All Once Human crossbows, ranked

Crossbows in Once Human are a weapon type that uses arrows to deal significant damage in battle. Some of the arrows you fire can be salvaged from the corpses of your enemies, making this an economically efficient choice. However, when evaluating the viability of a particular crossbow, it's important to compare them not only to each other but also to their overall usefulness within the game's meta.

With four crossbows available in Once Human, this article will rank them based not only on their combat utility but also on how they compare to other weapons available at the time you obtain them.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinion.

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Best crossbows in Once Human

4) Recurve Bow

The Recurve Bow is not a viable weapon outside of a few niche scenarios (Image via Starry Studio)

You can obtain the blueprint for this bow from the Mystical Crate in the Hearst Industries Stronghold, located in the Broken Delta region. Although technically not a crossbow, it is classified as one in the game due to the lack of a separate category for bows.

This bow becomes available in the early mid-game, by which time you likely have access to much better weapons, making it an unlikely choice. Additionally, its unique ability, which grants Attack and Weakspot DMG stacks, only works while crouched. This lack of versatility makes it the weakest crossbow-type weapon in Once Human.

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3) Rustic Crossbow

The Rustic Crossbow is a great early-game weapon (Image via Starry Studio)

This is the first weapon you craft during the tutorial in Once Human. As the lowest rarity crossbow, it doesn't have any unique abilities, yet it's still a solid weapon that will serve you well in the early game.

While you might have access to better weapons early on, the materials required to craft their ammunition can be hard to come by. In contrast, crafting arrows for the Rustic Crossbow is relatively simple, making it a reliable choice until you can readily craft ammo for stronger weapons.

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2) Compound Bow

The Compound Bow is among the least used Legendary weapons in Once Human (Image via Starry Studio)

While the Compound Bow is a Legendary crossbow, obtainable exclusively through the Wish Machine in Once Human, it's not worth spending your limited Starchrom to acquire it.

The Compound Bow is the strongest crossbow in terms of combat power, but it doesn't fit into the current meta of Once Human. Most weapon builds like Shrapnel, vastly outperform it, making it one of the least viable choices for endgame content.

The Wish Machine is best used to acquire weapons and gear that enhance your build. Unfortunately, this crossbow is likely one of the worst options available there.

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1) Recurve Crossbow

The Recurve Crossbow is a strong buffer (Image via Starry Studio)

You can obtain the blueprint for this crossbow in Once Human from the Mystical Crate in the Evergreen Stronghold, located in the Red Sands region. Although the Rustic Crossbow is less powerful in terms of combat strength compared to the Compound Bow, it remains the most popular secondary weapon due to its unique ability.

When you hit a Weakspot with the Recurve Crossbow in Once Human, it applies The Bull's Eye debuff to the target, increasing your damage inflicted by eight percent. Additionally, this crossbow also increases the Crit Rate on all your weapons by 15 percent, making it a powerful buffer for other primary weapons.

This unique ability was heavily nerfed in the recent patch 1.1, but it remains strong enough to make a significant impact in the endgame.

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• Once Human Mobile release date
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