First off, let me start by saying that I am and have been a Crossbowman for quite some time. In my opinion the crossbow user is a much better ranged unit then the an archer in most aspects. They are far superior once they are forced into melee. My character can stand toe to toe vs. any pure melee character and have a good chance of killing them with no clear disadvantage. However if you compare that to any archer, they have a serious disadvantage because of the points needed for Power Draw. The only real benefit an archer gets with the bow is the speed with which they can loose arrows. My crossbowman can wear more armor, have more power strike, run just as fast, and be a very effective at ranged as well as melee combat. I believe the reason for this is way too much flexibility with the class compared to Bowman and Throwers.
The crossbow is too useful with no wpf spent in it. Being a 1 slot weapon this is very attractive to any melee character who has money and is frustrated with "all the ranged out there". They equip the crossbow on top of their 2 slot polearm/greatsword with 1 stack of bolts and they too can be ranged. The problem is that if you pretend the crossbow is accurate, more often then not, the bolt does fly in the middle of the huge crosshairs, hitting its target. When anyone can throw a crossbow on their character and be a semi useful at ranged without spending any wpf it presents everyone with the ability to turn the game into a huge Range fest. More and more we see rounds being dragged out by ranged classes, everyone has to wait and wait to get back into playing the game. Nobody enjoys that part of the game. Why not do something about it? This brings me to my suggestion.
ALL Crossbows and Bows need to be 2 slots.
The benefit would be:
xbow cav would have 1 less stack of bolts
Crossbowmen would be more balanced vs. pure melee builds since they can't run around with the best 2 slot weapons in the game anymore.
Archers would lose 1 stack of arrows
Ranged units would not just shoot at anything that moves no matter what range it is away, they would actually make shots count. If they really wanted to, they still have the 0 slot weapons, but overall ranged ammo would be lowered. I believe throwers being limited was a step in the right direction, but this would balance out the game a lot more. I really like the idea of ranged needing to actually take the time to aim and be good at their class. Not just shoot at the mass of enemies until they get a headshot. It also encourages them not to sit on yonder mountain, shooting until the end of the round without hitting anything and still having plenty of ammo to delay while all the spectators facepalm until the time runs out.
The best part of this would be that the effectiveness of the actual ranged weapons remain the same, there is no nerf to damage. Instead the overall ranged spam would be toned down, players will concentrate on making those shots, sticking with their melee brethren, and be an actual effective support unit. We would have much less of "ALWAYS TAKE THE SHOT, IM ALWAYS PEW PEWING WITHOUT REALLY AIMING". Pure melee classes will not all walk around with a crossbow just because they can. I believe it would be a better game for it.
I know that there will be people very opposed to this, but please take the time to think when you really care about how many shots you have left. Pretty rare in my opinion, and I typically run around with 14 shots. Crossbow(1 in the chamber), 1 stack of +3 bolts(13 bolts), and a 2h sword. If I want to I switch to the Mace and have 2 stacks of bolts. I can shoot the entire round from start to finish with 2 stacks of bolts. With the change there is still the 0 slot 1h hammer for this option, but the class could not waltz around with any weapon they please as their secondary.
EDIT: On top of it all, with the upcoming wpf update, it would be more of a welcome change if players get the wpf respec alongside this.
Poll