I guess it's the player skill requirement that does it. If you're a shit player, and playing melee, you'll get fucking slaughtered wherever you go.
If you grab a bow/crossbow, you can feel like you're being useful by playing the point&click side of this game. Everyone will still murder you, but now you can try to avoid it by hiding and staying away from them
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Somehow (no idea how, it is point&click after all) playing ranged should require some skill from the player's end too.