Crossbows are a Weapon Category in Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered. Crossbows are ranged weapons that use bolts for ammunition, granting players the ability to modify elemental damage accordingly. They do not have a zoomed-in aiming capability like bows but can deal higher damage. Crossbows deliver thrust damage that is compounded with critical when the wielder pulls off a headshot, and can be used in melee combat by "shooting from the hip". Crossbows have no stat scaling, leaving players to focus on elemental upgrades.
- Pros: Relatively lightweight. Deals heavy Thrust damage, very high base damage, good for players with Low Dexterity and suitable for elemental upgrades.
- Cons: No aim function; not suitable for sniping, needs to be reloaded making one vulnerable to damage and backstabs without fighting back, No Parameter Bonus.
- Recommendation: Leo Ring for Counter Damage.
All Crossbows in Dark Souls
| Attack Power Damage Reduction (%) |
Aux Effects |
Requirements Param Bonus |
Durability / Weight - Shot Range | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name |   |
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Range | Acquired From |
 |
Light Crossbow | 50 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
100 0 |
10 - |
8 - |
0 - |
0 - |
150 3.0 |
50 |
|
|
 |
Heavy Crossbow | 55 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
100 0 |
14 - |
8 - |
0 - |
0 - |
150 5.0 |
50 |
|
|
 |
Sniper Crossbow | 52 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
100 0 |
20 - |
16 - |
0 - |
0 - |
150 8.0 |
70 |
|
|
 |
Avelyn | 37 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
100 0 |
16 - |
14 - |
0 - |
0 - |
150 6.0 |
50 |
|
|
- There's a variety of different Bolts available for crossbows.
AnonymousI wonder if people already know this but you can aim fairly well using bow in your off hand. Think of it as using a scope in fps game, but more steps. *ATTENTION* On the crosshair, the bolt of the crossbow will fly a bit below the position of the LEFT UNDER stick. Right below would be correct to say. It is much faster and less clunky than aiming with binocular, for sure, and binocular also doesn't give you a crosshair to look.
Also, the crossbow is really good for dispatching those annoying ranged enemies from the corner, because you shoot it from your hand, not in front of you. You just need to go near the corner enough to peek your hand outside. The idiots will keep shooting at the wall, while your hand outside will shoot the bolt at them. You can use this strat to cheese those titanite demons in Sen's funhouse. I was actually surprised when I saw a lot of people complaining about those crippled, can't believe you got bullied by crippled people.
Also I recommend using red eye ring as well of course. Big dmg. And if they got too close then get to a safe point then aim again. People might ask why not just use bow, well this one has more dmg, simple. It is a balance between cheesing and damage output. I can safely farm strong mobs, wood bolt is barely more expensive than wood arrow when I got thousands of souls from farming, much faster which also means less being exposed to danger, much better than risking yourself with melee weapons or magical stuffs which are just as dangerous anyway since they require medium distance, which strong enemies can close in really fast.
- Anonymous
So after just finishing a "Crossbow Only" challenge run, I've really learned to appreciate this class of weapon a lot. They shouldn't be compared to regular bows at all, since they have very different methods of use. Regular bows are an exclusive playstyle of sniping and holding your aim until an enemy makes their move. Crossbows, on the other hand, are more like a "physical damage catalyst". They can be used with 1 hand and are mainly effective at medium range (max range of lock on), due to their propensity to miss up close. The biggest strength of these weapons is that they can dish out a fair amount of damage at a safe distance with almost no stat investment. I finished my run at SL 70 with 40 Vitality and Endurance and I had not died to a single boss (except BoC), making this one of the tankiest builds I've ever had. The only Crossbow I consider bad is the Sniper Crossbow, as it seems to have been intended to use with manual aiming, but was never implemented properly.
- Anonymous
Okay, when I wear a crossbow I have three buttons for one and the same attack. Dear Fromsoft team, one of these keys could have been used for manual aiming as with bows ...
- Anonymous
i started an SL1 crossbow only run as a bit of a joke, but uh, i dont think crossbows are a joke anymore. a +5 light crossbow (with large bolts) made gargs and capra almost trivial.
- Anonymous
I’m trying to make a crossbow build, does anyone know any good rings I can use?
- Anonymous
"For counter damage" can the heccing crossbow riposte or something? Or do headshots get a boost from the Leo Ring?
- Anonymous
Except for avelyn, these are about as useful as dex builds *Seinfeld theme*
from my testing, there is no difference in the time it takes to fire another bolt or perform an action like rolling between the heavy crossbow and light crossbow, the only difference between them is the time it takes to reload a shot, with it being very slightly slower with the heavy crossbow, around half a second, but this does not affect the time to fire or roll. apart from weight, the heavy crossbow is a direct upgrade from the light crossbow.
5
+10
-1