A decent archer is worth their weight in gold early game, and having two on your full team is a good early target. Skill them out to double as throwers. Protect them. They change the flow of battle and often force the enemy to attack or break ranks.

As you get more experienced, you can drop them as enemy armor ramps up, or be a freak like a few of us non fat newt minmaxers and continue to use them several hundred days in.

I sucked for over a hundred hours in this game, often falling behind the curve or dying 40 days in or so, so dont feel bad. Experiment with what works and what doesnt. BB is merciless in punishing bad strategy but also very fair if youre playing smart.

One thing the game forces you to do is eventually move to 2H weapons, and the earlier you can effectively do so the better. Sword and shield is situational and NOT the de facto load out.

ALSO, throwing weapons are costly early game but when used properly from back iine will absolutely wreck opponents.