Was wondering whether playing an Archer is viable?

I've only played through a portion of the game (60 hours or so doing a bit of everything) with a warrior type character (using some magic).

Would a character using primarily bow and arrow be much more difficult?

Thoughts?

I wanted to ask exactly the same today xD

Marksman can be a lot of fun.
There are many types of weapons you can use. Bow & arrow, crossbow & bolt, and a selection of throwing stars, knives, darts.

It's also fun to kill enemies from a distance, so you don't have to get hit as much.

It's a good idea to take a second weapon skill though, for close combat. Using a bow up close can get tricky, because they're not as fast as a blade. I usually take Shortblade as my second.

Bow as a primary weapon, especially in combination with Sneak to get Ambush bonuses, can be devastatingly effective, once your skills get high enough. There will be times, though, where you simply can't maintain the range, and the opponent(s) will manage to close with you. A backup melee weapon is still essential. Choosing a melee weapon that affects Strength will also benefit your archery skill, as the added muscle will also increase your ranged damage.

Bear in mind that, when using Marksman weapons or ranged spells in MW, there is a "quirk" with elevation, depending on the height of your character. Taller races (Altmer, Imperials, Nords, Orcs) will see the problem, whereas Bosmer, Dunmer, Bretons, Argonians, and Kajiit will not. I don't believe Redguards are affected, but I never played a Redguard archer, so can't say for certain. When the target is at a higher elevation than the shooter, you need to aim slightly above the target, as the arrow path will deflect downward at some point. If the target is LOWER, you actually need to aim BELOW the target, as the arrow flight path will bend UPWARD. Once you get used to it, it's not that big a deal, and my most effective archer character was an Imperial. I eventually had him "retire" the bow (a case of tendonitis) and start learning ranged spells, because the game had gotten far too easy with it by Level 25, even in the Mournhold sewers.

Sure it is viable. Just need to get marksman up to a decent level. My characters rarely use magic. I usually snipe my enemy and by the time they run up to me they are mostly dead. So I just finish them off with a couple blows from my sword. Just make sure you keep an adequate supply of arrows (including magical or silver arrows). Nothing says fail more than pulling out your bow to kill those charging bad guys only to realize then you have no ammo.

I believe that the CodePatch fixes this problem, or at least it claims to. It certainly used to be a problem, that's for sure.

Awesome, thanks for the replies!

After multiple bow-and-arrow marksmen, I did a darts & stars playthrough. VERY fun. The high-level respawning darts you get from Mournhold can put a werewolf down in a couple hits. With high athleticism, speed, and acrobatics, I daresay you might not even need a melee weapon. Shortblade is by far my favorite melee skill, but I barely ever whipped out my http://www.valleycoin.com/product_info.php?cPath=851_847&products_id=25223.

Marksman is very fun to play. I highly suggest http://modsreloaded.com/zooming-bows It allows for zooming on bows (or certain bows, haven't used it for a long time). Terrific for assassin-like characters sniping targets from guard towers. Assassins armory mod also has some terrific crossbows (crossbows in the shape of guns with 60-60 damage *cough*op*cough*, which even have a little gunpowder explosion animation giving the effect that you just shot a bullet).

I will NOT create a character WITHOUT Markman as a major or a minor. It's a blast to me. Once you get the Marksman skill and your Agility up to a decent level, you can take any Cliff Racer out with one shot. It can be frustrating at lower levels but keep at it, and like others have said, always have a backup. Some like short blade, I prefer Spear.
I use the http://www.moddb.com/mods/marksman-mod/downloads/intelligentsias-marksman-mod-v-146 because it adds so much to the Marksman skill. New enchanted arrows, bolts, bows, crossbows, throwing stars, throwing spears, etc....found in leveled crates. There is a new shop where goodies can be bought.
I just started a new Bosmer character and naturally, he is sporting a bow.

[edit] I always assume people are playing on the PC when I recommend a mod, but I know that's not always true. No matter, even without mods, or on another game system archery is a lot of fun.

As others have said, Marksman can be a lot of fun. It worked better in Oblivion because you could retrieve arrows you fired into the ground or into a wall, but that's only a minor thing. It means you don't have to wait five minutes until that Cliff Racer finally flies down so you can hit him with your sword.

One more recommendation: Marksman affects thrown weapons as well. You can fire throwing stars off at such a high rate of speed that its comedy. I used to run around with a "bruce lee" kinda character who had throwing stars as ranged and hand-to-hand as close up, and with the speed of the stars it was pretty rare when I had to punch someone.

ST

Definitely my favorite weapon of choice, especially since I am an archer in my tactile life.

One of the great things about Marksman is when you get those odd animations on your shot, when the character skids and slides upon impact, or those other shots where it literally lifts them off of the ground with their feet in the air upon impact. I once shot a Dagoth and he slid from the rocky path directly into the pool of lava beneath him. Loved that shot.