As long as people rush through open fields and don't use brains, it's impossible to balance this game. When 2h is slashing at enemies, he can kill quite many and fast. Archer needs to empty whole quiver to kill couple targets as it is now.
There's only couple archers that actually do well out there by doing accurate headshots and x10 times 2h/pole guys topping scoreboards in every map (or cavs). Still 2h/pole whine most.
It's more l2p problem than anything.
Did you see those good 2h players whining here in forums when archers were able to camp roofs and were much more stronger than nowdays? No you didn't. Only those same losers are still whining that can't think outside of box. There have always been ways to kill archers and good players know how to do it. You can't balance archer vs 2h to be "fair and balanced" in open fields 1vs1 battle. And if you can't figure out way to beat archer... maybe you should buy shield or something to help with _your_ problem.
Only way I can see that could be "fixed" here is that archers should have better backup weapons. They are forced to run away currently as builds don't allow investing in melee skills enough. After that we can talk about nerfing ranged side, like limiting amount of arrows etc.
I see 2h/pole guys talking about that archers should be there as support role. Well.. why don't we switch this thing around and think it like... maybe 2h/pole should be that support? Move with shielders, kill cavs and stop solo rushing.
Or do you know any real life battles in history where 2h guys were rushing in front and killed horde or archers without problems? That doesn't happen even in hollywood movies. It's always shielders first or some backstabbing ninja action behind in archer lines.
first of all realism is not a way to balance c-rpg. But if we wanna go that way.... sure. If u get bumped by a cav, there is 50% chance u will be unable to fight. Which ofc depends on the speed and weight of the horse.
And u really wanna say that the 2h and polearms should be support roles ? The 2 most aggresive and most consistent heavy damage class? The ones who have to stay at the frontline, and because of that is constantly in danger, not only from 1 class, but pretty much all classes in the game.
The archers does not have a big ass 2h weapon like polearms and 2hs. But he does have a big advantage over 2h and polearms, range. Because of that range, he is not in an as big danger as the 2h and polearms. The only thing which can threaten him on a consistent basis is other archers, cav (if horrible positioned) and xbows.
Archers in melee is fine, they can defeat an enemy if it is needed. Mostly they just need to hold them of until someone else comes and help. So i dont see why archers should have better hybrid options than every other class. A big and heavy weapon is maybe not the best idea on an archer aswell, since it will decrease ur running speed. One of the best defenses and archer has against 2h, polearm and shielders is simple running. Do u know how hard it is to catch an archer? I have tried being slower than archer a million times, which means i will never be able to catch him, unless he gets distracted. So i would say thats pretty damn good 1v1 options right there.