From reading your posts, it just sounds like you want to make an obscenely difficult game for yourself, so that it is a "challenge".
I think you need to get a few things straight.

Firstly, master difficulty is difficult enough for most people. This is an RPG, the challenge isnt meant to come from how insanely hard it is to kill something. The game is about the story, your character, quests. That kind of thing.
If you're finding master difficulty too easy, that's just too bad. Either accept that you have "beaten" the game and move on, or reroll another character. It doesnt really sound like you're in it for the RP though. Maybe you should pick an FPS or something, or a different sort of RPG. To be honest, it actually sounds like WoW would suit you. Grind away, fight enemies that are impossible to beat unless you have been grinding for x long and therefore have the mandatory "gear".

Also, I dont buy your whole "err...yeah...my neighbour's xbox". Yeah right. You're just back peddling because you went on a rant about console gamers and then realised the only way you could have been playing Dawnguard anyway was on a console. Unless you live at your neighbour's house, and he/she doesnt mind you having a monoploy over their xbox, then there's no way you've been able to put in the amount of time you're talking about in this thread.
All of that is irrelevant though and beside the point.

The issue you're talking about, you have blown out of all proportion. The crossbow does not fire nukes. You make it sound like it does. Yes, it's better than most bows for raw damage. But it's not loads better. It fires slower. Yes, overall I still think it does more damage, but not that much more. Your game isn't breaking because of a crossbow.

If you're still seeking something so difficult, and you really hate crossbows, then I really think you need to focus on mods.

Skyrim is more of an Adventure Game than an RPG. Though the puzzles are pretty weak in Skyrim.

Screwing over would be if the CB did NO damage, it being powerful is a GOOD thing. Why the hell would any moron WANT to be less effective. last i checked it wasnt fun to get your ass kicked

Please read the rest of the conversation before contributing. I already answered that.


Horrible anology. You can't use a shield or wield magic with a bow like you can with a one-hander. Bows and crossbows are both two-handed weapons.


http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1388140-so-what-are-your-opinions-of-dawnguard-so-far/page__view__findpost__p__21077826

Please, feel free to jump to more conclusions.

Yes, I like a remotely challenging game. That is what master difficulty is (should be) for. But this problem goes beyond the difficulty setting. The problem is that the steel crossbow is much too strong for a weapon you can get at level 10. What they should have done was make the steel crossbow comparable in power to early bows, the enhanced version a considerably more powerful version (say, for level 20, so the quest is blocked until you reach that level, and you only get the smithing schematic upon completing said quest), and done the same thing with the dwarven and enhanced dwarven crossbows. And then we'd have 4 balanced weapons spanning most of a character's lifespan.

Would that be so horrible?

Maybe you could RP as someone who is a bit slow on the uptake during lower levels then perhaps around level 20 you suddenly have the epiphany that the crossbow has a trigger.

Asgard- since you are on the PC, pop open the CK and tone down the weapon damage. It is a 2 minute fix. (1 minute being required to load tge CK) issue over for you then huh?

Yup I plan on doing that, but it would be better if things were done properly by the devs, so that those console users that agree with my viewpoint aren't SOL.

So now you want level restrictions on Weapons? Why not just have them make you just start the MQ before you can go do anything else up to the point of Dragons...

Crossbows are OP in DG, due to the fact that Longbows are vastly superior to Crossbows.
Just ask the French.

I agree that the crossbow is unfairly weighted against the bow, but at the same time I don't care. I like the look of the crossbow better so I'm GLAD it's more favorable

I'd rather not; they'd probably cower aware at the mention of weaponry...


Used French rifle 4 sale: shot once, dropped twice....

Unnamed weapons already have level restrictions. You can't find or buy a daedric bow at the drunken huntsman at level 5... And weapons such as the nightingale bow scale based on your level when you acquire it.

In my opinion they fill extremely underpowered, it takes 1 shot with my enchanted Daedric bow to kill an enemy (most of the time) and it takes 4 bolts to kill an enemy with my enhanced enchanted dwarven crossbow.

