Moonwalking NPCs that have mastered the side to side moonwalk and items blocking your arrows, when it's obvious your arrows have easily gone over them. I'm sorry, but every archer I make is impossible to use because of this. Thoughts?

I HATE when enemies do this.

The arrow dodge only affects me when I'm shooting at enemies from a long distance while they're running toward me, a rare occurrence. At that point I've either already made my move and am relocating to someplace safer or I'm waiting to counter their attack with a bash. Playing on legendary makes one become resourceful especially with the "no-sneak" archery that I play. Don't forget that he can only dodge when he's noticed you at long distances. When he gets closer, it's difficult for him to dodge.

As for the items that block arrows, I make sure to have plenty of room around the walls or banisters before I fire. These problems don't really discourage me.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2024117

Can't say I agree tbh, I generally prefer a 2h barbarian, just in my head 2h barbarian is most badass, however I've played a lot of archers in skyrim purely because I think it works so well in this game. I especially love plucking someone off as they run to see what happened to their buddy who I also just plucked off, placing the arrow in front of them so they run into it and get sent flailing off their bridge. I just feel really in tune with the timing of it. I think I'd hate it on a high difficulty though because turning someone into a pin cushion while they continue to fight is extremely immersion breaking.

I don't mind an enemy dodging an arrow, if they see it coming (I would do the same), it's just that the animation for it is SO BAD that it looks like they are shifting time and space to move out of the way of the arrow. If the animation was more like them just standing in place and dodging, or actually taking a step out of the way, it would be so much easier to accept.

Aye, when they slide to once side without moving a muscle i can get annoyed. It isn't that common for me, but still sometimes i feel cheated by the game. Would not be against NPC's doing proper dodging though. And yeah your arrows can get stuck at rediculus places. Thats a item hitbox problem. If you are aware, its quite easy to avoid, but thing is. It should not have been a problem in the first place.

On a similar note, I really wish that the textures of certain items actually fit the hitboxes of them. It's annoying trying to shoot between a railing down at a bandit only to hit an invisible wall because that 3 foot bit of air is apparently solid.

This happens quite often to me...railings are actually solid walls apparently

I've noticed the "ninja dodging" actually happens to me sometimes when I'm not detected.

The invisible walls around doorways or objects have been there from day one, just have to live with it, i have for 2 years. The game isn't perfect.

The arrow-dodge bug* and the way hitboxes mysteriously extend when crouching are bad.

However, archery has never been a smoother or more enjoyable experience in TES and especially playing a sneak archer is quite statisfying this time around.

*It's not a feature. The NPC's teleport/ do a matrix slide out of the way of your arrow even when completely undetected. It must have something to do with the way NPC's are rendered on screen versus where the game data says they should be.

I think I have had this 2-3 times, +1000 hours and mostly archers. Last time was yesterday, enemy sidestepped three meters but did not react to the arrow so next shots was sneak attack.

The problem with shooting from your hip is far larger: then shooting downward, if you stand on an edge and aim 45 degrees downward you tend to hit the ground in front of you as the arrow don't exit from the tip of the bow but below.

That is why i use the Dwarven crossbow.

I honestly never had that big a problem with archery.

The fact that bandits tend to sidestep arrows even when you're completely hidden is annoying, as is shooting into invisible walls, but it's something you can easily get around. Except that one time where a bandit dodged 3 fricking arrows in a row!

That said, 90% of my archers are also sneaks (sniping is fun) and the rest only use it for the occasional ranged attacks, so maybe that has something to do with my opinion of it? I'm also comparing this to my experience with projectile magic, since it has similar problems but at the very least it has unlimited ammo. Well, sorta.

Oh, yeah, and this, too.

"if they see it coming"---sometimes they don't, and yet... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=704XlavJJo4

I've never really run into too many problems with my archer character. I'd even say he's by and far my most powerful character, without abusing any crafting to any degree. He doesn't use sneak and fights straight up with the bow or the crossbow. At the start, archery's not as powerful for direct combat as melee weapons, but as you invest more perks into it, archery can become devastating. You can draw your bow fast enough to lock most enemies into constant paralysis, hit like a truck, and have range, of course.

In those nordic ruins you fight through before you go to You Know Where to fight You Know Who, there are several deathlords that spawn in the courtyard. I fought all of them at once using only the bow when I went through there on my archer. Without getting hit. Granted, I had archery at 100 and had the paralysis perk, so it was a bit cheap, but archery is definitely not terrible.

I've had some odd experiences in which the AI seemingly have super senses, but it's rare at least for me.

Anybody ever had a follower fire their bow like a machine gun?

Annekke did that on Solstheim a while back. I was about to attack King Tusk when I see all these arrows (easily around 15) flying at the King, I turned around and saw a couple more coming from Annekke.

Overall, I like the way archery works, but as mentioned, I despise the superman, super slidestep maneuver npc's do. I also hate it when I watch my arrow travel through my enemies head and hit the wall behind him, doing absolutely no damage to him...me on the other hand...reload, try again.

One thing that always seems to bother me is trying to kill enemies who are in the near-death kneel. Many times it seems like my arrows just go through them.

My only complaint with archery is sometimes the killcam activates and the target gets paralyzed in the same frame due to the Bullseye perk . This causes the arrow to miss completely at certain distances because the target falls to the floor before the arrow reaches it. It made playing a stealth archer a bit annoying at times.

I never experienced a problem with NPCs dodging arrows with archery, however I did mainly use it while in sneak and often with aura whisper (makes a nice clear target). If enemies get close, that is when the mace comes out. PCs can dodge arrows, and I frequently do.

Enemies who do a matrix-like dodge to avoid my arrows are annoying, however, I still love archery. It's only occasionally when I run into this issue, and I prefer to dungeon raid while sneaking and shooting enemies from the shadows. When they are within melee range, then I'll go sword+shield.

I also hate the kill-cam shots that miss. Often, when I regain control over my archer, I'll have an angry draugr in my face that should be dead.

The thing that I probably love the most about archery is the kill shots where enemies flip over rails, or fall off high ledges/bridges.

The invisible wall ticks me off more than the Insta-Dodge™. I mean, I can see an animal right there, in a cage, and I take aim and the arrow sticks to the gate. It's ridiculously stupid to see an arrow hanging in mid air all because the gaps between a gate are blocked by Invisi-Wall™.

Other than this little annoyance, I love archery in the game. To shoot a target just barely in range of a zoom.... classic.

Plus, I like that almost-like Law & Order "Duh Duh" I get when I score a hit.

I think this has to do with an npc position tracking bug, npc get teleported and often don't notice the arrow.

Bugs with killcams is an far larger problem. Arrow miss, you get killcam while the enemy charges, or the just annoying, kill a deer, get killcam and the others run away.