simply put, the crossbow is a ranged ambush weapon, a sniper rifle. the DPS is low, its awkward to use, and the self-knockback is clearly meant to push you off a sniping perch. you arent meant to repeatedly spam the same target and slowly chip it down. but if you can land a backstab hit, the damage will be very high as an opener. breakpoints against smaller enemies, like regular seekers, could result in one hit kills as well.
mistlands terrain basically kills traditional stealth builds, like stalking an enemy from behind with a knife, because the terrain is too jagged. you cant sneak uphill, and when you run and jump, you break stealth. so, mistlands "stealth" is about sniping, which is inhibited by mist. it incentivizes you to take advantage of high lookouts and place whisplights in highly-trafficked areas. the more fog you clear, the better chance you have of seeing an enemy before it aggros, and trying for a crossbow backstab.
at low crossbow skill, this weakspot backstab was worth about 25% health on an unstarred soldier. not something that will break the game, but an interesting option for ranged players. it becomes a matter of style as to whether you want to bother to stalk an enemy for a minute to line up a shot instead of just brawling it with melee.
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