I would disagree, mostly. Archers suck a bit in the early game.
Once properly build up, they may save your butt. As an example, I am thinking of the Night Cap mushrooms in a certain area of Hunter's Edge. They are basically impervious to magic of any kind, but a good archer or melee fighter will do them in.
At level 16 and dexterity 11, my archer does reliably around 200 damage per shot (Heartseeker bow with elemental damage and Tenebrium damage), two shots per round. With "Barrage", it is around 350 damage. Nothing to sneeze at.
Like all other classes, an archer is not the answer to all combat situations - that is obvious.
