The arsenal of the archer

[Q'alooaith]

Yea, +10 damage on each hit, it's one of the better underused weapons..

When run my druids I normaly have them take spear just for that one weapon.

[Klutz]

Be sure to pick one that is easily available in +3 to hit or better varieties. One of the problems an Archer can have is running out of ways to hit enemies that require +3 or better enchanted weapons to hit. My favorite non-bow weapon for Archers is actually Azuredge, which gives my Archer a nice alternate ranged option that isn't ammo-dependent, is +3 to hit, and very nice vs undead. They still get their Ranger to hit and damage bonuses with it also. It's not so good for melee though.

I personally don't mind pausing to go into the inventory screen to change from bow to dual-wield and back. It's easier if you keep the two weapons you would dual-wield in your other 2 main-hand weapon quickslots... makes the swap a bit faster than keeping them down in your inventory. Some good Archer dual-wield combos that involve weapons your other party members are often not using:

Axe: Frostreaver / Stonefire (plus same proficiency as Azuredge)
Long Sword: Flame Tongue / Sword of Roses
Flail/Morningstar: Wyvern's Tail / The Sleeper (odds are someone else is using the Flail of Ages)

If that's too tiresome, there's tons of +3 and better two-handed weapons that often get neglected that would be fine for your Archer's backup weapon. There's so many that even if you have 2-3 party members specializing in two-handed weapons that your Archer will still easily have a +3 or better one to spare.

[Jerr Conner]

Lilarcor

[LennonCook]

Use a dagger, and pretend it's an arrow.