- For other weapons, see Explosive Tip Crossbow and Manual Crossbow.
The Crossbow is a special weapon that is featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, Call of Duty Online and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. It is a silent (but unsuppressed) high-powered weapon, and takes up the Secondary slot under the category of Special. It uses explosive and regular bolts for ammunition which are affected by gravity over range.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Campaign
The Crossbow appears in the third of the five weapon swaps in the mission "Executive Order" as well as the third and last part of the mission "WMD". It can fire two different types of bolts, normal or explosive. It also has an attached Variable Zoom scope, which the player can steady and also zoom in further. The Crossbow has fairly high accuracy from the hip, and although it is fairly strong, the bolt needs to hit an enemy's head or chest to score a one-shot kill. Unlike other scoped weapons, the crossbow can be reloaded while aiming down the scope.
In "Executive Order", a zipline is available to be launched on the second use of it, similar to the grappling hook on a KS-23 in "Vorkuta". Also, the Nintendo Wii version of "Vorkuta" replaces the flaming explosive catapult with a Crossbow with a flaming tip.
Multiplayer
The Crossbow also appears in multiplayer, available at level 33. It has no attachments, and always fires explosive bolts. Unlike its campaign counterpart, the multiplayer Crossbow fires projectiles that do drop over a certain distance and do not hit instantly. It is one of the weapons used in the Sticks and Stones Wager Match playlist, along with the Ballistic Knife and Tomahawk. It is also the 19th weapon in Gun Game. When a player is hit by the bolt, the screen flashes red and an indicator comes up in the shape of an arrow with the word "Stuck!" on it, indicating the player has been hit with an explosive bolt. At this point, there is nothing the player can do to save themselves, and will be killed along with any teammates within the blast radius by the explosion after 1.5 seconds. One of the few things a "Stuck" player can do in this situation is attempt to take his attacker out with him by rushing towards them in the hope the blast kills them as well, although this is less than reliable and is near impossible if the target has the Flak Jacket perk.
When using this weapon in conjunction with Scavenger Pro, the player gains a total five explosive bolts. As well, the Crossbow is the one of the few non-pistol secondary weapons that refills from Scavenger, the other being the Ballistic Knife. Pairing it with Sleight of Hand Pro and the player can have an explosive secondary capable of receiving ammo more regularly and firing faster than most Launchers. When using Sleight of Hand, a good way to get the Fast Hands Kills is to stick enemies with the Crossbow. The player damages the enemy when the bolt hits and reloads quickly before the bolt explodes, which counts for the challenge if the player does not cancel the reload (e.g. by sprinting).
The killfeed icon for a direct impact from a crossbow bolt is the same as that of any other grenade direct impact.
In Hardcore, being hit by a bolt is fatal. In Core and Barebones, a player can be killed by the bolt alone if the player's health is low enough, and a direct impact in any game mode to a player in Second Chance is sufficient enough for the kill. The Crossbow does not have a damage multiplier for the head, but a direct impact kill can still register as a headshot.
The bolts fired by an enemy will have a red tip, while friendly crossbow bolts will have a green tip, similar to the Semtex.
Bolt Types
- Normal Bolts (Campaign only; default ammo type)
- Explosive Tip (all game modes; default ammo type in Multiplayer and Zombies)
- Zipline (Campaign only)
- Flaming Tip (Campaign Wii version only)
Attachments
- Variable Zoom (Campaign only)
Zombies
The Crossbow can be obtained in Zombies mode via the Mystery Box for 950 points on every map except Moon. The very long reload time makes it difficult to use effectively in solo, as the player is left vulnerable. Also, its wide splash radius can easily stun the player for a couple of seconds, unless the player has PhD Flopper.
When Pack-A-Punched, the Crossbow becomes the Awful Lawton. Its bolts can distract any zombies near where they land, similar to a Monkey Bomb, though the time the zombies are distracted is shorter than that of the Monkey Bomb's unless the player has bought Quick Revive, in which case the bolt will last a bit longer. If a zombie is shot with the Awful Lawton, the zombie will humorously claw at the bolt that is stuck in it. Also, the Awful Lawton has to be used to earn the Sacrificial Lamb achievement/trophy.
Speed Cola helps by halving the reload time. Juggernog will help if a zombie is shot when it is too close by and explodes near the player. Double Tap Root Beer has no effect, as it is a single-shot weapon. PhD Flopper is highly advised, as it effectively allows the player to be near the bolt without being stunned and damaged. This weapon is a great backup weapon when playing with multiple people, especially when upgraded to the Awful Lawton, as the Monkey Bomb effect to the bolts can help when someone needs to be revived or when there are too many zombies to handle.
Crossbow vs. Awful Lawton
| Crossbow | Awful Lawton | |
|---|---|---|
|
| |
| Damage | 400 - 75 Explosion, 750 Direct Impact | 2500 - 225 Explosion, 750 Direct Impact (shot attracts zombies to it like a monkey Bomb) |
| Multiplier | N/A | N/A |
| Fire mode | Single-shot | Single-shot |
| Rate of fire | Single-shot then rechamber | Single-shot then rechamber |
| Magazine size | 1 | 1 |
| Max ammo | 12+1 | 12+1 |
| Reload | 2.75 | 2.75 |
| Mobility | Medium | Medium |
| Sounds | {{{papsound}}} | |
| Extras | More damage, takes longer to explode, crossbow bolts act like Monkey Bombs, attracting zombies (capable of killing up to six zombies at a time). |
Achievement/Trophy
Sacrificial Lamb (15
/ Bronze Trophy 
) - Shoot at or be shot by an ally with a Pack-a-Punch crossbow and kill six zombies with the explosion.
