Why is player bow/crossbow nerfed compared to ai?

[KingEroc1st]

I've consistantly noticed this in my playthroughs for the last many months now. since they haven't changed the ranged mechanics it makes sense.

at 300 bow/crossbow skill and using the best gear. my character can barely shoot an arrow 150 meters. it just does not physically travel farther
while most tier 5-6 archers/crossbowmen can start shooting at a better range around 180-200. in fact i frequently start getting shot at from that range, while knowing there's no way in hell i can hit them back until i close in.
this applies to allied troops too so there's no unfairness except against the player themselves.

Also the accuracy seems to have a random spread based on the reticle center area size. until your skill/weapon combo is high enough where it's basically closed to a point. your shots will not have consistency, after release they'll randomly fly towards a point within the area of the reticle center. (at low skill on horseback it's most obviously where the reticle center doesn't close much and has a huge area. every shot goes to a random point in that area rather than having some kind of predictable pattern like the throwing projectiles.)

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

They just know how to line up the best shot when they detect you and don't really aim. Also, I suspect they don't use the reticle like the player does. I think this because of rate of fire AI troops seem to have, it just seems too fast for them to be actually closing the reticle before fire. You can shoot a lot farther then 150, just have to aim higher and higher, but you can shoot really far. Really long shot have reduced damage though. Now, ACURATLY landing a shot at extra long range by aiming high (not just firing into a formation) is pretty hard, but possible. This is where the AI comes out ahead though: There is no "try" for them, no eye strain, no headache exc.... they just detect target and know how to best fire at it. I do think their skill and gear effect their max distance they will shoot though, but I think elevation matter too. Little **** archers will shoot very far when up on a siege wall and such, but no much on the grounds.

In general I think AI ranged is too good and really only the highest tiers should have the range and fire rate they do now. As you say, it's very noticeable when you have 300+skill and noble bow and little **** militia archers are still able to fire on you with equal rate and accuracy.

 

[KingEroc1st]

They just know how to line up the best shot when they detect you and don't really aim.

You can shoot a lot farther then 150

i'm literally aiming up at 45 degree angle which will allow the projectile to travel the maximum distance. aiming farther up would result in a shorter hit due to the arc.
a tier 3 imperial archer has more range than me at 300 bow skill using noble bow...

i literally observed my archer line as they take shots at targets too far for me. they just aim up and their projectiles don't even move in the same way that mine does (they don't aim up as much and their projectile lose energy a lot less, thus don't dip as much and hit farther). it almost seems that the ai archer/crossbow units have their projectiles magically appear and works off different calculations

 

[black_bulldog]

i'm literally aiming up at 45 degree angle which will allow the projectile to travel the maximum distance. aiming farther up would result in a shorter hit due to the arc.
a tier 3 imperial archer has more range than me at 300 bow skill using noble bow...

i literally observed my archer line as they take shots at targets too far for me. they just aim up and their projectiles don't even move in the same way that mine does (they don't aim up as much and their projectile lose energy a lot less, thus don't dip as much and hit farther). it almost seems that the ai archer/crossbow units have their projectiles magically appear and works off different calculations

The game blatantly allows npcs to cheat all the time so this isn't surprising to me. I can remember fighting in the arena and going up against a foot soldier with both of us using bows and I had around 120 skill and he was still able to fire faster than I could. After seeing that a few times I realized that Taleworlds really didn't care about balanced combat.

 

[SomeWeirdSins]

I've consistantly noticed this in my playthroughs for the last many months now. since they haven't changed the ranged mechanics it makes sense.

at 300 bow/crossbow skill and using the best gear. my character can barely shoot an arrow 150 meters. it just does not physically travel farther
while most tier 5-6 archers/crossbowmen can start shooting at a better range around 180-200. in fact i frequently start getting shot at from that range, while knowing there's no way in hell i can hit them back until i close in.
this applies to allied troops too so there's no unfairness except against the player themselves.

Also the accuracy seems to have a random spread based on the reticle center area size. until your skill/weapon combo is high enough where it's basically closed to a point. your shots will not have consistency, after release they'll randomly fly towards a point within the area of the reticle center. (at low skill on horseback it's most obviously where the reticle center doesn't close much and has a huge area. every shot goes to a random point in that area rather than having some kind of predictable pattern like the throwing projectiles.)

I haven't noticed this
I can take a crossbow and a horse and solo any town militia because I outrange them. You can fire very far with the noble bow and long skill if you aim high and lob into formations.

It's just a player skill issue.

 

[KingEroc1st]

I haven't noticed this
I can take a crossbow and a horse and solo any town militia because I outrange them. You can fire very far with the noble bow and long skill if you aim high and lob into formations.

It's just a player skill issue.

i regularly land 150m head shot but that doesn't mean the enemy tier 3 archer can't hit me from 30m farther. you are literally talking about siege scenarios and frankly it's quite irrelevant since siege maps are smaller and you get plenty of cover.

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

i'm literally aiming up at 45 degree angle which will allow the projectile to travel the maximum distance. aiming farther up would result in a shorter hit due to the arc.
a tier 3 imperial archer has more range than me at 300 bow skill using noble bow...

i literally observed my archer line as they take shots at targets too far for me. they just aim up and their projectiles don't even move in the same way that mine does (they don't aim up as much and their projectile lose energy a lot less, thus don't dip as much and hit farther). it almost seems that the ai archer/crossbow units have their projectiles magically appear and works off different calculations

That's interesting, is it possible you have the aim correction on? I don't know but I'd guess it might interfere with shooting past a certain distance.