I enjoy playing as a vampire but I can't help thinking the buffs for vamp lord form aren't that good compared to armoured trolls and Dwemer crossbows... mainly because my character relies heavily on archery - so the crossbows may come in handy as opposed to the time spent in vampire lord form.

My question is: is it worth going back to an earlier save for the crossbows? I have a Dawnguard save right before entering the Soul Cairn with Serana.

well if you rely on archery i dont see why u would want to even be a vampire

That's only part of it, my character is an assassin that also uses daggers and illusion.

Can't you pick up crossbows from dead Dawnguard bodies? I know you can't craft them but I'm sure you'll find some lying around.

I'm starting to like these crossbows: slower but nice to use. Those exploding bolts are pretty awesome too.

There's only the base crossbows. No advanced or Dwarven ones.

well the dwarven crossbow does do more then the dragon bow but if your sneaking around one shoting people then it dosnt matter aslong as you kill them right

If you use bows, you'll love the crossbows. Super awesome and accurate. I was sniping people with this thing. You can with the bow too, but the bolt goes straight almost, instead of going up a little of where you shot. Must have. Dont even get me started on sneak attacks with this thing!

Well armored trolls are not that useful but if you enjoy being archer the crossbow are amazing

Sold. Thanks guys.