1.5.1/1.5.2 is playing as a horse archer decent now?

[fragonard]

Yes indeed, a horse archer with a long glaive is a melee cav at will. Why not have both?

 

[Medivhtratos]

Yes HA is powerfull, concludes in boredom(my personal opinion).

+:
- Faster on Campaign map
- You are on a Horse (flexibilty/speed/ better to get on range as an archer on feet)
- Easy to level up and high rewarding
- You are a range fighter, so you will not be stuck in close combat=>good for your hp=>will result in more fighting as resting=>faster progress throughout game
- Sieging is more rewarding for an Archer/Horse Archer since you can attack enemy troops right from the start
- As A / HA you will have access to the biggest ammution pool
- Break enemys formations by cycle them(if you do it right)
- Doe the fact that retreating a fight has no penality for the player you will have unlimited arrows.(Fight=>Retreat=>Fight)
- Most AI enemys trying first to get your horse down if you are on a decent range(....)
- Your Horse wont get lame and start every fight with full hp (Fight=>Retreat=>Fight)

-:
- No Blocking(enemy melee cav/archers)
- You cant smash your Bow in Enemys heads
- You cant break shields, but you can cycle the enemy and hit them in the back
- difficult terran/maps like a town or village will reduce your flexibilty so try to fight on an open field

If you want a challenge as HA there are only two Options.
1. Shooting Enemys at 200m range while cycle them (12 or 8 dmg if you hit someone, yeah thats the real stuff )
2. Without the retreat tactic you will have to switch to a melee weapon if you run out of arrows

 

[Adryl]

I noticed silly gains like 210 to 211 to 212 and so on each shot in riding, sitting stationary on horse today. This was popping massive head shots at incoming infantry as they rhythmic put shields down for no reason. I din't know what the formula is but it's pretty silly and seemed more then usual.


Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah nope.
I mean sure YMMV, but Bow HA player character is a killing machine. A Glaive is great for killing other cav though, since they're so docile they can't really fight back.

I do both while mounted, and my character has 200+ skill in riding, athletics, bow, polearm, 1h, and 2h, so it's not about skill levels or practice. While mounted, I carry a bow and arrows, and a shield and menavlion. Menavlion kills way faster than my bow - you can just attack faster. Weaving through the enemy archer and inf lines, I kill one enemy with every attack, whereas with the bow, it rarely kills with one shot, and the bow shoots more slowly. HA is safer, sure, but it's not more effective at killing. I generally pull out my bow when I'm out of range, or when the enemy shield-walls and I want to just shoot into their midst. This might change when the HA perks are working.

Actually I have no problem with it the way it is currently implemented - I prefer spear cav being a better option. In WB and WFAS, HA was king and it's nice to have a change here where at least I have a reason to use a lance or spear from horseback.

In the field, I've found HA + 1h polearm cav is most effective, whereas in siege, a noble bow plus 2h weapon is most effective (for my play style, anyway). No need for a horse, you can run around so fast with high athletics skill, fire the bow faster, use the noble bow, and dodge arrows more easily since you can turn better.