Crossbow

Overview
The Crossbow is a Resistance-forged sniper weapon found in Half-Life 2 and SMOD. It is a crudely, yet efficiently, forged crossbow capable of firing red hot spikes of rebar.

The Crossbow was the sniper weapon of Half-Life 2. It works by firing a single powerful spike of rebar that flies in an arc, dealing roughly 100 damage and pinning whatever it killed. However, in SMOD, it generally doesn't see much use due to having a minimal magazine size, projectiles that fly in an arc, fairly rare ammunition, as well as little ammo reserves. As a result of it's flaws, it is almost always overshadowed by it's alternatives, such as the Karabiner or Dragunov.

Oddly, despite being a Resistance weapon, no Resistance members are ever seen using it.

Acquisition
The Crossbow is first found in Highway 17, by a dead corpse on a hill, perched by a rock. The Crossbow is lying next to the body.

If not picked up there, it can later be found in a house in the same chapter, occupied by a Combine Sniper. The player must jump up a broken staircase to get it, where it can be found lying in the middle of the room, conveniently being the same room the Dragunov is first found in.

If it was still not picked up, it can later be found on the bridge in the same chapter, on a platform at the lowest point the player can go, lying near another corpse next to a crate full of rockets.

Advantages
-Very high damage.

-Perfectly accurate outside of the arc.

-Reloads fairly quickly.

-Ammo comes in large packs.

Neutral
-Projectiles fly in an arc. While helpful for hitting targets below the player or behind cover, it can make tackling targets at a distance difficult.

-Increased zoom. Helpful at a distance, hindrance up close.

Disadvantages
-Slow projectile speed.

-Only loads one bolt at a time.

-Can only hold 11 bolts in total; one in the magazine, ten in reserve.

-Ammo is fairly rare at first, and becomes much harder to find in later levels.

Tactics
-Lead your targets if they are moving to compensate for the weapon's slow projectile speed.

-The weapon is perfectly accurate when it's unzoomed. If someone gets close, shoot them without zooming in for an easy kill.

-Be careful about repeatedly using the Crossbow. It doesn't hold many bolts in total and ammo can be tough to find.

-Headshots are usually unnecessary for the Crossbow due to it's high damage. Unless the enemy is Augmented, it's recommended to just go for bodyshots.