Seeking an opinion as to which is the better crossbow.

Heavy Cross bow of Sering +1 with two additional points fire damage.
OR
Giant Hair Cross Bow +3.

Out of those two, i'd prefer the giant hair for the extra thac0, thats just me. But, there are alot of better crossbows that you get for free later on. In chapter 5 you get 2 really good crossbows IIRC, i'd wait and get the better ones for free, unless you really need it right now.

What about lightcrossbow of speed: +1 ApR

I'd actually go for the elemental damage because it will hit through stoneskins to stop enemy mages casting at you

Hell, there's the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy (+5 THAC0, +2 damage) for free in Chapter 2, if you're lucky.

For raw damage, go for the Light Crossbow of Speed. If you want style and wield a bad-a**ed Heavy one, go for the Searing crossbow.

If your character is an archer type/thief, then I'd follow Dundee's advice and go for the light crossbow of speed to maximise your damage per round.

If you're a warrior, with 2 or more proficiency points devoted to crossbows, then go for the Giant Hair Crossbow. This will give you higher damage per round than you would if you were wielding the light crossbow of speed. Giant's Hair packs a *nasty* punch.

Better yet, if you have ToB installed, go for the Firetooth +4/+5. Unlimited +4/+5 bolts with +2 additional fire damage each hit is an absolute bargain. This is a beast of a weapon.

Not sure what to think about the Heavy Crossbow of Searing. In my experience, the bonus fire damage doesn't always kicked in. This might be because I was combining it with a quiver of plenty (watchers keep, ToB required) and this might have caused a bug, but the fire damage only seemed to be every 3rd or so shot. Annoying.

[ 02-27-2003, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Jim ]

In my own personal experiences, having played a Dwarven Xbowman, use both the HCoS and the LCoS. Depending on what you need. HCoS does brutal damage. It is sort of like a bazooka. You point, you shoot, stuff dies. The LCoS is sort of like a pistol. You take it out only when you have to.

As for the HCoA, I find that it works well in Keldorn's hands. He gets a nice low THAC0, making him useful for sniper work.

It should also be noted that heavy xbows seem to have fantastic range abilities.