their best DPS/without huge repercussions during fighting. FCS states that this stat is the "skill level required to get 100% accuracy (0 deviation)" with a given crossbow, but in testing, this doesn't appear to be the case. 200 total Perception + Crossbows appeared to be the final breakpoint (rounded to the nearest degree in-game) for every crossbow. Your actual character skill while using a crossbow can be calculated like below:
Character Skill (with Crossbow) = Crossbow skill + Perception skill
The real required skill and breakpoints/ mastered level for the main masterwork crossbows in the game can be summarized as follows:
- 0-73: Oldworld Bow MkI (best DPS Crossbow for a starter crossbow character)
- 74-155: Eagle's Cross (best DPS Crossbow for a crossbow character in "middle career")
- 156-200: Oldworld Bow MkII (best DPS Crossbow of the game/master level)
- Important to add that vs armoured targets an Eagle's Cross will perform better than any other Crossbow.
While the other Crossbows may perform worse overall than the other Oldworld Bow MKII they can still be used as support weapons. When used in mass Crossbows such as the Ranger or Tooth Pick (Ranger more so as Toothpick has horrid range) are fantastic at stun-locking small groups of enemies. They are also excellent crossbow for levelling your characters Crossbow skill without too much risk of lethal friendly fire. As reloading grants you a small amount of Dexterity, the faster your fire the faster you will level up.
NPC Usage[]
- Cannibal Hunters
- Dust Bandits
- Escaped Servants
- Hounds
- Noble Hunters
- Old Machines (Sniperbot)
- Outlaw Farmers
- Reavers
- Rebel Fighters
- Shinobi Guard
- Tech Hunters
- Scavengers
- Slaver Guards
- Sand Ninjas
- Swamp Ninja Genin
- Swamper Gate Guards
- Yabuta Outlaws
References[]
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