Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26274215-20181212194809/@comment-32765490-20181213195923

A single man with a bow is not deadly.

A massive crowd of archers with bows is a very, very powerful thing.

During the middle ages, a very popular strategy, especially for the British longbowmen, was to gather in large hordes and lay volley after volley of arrows down on the enemy. This, combined with cavalry charges, was an easy victory.

A normal bow could certainly never pierce through a solid plate of metal. However, leather armor and male, or other armor with gaps, could easily be bypassed by arrows. A knight in a full suit of steel armor would not be harmed by a normal bow. Perhaps a longbow, since those were significantly more powerful, but not a normal bow.

Crossbows are a different story. The arbalest was a crossbow known for being able to fire from massive distances, and pierce heavy armor. It was considered a cheat weapons, since a poorly trained soldier with an arbalest could kill a well-armored soldier who had spent a lifetime training.

The bow certainly was a deadly weapon when used in certain ways, but I would place it below more powerful and impactful weapons such as the spear.