User:PANGH/Ranged Critical Hits - Revision history

PANGH: /* Hidden crossbow, easy targets */

2026-11-09T00:58:45Z

Hidden crossbow, easy targets

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:58, 8 November 2026
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	== Kill loops ==		== Kill loops ==
			Each loop is listed as the game commands in order.
	Each loop is listed as the game commands in order, followed by the hunting line that was tested in [[Lich:Script_Bigshot\|Bigshot]] for players who script. In Bigshot, the <code>prone</code> check is inverted: it passes when the target is NOT already disabled.

	=== Hidden crossbow, easy targets ===		=== Hidden + crossbow, easy targets ===
	Targets at or below your level, little or no shield.		Targets at or below your level, little or no shield.

	'''Commands:''' HIDE → ~~SWEEP~~ until it lands → FIRE until the target dies~~. For a flier, which cannot be swept: HIDE → KNEEL → HIDE → FIRE~~.		'''Commands:''' HIDE → DISABLER until it lands → FIRE until the target dies.
			* AIM set to the right eye. AIM RIGHT EYE (or LEFT EYE- doesn't matter.)
	<pre>Bigshot: hide, force sweep until 101(!flying), kneel(flying), hide(flying !hidden), fire(x5)</pre>
	* AIM set to the right eye.
	* The sweep brings you out of hiding, so the shot is open, but the prone target's lower DS carries it. Hiding before the sweep did not change the sweep's SMR result.		* The sweep brings you out of hiding, so the shot is open, but the prone target's lower DS carries it. Hiding before the sweep did not change the sweep's SMR result.
	* Fliers cannot be swept; `kneel(flying)` and the re-hide shoot them hidden and kneeling instead.

	=== Hidden crossbow, ~~hard~~ targets ===		=== Hidden + crossbow, harder targets ===
	Higher-level, high-DS or shield-using targets.		Higher-level, high-DS or shield-using targets.

	'''Commands:''' HIDE → SWEEP until it lands → KNEEL → HIDE → FIRE until the target dies.		'''Commands:''' HIDE → SWEEP until it lands → KNEEL → HIDE → FIRE until the target dies, or re-apply disabler and repeat.
		⚫	* About 2.5 seconds more setup time per target than the easy loop, repaid by much better aim and endroll.
	<pre>Bigshot: hide, force sweep until 101(!flying), kneel, hide(!hidden), fire(x5)</pre>
		⚫	* Kneeling lowers your DS; a defensive spell, small statue or society benefit covers it.
⚫	* About 2.5 seconds more setup per target than the easy loop, repaid by much better aim and endroll.
⚫	* Kneeling lowers your DS; a defensive spell or ~~sign~~ covers it.

	=== Young open archer ===		=== Young open archer ===
	Open archers whose net aim at the eye is near or below 0 (roughly level 40–50 against same-level targets, per the table above).		Open archers whose net aim at the eye is near or below 0 (roughly level 40–50 against same-level targets, per the table above).

	'''Commands:''' AIM CLEAR once, then FIRE until the target dies.		'''Commands:''' AIM CLEAR once, Disable if you can, then FIRE until the target dies. It takes time to get your AIM skill up.
		⚫	* No wides, 1 second faster per shot unless already at the 3-second floor, and random leg and back hits knock targets down for the next shot. The point is hiding and aiming causes misses and RT.
	<pre>Bigshot: fire(x5)</pre>
	* Bigshot users: also clear the ranged aim list in the profile, or Bigshot sends its own AIM.
⚫	* No wides, 1 second faster per shot unless already at the 3-second floor, and random leg and back hits knock targets down for the next shot.

	=== Veteran open archer ===		=== Veteran open archer ===
	Net aim at the eye of about 50 or more, but targets with high DS.		Net aim at the eye of about 50 or more, but targets with high DS.

	'''Commands:''' AIM RIGHT EYE once. ~~Cast~~ Moonbeam (611); if it ~~fails~~, ~~cast~~ ~~Web~~ ~~(118)~~. FIRE only while the target is disabled; ~~if both spells miss, cast again rather than firing.~~		'''Commands:''' AIM RIGHT EYE once. Disabler: Moonbeam (611), Web (118), Sweep, E-wave are all great. FIRE only while the target is disabled;
	<pre>Bigshot: 611(prone m15), 118(prone m25), fire(!prone)(x5)</pre>
	* Set the mana reserves to your pool. <code>fire(!prone)</code> holds shots until the target is disabled, so a missed disabler is recast instead of wasting arrows.
	* Any disabler that drops DS works the same way: a knockdown CMAN, a weapon technique such as [[Pin Down]], or a blunt arrow.		* Any disabler that drops DS works the same way: a knockdown CMAN, a weapon technique such as [[Pin Down]], or a blunt arrow.

