Cowardly and cheap? I always found it funny when Knights would duel in a fair match, or in Martial Arts movies where a guy is surrounded and people attack him 1 by 1, or when there is a Samurai movie and some guy is bound by "honor" to fight in a civilized way. You know what the trump card is to that? Ninjas. Yeah, guys that flipping don't care about honor or fairness and are focused with winning. You want to win, buck the notion of Honor. The next time some King waltzes up in the center of a battllefield, put an arrow through his heart. That war? Yeah, done. You just killed its leader and what's gonna happen. the other side is going to attack you and try to kill you? Guess what, they were already going to do that. That guy that is surrounded, how about everyone charges him at once. Bows are the same way. Exploit pathing, get the drop on every enemy - most efficient and highest combat skill.

I just like to sneak around a poke people's faces with arrows

It's obvious archers are CoD players. Because that game has all those archery weapons. Bows, crossbows, slingshots, darts, the list goes on and on the evidence is undeniable.

It's satisfying to land those prediction shots, and the animations and sounds are well done (I use http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6035 for even better sounds). Plus, if you're not a dirty, sneaky thief, you have to sprint-kite, which is a lot of fun.

Perhaps it's the incredibly OP feeling you get by one-shotting anything short of a dragon with a critical sneak shot with tons of gear enchanted with +bow damage, and a bow enchanted with extra damage too.

Bow Enchanted with Extra damage? The Elemental Enchants svck. Weapon Enchants are poopy. Might as well throw Fiery Soul Trap or Soul Trap + Paralyze on it.

How are magic the gathering players geeks and you playing Skyrim aren't?

Bow to me...

Wow sorry to upset so many people with the cod kids remark. I've read your comments but I'm not sure I'll even understand what's so satisfying about taking 30 seconds to aim and watch your enemy go down with one arrow.
I much prefer the adrenaline rush that comes from real combat.

if it takes you 30 seconds to aim you either svck are play the game for console - which you have a valid point then. Playing any sort of FPS game on a console means you enjoy handicaps.

Also, what real combat in Skyrim? You can just as easily one shot targets with melee and combat boils down to backpedaling attacks and either spamming Shield Bash to Stagger your target or something equivalent.

It's fun when you sneak near a bandit camp, put a arrow in 1 of their heads then pick off others as they run around alerted, looking for the robin hood sniper....it's also fun to shoot a guard in the knee

1. COD svcks, Anyone who plays it doesnt deserver Skyrim.

2.I enjoy being able to turn my enemies into a pin cushion (though sadly only 3 arrows will be shown sticking in them)

3.I dont have a nmage character, nor do I want one, so its the alternative ranged attack.

4.Its very effective.

I use archery with sneaking. I usually go into a dungeon and am not seen at all. My bow gets 3X attack bonus for sneak attacks. When multiple enemies do see me, they are usually all dead before they even touch me.

I recently started switching to one handed or two handed weapons because my archery skill is almost to 100.

Its fun to shoot the oil lamps and let them drop onto pools of oil, causing your enemies to burn to death. It's also fun to aim for people's knees.

How cool! I never even thought of that. I have to give that a try tonight.

*thumbs up*

I like it because there's something utterly satisfying about sneaking up to somebody, letting the arrow fly, one-shotting them and then dragging the corpse to see where your arrow landed.

Then you either LoL because it nicked his pinky finger, or feel awesome because you put it right between his eyes, or through the throat, etc. It's fun.

Or you could just turn off the crosshair . . .

Archery in Skyrim feels MUCH better than it did in Oblivion.

One of my prime reasons for loving archery is

You spend a lot of time on bandwagons, don't you?

Archery has never been and never will be any bit similar to CoD. Right now, Call of Duty is all about 'ADD Run n' Gun,' Uber 1337 xqUiCksCoPiNGx and talking trash online over a game that has as much learning curve as tying a shoe. Being an Archer requires patience, planning. A 'Kid' who play Call of Duty wouldn't even be able to conceive how much patience would be required on his part. By the time they drew out their bow they would've already said 'Meh, this is gay' and given up on it. If one of those 12-year-olds from CoD were to play Skyrim, 9 times out of 10 they would be a Warrior.

Yes, it's obviously only CoD people who like archery. There's no other explanation possible. And kids, let's not forget kids.

Only the trully superior beings can appreciate the subtility, the finesse, the grandeur and the mystique of the button/key mashing two-handed warrior. And advlts, let's not forget advlts.

No offense or anything, but both of you strike me as extremely pompous and pretentious. Playing Skyrim instead of CoD doesn't make you smart or deep, dude, no matter how much you want to believe it. It takes a lot more mental capacity to participate in a winning MLG team than it does to sink x hours into an RPG....

As a Bowman it is satisfying to strike an opponent from a distance and having his allies search around for you. In my mind making a whole Bandit Camp paranoid is amusing. although let's be fair the AI of enemies is a tad off.

(Arrow strikes bandit in chest) " Is someone there? " (few minuets later) "Must have been my imagination..."

I'd love for them to be constantly on edge as you pick them off one by one.

I love archery, both IRL and in Skyrim. I've never played any FPS. To me, archery is an essential skill in a setting such as Skyrim. You use it for hunting, for defending a keep, for sneaking up on unsuspecting foes and taking them out at a distance. Magic, being the other option, is loud and flashy, and it's not really fair, or even fun, to use for hunting. A sword and a bow, that's really all a man needs in Skyrim.