Crossbows in Elden Ring generally do more damage than bows, but they take longer to reload. This makes them an excellent ranged weapon against large, slow enemies that are a long way away (a Pumpkin Head, for example). But where do you get a crossbow? Bolts are abundant early in the game, but the weapons to shoot them are somewhat scarce. Not one of the early-game merchants — not Yale, not Patches, and not the Twin Husks — sells crossbows, and they don’t commonly drop.
To get your first crossbow in Elden Ring, you’re probably going to have to kill a soldier who has one, and hope he drops it. The location at which we pillaged our first crossbow — a Soldier’s Crossbow, to be precise — was at the cliff tops overlooking Saintsbridge. There’s a cluster of crucifixes there, guarded by a small group of soldiers, two of whom are crossbowmen. They aren’t guaranteed to drop crossbows, but they certainly can.
Related: How to craft arrows in Elden Ring
Once you have your crossbow, you’ll find it works a little differently to a bow. First of all, you have to tap the fire button once to load it, before tapping it again to fire. Aiming a crossbow from the hip works the same as a bow; you just lock onto your target and fire. But if you want to aim down sights, you have to wield the crossbow two-handed first. You don’t have to do this with a regular bow, for some reason.
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