I highly doubt Fiesta will make a useless class that doesn't have anything that no body else has, to be honest. What kind of a game will be stupid enough to make a class that's useless like that?
Archers are excellent damage dealers. Just because they don't deal the damage all at once doesn't mean they are crap. I, as a cleric, would love to party/train with a bunch of archers any time. They kill fast and they don't drop like ants.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying mages aren't better - I am sure mages are wonderful in their own ways, but archers are definitely not inferior to all classes. It all depends on how you raise and play the class.
And I must say - you would need to have partied with decent archers for a fair bit before you can actually appreciate what they do. I've been partying with the two most awesome archers throughout most of my OB (and one in CB), and I really don't know how I would have leveled in a decent amount of time without them. They can be just as good as mages if they want to be, and vice versa.
I don't think there will ever be an answer as to which class is better. They always have their own advantages and disadvantages - the debates will never end.
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