PC A18 Headshots Arrows and You

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streaml1ne

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Anyone else noticing that headshots with arrows, even almost point blank, are missing a lot? I'm aiming, even crouching and still a lot of definite headshots on still zombies are missing. Did they mess with the head hit box in 18? It felt better in 17 than this so far. Liking the rest of 18 so far though.

 
I read on the steam forum that the hit rate is tied to your in-game skill points. But at point blank it should not be affected in my opinion.

 
Anyone else noticing that headshots with arrows, even almost point blank, are missing a lot? I'm aiming, even crouching and still a lot of definite headshots on still zombies are missing. Did they mess with the head hit box in 18? It felt better in 17 than this so far. Liking the rest of 18 so far though.
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The head hitbox is a touch wonky IMO, the edges seem to let arrows pass through.

 
With a point in archery, I attempted 9 headshots at a stationary dog and all missed. Was crouched & zoomed, about 10 blocks away. Then I moved sideways just a bit and the next one hit...

 
With a point in archery, I attempted 9 headshots at a stationary dog and all missed. Was crouched & zoomed, about 10 blocks away. Then I moved sideways just a bit and the next one hit...
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With what bow?

Because the bow you can make out of the gate is bad, like REALLY BAD. About as effective as you could expect a bow made of random twig and string would be.

 
Wait are you saying there is a chance to miss no matter how good you aim?
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Basic bow you can craft right away is worst weapon in the game for a reason.

Its pretty much a bow version of blunderbuss.

 
I read on the steam forum that the hit rate is tied to your in-game skill points. But at point blank it should not be affected in my opinion.
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55 dead Arlenes later, 0 points in any relevant skills, Primitive Bow, Stone Arrows:

set of 50 arlenes from 1-2 meters and 100% hit rate (except the two I missed for the twitchy head)

set 5 feral arlenes from "walking against arlene" 100% hit rate

So, unless I pulled a miracle, the miss chance would be less than 10%, and that wouldn't make for a sensible game mechanic.

I call myth / broken telephone. The targeting crosshairs show the area where the arrow will fire, if the target head covers the entire cross hair, you will hit. If the crosshair is larger than the head, then you can miss, but that's not really "talent based" other than possible talents that increase Weapon Accuracy (none in A18 as far as I'm aware )

 
With what bow?Because the bow you can make out of the gate is bad, like REALLY BAD. About as effective as you could expect a bow made of random twig and string would be.
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That one. I had heard it was bad but thought that was just low damage, not bordering-on-useless inaccuracy.

After I finally killed the dog, I was able to retrieve three arrows from the wall. They were all in a pretty tight group. Makes me wonder if there's something going on behind the scenes that gimps the primitive bow for headshots particularly.

 
I find the primitive bow wonky also, almost to the point of not being a viable weapon. Maybe I just need to relearn archery with it 'cause the arrow drop seems a bit dramatic :)

 
I find the primitive bow wonky also, almost to the point of not being a viable weapon. Maybe I just need to relearn archery with it 'cause the arrow drop seems a bit dramatic :)
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The primitive bow is supposed to be pretty crappy I think. Like a wooden club is. Get a wooden bow or a crossbow which is AWESOME with a reflex sight. You can't judge archery based on the primitive bow.

 
I went into a creative mode game yesterday and played with all the bows fully perked, mainly to see why I hate crossbows so much and to see if they get any better.

They don't.
I also wanted to see how well I could hit those headshots because this thread is not the first time I have heard this about the bows. For the most part, everything seemed fine. To me, there seems to be this one spot, though, where the neck meets the head (on either side) that I sometimes miss and from my point of view seems like it shouldn't have. Other than that, I don't seem to have any problems. For instance, I have never once seen an arrow just slide right through a head and keep going without impact.

 
With a point in archery, I attempted 9 headshots at a stationary dog and all missed. Was crouched & zoomed, about 10 blocks away. Then I moved sideways just a bit and the next one hit...
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In A16, there was a bug where the crosshairs on bows, but especially crossbows, rendered off-center.

I'm wondering if maybe that is happening again for some people. I would equip a pistol and aim with it so the crosshairs tighten up and mark that with a dot on your screen with something like a dab of white-out or something. Then, use your bow and see if those crosshairs still focus in on that point.

 
White-out on the screen, I love it lol! When I'm trying to measure and mark stuff on my monitor I've preferred sticky notes. Though I can't remember when I was doing that last or what for... Anyways the adhesive is pretty safe and shouldn't pose any risk to a monitors finish.

 
a dot of nail polish always works if you need to mark a spot (using polish again or remover gets it off super quick)

I only have issues aiming more than 10 blocks away using the primitive bow, wooden/compound and all Crossbows are right on target for me

 
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Just a tiny bit of transparent tape works wonders too, if it's small and clear enough you can just leave it there

 
Wait are you saying there is a chance to miss no matter how good you aim?
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The arrow will go anywhere inside the shown crosshair size.

I have fired quite a few arrows and watched streamers in A18 and I have not seen a case of an arrow going straight through a head hitbox.

 
The arrow will go anywhere inside the shown crosshair size.
I have fired quite a few arrows and watched streamers in A18 and I have not seen a case of an arrow going straight through a head hitbox.
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I have, multiple times on the same zombie. Watched the arrows pass right through his head over and over until I shifted position slightly. Haven't had time to attempt to reproduce so I can submit a bug report, but there is definitely a bug regarding head hitboxes and bows. This was at close range, so the crosshairs were filled by the target, and I could see each shot as it landed. Through normal playing (~10 hours or so), this is only the second time I've had it happen that I can confirm visually (I suspect it happens more often, but at range it's hard to tell), but it does happen. I wish I had more information for you to help track down this issue. Maybe someone with more time can figure it out - I only have two nights a week available for gaming, so very limited time each week.

 
I have, multiple times on the same zombie. Watched the arrows pass right through his head over and over until I shifted position slightly. Haven't had time to attempt to reproduce so I can submit a bug report, but there is definitely a bug regarding head hitboxes and bows. This was at close range, so the crosshairs were filled by the target, and I could see each shot as it landed. Through normal playing (~10 hours or so), this is only the second time I've had it happen that I can confirm visually (I suspect it happens more often, but at range it's hard to tell), but it does happen. I wish I had more information for you to help track down this issue. Maybe someone with more time can figure it out - I only have two nights a week available for gaming, so very limited time each week.
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As the bow is my preffered weapon of choice I agree and can testify that arrows do go through the head, although very rare. I've not seen it happen enough to warrant a bug report. I assume its just the netcode which best explains why it happens rarely and not all the time. :)

Note: besides the biker zombie. His head hitbox has been jacked up since like forever and has never been fixed regardless of the amount of people pointing it out over the years and the many discussions that have taken place regarding this specific zombie. Unless they fixed in the last update but i doubt it.

 
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