What is this? A bug or just poor game design? I’ve used a real bow and it’s nowhere near as hard as in this game.
What where you thinking?
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You learn archery as you play. It’s not just pick up the bow and automatically you are a master at it.
It’s not a game for casuals such as yourself.
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Not to mention, this is a longbow of the 13th century. The pull, aim, and accuracy of those bows were much different than our modern bows. Unless you have a historically accurate replicate, it won’t be the same.
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I tried using historic bow… it was hard as hell to hit a target from 10 meters away and it was a large target. It is hard when you are just starting with it and the draw strength is not exactly small.
I am looking forward to seeing how much will the archery difficulty scale with level.
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Casuals? Are you serious? The system is completely random. The hands are all over the place and there’s no control of aim whatsoever.
There’s no skill involved
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That is exactly something that should improve with training your character and increasing the relevant stats/skills. And it is pretty much what will happen to you in real life too if you hold draw on a bow. It is better than going to gym. 
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it would be a joke when it was easy as hell
no need to get better at it then because you simply cant
now you have to shoot 100+ arrows to increase skill - learning by doing
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Just rememer that these are war bows, they have a draw weight well in excess of 100lbs, while most modern bows are never much more than 70lbs, in some of the heaviest bows. Any target shooting bow is max 45lbs. Your character is simply not strong enough to draw a war bow properly. It will take time for him to train to be that strong.
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Hey, I’ve gotta say this. If this archery is reasonable, aim no more than a palm or two’s breadth left of the arrow (depending on how Henry holds it) and it will strike center. You need to ‘point’ with the shaft–before you shoot, try to visualize not only the trajectory but also exactly where the arrow is currently pointing. Furthermore, to all you folk saying olden bows were harder, do not be silly–I speak from ignorance, as i’ve only ever shot longbows (and been meaning to shoot a recurve, never shot or will ever a compound) but to my experience they really aren’t that bad. A well made longbow is a joy to shoot, and isnt so hard as tying a shoe. The real issue would definitely be with the game if it’s representing the bows poorly. However, without an aiming reticle, you MUST aim with the arrow-shaft. Sorry if i’m not of more help. Also, if it really bothers you, make a simple cross-hair by putting a part of a sticky note pointing to the middle of your monitor from the bottom up to help center your view.
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At the beginning they are not… but they are your match.
The ‘knack’ to shooting I find is to not be too close. To draw fully then loose, not ‘aiming’ there is a place where the bow goes to on draw, fairly consistently (and more as you get better in character), which you can pop the target point into and draw and loose fluently and fast.
You won’t hit every shot, but probably around 2 of 3 at around 50m.
Really close my accuracy is much worse.
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Modern recurves are not really good representations of old war bows. Not only do most modern bows have recesses cut into them that stop the archers paradox from affecting the arrow, but also as i mentioned earlier, the draw weight is drastically smaller. This is why English (Welsh) longbowmen were so valuable, because there aren’t many people capable of drawing such a heavy bow effectively in a battle. But you are absolutly right, a well made bow in the hands of an experienced archer is amazing.
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If you are starting archery for the first time you will be lucky if you can draw a 40-50 pound bow, let alone be able to actually hit anything. It’s easy to say you’ve used a real bow when its a 25 pound bow.
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There is a certain difference between being easy and being like this…
It’s almost IMPOSSIBLE to hit the target. Heck, i don’t even understand how aim works…seems just random
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Its not random - you have to look at your arrow shaft, and project a line from its tip. It takes practice, but its doable… Quite early in the story you will go hunting for rabbits… I admit I raged hard, even complained to devs, but after like 100 arrows shot, I really got it in the eye and started hitting reliably… And those fcking rabbits are really small! 
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I’ve always shot longbows, I said. I’ve never shot a recurve, though I bought one and have been meaning to. The recurve I do own (the one I bought) Is a traditionally made one, though. Furthermore, Though the warbow had a weight of 120+ lbs in some alleged statements, I cannot say I believe it to have been any higher than 80, given that rate of fire and accuracy was valued above all else. 100-120 pounds are just too much to draw and hold the arrow steady–I could be wrong, though, given that longbowman skeletons are known to have bent bones from their work, so who knows.
I’ve been waiting all day to play as I have work and classes, but from what I’ve seen and heard the game just has a steep learning curve. As if you were a peasant learning how to become a warrior for the first time in your life…which is basically what the game is supposed to be isn’t it? You get better the more you play? Based on the replies I’ve seen here there is a reliable way to use the bows, it just takes practice. If their goal was to make learning archery realistic then it seems like they have nailed it. Those who say they have used bows a lot, what is your input on how many arrows it took for you to get good enough to be able to hit near the target every single time?
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Trained medeveal Archers was able to shot around 10 arrows per minute. Most of the skeletons found of archers had several deformations based on abrasion during the use of the longbow.
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Mary Rose Warbows recovered from the wreck of the, well, mary rose, seem to have largely een between 120 and 180 lbs, with the majority being arounf 150 lbs.
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Yes, the movement is random, but every time Henry’s hand adjusts it’s seams across in that same direction for a bit, if you take that into account you can aim well. Remember that this game was not meant to be easy and is an accurate representation of real life.
To hit near the target, as in accuracy to about a foot? God, probably in the hundreds (1 or 2 hundred).