While I am ecstatic about armor being independent from weapon skills, the ranged weaponry skill line is still illogical. Having to master crossbows before bows is not efficient or realistic. My suggestion is to make bows and crossbows mastery dependent on the Warrior skill.

Currently the crossbow mastery skill requires a linen rope to craft its lowest tier crossbow. The simple bow, in bows mastery, requires only plant fibers and sticks; therefore, the simple bow is pointless because if a player has access to linen rope they will have no need to craft the simple bow. Requiring the use of the simple bow to level the bows mastery skill to the second tier bow is simply annoying in the current skill line.

Making both cross bow mastery and bow mastery dependent on the Warrior skill will allow for a better early game ranged weapon that is inexpensive to craft. Making the two skills (bow and cross bow mastery) independent of each other will also afford the player a choice between the two different combat roles. So if a player wants to be an archer they do not have to be trained as a crossbowman.

For any who would argue that an untrained man can easily use a crossbow more effectively than a bow, you are correct. Yet if I wish to learn how to be an archer, I will not learn the crossbow first. I would pick up a simple bow and begin practicing.

To make the simple bow useful, the damage that early bows deliver will have to be lowered. Also, lowering the damage of the lowest tier arrow and requiring flint, sticks, and feathers to create those arrows will decrease the likelihood of bows becoming op.