When I was playing a archer with a very strong bow plus bodkins (had 7 PD, 7 PS, etc) I found it to be fairly easy to do well, basically you get to shoot archers/horses/exposed people and then fight like a normal infantryman, and I did quite well. Most people died from the third shot, except headshots which killed, and come on, strong bow isn't exactly the strongest bow - warbow/longbow takes that place at the moment (couldn't stomach the longbow's draw time however, I preffered being able to move with the infantry). I'd get a kill or two with it, and could keep archers/etc on a roof busy if not dead, and of course I could fight like a normal infantryman too.
Now, I use a heirloomed (heavy) crossbow, people almost always survive a single hit, and often survive two hits, but hey, they're lacking a bit chunk of their HP, so if they do indeed get close to me, it means I onehit them with a melee weapon. And wounded people die, and people who get headshotted die, and people with massive speed bonus die, too. I get a kill or sometimes two per round with it typically, and/or wound some. I think that's quite effective for a ranged weapon in CRPG's mobile and hectic battles. And it gives you a lot of versatility too.
Basically I had similar K/Ds with both chars (a bit more then 2:1), and personally I liked playing both more then pure melee, which is basically a one-trick pony. I could probably do even better with ranged if I was better at aiming then I am, but I found it to be quite effective regardless.
