I only have been playing on the siege servers, and i did first try archer which i noticed failed quite a bit, so as soon as i hit 15, I retired and now I'm re-leveling up going as sword and shield and researched a good build for it, just so i don't get 1 shot by archers when i spawn >.>
Also its hard to get in a fight with noob vs noob because like i said, you get 1 shoted by everyone else, so by the time you find and reach each other, there is another guy there that one shots you or an archer with a crossbow gets you.
Also I have done the other game modes/single player to learn how everything works, but when I come across a high lvl guy, his weapon speed and ability to 1 shot me overcomes my blocking ability, sometimes I am able to block 2-3 shots, but thats all i can do is block, because if i take the time to retaliate, their weapon speed overcomes mine, and they one shot me compared to the 8+ shots it takes for me to kill them.