As a recreational archer (modern longbow), I hope that we DON'T get bows. Why? Because even if you claim bows are useful for stealth purposes (which they are), there is no reason whatsoever why someone in a post-apocalyptic setting wouldn't use a crossbow instead, which is far, far easier to operate and can reach ridiculous draw weights which would be needed to pierce light armor. With a bow of equivalent power it would take anyone years of practice and developing musculature to learn how to shoot it effectively.

Obviously you will make explosives arrows.

Don't ask me how they manage to travel straight into the air while having some dynamite slapped into them.

This. Apparently, Van Buren was supposed to add bows to the game, but we all know what happened to that game. Would be interesting to know why throwing spears are more popular than bows and arrows in the Wasteland.

Well I guess if you wanted to get creative about it, you just remove the arrowhead, push the shaft in the exact center of the dynamite stick for its length, then fit a blasting cap to the end of the arrow shaft. Might have a little wobble to it, but since its an area of effect result pin point accuracy isn't really gonna matter. My only concern is if the bow is gonna be able to throw a stick of dynamite further away than I want to be close to one that goes off.

I'd like bows but I'd wager they are going to leave them to the TES series, try and have a bit more of a divide there. I would like a return of the dart gun though, being a master chemist and creating some rather nasty darts would be fun.

Bows have been in every [censored] game these past couple years. No more bows please if I want to shoot an arrow at someone I'll play skyrim.

One of the perks from Grognak-magazines could be appropriate.

"MEET GRELKA, THE SHE-BOWMAN OF THE JUNGLE! IS SHE FRIEND OR FOE? READ NEXT ISSUE TO FIND OUT!"

ALL THIS AND A BAG OF CHIPS! Bows are [censored] everywhere in video games these days (I love being a stealthy character with a bow in skyrim and most other games) but Im so sick of bows there everywhere its necoming played out for me.
Also bethesda seem to be branching out with fallout 4 maybe to keep the old saying "this game is that game with guns" cliche on the minimum so there focusing more on story aspects and character development more I would be totally surprised if we see bows or crossbows at all in this game.

It's not about logic, bows and crossbows just arent a thing for some reason in the Fallout universe. For Van Buren there were plans to add bows and crossbows untill the whole project got scrapped, and that is as close as the whole Fallout franchise ever really got.

Does the Wasteland franchise even have bows and crossbows? I've only played 2 a bit and did not seem there were any either. It seems like a deliberate design choice, maybe one day Bethesda could clarify what the deal is. But for now i wouldn't hold my breath that there are going to be bows or even crossbows in Fallout 4.

I can see bows being using in a post apocalyptic setting, not everyone would have access to guns. And people always need a way to take down game.

Forgetting the paranoid culture of fallout. *Everyone* had access to guns. After-all, the communists could be anywhere.

I would freaking love to see a Bow or Crossbow make its way into the Fallout universe! It would be just like a Railway Gun but less impaling things. I meant that in regards to the Railway Guns ability to shoot multiple spikes at once compared to the Bows 1 spiked thing of things. But then again the Bow could easily harbor explosives, flammables and other creative means to ammunition.

You know what they should do?! Those spears from the madmax fury road movie. The ones that the warboys throw and explode on impact. That would be a badass weapon!

I know there would have been a crossbow in the cancelled Fallout 3 Interplay was making(Van Buren). It shot metal bolts.

You need to research more 50's culture. The only thing more popular at the time than Sci-fi was the western genre. And that's been in Fallout's design theme since the beginning. And what do westerns have? Six shooters (a fallout staple) and bows and arrows. Kids of the 50's ran around playing cowboys and Indians all the time. Bows fit right into this world..

Just a thought, if they are in the game... don't use them.

It was used for hunting and sport, but it wouldn't be practical in a post-apocalyptic setting. Even if you wanted a weapon for which you could easily craft ammo, a crossbow would be a far better alternative.

I've read of one crazy British guy who took a longbow to WW2 (and used it in actual combat), but that was just one guy .

Yeah bows? No. Years of practice required. Also proper wood, we've seen all of about 4 living trees in Fallout.

Crossbows? Yes. Can be made from leaf springs from cars and all kinds of other things. Are easy to train people to use, and have the penetration to go through armor. (This is true even in real life, most kevlar bullet proof vests can not stop a high powered crossbow.)

Annnnnnd I'm just going to leavehttp://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Reign_of_Fire#Magnesium_Arrow_Tipped_C4_Crossbow here.

Didn't Mad Max: The Road Warrior have a lot of crossbows and stuff?

Yes, and there was at least one in Fury Road as well.

Then I call it legit. It's the wasteland, not everyone and everything can afford a gun. Gotta make due with the stuff you have.

As the intro to Fallout used to go "...From the time Man learned the killing potential stone and bone..."

well Mad Max 2,3 and Fury Road has used both Bows, wrist mounted crossbows, regular crossbows, home made harpoon guns and many more.

All these weapons existed happily together with regular firearms and molotov cocktails.

Newest addition to that universe was Thunder poon. A stick that had explosive wrapped on it.

They are not too exotic weapons and i am sure some raider or local town mayor has tough of arming their group with cheap and easy to use weapons. Making bolts and arrow tips is far easier than finding ammo to rifle or microfusion cells to energy weapons.

It depends on Bethesda if they think, bows and such fit to their fallout universe. Early fallout games had spears. So seeing a crossbow would not be a huge suprise.

Cannot tell you, but aren't firearms and ammo also incredibly scarce in the Mad Max universe? Whereas i'm still picking bullets and functional guns out from between rubble 200years after the War.

Terrahero. The original Mad Max, Mad Max 2 and The 3rd movie that we don't speak. Had lack of ammunition. Fury Road in the other hand had a ammunition factory ruled By Kalashnikov a comrade of Immortan Joe. Also they had plenty of fuel thanks to People eater.

WHO RUNS BARTERTOWN?!?!

(I am so naming one of my settlements Bartertown.)