Rebalancing Bows and Crossbows

With the next updates for Minecraft hinted to be focused on combat, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the crossbow. In PvP and PvE, I am a dedicated archer and sniper. And I'll say this right now: I would NEVER use the unenchanted crossbow as it is now, and an enchanted one ONLY in some very rare occasions. My fix for this lies primarily in swapping (more or less) the enchantments bows and crossbows have, as well as some other tweaks to prevent abuse of the system.

The Problem:

Before I begin, let me list the advantages and disadvantages of using the bow and crossbow respectively, so I can refer to them later when I make my case:

Bow:   

(-) Slightly shorter range.

(-) Slightly slower to load when max. enchanted.

(-) Can only fire arrows and tipped arrows.

(-) Rate of fire same as rate of loading.

(-) Consistent damage mean zombies, skeletons and creepers always need three hits with an unenchanted bow to die.

(+) Quicker to load when unenchanted.

(+) Always higher damage when max. enchanted.

(+) Slightly higher average damage when fully charged and unenchanted. 

(+) Cheaper to craft in the early game.

(+/-) Consistent damage per shot means every high-health mob will die after the same amount of hits.

Crossbow:

(+) Slightly longer range.

(+) Slightly quicker to load when max. enchanted.

(+) Can fire arrows, tipped arrows and fireworks.

(+) Rate of fire same dependent on number of pre-loaded crossbows.

(+) Inconsistent damage means zombies, skeletons and creepers occasionally die after two hits with an unenchanted crossbow, but never four.

(-) Slower to load when unenchanted.

(-) Higher damage when max. enchanted only when hitting multiple mobs.

(-) Slightly lower average damage when fully charged and unenchanted.

(-) More expensive to craft in the early game.

 (+/-) Inconsistent damage per shot means high-health mobs will occasionally die quicker, occasionally slower, but usually the same speed.

As a consequence of these pros and cons, you can describe a number of situations in Minecraft and decide if bows or crossbows are better:

• Survival, early game: Bows. Crossbows are more expensive to craft and take too long to reload. At short range, bows let you draw back quicker and keep mobs away. At long range, where you can take your time, the occasional two-shot-kill won't justify the extra expense of crafting it, and since you can take your time, the time saved is unimportant. The slightly longer range of the crossbow is unused.
• Survival, mid game: Bows. The enchantments bows get let you deal more damage and kill mobs faster, while this is only true for the crossbow at short range, so only if also enchanted with Quick Charge 3, not something you can rely on yet.
• Survival, late game: Bows. Max. enchanted bows kill normal mobs in one shot. Taking out single mobs is faster with a bow than with a crossbow, due to no extra damage enchantments for the crossbow. Taking out groups of mobs is also better with the bow - while the crossbow lets you damage more of them (Multishot, Pierce and fireworks) and knock more back, the time it takes to kill them all is about the same. Given that, it's better to take the mobs out one at a time, since every mob you kill can't damage you or flank you, while a group of mobs, all with one heart left, can all still attack you.
• Dedicated PvP or PvE: Bows. The only time crossbows are better is if you have to choose between a crossbow with Quick Charge 3 and an unenchanted bow, or if you decide to play a specialist with a hotbar full of crossbows. In this latter case crossbows let you do a gigantic amount of damage in a very short amount of time, but since this prevents you from doing much else (your hotbar being full, or close to it) and you need a long time to prepare, loading each crossbow, this is not a very viable choice. At most, you can be an assassin who relies on stealth or a team.

As you can see, crossbows may sometimes have a slight advantage, all in all they are pretty useless. My proposal to fix this is as follows:

The Solution:

First, I propose removing the trait where crossbows can deal 3 to 5.5 hearts of damage, with an average of 4.5. This trait is a little useful now, making zombies, skeletons and creepers die in 2-3 hits instead of the 3 hits with a bow, but under the new system all it would do it make them unreliable. Make unenchanted crossbows deal always 4.5 hearts of damage.

Let bows stay the early game jack-of-all-trades ranged weapon, but let the late game be divided between short(er) ranged bows and long(er) ranged crossbows. Let bows take the enchantments Multishot, Pierce, Quick Charge 1-3, Flame, Punch and Infinity, while crossbows get Power, Quick Charge 1, Flame and Punch. Both would be able to get Unbreaking and Mending.

This would transform the max. enchanted bow into a beast at short ranges vs. multiple opponents, while still being somewhat useful at long ranges or in the early game. The max. enchanted crossbow on the other hand would be a beast at sniping at long ranges, while not outclassing the bow at short ranges due to its considerably longer load time. It would also be useful as long-range artillery (with fireworks), but that's true now, too. 

The only problem that remains is the borderline exploit of filling up your hotbar with pre-loaded crossbows. While loading them would take longer under my system (given that crossbows can only take Quick Charge 1) they would be far more potent when loaded, meaning you might not need as many, which means it takes less time to load them and you need less space in your hotbar.

My solution to this is not very elegant, but it solves the problem: Make any crossbow not in your selected slot or in your off-hand unload automatically. You can at least dual-wield crossbows that way, but you can't fire more than two at a time. This would also mean the crossbow doesn't remove an arrow from you inventory until you fire, like the bow does, and can't be fired unless you have at least one arrow or firework.