@Ikarus I want to explore other options in nerfing range count or finding a way to split it evenly amongst teams before nerfing range further. After monitoring damage for some time they are not that damaging in terms of solo effectiveness. (see my shield buffs and pushing for auto balance change) *may buff siege equipment soon* Pls use it btw it helps.
Also, your imagination is correct. Distance contributes to less damage. So does Elevation. Combined you have crazy low damage.
150 is usable in battle no doubt hell 100 is usable in battle but for how I play in strategus 75-100 m shots are my norm and I do prefer 185 wpf as it feels more reliable.
I will respec and play as a level 30 build with 18 strength for a bit to see how I think it feels I know its already fine and dandy because plenty of people utilize this build already. (even with heavy crossbow) It is my main concern that increasing strength to 18 will effectively destroy level 30 options.
Crossbows and Arbalest among them are not meant to be a 50 cal rifle to destroy everything from point blank up to warband mapsize limit.
If you did some research _before_ doing changes rather than after, you would know that having 18-21 build allows you not only to have 170 wpf in crossbows with 6 PS but also have 3 free skillpoints that you can use for shield for instance.
If increase heavy crossbow to 16 strength - 16-24 build is possible on lvl30 with 8 WM, 8 ATH, 5 PS, 165 wpf in crossbows (which is maximum~ish effective wpf for that xbow) and 90 wpf in melee.
Even on lvl30 it's already powerful, yet I dislike the whole idea of balancing at lvl30 when everyone has higher lvl than that (I guess around 32-33).
Strength increase is just a one step. The second one should be the decrease of bolts per stack.
As I've said - I've done all the calculations for you before making any suggestions. Why not just investigate it or at least discuss instead of ignoring for weeks and making me insult you?