Archers is by far the most important and useful of all the unit types available in this game. They are economical, relatively quicker to build when you compare it to high damage mechanical troops and are light on the wallet.
The major difference between Evony Age 2 and Age 1 is the cost of upkeep of Archers. In Age 1, Archers cost 9 food each per hour but in Age 2 the upkeep is less than half - 4 per hour.
Therefore it is easier to maintain large numbers of Archers in Age 2.
Archers are range units and that is something which sets it apart from every other unit type available in the game. A range unit does not need to come face to face with enemy troops to build an offence. This means that an Archer can fire form a distance and keep killing advancing enemy forces which all the enemy forces can do is take the hits and move closer to the archers until they are in combat range.
However, Archers are weak against Cavalry units. Cavalry units being mount units travel much faster than any other troop types. This caused the Archers to overshoot and miss their targets while the Cavalry moves in ducking volleys of arrows. Once the Cavalry is in its combat range, its game over for Archers who are terrible at man to man combat and will be killed in droves by the Cavalry.
Another nemesis of the Archers are the Archer's Towers. The AT have three times the range of a foot Archers and will rip apart of your Archer numbers before your foot archers are even in range.
To counter these effects, you should always have a rainbow accompanying your Archers whether its an pvp attack or an NPC. Workers, warriors and scouts are commonly used troops for rainbow composition.
Rainbow attack with workers, warriors and scouts as suicidal troops for giving tactical advantage to attacking Archers.
