Arbalest

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Name	Arbalest
Skill	Ranged Weapons
Damage	16
Accuracy	-2
Base delay (%)	19 (190%)
Min delay	10 at 18 skill
Hands	2H
Size	Medium
Ranged?	Yes

A large piece of machinery used for firing bolts, braced with steel and cranked with a windlass. It takes some time to load and fire. "(TELL enters with his crossbow) W. TELL: My precious jewel now, -my chiefest treasure- A mark I'll set thee, which the cry of grief Could never penetrate,-but thou shalt pierce it- And thou, my trusty bowstring, that so oft For sport hath served me faithfully and well Desert me not in this dread hour of need,- Only be true this once, my own good cord, That hast so often wing'd the biting shaft:- For shouldst thou fly successless from my hand, I have no second to send after thee." -Friedrich Schiller, _Wilhelm Tell_, IV, iii. 1804. trans. Sir Theodore Martin, 1898.

This weapon falls into the 'Ranged Weapons' category. It is a two-handed weapon.

Arbalests are moderately powerful ranged weapons. They have a high damage per hit, but fire slowly, with a mindelay of 1.0 turn (rather than 0.7 turn of most weapons).

Strategy

Arbalests are a mid-game ranged weapon. They are occasionally found on orcs and naga sharpshooters, and often found on yaktaurs inside the Vaults.

Longbows fire faster, making them safer to use (it's easier to react to enemies, less likely to be double-turned). However, arbelests outdamage longbows until moderate levels of skill,and can continue to outdamage against high AC foes or if the body armour penalty is high. If you want to go heavier, triple crossbows are your end goal. If you want more defenses, hand cannons are just as strong, but allow the use of a shield.

	Image
Mundane
Magical
Artifact
	Unrandart arbalest
Damnation

History

• Prior to 0.30, arbalests had 17 damage.
• In 0.29, arbalests' stats were nerfed (previously: 18 damage, +2 accuracy) and they were affected by the ranged weapons rework that applied to all launchers, including the removal of the dedicated crossbows skill and physical bolts necessary to fire.
• Prior to 0.15, Crossbows only contained one type of weapon called the crossbow. They were split into arbalests, hand crossbows, and triple crossbows.