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	* '''AIM persists.''' Your AIM setting carries over between hunts. Type AIM to check it before a session, and AIM CLEAR when you mean to fire unaimed.		* '''AIM persists.''' Your AIM setting carries over between hunts. Type AIM to check it before a session, and AIM CLEAR when you mean to fire unaimed.
	* '''Don't fire at a standing high-DS target.''' If the disabler misses, disable again. Shots into full DS mostly miss or nick.		* '''Don't fire at a standing high-DS target.''' If the disabler misses, disable again. Shots into full DS mostly miss or nick.
	* '''Crossbow encumbrance.''' Light crossbows fire in 4 seconds and heavy in 5, but encumbrance adds time to the cock step built into FIRE. If a light crossbow shows 5 seconds, check ENCUMBRANCE.		* '''Crossbow encumbrance.''' Light crossbows fire in 4 seconds and heavy in 5, but encumbrance adds time to the cock step built into FIRE. If a light crossbow shows 5 seconds, check ENCUMBRANCE

	'''For Bigshot users:'''
	* '''Ranged aim list.''' Before each fire, Bigshot checks the target's wounds against the aim list in your profile and sends AIM itself. With only "right eye" listed, a blinded right eye leaves the list empty and it sends a bare AIM. List <code>right eye, left eye, head</code> so it moves on.
	* '''Flee count.''' A flee count of 1 makes Bigshot walk away from a downed target whenever a second creature arrives. Use 2 or more.
	* '''Gate the fire.''' An ungated <code>fire</code> shoots standing targets whenever the disabler misses. Gate it on the disable, as in the loops above.
	* '''Stale statuses.''' The status feed can show a target as immobilized while its DS is unchanged. If shots at a "disabled" target show its standing DS, gate on a more specific state.

	== Add-ons ==		== Add-ons ==

PANGH at 00:38, 9 November 2026

2026-11-09T00:38:15Z

Show changes

PANGH: /* Add-ons */

2026-11-09T00:22:27Z

Add-ons

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:22, 8 November 2026
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	== Add-ons ==		== Add-ons ==
	Flaring fletchings, poisons, blessing and ~~elemental~~ ~~blade~~ are outside this page's model. Flares are separate criticals and do not raise the arrow's base rank; flare charges are limited (12 per flaring material). ~~The one~~ flare that works as a setup is the unbalance flare from dreadnought raptor fletchings, which can knock a target down.		Flaring fletchings, poisons, blessing, e-blades and other modifications are outside this page's model. Flares are separate criticals and do not raise the arrow's base rank; flare charges are limited (12 per flaring material). One flare worth mentioning that works as a setup is the unbalance flare from dreadnought raptor fletchings, which can knock a target down, but many flares will also cause knockdowns.

	=== Arrow setups ===		=== Arrow setups ===

PANGH: Created page with "{{player-guide |title = Status Effects and CMAN Quick Reference |topic = Combat Maneuvers, Status Effects |author = Darcimer |author-displayed = Darcimer |date = 2026-07-15 }} This page covers how bows and crossbows kill with critical hits: what endroll each launcher needs for a fatal crit, how often an aimed shot lands where it is aimed, and the kill loops that tested best in live hunting logs. For commands, roundtime, AS and DS formulas, fletching services, tips, item..."

2026-11-09T00:01:40Z

Created page with "{{player-guide |title = Status Effects and CMAN Quick Reference |topic = Combat Maneuvers, Status Effects |author = Darcimer |author-displayed = Darcimer |date = 2026-07-15 }} This page covers how bows and crossbows kill with critical hits: what endroll each launcher needs for a fatal crit, how often an aimed shot lands where it is aimed, and the kill loops that tested best in live hunting logs. For commands, roundtime, AS and DS formulas, fletching services, tips, item..."

New page

{{player-guide
|title = Status Effects and CMAN Quick Reference
|topic = Combat Maneuvers, Status Effects
|author = Darcimer
|author-displayed = Darcimer
|date = 2026-07-15
}}
This page covers how bows and crossbows kill with critical hits: what endroll each launcher needs for a fatal crit, how often an aimed shot lands where it is aimed, and the kill loops that tested best in live hunting logs.

