When I first began the game and reached the Standing Stones, it was expected of me to choose what I felt most connected to: the Mage, Warrior, or Thief.

But I honestly didn't know what to pick.

I ended up choosing the Thief Stone as that was what I thought the archery skill was in at the time. Later I discovered it was in the Warrior class, so I changed it (which was ultimately counterproductive in the end as a mistake puts archery in the Warrior class but actually in the Thief Stone).

Where do Archers belong? We're not nearly as gung-ho as melee specialists, not even our combat archers. Our sneak archers seem to belong to the Thief class as well.

My goal is to avoid being hurt and inflict as much damage with accurate arrows as I can. It seems to be a combination of the two classes' ideas.

So what do you think? Where do we belong?

Archery is a warrior skill because combat archer.

Not every archer is a coward thief.

I don't consider them warriors, skulking around in the bushes, shadows, waiting to take them out without them knowing. Its not the same as being right there, steel to steel.

But they have their place in combat. They are efficient.

It's a grey area as it falls under the Thief Stone and the Path of Might in the Ohgma Infinium. I think it all depends on how you use your bow, do you sneak and kill without being seen or do you run and gun?

My Archer Olfrid Frost-Veins likes to get up close and personal with his crossbow. He is indubitably a warrior.

It's a combination, just like many archers. I may sneak and shoot my first arrow, becoming seen, then move into combat position in which I fire arrows in a purely precision-oriented attack. Once finished, it's back to an incognito status.

By no means do I entirely sneak, nor would I if given the chance. I have fluid shifts between being a hard-fought fighting force and an accurate and stealthy specialist.

I think Archers have the warrior perkset. But they're kinda in-between the theif and warrior sets, so it could be that its influenced by both?

But in-lore speaking, yes, archers can qualify as honorable warriors in Nord culture. Aela the Huntress ftw.

Absolutely. And crossbows are in fact built for melee specialists. They provide a ranged attack with minimal training and reduced accuracy.

The way the skills are distributed between the standing stones is kind of annoying. It doesn't fully make sense to me that alchemy is in the thief stone, for example. Not that the boost for alchemy is something I desperately want even if I do use alchemy a lot.

Bethesda is kind of sending mixed messages about archery overall. I like to play a heavy armor type archer who isn't afraid to face enemies head on without hiding like a sissy. But then the entire archery playstyle seems to rely on the sneak modifier for attacks.

We need some kind of 'Archery overhaul' mod for us warriors. I use the Demon hunter build from the Skyrimblog, it's a nice alternative to sneaking around like a wuss.

I believe The Forsworn and every single bandit archer in game would like to have a word with you on that.

Warriors? Yeah, I believe that does depend on how you use them. SStand and fight like the Forsworn and those bandit archers I mentioned, then yes, I could call that warrior like. Sneak around in the bushes, and hiding behind rocks and trees in order to get that critical shot, not so much. I think that makes you closer to the assassin type.

They're more stealthy, whether sneaking and getting that elusive one shot kill or like Shadow said, hiding behind a rock, perched up on a ledge or behind a tree. They belong under the thief.

Primarily yes.

Assassin and like use one-handed (dagger) and archery (bow) but coupled with stealth.

A pure archer as in bowman or crossbowman is primarily a warrior

I believe a pure archer, due to melee limitations, wants to stay out of the way of attacks. This doesn't mean he/she needs to hide, but it could also mean he/she needs a perch or vantage point (which is my preference as I'm much safer up there than hiding in bushes). Maybe they'll hear me, maybe they won't; I don't care, as long as I don't get my precious bow scuffed.

Most skills fit pretty well in two or even all three areas.

Archery fits well for both Thief and Warrior characters. So does One-Handed skill (Due to daggers being a very powerful weapon for assassination). Light Armor can even be used for Warrior characters as well and not just Thief characters.

Alchemy suits for both Mage and Thief characters.

Speech can be used for all three, not just Thief.

Blocking can be used for both Mage and Warrior skills... Though Mages need specific shields.

To me, "Warrior" implies that you are a fighting person. A Soldier.

And that you are on a "side" or in an organization that is fighting some other organization. For whatever reason. Even as a mercenary.

And given that, the tools you use to fight with wouldn't matter. I would consider you a Warrior.

BUT just because you use archery or other weapons doesn't necessarily make you a Warrior.

If you are a Freelancer/Ranger or whatever and not a part of some organization, I don't see where you can consider yourself a Warrior.

To me, a Warrior needs to be fighting for a cause.

Otherwise I would consider him a Rogue or Bandit or something else.

Or just some guy that likes to run around with weapons. Adventurer.

I'm not really looking at game mechanics here. Just my philosophical view.

NO!

They are milk drinker who cower behind rock and shadow when faced with true warrior.

A bow is a weapon. Thus, it is a warrior skill.

And if you say "But the only way to use Archery is with sneak" you obviously haven't tried to use it without sneaking. Sure, it starts off slow, when you have no perks in it. But that changes. Fully perked, the bow is the best melee weapon in the game. You heard me. Melee weapon. Let me ask if you've ever locked a group of Draugr Deathlords down with paralysis swinging your sword around. Poisons don't count, because we're not talking about those sneak-thieves.

A bow is a weapon. An archer is a fighter. The best fighter.

End of discussion.

I don't know about that. My archer is pretty out in the open and going as far as running up to a warrior to bash them in the face then shoot them.

Archery considered stealth skill Bethesda because it meant to be used as ranged fighting style.

That is way it is affected by thief stone. Although Unofficial Patch considered it bug.

I believe it is to give character to approach stealthy style in game a primary fighting skill just as destruction intended for mage style and onehanded/twohanded in warrior style.

Although you can always stab you opponent with dagger

Yes, they are Warriors to me. Legolas is a good example of how an archer can be considered a 'warrior'. He doesn't stray away from close up encounters even with a bow and he uses daggers or blades when he needs to.

That's basically how I play whenever I'm using archery. It certainly is a useful mechanic for stealth so I can understand why it's easy to question and apply it to only stealth builds, but it works both way.

Yes archers are warriors, trained with bows and sword/axe for backup

Lightly armored skirmishers (short bows, mounted archers), or heavy armored artillery (old english longbowman in chain/partial platemail) have always been considered warriors.

An archer that relies on stealth is still a warrior, just one focused on sniping. Replacing quantity of arrows with quality shots.

From Dictionary.com:

Archer =/= thief
Archer =/= Assassin

Also I don't see why a warrior can't use stealth, are you saying hunters can't be warriors? Not every warrior rushes into a battle off the start, stealth is a tactic and any true warrior uses strategy instead of being a complete moron and mindlessly slashing at everything that moves.

not all remember to wear helmets ya know... so enough blows to the head and they make bad tactical decisions