Before patch most of DRZ archers had PD7 - and could use warbows. Only few had pd0 and it wasn't as effective as having pd7. Because before patch at about level 43 you could have 245 wp in bow and pd7, and i think after 235 aim didn't get any better. And advantages of PD was a lot more then from few more WP's.
So you can say that this wasn't cheating, but more of a down side.
The only thing I've considered as cheating in archery is Retirement, which given +5% bonus to WPF each time. At some point there was archers that had too much PD and too much WPS. Far beyond what you could achive without Retirement. For example at my level 43, some archers could shoot 2x while I'm doing only one shoot - and we both used war bow.
I'm glad archers got nerfed and retirement too.
Since you had the third highest wpf with 245 after me with 280 (2nd I think was cupid at the end) I assume you were referring to me. I could not shoot twice as fast as you, but about 20-25% and I used a longbow usually so it was about same speed. But I kind of missed the long range shots dueling with you as one of the best EU archers as accuracy at long range took a lot of skill no matter your wpf. And yes the DRZ had a lot of very skilled archers (more than almost anyone but the mercs) it wasn't their fault that the engine was a bit retarded where each wpf point counted for 3 after a certain point with the reverse power draw nerf so 7 powerdraw with 245 wpf was an effective wpf of around 350 to 400 for calculating draw speed and damage (accuracy maxed out around 180-200).
Also, chadz has already said wepaons will only be useable on strategus if you meet requirements (whenever he ends up releasing strategus). With most of the recent changes archery is balanced and will be even more balanced once throwing is nerfed.
Keep in mind that each point in strength adds 3% to melee, bow, and throwing damage. So adding 1 powerdraw with the 3 strength adds 9% more damage than the powerdraw alone. Even more importantly for people that like taking long range shots you will notice a dramatic reduction in damage over long distances with lower powerdraws, where hitting mail armored people from 100 feet away might do 10% of your normal damage (they only lose 1/20th or less of their health, test this out with clanmates), higher powerdraw with better shoot speed maintains decent damage for longer ranges. 24-18 with over 140 wpf ina rchery is not bad way to go and if you are doing it long term for strategus then plan for a level 32 (or if youa re feeling seriosuly committed level 33) as a finished build which means only 10 converted points so you can have a workable build (with 6 more skill points than at level 30 and a few more wpf points.
