The best replacement for crossbow is bow.

The best alternatives to crossbow are rated as following:
★★★★★  bow
★★★★★  compound bow
★★★★  longbow
★★★  compound
★★  bow skyrim
★  bow runescape
★  bowflex
★  recurve bow
★  musket
★  bow dark souls
★  bow dragon age
★  roundup
★  bow and arrow
★  rifle
★  shortbow runescape
  longbow dragon age
  compound crossbow
  recurve crossbow
  bow diablo 3
  bow pathfinder
  magic shortbow
  longbow fable
  longbow dragon nest
  bow lotro
  crossbar
  bow hunting
  air rifle
  shortbow
  bow maplestory
  pellet gun
  plate armor
  recurve
  switchblade
  dragonbone bow
  airgun
  bandflex
  ten point crossbow

Your alternative for crossbow is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about crossbow, one probably shouldn't forget about dawnguard.

Other search terms related to crossbow and their ratings are:
★★★★★ dawnguard
You have in mind a companion for crossbow and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of crossbow in all years. Click on graph for more.
crossbow
bow
compound bow