Even when there are discussions about internal melee balance, ranged not included, you see nothing but complaints about plated str builds with oneshotting greatswords. Now if melee complain about this bullshit, how are archers supposed to "stay and fight" these ironman clones in melee ?
Over the last weeks I was trying a more melee orientated playstyle than usual. Putting on armor which is over my weight penalty limit, using a 1 slot bow instead of 2 slot, messing with different sidearms, keeping close to the melee blob as a close support unit. And let me tell you this: the game does not want archers to play like this.
Of course you can get kills in melee as an archer. If you face an enemy with light-medium armor there is a somewhat fair chance of winning the fight. You still might need 4 - 6 hits while he needs just one or two but at least you wont glance as much. But if some IF-STRstacking walking abrams tank is rolling into your direction there is simply no point in fighting. Even with 40 bodyarmor a greatsword will oneshot me in the body while I glance 90 % of the time on his plated ass. Since I gimped my ranged capabilities by choosing encumbering armor and a smaller bow, relying on my bow is not an option either. All your armor is doing in this situation is slowing you down making you an easy kill. And the most frustrating thing about this is that you know you would probably roflstomp that 2h spammer with wooden stick, given you have a str crutcher build as well. So retreat is the only solution left.
With the current ranged "balance" I see no point really in engaging in melee as long as there are other possibilities to gain another chance to take a shot. If dedicated melee was less faceroll-autokill against archers, they probably could be arsed to run less. But devs did not seem to have that option in mind when nerfing archers for the bazillionth time.
