String your bow

[Rumblood]

Here's the proposal to replace the arrow weight. The goal is to address the kiting archer without penalizing the other valid playstyles.

An archer must have a strung bow in order to use it. Back in ye olden days, you didn't run around with your bow strung up all the time. So here's the proposal:

While using a strung bow, archers receive a 50%athletics penalty. Press whatever key to unstring it and run around with 100% athletics.

While unstrung, you can't use your bow. Press left click and it should go through a timer the same as reloading an arbalest. Once it is restrung, you may use it again, but are back to 50% athletics.

So an archer trying to kite will be easily caught, or to get speed, must suffer the same penalty as a xbow and find a place to hide to restring their bow after running away.

Archers who have the balls to break out their melee weapon don't suffer from slow footwork.
Archers who use light bows but don't kite won't suffer their arrows flying only 50 feet due to the reduced arc because of the extra weight of the arrows.

What do you think?

[Rumblood]

I posted this one separate for its own + and -.

You could also allow the unstrung bow to function as a quarterstaff. I would only allow 2 slot bows to function this way. That would give you two types of archers.
Big hitters who can turn their bow into a melee weapon that can easily be damage balanced by the dev's to decide just how good this type would be in melee.
Fast low damage builds with a 1 handed weapon.

[Grumpy_Nic]

Now here's something new. Not bad but I guess only very few archers will like it and its probably a lot to code.

+1 anyway for the thinking

[Warcat]

I posted this one separate for its own + and -.

You could also allow the unstrung bow to function as a quarterstaff. I would only allow 2 slot bows to function this way. That would give you two types of archers.
Big hitters who can turn their bow into a melee weapon that can easily be damage balanced by the dev's to decide just how good this type would be in melee.
Fast low damage builds with a 1 handed weapon.

Neither of those really fit the type of archers I want. Which is light damage archer with lots of arrows and enough speed to avoid melee guys and have very few if any deaths. But I only really care about archery in strat anyway. Either way, melee weapons are a waste of space archers should be using for more arrows.

[Pejlaen]

Something like this would be great, I would reeally prefer this as a solution though if it was possible to code/mod;
http://forum.meleegaming.com/suggestions-corner/reduced-movement-speed-for-2-3-seconds-after-stringing-your-bow/

[Kafein]

Nice idea, not sure if possible with the current resources of the mod.

[Piok]

Slightly increase number of blots/arrows in quiver and allow use only one quiver.
Nice easy and will solve lot of problems including constant whining for 0.5, 0.25, 1.5 slot items and will make HA,HX fun for everyone.

[Rumblood]

Nice idea, not sure if possible with the current resources of the mod.

I considered that. I think it might be simulated in this manner.

While bow is in hand, archers suffer the 50% penalty. They can switch to a melee weapon for 100% athletics. Now here is the sketchy part. When the archer switches back to the bow, drag out the animation for 3-5 seconds or make it cycle through a take it out, put it away, take it out, put it away, take it out cycle automatically. Just somehow make it take longer to switch back to the bow.

[Moncho]

hmmm what about hybrid archers? Noone ever thinks about them
I quite like the suggestion, if a way is found to make hybrid archers who constantly switch between melee and ranged weapons do not get hit too much

[Zlisch_The_Butcher]

Unstringing your bow should also have a timer though, else kiting would still be too functional.

[Jarlek]

Unstringing your bow should also have a timer though, else kiting would still be too functional.

What about sheathing your bow automatically unstrings it?

OR

Stringed bows are unsheathable and dropped when switching unless you unstring them?

[Strider]

This is a great idea. It's a whole different perception of archery, but at least it'll work better than archery right now. Balancing not obliterating. 

[BlueKnight]

You could also allow the unstrung bow to function as a quarterstaff. I would only allow 2 slot bows to function this way. That would give you two types of archers.
Big hitters who can turn their bow into a melee weapon that can easily be damage balanced by the dev's to decide just how good this type would be in melee.

Hitting enemies in melee with a bow? Don't know if you know but Bows are kinda sensitive and hitting enemies with your bow not only won't damage your enemies but also will destroy your bow.

I would suggest just a well thought balance of the slot system, maybe it would force to increase amount of arrows in 1 bag or something but slot rebalance seems best way to make archers try to defend themselves.

What is more, it seems shitty that you hold your bow in 1 hand and arrow in other hand but with a smaller bow you can take melee weapon and with bigger bow you can't (you can but it's 0 slot-shiet anyway). Maybe increasing amount of arrows in 1 bag would kinda excuse the weight of a bag and would make archers have a slot for some 1-slot, self-defence, chance-giving weapon.

[Grumpy_Nic]

Maybe increasing amount of arrows in 1 bag would kinda excuse the weight of a bag and would make archers have a slot for some 1-slot, self-defence, chance-giving weapon.

Get a wooden stick. 0 slot, blunt damage no requirement, knockdown, 99 speed, can be used to block, 0 upkeep. It has only advantages.

[Kafein]

Get a wooden stick. 0 slot, blunt damage no requirement, knockdown, 99 speed, can be used to block, 0 upkeep. It has only advantages.

The tiny hammer some archers have is not that hard to use when you have an advantage of 3 or more ATH points on top of super light armor. A single error and you are dead, but if you block carefully you won't have any problem hitting.