We all remember your overpowered archer alt with 1-3 kd. It's clear that archers are extremely overpowered.
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loginSo when I plug 4 to 7 shots into a heavy armored high strength opponent, and it doesn't kill them, that's me dictating how they play? I get run down by plenty of melee, and it takes most 1 or 2 hits to kill me. Lately, its a 1 shot more and more. 7 IF down the drain... This idea that all archers kite on the reg, and well, is retarded. It's also not their 'power'. No one thing is any class' 'power'. The more little options for variation you take away from any class, the shittier and more unilateral that class becomes.
All of this is unrelated to the issue at hand. Balance problems arise when at round end, a small number of archers can consistently take down a higher number of any other class, using the strenghts of their class (mobility and ranged attack) to their advantage, and negating the abilities of classes
designed (as in, the design failed because it doesn't work) to counter archers. Horses are so squishy they die before being able to attack, end even in the odd chance they manage to come into melee range, they are dodged. Shielders are so slow they never catch archers.
Yes archers dictate how everybody else plays because :
- 2h, polearms and shieldless throwers have to get behind cover/shielders or get shot to death
- Horsemen have to hide somewhere else or get shot to death
- Shielders have to keep their shields up and shouldn't advance since this will set them up for crossfire and death.
Actually yes, on some maps crossbowmen have the upper hand over archers, when they manage to find a good camping spot somewhere. But in the end that's equally lame.
As a corollary, you should try to find what class can force archers to change their kiting behavior or even maybe be as useless as melee hiding behind buildings (hint : there is none).