The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Weapons Guide: Crossbows

We have built our Skyrim character, we have chosen his race and we have developed his skills to customize him as much as we wanted. We have developed our magic skills and took a good look at the different Dragonshouts, the power that only the Dragonborn can wield. All’s well and good but we still need a certain something to be able to go adventuring in Tamriel: weapons. And just as you may expect, there are a lot of different weapons to be found in Skyrim, allowing adventurers to chose what really suits them and the character they have created.

There are a lot of different weapons in Skyrim, ranging from swords and maces to aces, bows and dagger. Even if there are so many weapons, they are grouped together in only three different type: one handed, two handed and bows. If you have checked out our perks and skills guides you already know that you can improve your skills with these weapon types by using the weapons themselves in battle.

The weapons’ level depends on the material: the weakest weapons are the one made from iron while the strongest are the unique Daedric Weapons. If you have downloaded the Dawnguard DLC pack you’ll also be able to obtain the Dragonbone weapons which are even stronger than Daedric Weapons.

Weapons can be obtained in a variety of ways: they can be bought, looted, stolen, forged, or received as a reward. Weapons can also be upgraded at a grindstone with the right material.

Grindstones are found all over the world of Skyrim: using them will also improve your smithing skills. Since weapons don’t have durability in Skyim, the only weapon stat you’ll be able to improve is damage. You can also apply enhancements on the weapons to enhance their battle performance. While most weapons require ingots of their material to improve, some others will require some unique materials which are harder to find. Weapons upgrades are ranked as fine, superior, exquisite, flawless, epic, and legendary: each quality level requires a certain Smithing level which can be decreased with a few perks.

Quality                 Skill  LV  With Perks

Fine                           14           14
Superior                    31           22
Exquisite                  65           40
Flawless                    100         57
Epic                           150         74
Legendary                196         91

• Crossbows

Crossbows can only be used if you have the Dawnguard expansion DLC. As weapons they’re slightly different than bows since they deal more than damage than them but also fire slower.

Dwarven Crossbow

Enhanced Crossbow

Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow

• Crossbows don’t use arrows: you’ll be requiring bolts to be able to use them.

Steel Bolt

Dwarven Bolt

Exploding Steel Bolt of Fire

Exploding Steel Bolt of Ice

Exploding Steel Bolt of Shock

Exploding Dwarven Bolt of Fire

Exploding Dwarven Bolt of Ice

Exploding Dwarven Bolt of Shock