Crossbows

Crossbows are found in Diablo III. Along with bows, these ranged weapons can be used by all characters, but they're the specialty of the Demon Hunter. There is also a class-specific type of crossbow, the Hand Crossbows that's only for the Demon Hunter's use.

Other higher level bows may also be specialized, but no information about those has yet been released.

Crossbows

Normal

	Name	Properties	Rq Lvl
	Light Crossbow	8.5–9.5 Damage Per Second (8–9) to (9–10) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	-
	Crossbow	10.5–13.0 Damage Per Second (10–12) to (11–14) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	2
	Heavy Crossbow	13.5–17.5 Damage Per Second (13–16) to (14–19) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	6
	Arbalest	16.5–22.0 Damage Per Second (16–20) to (17–24) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	10
	Chokonu	19.5–25.5 Damage Per Second (19–23) to (20–28) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	14
	War Crossbow	22.5–28.5 Damage Per Second (22–26) to (23–31) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	17
	Porcupine	26.0–32.0 Damage Per Second (25–29) to (27–35) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	20

Nightmare

	Name	Properties	Rq Lvl
	Siege Crossbow	35.5–43.0 Damage Per Second (34–39) to (37–47) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	30
	Quarrelbow	37.5–45.0 Damage Per Second (36–41) to (39–49) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	31
	Heavy Siege Crossbow	42.0–49.5 Damage Per Second (40–45) to (44–54) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	33
	Slingbow	50.0–57.5 Damage Per Second (47–52) to (53–63) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	36
	Lian Nu	64.0–73.0 Damage Per Second (60–66) to (68–80) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	41
	War Caster	75.0–84.0 Damage Per Second (70–76) to (80–92) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	44
	Scorpion	98.5–107.5 Damage Per Second (91–97) to (106–118) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	50

Hell

	Name	Properties	Rq Lvl
	Windlass	101.5–112.0 Damage Per Second (94–101) to (109–123) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	51
	Cranequin	108.0–118.5 Damage Per Second (100–107) to (116–130) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	52
	Dread Crossbow	119.0–129.5 Damage Per Second (110–117) to (128–142) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	54
	Nayin	139.0–151.0 Damage Per Second (128–136) to (150–166) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	57
	Stonebow	154.5–166.5 Damage Per Second (142–150) to (167–183) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	60
	Doomcaster	162.0–174.0 Damage Per Second (149–157) to (175–191) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	60
	Manticore	171.0–183.0 Damage Per Second (157–165) to (185–201) Damage 1.00 Attacks Per Second	60

Crossbow Images

Crossbow artwork.

Several crossbows were seen in a Blizzcon 2010 panel.

None of them were named or described in any way, but it's a nice look at the items, at least.

Demon Hunter Cinematic

Crossbows are "announced" so to speak, by their prominence in the Demon Hunter's cinematic, released at Blizzcon 2010. The character is seen making extensive use of the dual-wielded Hand Crossbows, before switching to a massive, demon skull headed xbow for a dramatic killing blast of Bolo Shot against the last surviving demon.

Unknown crossbow with a dramatic design in the Demon Hunter cinematic.

Bows and Xbows Concealed

A bow as an item drop, March 2010.

While a short bow was seen to drop in the WWI June 2008 gameplay movie, no other bows were seen in-game until Blizzcon 2010. There were no bows or ranged weapons of any type available in the Blizzcon 2008 and 2009 demos, presumably deactivated from dropping since Blizzard wished to keep the item types out of sight until the Ranger.

At least so it was thought; a bow was sighted[1] in a screenshot[2] from March 2010, but only after the Demon Hunter was revealed at Blizzcon 2010. No special insight was required to notice the bow; it was just in a dark corner of a screenshot and hard to see. Most likely Blizzard didn't notice it either, else they would not have released the shot at a time when the fifth character was still far from being revealed.

Archer NPCs

Various NPCs have been seen using bows. Several wandering NPC warriors were seen using them in the WWI 2008 gameplay movie. These archers attempted to accompany Deckard Cain and the Barbarian through the dungeon, but were picked off one at a time by various monsters.

Leah is seen holding a bow in town in the Caravan screenshots released in August 2010. It's unknown if she ever accompanies the player into combat, or is just a sort of apprentice Rogue who only holds the bow for status points while in town.

Archer Monsters

Skeletal Archers are common enemies in Act One screenshots. It's unknown if there are higher level monster archers found later in the game.

Bow Images

Prior to the Demon Hunter's debut, the only bows were seen being used by NPCs and monsters. A few sample images below.

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  Skeletal Archer in action.

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  NPC Archers assist the Barbarian.

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  Deckard Cain and a bow-packing Leah.

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  Demon skull xbow model.

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  Ornate xbow grip.