As such, the crossbow lacks the knockback rate of a bow, and thus there's little that can be done to stop an opponent from quickly closing the distance. The crossbow is stronger than the traditional bow in terms of single-shot damage, but it draws about 1.5x more slowly and can't be released half drawn. The best the crossbow can do in single-target combat is either initiate a melee on level ground or pick off fleeing/out-of-reach targets.

The Quick Charge enchantment simply reduces its draw time and makes it more effective in any situation. While the Piercing enchantment is good for clusters of targets, the Multishot enchantment is better for wide spreads of targets. Given a group of targets, however, a crossbow with enchantments has a steep damage curve compared to that of an enchanted bow. A rapid-fire bow can fend off two vindicators in close quarters, yet a crossbow cannot stop a vindicator at any range within his threat. In single-target combat, the traditional bow out-plays any crossbow not enchanted with Quick Charge III, both in terms of damage per second and more importantly maintaining target distance. The Multishot enchantment increases its spread to release 3 arrows at once, while the Piercing enchantment allows one arrow to pierce several in-line targets, hitting up to nine entities. The enchantments available to crossbows heavily gear them towards fighting large groups of enemies (likely hence their addition to the game in the Village & Pillage update). The crossbow and the bow are the best weapons for a player in the water to use against ranged mobs on land or in water, as they can maintain their distance (unless the player has the Depth Strider enchantment on their boots). Firing upon ledges is often an effective way to kill monsters and players. A player with a crossbow has no choice but to fire fully drawn, taking up time. The unenchanted crossbow is best used to take on monsters either at a great distance or with significant backpedaling/fleeing, as it cannot keep targets back. These enchantments encourage fighting large groups of enemies, such as pillager raids. They also appear in the chests located in pillager outposts or in the woodland mansion and can also be traded with fletcher villagers for emeralds.Ĭrossbows have their own unique enchantments and cannot use bow-specific enchantments. It appears with an arrow ready to be fired.Ī pillager or piglin has a chance to drop its crossbow or enchanted crossbow.

A loaded crossbow may be moved around in inventory as an item, staying loaded until it's fired. It is fully loaded when its drawstring appears taut. The player right-clicks to load the crossbow. Firing is done in two steps: Charging then firing.

To load a crossbow, the player must have arrows in their inventory or firework rockets in their offhand. The projectile's damage and range are consistent, as a crossbow cannot be fired half-drawn for fractional damage, as a bow can. A crossbow is a ranged weapon item that can be used to attack mobs and players at a range, differing from the traditional bow by having increased damage, decreased fire rate, and the inability to fire less than fully drawn.

Enchanted crossbow minecraft