Wondering who would win in the battle of crossbow vs longbow? If that’s the question on your mind, then you have landed in the right place. Crossbows and longbows are widely used as hunting weapons and hunters all around the world are big fans of both.

In today’s article we will learn about all the differences between these two bows and try to pick out the one for you. Let’s go!

Major Difference Between Crossbow Vs Longbow – ( Spec & Features)

Range

A crossbow’s range mainly depends on the drawn weight. The maximum range, however, of a crossbow is about 600 feet. However, as you aim for longer ranges, your shot becomes less and less accurate. While hunting a game, your shot will be more accurate and deal more damage with a crossbow if you’re closer to the game.

On the other hand, a longbow has a range of up to 200 yards for an accurate shot and longbow bolts have the ability to fly up to almost 400 yards. Longbows have improved a lot since medieval times and they are much more efficient now.

Draw Weight

Draw weight is basically the amount of energy which is required to pull back the crossbow or longbow to its locked and cocked position. Crossbows have varying draw weights according to the game that you want to hunt.

For example, if you want to hunt a rabbit, you need 150 lbs. of drawn weight at max. However, for a bigger game such as a bear, you need to draw weights up to about 200 lbs.

Longbows usually have a draw weight ranging from 180 to 150 lbs. for an effective range of about 350 yards. The best weigh to draw the exact weight required is to draw 15 lbs. lighter than the draw weight of a compound bow for a similar game.

You can also determine the draw weight for a longbow by determining the draw length. For example, a longbow of 64 inches needs a draw length below 24 inches.

Shooting Scope

The crossbow is more appropriate for beginners because it requires less effort and time. This means that beginners can learn to aim and shoot easily. Even though the accuracy of a crossbow is much greater than that of a longbow, its shooting frequency and efficiency are lesser.

However, the other advantages of a good crossbow cover up for the lesser efficiency and most hunters are fans of crossbows because they believe that it fulfills all their requirements for hunting.

It is much more difficult to learn the use of a longbow and it requires a long time and a lot of effort. In order to achieve the best penetration, the hunter must pull back the bowstring as far ack as his own ear.

For this reason, longbows are not recommended for beginners. However, longbows take the crown in shooting frequency because it is easier to load, shoot and reload them. Loading a longbow is two to five times faster than loading a crossbow.

Dnd 5e Crossbow vs Longbow

Dungeons and Dragons is a game where players get to choose different weapons for hunting or for their defense. Many people have questions about dnd crossbow vs longbow 5e. Let’s compare d&d crossbow vs longbow and see which one is better for you.

1-Dnd 5e heavy crossbow vs longbow range

First, lets compare the heavy crossbow vs longbow 5e. The heavy crossbow offers a maximum range of about 400 yards whereas the longbow offers a maximum range of 600 yards.

The heavy crossbow has a weight of 18 lbs. while the longbow weighs only 2 lbs. 

2-Dnd 5e heavy crossbow vs longbow weight

The heavy crossbow has a weight of 18 lbs. while the longbow weighs only 2 lbs. This means that the longbow will require much less effort in carrying as compared to the heavy crossbow.

Fable Crossbow Vs Longbow

Many people are curious about crossbow vs longbow in fable. In Fable, longbows more effective and powerful as compared to crossbows. Longbows reload faster than crossbows which means you will be able to fire more frequently in the same amount of time and do more damage as compared to a crossbow.

This makes the longbow a much better weapon for players in Fable.

Baldur’s Gate Crossbow Vs Longbow

In Baldur’s gate, players get a bonus when they cause damage using a longbow. This helps make your character much stronger. Therefore, in Baldur’s gate, crossbow is the better weapon as compared to Longbow.

Medieval Crossbow vs Longbow

Both the crossbow as well as the longbow were widely used in the battle fields in medieval times which shows that both these weapons are great for battle. Longbows were quite popular in medieval times; however, crossbows were equally useful.

In medieval times, longbows were much faster and much more agile as compared to crossbows and arrow shot through longbows could easily penetrate armor. However, it was quite difficult to learn how to use a longbow which required a lot of effort from the soldiers.

Longbows, however, proved to be better for the field because they could be used to fire more frequently which is a great advantage during battle. On the other hand, crossbows worked better as defensive weapons. This is mainly because they have a range which is much greater than that of a longbow.

Crossbows were easy to operate so they were more commonly used in peasant uprisings. This was because common people could easily use crossbows. 

Crossbow Vs Longbow Differences 

The longbow as well as the crossbow are loved by hunters and archers all over the world.  This is because both these weapons can be used for taking down both small and big game. We cannot say that either one is better than the other because their use and efficiency depends on the situation.

Ease of Learning:

Ease of learning goes in favor of a crossbow as you can begin using it after only a few hours of learning. However, a longbow requires long practice sessions in a shooting range before you can take it out into the field.

Loading:

It is quite difficult to load a longbow because it requires a lot of effort to pull the string all the way back.

In addition, you have to stay in that position while taking an aim which makes it even harder. On the contrary, cocking devices can be used with crossbows which help cock the crossbow and hold it in place until you are ready to shoot.

However, if you find challenges interesting then a longbow is the one for you. It will help you build muscle strength even if it takes a long time to do so. It will also be much more thrilling when you have to load and shoot in minimum time.

Time Taking Cocking:

It takes a long time to cock a crossbow and so it is possible that your game escapes while you are busy cocking your crossbow. In addition, if your bolt misses the game, then you will surely lose your target because reloading takes a long time as well. On the other hand, it takes less time to load and reload a longbow so you have a better chance of scoring a hunt.

A crossbow packs more energy and so even if you miss your shot and your bolt lands somewhere else on the game’s body, you still have a good chance of harvesting your game. With speeds of 400 feet per second, shots are also much more accurate. A longbow shot incorporates, many other factors such as gravity and wind in order for it to land in the right place.

Portability:

Finally, let’s talk about the portability of both bows. Longbows are much more lightweight as compared to crossbows which make them more portable. This is a very important consideration for archers and hunters because they have to travel long distances on foot for days on end so they want to make sure that they don’t get tired very quickly.

Crossbows are better for hunters who stay in one place with their weapon cocked and weight for the game to come to them. This gives them more time to properly aim and shoot, making the shot much more accurate.