As many of us know, Bows in 3.0 were basically the same thing as a gun but with a literal drawback. They were also super accurate at any range and were arguably the best sniper weapon for their ease of access and damage, not to even mention they are silent.
I think bows are in a weird place, on one hand they are almost overpowered with their damage and simplicity to use, but on the other hand near underpowered for being frustrating occasionally and still being second to guns in U2.
What Bows lacked from 3.0 was depth, they were nothing more than just a different looking gun by most standards. Instead I would like to see them revamped so that they are both viable and different from guns.
Key Changes:
- Non compound bows should be highly inaccurate: whether through just flying off the mark a lot or having a lot of “scope sway” bows IRL take years to get good at. When I first shot a recurve I was shocked at how inaccurate of a shot I was at just 20 yards. This will also balance bows so they can still maintain their high damage without them being basically the best and most common sniper around like they were in 3.0.
2. Arrows crafting revamp: Make several types and tiers of arrows possible.
Makeshift arrows: can just be crafted from a stick on the ground, but lack accuracy and damage, but at least you have something.
Primitive arrows: If your lucky you can find flint or other fitting rocks like obsidian to make your classic looking arrow. Has about average damage and accuracy. Can optionally craft with feathers or leaves to increase accuracy.
DIY arrows: Using scavenged gear like nails and sticks can make your zombie apocalypse style arrow. About the same damage as primitive arrows but lacks the accuracy.
Modern arrows: Either found in store or crafted at bases with higher end gear. These arrows are extremely resistant to breaking, do tons of damage, and are the most accurate on the market. The catch? These arrows can only be fired by a compound bow. Likewise these are the only kind of arrow a compound bow can fire, so compounds are more of a late game weapon.
Quick note: Crossbows should use Bolts not Arrows, and should be a lot harder to craft.
- Bows require more maintenance: Bows will need new strings or parts as they grow in wear in tear. Compound parts either need to be found in bow stores or made in bases with high tech tools while non compounds can usually be repaired fairly easily. Likewise non compounds take damage if left strung up for a long amount of time, and should usually be carried around unstrung until needed.
Attachments for compound bows: Compounds could obviously have a wide variety of grips, scopes, and whisker-biscuits that have already been talked about, so I want to mention some less known attachments.
RELEASE: You can attach it to your bow in a special release slot to increase overall accuracy. (for those of you wondering why you don’t just wear it instead, I think its better for simplicities sake if you can just attach it to the bow so its less of a inventory managing hassle.)
COUNTER BALANCE: Most attachments have downsides, mainly increasing the weight of your bow which can make it unbalanced and thus more inaccurate. This item basically does exactly what you would expect, balances out the weight, so if you have lots of attachments this negates some of the downsides.
Attachments for non-compound bows:
FINGER TABS: Essentially works the same way the release does, but to a lesser affect.
ARM GUARDS: Every time you fire your bow there is a small chance you will smack your wrist and completely throw your shot off. The arm guard negates that. I still think this should be considered an attachment like the others for simplicities sake.
STRINGERS: Stringing and unstringing a bow without one of these is
This list is definitely super comprehensive but its just a few things about bows I thought could add more depth to them. I also didn’t mention where or how you would craft / find the attachments because that can be for later when the game is out and being balanced. Thanks for reading!
