Crossbow (weapon)

Crossbows are weapons used in ranged combat that require a certain Ranged level to wield. They are different from bows in that they are horizontal and (in most cases) come in one-handed "pistol" varieties (both main-hand and off-hand) and two-handed varieties, allowing a player to choose to dual-wield or carry a shield, god book or defender. Another difference is that they use bolts instead of arrows. Higher level crossbows have greater accuracy, and while usually not directly influencing damage dealt, higher level crossbows can be used to fire higher level bolts which have a higher damage stat. 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. This roughly equates to a two-hander having 150% of the combined damage stat of dual-wielded pistol crossbows, but with decreased attack speed.

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 and the chaotic crossbow are available in pay-to-play. Crossbows require ammunition in the form of bolts (or racks for Karil's).

Crossbows are commonly used in P2P, mainly due to their ability to inflict substantial damage quickly and the ability to use a shield at the same time. Many people use them for PvP combat, and use enchanted bolts for even more power. Crossbows are also cheap on the Grand Exchange, and bolts are always in good supply. Crossbows can also fire mithril grapples for Agility shortcuts. Despite being slower than bows, crossbows are much more accurate, and bolts used with them are more powerful than arrows. Even steel bolts are stronger than rune arrows. Crossbows are almost never seen in F2P because the only kinds available are the phoenix and normal crossbow, while they could use up to maple bows, and the ability to use a shield but at the cost of accuracy and ranged strength and the slower speed makes crossbows rarely used unless doing Dragon Slayer where using a anti-dragon shield is needed to fight Elvarg.



Crossbow and bolt compatibility
Just as crossbows have a minimum ranged level that a player must have before they can use it, so too do bolts have a minimum ranged level that the crossbow must match before they can be fired by it. This level may not immediately be apparent, as tipping and enchanting bolts significantly increases this minimum level beyond the equivalent crossbow of the untipped bolt. This minimum level is not displayed anywhere in-game, and a player will only be informed of the incompatibility once they try to attack something.

Metal crossbows
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.


 * Bronze crossbow Main-hand: Bronze crossbow.png Off-hand: Off-hand bronze crossbow.png Two-handed: Bronze 2h crossbow.png
 * Blurite crossbow Main-hand: Blurite crossbow.png
 * Iron crossbow Main-hand: Iron crossbow.png Off-hand: Off-hand iron crossbow.png Two-handed: Iron 2h crossbow.png
 * Steel crossbow Main-hand: Steel crossbow.png Off-hand: Off-hand steel crossbow.png Two-handed: Steel 2h crossbow.png
 * Black crossbow Main-hand: Black crossbow.png (Cannot be player-made)
 * Mithril crossbow Main-hand: Mith crossbow.png Off-hand: Off-hand mithril crossbow.png Two-handed: Mithril 2h crossbow.png
 * Adamant crossbow Main-hand: Adamant crossbow.png Off-hand: Off-hand adamant crossbow.png Two-handed: Adamant 2h crossbow.png
 * Rune crossbow Main-hand: Rune crossbow.png Off-hand: Off-hand rune crossbow.png Two-handed: Rune 2h crossbow.png
 * Dragon crossbow Main-hand: Dragon crossbow.png Off-hand: Off-hand dragon crossbow.png Two-handed: Dragon 2h crossbow.png

Pistol crossbows (Main-hand)

 * Crossbow Crossbow.png - weakest crossbow in the game.
 * Phoenix crossbow Phoenix crossbow.png - obtained from Phoenix Gang hideout in Varrock, used in Shield of Arrav quest.
 * Coral crossbow Coral crossbow.png - obtained as a reward from Songs from the Depths. Can only fire coral bolts.
 * Dorgeshuun crossbow Dorgeshuun crossbow.png - can be bought from Nardok. Lost Tribe required to buy, Death to Dorgeshuun required for the special attack.
 * Zanik's crossbow Zanik's crossbow.png - obtained as a reward from Chosen Commander.
 * Hunter's crossbow Hunters' crossbow.png - bought from Leon, it is similar to a steel crossbow in power and to a shortbow in speed.
 * Chaotic crossbow Chaotic crossbow.png - bought from Daemonheim for 200k Dungeoneering tokens and requires 80 Dungeoneering and 80 Ranged.
 * Armadyl crossbow Armadyl crossbow.png - Although this is an Armadyl-aligned item, it is in fact dropped by the four Saradomin bosses of the God Wars Dungeon.
 * Dominion crossbow Dominion crossbow.png - Only available and useable within the Dominion Tower.

Pistol crossbows (Off-hand)

 * Offhand chaotic crossbow Offhand chaotic crossbow.png - bought from Daemonheim for 100k Dungeoneering tokens and requires 80 Dungeoneering and 80 Ranged.

Two-handed crossbows

 * Royal crossbow Royal crossbow.png - an upgraded version of the coral crossbow, the parts only obtainable through defeating the Queen Black Dragon, and can only fire royal bolts.
 * Karil's crossbow Karil's crossbow.png - obtained via playing the Barrows minigame. Can only fire bolt racks.

Trivia

 * If you look carefully at a crossbow before you fire it, you can see the bolt floating right above the crossbow. Once the bolt is fired, for a split-second, you can still see the floating bolt, even though you just fired it. This also happens occasionally with regular bows.
 * According to a conversation with the Bow and Arrow salesman in the Ranging Guild, crossbows are made only by the dwarves (although cave goblins 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.
 * Crossbows are commonly used by rangers fighting dragons, as they allow players to wield an anti-dragon shield for protection.