For commands, roundtime, AS and DS formulas, fletching services, tips, items and sample builds, see [[Art of the Bow (guide)|The Art of the Bow]]. This page does not repeat that material.

It is the fourth page in a set:
* [[Status Effects and CMAN Quick Reference]] covers what prone, Vulnerable, Staggered and the other conditions do.
* [[Critical Effects Quick Reference]] lists the critical rank at which each damage type stuns, knocks down or kills at each hit location.
* [[Critical Kill Loops]] pairs melee setups with finishers.
* This page does the same for ranged weapons.

== Ranged critical hits in one minute ==
'''Base rank''' = truncate( truncate( (endroll − 100) × damage factor ) ÷ armor critical divisor ), capped at 9 when applied.

The game then rolls the actual rank evenly between half the base rank (rounded up) and the full base rank.

* '''Use the endroll exactly as the game prints it.''' The total at the end of the AS line already includes AvD.
* '''Damage factor (DF) comes from the launcher and the tip''' (DF and AvD tables: [[Art of the Bow (guide)|The Art of the Bow]]). Arrow tips change DF and AvD; shaft wood does not.
* '''Divisors:''' cloth 5, leather 6, scale 7, chain 9, plate 11. Armor groups follow AsG: 5–8 leather, 9–12 scale, 13–16 chain, 17–20 plate. A leather breastplate (AsG 9) is in the scale group.
* '''Broadhead and bodkin arrows are 66% puncture and 33% slash.''' A slash to the eye is fatal from rank 5, a puncture from rank 4; both are fatal to the head from rank 6.
* '''Weighting.''' Ranged attacks get critical weighting from INT and WIS (reported as about (INT bonus + WIS bonus) ÷ 6, up to 16), and from sighting beyond the aim cap (see below). Firing from hiding does not add ambush weighting. The tables here leave weighting out, so treat them as a floor; logged kills below these thresholds are weighting at work.

=== Kill chance per hit by base rank ===
For a broadhead or bodkin hit that lands on the location, including the slash third:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Base rank !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11
|-
! Eye
| 22% || 56% || 67% || 92% || 93% || 100% || 100% || 100%
|-
! Head
| 0% || 0% || 25% || 50% || 60% || 80% || 83% || 100%
|}

=== Endroll needed for a fatal hit ===
Broadhead against cloth, leather and scale; bodkin against chain and plate. The endroll is the printed total, AvD included. Weighting lowers these numbers.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="6" | Eye kill 92% (base 7)
|-
! Launcher !! Cloth !! Leather !! Scale !! Chain !! Plate
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Short bow || 208 || 287 || 279 || 330 || 770
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Composite bow || 217 || 240 || 251 || 310 || 567
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Long bow || 188 || 230 || 240 || 294 || 506
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Hand crossbow || 228 || 287 || 296 || 394 || 614
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Light crossbow || 200 || 240 || 251 || 310 || 567
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Heavy crossbow || 183 || 230 || 231 || 304 || 506
|-
! colspan="6" | Head kill 80% (base 9)
|-
! Launcher !! Cloth !! Leather !! Scale !! Chain !! Plate
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Short bow || 239 || 340 || 330 || 395 || 961
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Composite bow || 250 || 280 || 294 || 370 || 700
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Long bow || 213 || 267 || 280 || 350 || 622
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Hand crossbow || 264 || 340 || 352 || 477 || 760
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Light crossbow || 229 || 280 || 294 || 370 || 700
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Heavy crossbow || 206 || 267 || 268 || 362 || 622
|}

* '''The eye needs about 40–60 less endroll than the head''' for a likely kill, on every launcher.
* '''Plate is out of reach.''' Against plate, ranged kills come from damage, flares or poison, not from the arrow's critical.

== Aiming success ==
An aimed shot first rolls whether it lands on the chosen location. A miss either hits another location or flies wide and does nothing. This formula was shared by players on Discord and is not official; the field results below fit it well.

