[LadyLightning]

Let's clarify quickly: An 'Arbalest' is a word for a type of
heavy crossbow. The word for a soldier who wields an
Arbalest in a unit is 'Arbalist.'

In any case, I've always had a problem with this class.
Conceptually, the idea of shooting anything other than
a crossbow bolt out of a crossbow is not only ridiculous,
but the laws of physics actively work against the idea.

Axes are bad projectiles. They're not aerodynamic,
and while they're heavy, they lack the small, piercing
surface that allows a bolt to inflict lethal damage. The
arbalest (remember, that's the crossbow, not the man!)
always flings every projectile with the same amount of
force. But when that force is applied to a wide-bladed
axe, it loses its piercing power because that force is
spread out evenly among the entire cutting edge, and
that's assuming that it even lands edge-first. More often
than not, an axe's shape will cause it to wobble in the
air, since a crossbow has no way to apply spin on an
axe the way your throwing arm might.

Swords, daggers? Even worse. Spears ~could~ be
feasible, but even then, they don't have fletching, so
they'd probably suffer from reduced effectiveness at
long range. Crossbow bolts work without fletching
because they're small and light, so gravity doesn't
tug away at their velocity as quickly.

I realize this'll never happen, but personally, what I
would like to see from Arbalist is to have the reliance
on a subweapon completely removed. It's silly and I
refuse to believe that nothing else could be thought up
to explain why Arbalists shoot better than Archers.