Editing Compound crossbow (section)

== Tactics ==
When used against weaker specimens more interesting tactics can be used. Against a single specimen which can be killed in a single body shot aiming down them, and possibly jumping for a better angle, will cause the bolt to impact in the nearby floor behind them for quick recovery of the bolt after their demise. Against lines of specimens it can penetrate multiple targets, this can even be used against powerful specimens if multiple headshots can be lined up, although the bolt is usually not recoverable afterward.

It should be noted that the Crossbow is treated as a hitscan weapon, like most of the bullet-based weapons, so you do not have to adjust for gravity or travel time. It has projectile characteristics and its bolts can be recovered after taking the shot if it were to pierce the specimen and close enough before it vanishes from where it stuck. Care to conserve ammunition when possible; either by recovering nailed bolts from walls and ground or piercing a few weak specimen at the same time. A jumpshot would kill any weak specimen upclose and you can recover the bolt easily.

Maneuvering into better positions, and forcing the specimens down paths where they have to come in a line can greatly help with this strategy. Changing the scope-type in the options to sprite based removes all scope sway (at the cost of the nice looking iron-sight model), allowing you to snipe on the run impeccably well. If you have room to maneuver, strafe to line up enemies. If you're on flat ground, lining up headshots on enemies of the same type (and thus the same height) can kill large amounts of foes quickly and efficiently. 

The headshot damage is enough to take out almost all normal [[specimens]] with a single headshot under all normal difficulties and player counts even when used as off perk. As for the Scrake and Fleshpound, as a level 6 Sharpshooter this weapon will headshot for one shot kills on Scrakes and two shot kills on Fleshpounds in low [[Difficulty|difficulties]] regardless of player count and solo games at all difficulties. Only exception is high player count [[Difficulty#Suicidal|Suicidal]] and [[Difficulty#Hell_on_Earth|Hell on Earth]] matches, where those specimen gain extra resistance against bolt headshots.

This weapon is also extremely useful against Scrakes, as off-perk crossbow bolts can stun Scrakes if you headshot them when playing at difficulty levels lower than Suicidal. On Suicidal difficulty and above however, being a level 1+ Sharpshooter is required before it can be used to stun Scrakes. Limited bolt count of the weapon becomes a nuisance here and won't let the low level Sharpshooters take as many Scrakes as they want and damage output becomes a decisive factor when taking on [[Fleshpound]]s. 

While it takes 4 bolt headshots to stun and kill a single Scrake at 6 player, Hell on Earth or Suicidal game as a level 1 Sharpshooter; it takes 6-7 bolt headshots to kill a Fleshpound in the same setup. The long reload time between bolts will cause Fleshpound to retaliate freely after enraging at the first shot until focus fired. This lack of damage will force Sharpshooter to stay away from the specimen and this won't be an optimal approach as they can put their teammates at stake while not having aggression of the specimen.

Being at least a level 4 Sharpshooter allow player to be more proficient and graceful while using Crossbow to push the bolt requirement per big specimen kill to be pretty close to level 6 results. A level 6 Sharpshooter can kill a Scrake in highest difficulty with 2 bolt headshots and a Fleshpound with 3-4 bolt headshots depending dealing damage to its head previous to letting it loose.