Completely pleasantly surprised by the crossbows. Was more fluid and fun to use than I imagined. Only got to play for a few minutes so far but my woodelf archer assassin thief dude is definitely adopting them as his primary weapon . Joining the dawnguard for that reason alone. Plus they just seem pretty badass all around. Doesn't hurt that my archery skills pretty high too
They're so much fun. What I like about them is that they're different enough from Longbows for my character to have to be smart enough to choose appropriate weapons for each situation.