Gallery
- For Attachment images, see Crossbow/Attachments.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies
As of a recent patch, the Crossbow is now available in the Mystery Box for Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies, but only on iOS.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- "Fires explosive bolts that detonate a short time after impact."
- — Create-A-Class Description
The Crossbow reappears in Call of Duty: Black Ops II with a few differences; it can fire three shots before needing to reload in multiplayer, and ten shots in the campaign. Much like its Call of Duty: Black Ops counterpart, the bolts the Crossbow fires follow a parabolic trajectory so in order to secure a kill over considerable range, the player must aim slightly above the target to compensate. Furthermore, unlike other weapons, the Crossbow's bolts do not follow the hit-scan mechanic so the projectile doesn't instantly reach its mark (though the bolt travel speed is still fast nonetheless). The lethal radius of the explosions caused by bolts is now much lower than its counterpart (around 2.7m), but sticking an enemy still mostly ensures a kill. The capacity and fire rate makes up for this somewhat but compared to its previous incarnation, it is still relatively harder to use. The player must cock the Crossbow before shooting off another bolt but it's done relatively quickly. If an enemy has Flak Jacket , they may be able to survive being stuck with one bolt, so another bolt might be required to secure the kill. Likewise, shooting the front of an Assault Shield with a Crossbow does not kill the wielder in one shot, however it still causes damage, so multiple shots may be needed. In Gun Game, the Crossbow is the second to last weapon, while in Sticks and Stones it appears as the primary weapon along with the Ballistic Knife.
It's possible for the impact of the bolt to kill a player before it detonates, similar to grenade launchers. This is especially true in Hardcore modes, where the impact will always kill the target.
In the campaign, the player may use Manual Crossbow, a remake of the Crossbow from Call of Duty: Black Ops under the Special category. Like its future equivalent in campaign, it does not accept any attachments.
Attachments
All attachments are only available in Multiplayer.
Video
Review of the Crossbow in depth.
Gallery
- For Attachment images, see Crossbow/Attachments.
- For Camouflage images, see Crossbow/Camouflage.
Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified
The Crossbow appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified. Unlike previous versions of it, it has a much higher zoom level when aiming down the sight.
Gallery
Call of Duty Online
The Crossbow is available as a PvE random reward item in Call of Duty Online. It can also be acquired in the Cyborg Rising mode from the Mystery Box, for 950 points
Attachments
Gallery
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
The Crossbow (referred to as exocrossbow in the game files) returns in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and is only available in multiplayer and Exo Zombies.
Multiplayer
The crossbow is unlocked at level 48. Similar to previous renditions, the Crossbow fires a single explosive bolt which can stick to enemies. The explosive bolt is always a one hit kill unless the player is using Flak Jacket, Exo Stim, or the XS-1 Goliath killstreak.
The crossbow carries a total of six bolts (seven with Scavenger). It has relatively clean iron sights, and a small blast radius. The crossbow also has the option to equip a Crossbow Scope and various optics.
Attachments
Supply Drop Variants
They only have cosmetic differences, except for the Royalty variant, which gets a faster reload (1.6 seconds).
- Righteous [Elite]
- Conqueror [Elite]
- Royalty [Elite]
- Frosty [Enlisted]
- B2 [Advanced Arsenal pre-order/Season Pass bonus/AW Day Zero Edition]
- Shredder [300 Kills Marksman Challenge] (Red & Yellow color scheme)
Exo Zombies
In Exo Zombies, the Crossbow is one of the two explosive weapons appearing in the mode, the other being the MAHEM. Like the former, it can only be acquired from the 3D Printer.
Like the MAHEM, the Crossbow is able to do high explosive damage, and may kill zombies with ease even after round 25. However, unlike the MAHEM, the Crossbow bolts don't explode on contact, which forces the player to either stick the bolts onto zombies for optimal effect. The advantages are that the Crossbow, compared to the MAHEM, reloads quickly, and also doesn't slow down the player when running. Its ammo is rather high, and also increases at Mk7 upgrade.
Exo Health comes as an optimal Exo Upgrade when using the Crossbow, to prevent the weapon's splash damage to damage the player too much when bolts are fired too close. Exo Reload can also be helpful, although the short reload time doesn't make it very necessary.
Gallery
- For attachment images, see Crossbow/Attachments.
- For camouflage images, see Crossbow/Camouflage.
- For variants images, see Crossbow/Variants.
Trivia
Call of Duty: Black Ops
- The Crossbow has Siberia Camouflage in "WMD". However, in early game footage released, it had Yukon Camouflage.
- In Executive Order, it is seen with a Nevada Camouflage.
- The crossbow has unusable bolts on the right side.
- In multiplayer the Crossbow does have camouflage; it uses the same as the player's primary weapon. However the camouflage is only visible when in third person. Golden camouflage does not apply.
- In Shi No Numa, bolts from the crossbow will pass through the meteor.
- Sometimes, when the player fires the Crossbow at the ground in the campaign, enemies will try to pick up the bolt and throw it back like a grenade.
- In third-person view, when an optic is attached, it is seen attached on its tiller instead of the railing.
- In multiplayer, a single crossbow bolt cannot take down an attack helicopter.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- In early gameplay, it was referred to as "Crossbow Explosive Tip".
- If the player looks closely to the rear of the Crossbow, one can see the Black Ops II stripes on the tiller.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
- The logo of Call of Duty: Black Ops II can be seen on the B2 variant.
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