* '''Aim skill, hidden''' = truncate( (Perception ranks + Ambush ranks) ÷ 2 ) + truncate( Ranged Weapons ranks ÷ 4 )
* '''Aim skill, open''' = truncate( Perception ranks ÷ 2 ) + truncate( Ranged Weapons ranks ÷ 4 )
* '''Location penalty''' = 3 × target level × location modifier ÷ aim skill. Location modifiers: eyes 20, neck 12, head 10, hands 5, limbs and torso 2.
* '''Aim total''' = aim skill − location penalty + d100 + modifiers. Above 100 lands on the location; 50–100 hits another location; below 50 flies wide.
* '''Modifiers:''' target prone or sitting −10; target size tiny −10, small −5, medium +5, large +15; crossbow +5 standing, +20 kneeling; sighting adds to the total.
* '''Cap.''' The formula as shared says a d100 of 25 or less always fails, capping every location at 75%. One logged run hit the eye on 11 of 11 connecting shots, so this cap is unconfirmed. The aim roll is a separate d100 from the attack roll and does not print.
* '''Sighting''' is the ranged counterpart of weighting. It adds to the aim total, and any sighting past the aim cap converts to critical weighting at half rate.

=== Modeled on-location chance ===
2x Ranged Weapons and Perception, plus 2x Ambush when hidden, against a target of the shooter's level, before sighting and status modifiers:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Shooter level !! 10 !! 20 !! 30 !! 40 !! 50 !! 60 !! 75
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Hidden, eye
| 5% || 29% || 54% || 75% || 75% || 75% || 75%
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Hidden, head
| 16% || 40% || 65% || 75% || 75% || 75% || 75%
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Open, eye
| 0% || 0% || 7% || 22% || 37% || 51% || 75%
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Open, head
| 0% || 12% || 26% || 41% || 56% || 71% || 75%
|}

* '''Hiding is the big aim lever.''' It adds the Ambush ranks to the aim skill, which puts a hidden archer about 30 levels ahead of an open one.
* '''Higher-level targets are harder to aim at.''' The penalty grows with target level, so the same archer lands far fewer eye shots on a target 6–8 levels above them.
* '''Aim persists.''' AIM stays set between hunts until AIM CLEAR. Type AIM with no location to see the current setting.

== Field results ==
Live Bigshot logs, solo except where noted, 13–37 shots per run.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Archer !! Setup !! Targets !! Aim !! On location !! Wide !! Kills per shot
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Level 38 rogue, light crossbow || Hide, sweep, shoot open || 10 levels below || Head || 56–70% || 0% || 0.44–0.67
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Same || Hide, sweep, shoot open || 10 levels below || Eye || 74% || 0% || '''0.74'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Same || Hide, sweep, shoot open || 6–8 levels above, shields || Eye || 32% || 0% (16% shield blocks) || 0.27
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Same || Hide, sweep, kneel, hide, shoot || 6–8 levels above, shields || Eye || 69% || 0% (no blocks) || '''0.77'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Level 20 monk, long bow, open || Fire || Same level || Eye || 0% || 53% || 0.18
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Same || Fire || Same level || None (AIM CLEAR) || — || 0% || '''0.25'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Level 63 ranger, long bow, open, sighted || Fire || Same level, DS 316–377 || Eye || 1 nick in 10 shots || 0% || 0
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Same || Moonbeam or Web, then fire || Same level, DS 174–221 once disabled || Eye || 11 of 11 hits || 0% || '''0.79'''
|}

What the logs show:
* '''Eye beats head once the aim can land it.''' Eye hits killed 16 of 17 times against leather and scale targets at endrolls of 200–400; head hits at 215–270 often did not kill, and "saved by a thick skull" appeared at endrolls up to 389.
* '''Bad aim is worse than no aim.''' Below the skill where the eye penalty can be overcome, aimed shots fly wide, and aiming adds 1 second of roundtime unless the bow is at its 3-second floor. Unaimed shots never flew wide and still knocked targets down with random leg hits.
* '''A knockdown turns misses into kills.''' On swept targets, shots that missed the head still killed most of the time because the prone target's lower DS raised the endroll.
* '''Kneeling and re-hiding pay off on hard targets.''' On higher-level, shield-using targets, the crossbow's kneeling +20 aim and +30 AS and the hidden aim bonus more than doubled eye hits and lifted the endroll by about 40. No shot from hiding was blocked by a shield (13 shots; a small sample).
* '''Disabling is what makes crits possible against high DS.''' A same-level veteran's open eye aim was already good enough, but undisabled targets held the endroll near 100. Moonbeam or Web cut the targets' DS by 100–130, and every connecting shot then killed or nearly killed.

