Crossbows are the best ranged attacking weapon in the game. They fire very quickly in the hands of an Amazon, and derive their bonus damage from your points in Dexterity. Amazons have a crossbow skill tree, but other characters can be effective with them as well, especially Druids and Necromancers, who can take cover behind their minions and shoot from a distance. Necromancers and Druids tend become less useful with bows and crossbows as they advance in levels, since their Dexterity isn’t high enough, and they don’t have any skills to boost their bow attacks.
When we add simple machinery to the already potent weapons of archery, what occurs is the deadly crossbow. While somewhat slower to load and fire than a bow, the greater power with which it can launch bolts (also known as quarrels) enables them to strike with much greater force, inflicting higher damage than arrows. So powerful are some crossbows that they have to reloaded by the means of various mechanical devices.
Unfortunately, the added power comes at the cost of a very slow reload time, and in addition, these crossbows are expensive to make. The weapon fires a shorter, thicker arrow called a quarrel, or bolt. These are not found from monsters as often as arrows are and will generally need to be purchased from NPC merchants. The Amazon is the most proficient character class at the crossbow and can perform a number of special skills with it. They take up anywhere from a 2×3 to a 2×4 slot in the inventory.
Crossbows were improved in the Expansion, especially the Exceptional and Elite versions. They now do more damage than bows in most cases, but have a slower firing speed. They are reasonable options for higher-level Amazons though.
- Damage Bonus: This determines how you multiply the item damage by your stats to reach the actual damage. Each 100 points in that stat doubles your weapon’s total physical damage. All Bows are 100 Dex, which means every point in Dex adds 1% of your weapon’s total physical damage, thus 100 points in Dex will double your bow damage.
- Item Level: Used in many in-game calculations. Monsters must be of this level to drop the item, and your Clvl must be equal to or higher to have that item offered to gamble on. Full Mlvls listed on Darkness.
- Weapon Speed: A relative comparison of one bow to another. 0 is the base, negative ( -10, -20, etc) is faster, 10, 20, etc is slower. The “fast”, “normal” etc displayed in the game is a very imprecise measurement. The numbers are the exact speeds used. Each 10 is equivalent to a normal SIAS item. Characters are abbreviated to their first letter: Am = Amazon and As = Assassin.
Normal Diablo 2 Crossbows
| Item | Item Name | Properties | Misc Stats | Attack Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Light Crossbow | 6-9 Damage Str Req: 21 Dex Req: 27 Item Level: 6 Clvl Req: None | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-3 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: -10 Firing Rate: Normal: Am/As/B/D/N/P/S |
 | Crossbow | 9-16 Damage Str Req: 40 Dex Req: 33 Item Level: 15 Clvl Req: None | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-4 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: 0 Firing Rate: Normal: B/D/N/P/S Slow: Am/As |
 | Heavy Crossbow | 14-26 Dmg (Beta)* 12-20 Dmg (Final)* Str Req: 60 Dex Req: 40 Item Level: 24 Clvl Req: None | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-6 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×4 | Weapon Speed: 10 Firing Rate: Slow: B/D/N/P/S Very Slow: Am/As |
 | Repeating Crossbow | 6-12 Damage Str Req: 40 Dex Req: 50 Item Level: 33 Clvl Req: None | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-5 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: -40 Firing Rate: Very Fast: D/N/S Fast: Am/As/B/P |
Quivers
Arrows and Bolts/Quarrels are necessary to use a bow or crossbow, and they must be equipped in one hand, with the bow/crossbow in the other. They have no purpose otherwise, and are one of the simpler weapon-type items in the game.
| Item | Item Name | Capacity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Quiver of Bolts | D2: Up to 150 D2X: Up to 250 | 62 gold for 250 |
Exceptional Crossbows
Exceptional Crossbows are found only on Nightmare and Hell difficulty levels in Diablo II. In the Expansion they may be found in late Normal, and then all through Nightmare and Hell.
| Item | Item Name | Properties | Misc Stats | Attack Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbalest | 14-27 Dmg Str Req: 52 Dex Req: 61 Item Level: 34 Clvl Req: 25 (22) | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-3 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: -10 Firing Rate: Normal: Am/As/B/D/N/P/S |
 | Siege Crossbow | 20-42 Dmg Str Req: 80 Dex Req: 70 Item Level: 40 Clvl Req: 25 | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-4 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: 0 Firing Rate: Normal: B/D/N/P/S Slow: Am/As |
| Ballista | 33-55 Dmg Str Req: 110 Dex Req: 80 Item Level: 47 Clvl Req: 25 | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-6 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×4 | Weapon Speed: 10 Firing Rate: Slow: B/D/N/P/S Very Slow: Am/As |
| Chu-Ko-Nu | 14-32 Dmg Str Req: 80 Dex Req: 95 Item Level: 54 Clvl Req: 25 | D2 Sockets: 3 D2X Sockets: 1-5 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: -60 Firing Rate: Very Fast: Am/As/B/D/N/P/S |
Values in () are Expansion stats that differ from the Diablo 2 stats.
Elite Crossbows
You can find Elite Crossbows in Acts 4-5/Nightmare and then all through Hell, though like all Elite items, they drop very rarely.
| Item | Item Name | Properties | Misc Stats | Attack Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pellet Bow | 28-73 Dmg Str Req: 83 Dex Req: 155 Item Level: 61 Clvl Req: 42 | Sockets: 1-3 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: -10 Firing Rate: Normal: Am/As/B/D/N/P/S |
| Gorgon Crossbow | 25-87 Dmg Str Req: 117 Dex Req: 105 Item Level: 65 Clvl Req: 50 | Sockets: 1-4 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: 0 Firing Rate: Normal: B/D/N/P/S Slow: Am/As |
| Colossus Crossbow | 32-91 Dmg Str Req: 163 Dex Req: 77 Item Level: 70 Clvl Req: 62 | Sockets: 1-6 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×4 | Weapon Speed: 10 Firing Rate: Slow: B/D/N/P/S Very Slow: Am/As |
| Demon Crossbow | 26-40 Dmg * Str Req: 141 Dex Req: 98 Item Level: 76 Clvl Req: 68 | Sockets: 1-5 Dmg Bonus: 100 Dex Inv Size: 2×3 | Weapon Speed: -60 Firing Rate: Very Fast: Am/As/B/D/N/P/S |
* The Demon Crossbow has nearly the same damage (14-32 Chu), the same firing speed as the Chu No Ku , but requires 61 more Str, 3 more Dex, and is Clvl 68 vs Clvl 25. This would seem to be the only Elite item that’s actually worse than the Exceptional version.
