Crossbows vs. Bows (My Solution)
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Theres been some debate about Crossbows and Bows where in cases like Gas Arrow vs. Gas Grenades they're basically similar yet Arrows seem more efficient and effective. (In hindsight Gas Arrows should probably just had half the AOE of a Grenade) Atm Bows have an edge gameplay-wise with the lack of worry for Reload or Cooldowns for attacks compared to Xbow.
I've been trying to think about their unique traits and I think I've come up with a few that I think should be considered and implemented to really create identity regarding builds. One of the innovations of a crossbow over bow is the ease of use such as in the lesser effort needed to make or maintain a shot. But since technique and fatigue aren't factors in the game, there is one other factor that it can affect--- Sprinting/Running. Crossbows practically handle better in motion requiring less effort and setup to make a shot. The Bows already got an edge with being exclusive to the Rhoa Mount. Crossbows need a similar edge that reflects their realistic trait. Now hear me out... Crossbows should be able to shoot while Sprinting /Running. Crossbows could use a little more mobility to improve overall player experience with the constant dodging and swarming enemies that sometimes it feels you're not ranged anymore. This will definitely help with that by adding another way to play while also setting it further apart from comparison with Bows and their instant and mostly aoe skills. Now of course it could completely ruin gameplay by having an untouchable run & gun gameplay--- to balance it out, Accuracy while Sprinting is probably 15-20% less and Crossbows will have an innate (8-10%?) movement penalty while Sprinting (representing their weight) Stun thresholds still matter and will matter more in such builds. A much more active gameplay of dodging projectiles and watching the stun meter while sprinting . Stun threshold values should be tweaked for this playstyle to be valuable-- maybe Crossbow get implicit Stun Threshold Values or just higher Threshold modifier values considering the high risk of sprint tripping even ending map or boss runs immediately. Maybe even a 'failsafe' of being light stunned on close to limit stun bar (15-20% below) stopping ur sprint and continuing to sprint above that level is suscepible to heavy stun. (P.S. there should be an option to add stun indicator above character with maybe additional audio or visual cues) and then to incentive normal attacking aside from the drawback of trip stuns, non-sprinting attacks probably gain 10% more Accuracy and/or 10-12% increased Damage akin to more concentrated shots. Bows should probably get a similar buff to represent their more precise and powerful talent-- While stationary, Bow attacks have 10% more Accuracy and/or maybe some damage (idk they're strong enough already tho) These changes also allow Accuracy to be more sensibly impactful also in terms of how it realistically functions and affects dps. IMO its better than just setting differences in damage output when the nature and diversity of buildcrafting can usually override those or if they can't, it upsets game balance and player experience. Bows can have the scalability compatible with damage not needing to worry about reloads or cooldowns but atleast Crossbows can get an advantage somehow that isn't just someething that can be outclassed like pure damage scaling. Dernier bump le 15 févr. 2026 à 17:54:43
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There is no xbow vs bow, you play one or the other one.
Also please shooting while sprinting? You want a benny hill show? Dernière édition par IILU81II#8410, le 12 févr. 2026 à 12:59:38
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Crossbow:
A. No off hand gear B. Reloading C. No skill bound D. Ton of investments... It's simple. Devs should make the maths and bring changes otherwise this type of weapon sooner or later will pass to history... |
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" I would have hoped there was an another movement pace between slow walking attacks and sprint kinda like a 'jogging' pace or atleast a way to adjust how fast we can go but we're stuck with an undynamic directional movement pace and it seems flat to only get the buff while stationary so i thought you could still get the buff concentrating while walking. Its either the sprint thing or Xbows get less to probably zero movement penalty when using skills. I just thought the sprint thing would atleast be online even early game without much investment. |
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" The concerns and comparisons seem to point towards the drawbacks affecting/holding back the DPS. It would be fair to assume its just a power balance issue but I find that unfair and restrictive as well by just making Xbows deal more burst or whatever damage vs. Bows. That would also shift the balance among builds. I think it should be addressed in playstyles by utilizing their arsenals. For Xbow they uniquely have atm are Grenades & Totems. One extra unique dps outlet I think they could have is the ability (probably support gem) to drop grenades while dodging. Its one of those things I think can catch up with others map clear capabilities while also giving a unique playstyle. Totems already work in that sense-- drop for extra damage-- but come at the cost of a bit more investment. But I also want to have playstyles independent of those so I think it has to be how Xbows innately play and move. It would be cheap to have it scale the same as bows just increasing the projectile count and their cone area. The 'Run & Gun' playstyle is one I imagine that stems from practicality. Considering Xbow is usually limited in its narrow cone area for attacks and timed burst, what if one of their playstyles can function like old school mmorpg mobbing of gathering enemies then deal massive burst aoe (grenades). This would necessitate more mobility and possibly luring mechanics to compensate for Xbows timed damage windows. But yeah a first is letting Xbow move more efficiently |
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" There is Mobilty support, i use it on galvanic/siege cascade and it does exactly what we need. If you need even less penalty there are clusters on the tree, one pretty strong (notable is 50% inc damage and to get there some reduced penalty. Also pathfinder gives that for free and it's completely op with crossbow :D |
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devs dont care about balance, other way there will be no only 1 character with 3 rings.... why other classes dont have this advantage to make, for example , negative rarity build? (because -50 rarity worth nothing in compare to -100, but only 1 class can have -100 rarity bceause of 3rd ring)
it has been told tons of times how to simple understand what class is too op and what to change for balancing - look at most popular characters. watch streamers, they told many times what classes are good for bubbling damage and what are not but still no balance i dont know , maybe they will look into it on later stages of developing, but my experience from other games and old times tells me it won't happen. i cant remember a single case from all games i've played when devs did a real balance , it was always to add a new hyper op class and forget about old classes and dont care about balance on the other hand we have players who prefer to play on hyper op classes with just melting screen with 1 button and dont care about hp or mana or whatever it is there were a time when i played WoW and with our guild we farmed 40ppl raids that was nice and hard game, you have to know your class and be able to play piano to show max dps , but now games too simplified in some kind, ofc poe2 is not so simple, but melting screen with 1 button is kinda not so hard, at least there should be some challenge or penalty for that, but that's where balance should show up |
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Oh guys....for Bow it's like running alone and get the first place. You can't compare Bow with nothing (Xbow).
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I think you can't even use XBow on Rhoa Mount.
Which is weird, coz crossbow seems like the perfect weapon for mounts. |
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