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Well, and mind you, IMHO, I would shoot for Grandmastery in both shortbows and crossbows. The Searing Crossbow from Ribald makes short work of trolls, no fire arrows needed. Also makes mincemeat of mages. As far as shortbows go, Tugian with arrows of any good quality rocks with an Archer. Lots of shots = More killing power = Fewer people rushing you. For stuff that needs higher enchantment, keep Tasheron and later the Gesen shortbow around.
Longbows, and, Composite Longbows are poorly implemented in game, and, all of the reasons for using them are not there. Composite bows were meant to add your Str score damage. They don't. Longbows are also slower on most occasions, and, the damage bonus really is not much, compared to what an Archer gets naturally. Speed kills... Go with what gets out the most shots per round.
Also, for any sort of ranged character, I like having instant tanks. Carry an elemental staff of some sort to get an Elemental. Fire Elementals are good. Also, if you can, get Ras ASAP. It can hold most anything for a few rounds, allowing you to retreat and get some breathing room. Following this tactic, if you have to fight close range, use spears or halbreds for reach. Stand behind your summon, drink an oil of speed, and, start poking. Archers are fragile delicate sorts, and, easily smashed in toe to toe combat. If you can, get some sort of free action going, or, make sure you have range, and try to use Entangle when you can. Get your Moondog figurine when you can, as early as possible. Archers need some sort of decoy, as if I have not stressed this enough.
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