I unfortunately joined the Conan Train too late to experience that, but perhaps some suggestions?
Re-introduce the Crossbow as a Armor-Piercing Weapon, the ‘Axe’ to the Bow’s ‘Sword’ if you will. Have it have a long reload time, and aimed shot have the possibility of knocking down Humanoid targets on a crit.
Crossbows might also have access to ‘speciality’ ammunition, as would Bows, to further split the two weapon-trees apart.
Both weapons could have access to the basic damage variations of arrows, until we get into the Alchemy ammunition, then we start to see a divide.
Bows would gain access to Barbed, Fire and Poisoned Arrows, with Barbed Arrows inflicting Bleed (replacing Razor arrows) reliably, Fire Arrows dealing a small amount of fire damage normally or setting a patch of oil, or a creature who has been doused in flammable substances, or fire and causing a deadly DoT effect, or Poison Arrows, which might come in a variety of flavours depending upon the Venoms used.
Spider Venom, Snake Venom, Sand Reaper Venom. Spider Venom might cause Crippling and DoT damage. Snake Venom might cause Encumbrance and Sand Reaper Venom might cause Sundering as the acidic ichor starts to eat away at the target’s armor.
Crossbows, on the other hand, lack the arc of a Bow at the cost of a much slower reload rate, and as such prove to be far more useful for delivering Alchemical pain more accurately.
Explosive, Gas and Healing Arrows would be the exclusive domain of the Crossbow, making their use as powerful PvP tools for both Sniper-Builds and a fire-and-forget for Melee-Builds to use. The slow reload rate also prevents the spamming of Explosive shots, and would necessitate those wanting a barrage of such bolts needing to have multiple Archers/Snipers to perform such a barrage, which in turn adds another tactical edge to their use. Mixing Explosive and Gas arrows with such a unit enables a powerful combo effect as the Explosive Arrows consume the Poison Gas released by the Gas Arrows, creating an even larger and more destructive explosion in the process.
Light Arrows should, rather than just be a niche toy, actually douse a target with glowing goop, causing them to remain visible while still doing the damage of a basic Iron Arrow. This makes them valuable tools for chasing down Thieves or players attempting to use the cover of night to escape, as well as useful tools for creating short-lived light-sources in darker areas where you never know exactly what may be lurking in the dark corners of a murky ruin …
Crossbows might also enable the use of niche tools such as a Grappling Hook, enabling people looking to assault enemy strongholds high up on cliff-faces, Adventurers looking for a way to safely arrest their fall off a cliff that is concave rather than just a straight vertical drop, or just explorers who want to see the top of every mountain.
Having the Grappling Hook constantly drain a large amount of durability from the Crossbow would help limit the tool’s lifespan to ensure it isn’t constantly being spammed, and since weapons can’t be used in free-fall or while climbing, this means it can’t be used to rappel tirelessly up otherwise-impassible barriers. Having the Grappling Hook itself have a very weak durability that rapidly decreases also means using it to escape a high place is risky, since you’ll need to make sure where-ever you’re dropping to, your Grappling Hook has both the range to get you to a suitably safe surface and the durability to hold you in place as you descend down the rope without breaking and dropping you to your doom.