It takes me a lot of hits to kill horses like that in melee with 6 PS, too, Mori. Armor in general is a pain, for all classes that aren't stacked strengthwise. After seeing Duke BEATS destroying as an HA I can't agree with it being broken, though he may be level 33 or something which could make it more viable, I don't know, but he wrecks, and I fear him.
It does take a lot of hits to down a charger, but for an archer with a limited stack size going into the round knowing you have just enough arrows to barely kill one unit is kinda... sad. It is frustrating to whack away at a heavy cav in melee as well, but you aren't losing future battle potential with each swing.
I currently have a STF alt with a tatar bow and 4 PD 9 WM (180 wpf) to test out a "headshot build". It's had mixed success. On the one hand headshots usually do good damage, but on the other I glance against ~50 armor body shots at
near point blank range. And getting a headshot against ~50 head armor at short range didn't do much damage either (allegedly against the fellow I hit in the duel server).
Back on topic a bit, I do think that heavy cav/troops should take more shots on average, but once you get above the 6-8 mark (esp with bodkins) it gets pretty ridiculous. Perhaps we need to think about "max hits" for ranged classes
Thought I'd jump in here again on why I think current bow damage is fine. Just XBOWS and throwing need adjustment.
My main is a 1-hander with 6PS. With the system we use, 6PS would fall into the average range stat-wise. (Yes, I know most people have 7)
It is EXTREMELY rare for me to be able to 2-shot someone in medium armor. Honestly it takes me about 3-5 hits on average depending on how many stabs and head hits I get in. I also have to get right next to the guy to do that all the while worrying about people circling behind me. So, I find 2-3 hits with ANY bow when it's not a headshot to be ridiculous. You're not shooting flamberges out of those bows after all.
I feel your sentiments, although a few different things to put in context in the archer's favor:
- You have the ability to supplement your 6 PS with a number of blunt/pierce weapon options. An archer has 1 expensive option - Bodkins - that comes with no other damage bonus.
- Melee has no constrains on how many units they can kill a round, while archers are directly tied to stack size. Assuming 2 stacks of bodkins (30 arrows) an archer is tethered. If it is 1 arrow a kill, that's the potential for 30 kills in a round. 2 arrows/kill, 15. 3 arrows/kill, 10. 5 arrows/kill, 6. It goes down dramatically, and that isn't even taken into account misses, fighting cavalry which may take extra shots, split damage on multiple targets etc.
-Once in range melee can do damage at a much quicker rate. Even if an archer can 2 shot someone you can probably get 6 swings in during that time (not taking into account blocks and stuff - just raw damage potential). Just think about how much ground you can cover closing on an archer with them firing 3 shots... change that to 4 and it would require an even greater "safe distance" for archers to shoot someone down from range.
I still agree with some of what you're saying - thus my suggested 3-4 shots to kill for 1 slot bows. For the heavier slower more expensive 2 slot bows however I think more than 3 hits for medium infantry is asking a lot.