Patch 187.0 added these two new weapons. The crossbow excels in underwater-hunts, where it can be used to hurt swimming dinos from a safe distance. It weighs 8.0 units, and is available relatively early in the game (the required level is 25), though the price of 12 engram points certainly is not cheap. Obviously you’ll have to have learned the “Bow”-engram beforehand.

You can load it with either Stone Arrows and Tranquilizer Arrows. The Crossbow is manufactured at the Smithy, where it costs

• 7 Metal Ingots
• 10 Wood
• 35 Fiber

A higher-tech solution is the Machined Shotgun (“Primitive Pump-Action Shotgun”). Learnable from level 50 onwards, it provides an alternative to the regular variant. It requires fewer reloads than the original, but is less reliable with range. Consequently, it’s your weapon of choice for close distances. It’s modern additions make it significantly heavier (15.0 vs 10.0) than the normal shotgun.

You can craft it in the Fabricator (section “Firearms”) requiring the following ingredients.

• 30 Metal Ingots
• 55 Polymer
• 45 Cementing Paste