Archers were guards armed with longbows, who patroll
ed rooftops and watched for possible enemies below. They usually initiated attacks against any intruder they noticed above ground.
Once provoked into personal combat due to an enemy approaching within a meter or so, an archer would cease firing arrows, and draw his sword or mace. Though accurate and deadly from a distance, archers did not pose a serious threat in close combat.
However, large groups of archers were capable of holding off an Assassin, with some attacking from close-range, and others from a distance.
Archers were stationed on the rooftops of every city, and on top of large wooden watch towers in the Kingdom. They usually guarded important areas or people, and strictly enforced the city's laws against civilians being up on the rooftops.[1]
However, as Altaïr had discovered different ways to assassinate targets at the time, he was capable of performing a Ledge Assassination to dispose of any attacking archers.[2]
In Rome, crossbowmen and arquebusiers, each with more superior weaponry, largely replaced and took on the role of archers. However, unlike archers, they did not possess a close combat weapon alongside their crossbows or rifles. Instead, they would use their weapon to parry blows.[5]
Upon building his own guild of Assassins, Ezio trained each of his apprentices in archery. Upon his signal, a group of them could fire a flurry of arrows at an indicated target. This action was referred to as an "Arrow Storm."[5]
Trivia
In Assassin's Creed, archers of Acre are the only guards that wear hoods.
In Assassin's Creed II, two special variations of archers can be found in assassination missions; Elite Archers and Captain Archers, each with trademark headgear and fighting capabilities.
Captain Archers are seen in the missions "Honorable Thief" (VeniceAssassination Contract) and in the memory "Everything Must Go;" although the archers in the latter mission were actually thieves, who wore their customary head wraps.
