Didn’t like it much in vanilla. All perks either revolved around killing faster or... collecting
arrows. Yay!
Just like I did with light and heavy weapons, I wanted perks to revolve around and reward
specific playstyles. Thus, bows were split into ”Longbows” (all heavy material bows) and ”Shortbows”
(all light material bows); each has a specific branch. On top of that, crossbows have their
own branch as well.
Longbows are slow and best used at huge ranges; they reward you for overdrawing the string,
hitting moving enemies, hitting them right in the back, and keeping your distance. If you want
to kill from far away with a small number of arrows, this is the way to go. Longbows are less
suited for pure archers, as they prove ineffective once enemies get close.
Shortbows, on the other hand, are best used at mid and close ranges. They are faster, initially
weaker, allow for way better movement and should be aimed at the enemies’ side for stagger.
Perks allow them to hit harder when hitting multiple times in quick succession and to cripple
enemies in close combat via a bash technique.
Crossbows don’t require much skill to wield - instead, they do require a decent weapon to be
strong; thus the perks allow you to repeatedly reforge crossbows with enhancements for different
situations. The same is true for bolts, which can be strengthened, then enhanced with
different effects. Crossbows start stronger than other bows, but their damage doesn’t scale with
perks directly. While regular bows require active positioning to be good, the majority of crossbow
work takes place before actually entering battle.
All arrows and bolts have been adjusted to be faster and less affected by gravity. Bolts are
generally faster and have better range than arrows. Stats vary with material and projectile enhancements
and are adjusted with the ReProccer (11), so you may tinker with them if you fancy
another approach. Also, note that the ReProccer generates all crossbow and missile variants.
Since all projectiles have varying speed and gravity influence, the crosshair will not help you
much. I officially recommend to disable it, for example by using a mod like iHud (see ”Recommended
Mods”).
Some basic info on forging missiles:
Multiple perks have ”enhancements”, and one perk adds ”upgrades”. Upgraded missiles just
carry increased damage, while ”enhancements” add various secondary effects. Any missile can
only carry one enhancement, but it can be upgraded before being enhanced.