i played as an archer at the beginning of my c-rpg career, i remember i used to be able to run around and kite 8 melee guys and actually win.
If you are trying to look at the as a realism point of view, don't bother, theres a lot about archery that is unrealistic in this mod.
Archers are more than capable to melee these days, but they refuse to adapt their builds to do so, 0 slot 1handers are deadly as hell.