User blog comment:The Crimson Eagle/Dawnguard/@comment-5264386-20120709101713/@comment-4057437-20120716071531

Once the novelty wore off, we found being a Vampire Lord a royal pain. Especially irritating is the inability to navigate tight passageways, especially those with a low ceiling. The hunger transformations also had more drawbacks than they were worth.

Crossbows and Dragonbone bows are roughly equal in their utility. A few points damage makes no difference when both deal over 500 points of damage. Ignoring 50% of armor makes little difference when most targets are one hit kills. Adding a strong poison can more than make up for the difference when facing heavily armored foes. To us, either will do.

As for mounted combat, if one uses weapons with a long reach or a bow, and practices a little, it can be quite efffective. One can swing a two-handed weapon from horseback as if it were one-handed. As for the choice of horse, Arvak, from the Soul Cairn can't be beat. Not only is he free, he doesn't follow the player around like Shadowmere, who can be a real annoyance. Just summons him when he is needed.