I was playing today on my alt which has 43 body armor 38 str and 12 IF and I was shocked as a bolt to my arm took more than 3/4 of my hp; and earlier than that in a previous round a bolt took more than half my hp.
I mean wtf? seriously? Are you deliberately trying to ruin your own mod?
This could be a game breaker for me after almost 3 years of crpg...
You know, I will never understand how someone in a game which is so much focused on melee fighting can decide to go ranged, but I have to admit that without ranged things would be much more boring, the battles would lack depth, and I also have to admit that the poor ranged players had been nerfed to shit.
I just want to point your attention to your own words. You said a single bolt took more than half or even more than 3/4 of your life. So actually you are saying that in a multiplayer game a weapon which fires a single shot every few seconds wounded you severely, needing probably two shots in a row to finish you off.
This actually seems right to me. I mean, you can't expect that crossbower needing three, four, five or even more bolts to kill yo, which would take more than half a minute if he does everything right and you do everything wrong.
I repeat myself yet another time, but the lack of a proper goal in battle mode ("Kill everyone and his mother" is not a proper goal) causes those problems you are having with ranged. And those problems have very, very little to do with how fast, how precise or with how much damage ranged shoots.
On the other hand you have to keep in mind that ranged are important for the gameplay and that you should keep them motivated, at least a bit. Having to shoot a single person five times with a crossbow to kill him can't be fun at all.
I am neither lobbying for or against ranged buffs. I just want the community to try to stay neutral, objective and also to put themselves into the point of view of their opponents.