I think xbow hybrids are the way to go for the average foot-soldier. There's a very large problem with good horsemen coming up behind and picking one or two folks off, and the smart horsemen aren't going to let you melee their mount down. Crossbows are a good counter to that, and firing periodically at an advancing enemy is much better than just sitting there waiting to whack them. Doesn't take much build alteration either, but if you want to put a large amount of wpf into xbow you can, it's just a bit rough if you want to go strength-dominant, since there is not much wpf to go around. 18/21 should be okay, I went 15/24 and liked it alright.
