Deliver death in silence with the versatile new crossbow

10.30.12 [DICE] H Brun | 127 comments

Perhaps the most striking and versatile weapon addition in the history of Battlefield, Aftermath introduces the makeshift crossbow. Read on for an in-depth look at its many uses and different bolt types that let you adapt to any situation on this earthquake shattered Battlefield.

Inspired by real life military engineering ingenuity, this crossbow is created by taking the stock of a malfunctioning assault rifle and adding the other parts needed, like a piece of wire for the string and some scrap metal for the bow mechanic. The result is an improvised and silent way to deliver deadly force to the enemy, including four distinct types of bolts to switch between depending on what the situation calls for. If you’re a Premium member, check out two minutes of exclusive crossbow gameplay footage in the latest Premium exclusive video that was released today!

Four bolts let you adapt to any situation
Once you have unlocked the new crossbow via the Assignment Sticks and Stones [Perform X], you will have immediate access to the standard barbed crossbow bolt.

While we wouldn’t recommend anyone being hit by this bolt, it has a rather pronounced bullet drop bolt drop and therefore limited range. The other three bolt types for the crossbow are individually unlocked by Assignments, and you can bring both your crossbow and all associated bolts back with you to the base game.

The high explosive bolt is a short range bolt laden with C4, exploding on impact. While not packing as much punch as an RPG shot or C4 charge, it still gives Assault players (who normally only have grenades in way of explosives) a chance to destroy vehicles or blow holes in the terrain to make tactical use of the destruction in Battlefield 3.

Then there’s the scan bolt, featuring a tip that includes a radio emitter, scanning the nearby area for enemies (in a 10 meter radius to be exact). Finally, the double feathered aerodynamic balanced bolt gives any class the ability to deliver deadly force at extreme range. For the Engineer class, for example, this means a rare chance to broaden their play style by adding long range engagement to what they already excel at: repairing/destroying vehicles and medium range combat.

In this manner, the four different bolts and the crossbow become a jack of all trades solution suitable for any class. While none of the available bolts are as powerful as the standard weapons they mimic (a genuine sniper rifle will always be more powerful than a sniper bolt, for example), the ability to switch bolt type on the fly means any class can adapt to any situation. We are super excited about this new addition to Battlefield and are eager to see how it will shape gameplay online, both in Aftermath and when bringing it back to the base game.

Did you miss our first in-depth look at Aftermath here on the blog? It talks more about the setting, the new vehicles, and the new Scavenger game mode where you have to explore the environment to find new weapons.