Singleplayer/Co-Op

The Crossbow appears in the mission "Executive Order" with a Variable Zoom scope.The Crossbow also appears in the mission "WMD". It can fire two different types of bolts, normal or explosive bolts. It also has an attached Variable Zoom scope, which the player can steady and also zoom in further. The Crossbow has fairly high hip accuracy, and although it is fairly strong, the bolt needs to hit an enemy's head or chest to score a one-shot kill.

Unlike other scoped weapons, the crossbow can be reloaded while aiming down the scope.

The crossbow can be obtained in Zombies mode via the Mystery Box. The very long reload time makes it difficult to use effectively in solo mode, as the player is left vulnerable. Its Pack-a-Punched version, the Awful Lawton distracts any zombies near where the bolt lands, similar to a Monkey Bomb, though the time the zombies are distracted is shorter than a Monkey Bomb's. If a Zombie is shot with the Awful Lawton, it will always be gibbed, and the zombie will humorously claw at the bolt that is stuck in it. Also, the Pack-a-Punched crossbow can be used to collect the Sacrificial Lamb Trophy/Achievement

Multiplayer

Damage 200 - 75 Explosion, 50 Direct Impact
 
Magazine Size 1 Bolt
 
Tier 19
 
Unlocked at 33
 
Cost (Black Ops) 2000
 
Cost (Nazi Zombies) 950 (Mystery Box)
 
Starting Ammunition 2 (MP), 4 (Sticks and Stones)
 
Maximum Ammunition 4 (MP)
 
Reload Time 2.75
 
Rate of Fire Low (Single shot then reload)
 
Radius 4 meters
 
Fire Mode Single Shot
 
Used by Black Ops 
 

The Crossbow is a special weapon that is featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is a silent, high-powered weapon, and takes up the Secondary slot under the category of Special. It uses explosive and regular bolts for ammunition which are affected by gravity over range. The explosive tip does 50 damage upon impact and has a 1.5 second fuse, but does not start until it hits an object. It does 200-75 damage with a 4M blast radius.

The Crossbow also appears in multiplayer, available at level 33. It has no attachments, and always fires explosive bolts. Unlike its Single-player counterpart, the multiplayer crossbow fires projectiles that do drop over a certain distance like the ballistic knife. It is one of the weapons used in the Sticks and Stones Wager Match playlist, along with the Ballistic Knife and Tomahawk. It is also the 19th weapon in Gun Game. When a player is hit by an Explosive Tipped bolt, the screen flashes red and an indicator comes up in the shape of an arrow with the word "Stuck" on it, indicating the player has been hit with an explosive bolt. At this point, there is nothing the player can do to save themselves, and will be killed along with any teammates within the blast radius by the explosion after 1.5 seconds, One of the few things a "Stuck" player can do in this situation is attempt to take his attacker out with him by rushing towards them in the hope the blast kills them as well, although this is less than reliable and is near impossible if the target has the Flak Jacket perk.

In Hardcore, being hit by a bolt is fatal. In Core and Barebones, a player can be killed by the bolt alone if the player's health is low enough, and a direct impact in any game mode to a player in Second Chance is sufficient enough for the kill. The Crossbow does not have a damage multiplier for the head, but a direct impact kill can still register as a headshot.

Challenges