Just played archer the other day, for the first time in ages. To me it seems more damaging than I remembered (5 PD, 161 archery, regular horn bow, regular tatar arrows). Firing on the move, and being able to move while reloading is major advantages compared to xbows. I would say that bows are a lot better in low-populated servers compared to xbows, while crossbowmen are better at high-populated servers.
I'm actually considering going archer again.