That only means the crossbow has an advantage until you can get your high end bows and arrows.

well yeah & you can't make them either... but you can find one if look... I recall when the game came out I was lvl 17 and found a Ebony ware axe from a chest as an example... I had no Smithing perks at the time... actually no perks set & about 200 or so locations discovered... now take into consideration it was default game settings... I was having fun playing... I defiantly didn't go rushing into fights esp w/draugr Lords an dragon priests... I also didn't feel I was losing out on features or game play... I guess its all mindset... I guess you don't feel satisfied that you can "choose" to be OP/GOD in your sandbox... just because you chose not to doesn't mean you gimped your Char. either... or even matter of fact can you even play that way or is that just to unconscionable because you'll lose out on Features...

Again; as I've mentioned before the power of the crossbow is not really the issue. It's the rate of fire. Heck make a crossbow even more powerful. Why not? It was designed to punch directly through full plate and kill you with one shot.

The issue is reload time. A crossbow which can be so quickly cocked with a single hand cannot possibly be as powerful as the crossbows in this game.

I propose that crossbow reload time be at least doubled, possibly tripled; and any successful attack while reloading should stop the process.

Now the crossbow can be used for it's intended purpose. A devestating first strike weapon which is followed up with melee attacks.

Crossbows have, what, 10 more damage than most bows? You really think that's so much to make it "obscenely overpowered"? On Master difficulty, that damage becomes only 5 more. You really think 5-10 more damage is enough to warrant doubling/tripling the reload time?

Seriously, by that logic, there are ALOT of things obscenely overpowered in this game, especially so at the early levels. Khajiit's at low levels will do WAY more damage with unarmed then with using a weapon. You can get Bound Bow at level 1 with relative ease and at level 2 you can already get the perk that will increase it's damage. It's possible to have a 40-50 damage Bound Bow by level 2.

I honestly see no problem at all with Crossbows.

So Beth needs to separate Crossbows from Archery skill Perks & have its own tree then you can really compare them & say OP. so before hand its just a Mute Subject...

I know, and the BATTLEAXE which my 2-HANDER character wields means he suffers the exact same drawbacks you mention. How ironic you put someone down for not reading and then post that.

Care to try and re-address that?

EDIT: and with regards to bows/1-handers: when you use a bow, you use it at range, thus no need for a shield. And as you are launching projectiles, why would you need a spell equipped as that would be, er, launching a projectile? Nevertheless, the comparison of 2-handers and Crossbows stands.

Yes. Their reload time is too fast.

There needs to be a reason to choose regular bows instead. Seriously why would anyone not use a Crossbow now? -50% armor effectiveness and 100% stagger chance with the same damage as a daedric bow AND the same reload time? What's the advantage of bows now?

Roleplay. This is a roleplaying game, and not every character is going to use a crossbow. Or some people simply like the feel of the Bow better than the Crossbow. And the fact that you don't have a practical way of stocking up on bolts if you chose the Volkihar side. Also, the "ignores 50% armor" effect is not as amazing as you're making it out to be. Have you ever gotten the Mace/Warhammer perks that ignore armor in the One/Two-Handed trees? They're almost entirely useless, and the crossbow's effect is no different, it's barely worth noting. As for the 100% stagger, you don't get 100% stagger with crossbows, even with Power Shot. Sure, they get staggered quite often, but not very much more than they would with a bow.

You're really blowing this out of proportion, the crossbow doesn't have much of anything over normal bows, except that it has 5-10 more damage than them, depending on which you're comparing. On Master difficulty, that damage advantage is cut by HALF, as well. That's almost nothing when you're fighting mobs with 600 health, or Ancient Dragons which have 3000 health. I have no idea how much Legendary Dragons have, but I imagine they have more than Ancient Dragons.

Seriously, why are you complaining? Bows are actually better simply due to their speed. The difference between Bows and Crossbows is so little, it's like the difference between Swords and Maces. It boils down to whether you favor the feel of the bow or the crossbow, not the damage of them.

Enemies might as well not have armor, the only NPC with decent armor are followers using PC made gear.

I don't think it's fair that people are getting on the OP's back for wanting a more balanced crossbow.
If they are obscenely overpowered then something should be done about them, instead of ignoring it.

They aren't "obscenely overpowered" though, they aren't overpowered in the slightest. It's only as overpowered or underpowered as you make it. The title of the thread caught so much attention for a reason. Lots of exaggeration.

Crossbows are OP because their reload speed AND their damage is almost the same as a bow.

In reality this is not the case.