Elden Ring: Where to get a crossbow and how to aim it

Crossbows do more damage than bows in Elden Ring, but they take longer to reload. This makes them a great ranged weapon for dealing with massive, slow adversaries who are far away (a Pumpkin Head, for example).

Where do you acquire a crossbow, though? Early on in the game, bolts are plentiful, but the weapons with which to shoot them are few. Crossbows are not sold by any of the early-game merchants — Yale, Patches, or the Twin Husks — and they aren't usually dropped.

You'll probably have to kill a soldier with a crossbow and hope he drops it to get your first crossbow in Elden Ring. The cliff tops above Saintsbridge were where we pillaged our first crossbow — a Soldier's Crossbow, to be precise. A small group of soldiers, two of whom are crossbowmen, are guarding a cluster of crucifixes. They aren't obligated to drop crossbows, although they are capable of doing so.

When you get your crossbow, you'll notice that it operates differently than a bow. To begin, press the fire button once to load it before pressing it again to shoot. Aiming a crossbow from the hip is similar to bow aiming; you just lock onto your target and shoot. However, if you want to aim down sights, you must first use the crossbow two-handed. For whatever reason, you don't have to do this with a conventional bow.