== Kill loops ==
Each loop is a tested Bigshot hunting line. `prone` is Bigshot's inverted check: it passes when the target is NOT already disabled.

=== Hidden crossbow, easy targets ===
Targets at or below your level, little or no shield.
<pre>hide, force sweep until 101(!flying), kneel(flying), hide(flying !hidden), fire(x5)</pre>
* AIM set to the right eye.
* The sweep brings you out of hiding, so the shot is open, but the prone target's lower DS carries it. Hiding before the sweep did not change the sweep's SMR result.
* Fliers cannot be swept; `kneel(flying)` and the re-hide shoot them hidden and kneeling instead.

=== Hidden crossbow, hard targets ===
Higher-level, high-DS or shield-using targets.
<pre>hide, force sweep until 101(!flying), kneel, hide(!hidden), fire(x5)</pre>
* About 2.5 seconds more setup per target than the easy loop, repaid by much better aim and endroll.
* Kneeling lowers your DS; a defensive spell or sign covers it.

=== Young open archer ===
Open archers below the level where open eye aim can land (roughly level 40–50 against same-level targets, per the model above).
<pre>fire(x5)</pre>
* AIM CLEAR, and clear Bigshot's ranged aim list.
* No wides, 1 second faster per shot unless already at the 3-second floor, and random leg and back hits knock targets down for the next shot.

=== Veteran open archer ===
Open aim skill high enough to land the eye (about 90–100 against a same-level target), but targets with high DS.
<pre>611(prone m15), 118(prone m25), fire(!prone)(x5)</pre>
* AIM set to the right eye. Moonbeam (611) first, Web (118) as backup; set the mana reserves to your pool.
* `fire(!prone)` holds shots until the target is disabled, so a missed disabler is recast instead of wasting arrows.
* Any disabler that drops DS works the same way: a knockdown CMAN, a weapon technique such as [[Pin Down]], or a blunt arrow.

== Field checks ==
* '''Bigshot's ranged aim list.''' Before each fire, Bigshot checks the target's wounds against its own aim list in the profile and sends AIM itself. With only "right eye" listed, a blinded right eye leaves the list empty and it sends a bare AIM. List <code>right eye, left eye, head</code> so it moves on.
* '''Flee count.''' A flee count of 1 makes Bigshot walk away from a downed target whenever a second creature arrives. Use 2 or more.
* '''Gate the fire.''' An ungated fire shoots standing targets whenever the disabler misses. Gate it on the disable.
* '''Crossbow encumbrance.''' Light crossbows fire in 4 seconds and heavy in 5, but encumbrance adds time to the cock step built into FIRE. If a light crossbow shows 5 seconds, check ENCUMBRANCE.
* '''Watch for stale statuses.''' Bigshot's status feed can show a target as immobilized while its DS is unchanged. If shots at a "disabled" target show its standing DS, gate on a more specific state.

== Add-ons ==
Flaring fletchings, poisons, blessing and elemental blade are outside this page's model. Flares are separate criticals and do not raise the arrow's base rank; flare charges are limited (12 per flaring material). The one flare that works as a setup is the unbalance flare from dreadnought raptor fletchings, which can knock a target down.

=== Arrow setups ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Role !! Tip !! Fletching !! Shaft
|-
| Knockdown || Blunt || Dreadnought raptor (unbalance flares) || Ironwood; faewood against creatures that need magical ammo
|-
| Kill, cloth, leather or scale || Broadhead || Storm griffin (lightning), or snowy cockatrice (cold) early || Faewood
|-
| Kill, chain or plate || Bodkin || Storm griffin || Faewood
|}

* '''Bodkin''' gains DF and AvD only against chain and plate and loses against everything lighter.
* '''Blunt''' costs about one rank against broadhead but deals unbalance criticals, which knock targets down.
* '''Crescent''' has broadhead's DF and AvD but is mostly slash, so it is never better for kills.
* Ammo properties override the launcher's, so a bundle can carry its own flares or blessing. Fletching ranks needed for each service: [[Art of the Bow (guide)|The Art of the Bow]].

== See also ==
* [[Art of the Bow (guide)|The Art of the Bow]]
* [[Critical Kill Loops]]
* [[Critical Effects Quick Reference]]
* [[Status Effects and CMAN Quick Reference]]
* [[Critical]]
* [[Critical weighting]]
* [[Ambush]]

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Mechanics]]
[[Category:Combat Mechanics]]