Stonehearth is a great game for people that like to build a fat base and use ranged units to slay attackers from a distance (so people like me 
). It offers a bit of a basebuilding element which I like a lot. However, making a realistic, good looking archer tower that functions with an archer on top is near to impossible. In my experience the archer doesn’t attack from the top of a tower if it is behind battlements. It will instead climb on top of them to find an attack path or rather use the ladder to climb down to attack the enemy from ground level. I’ve build many different defensive formations for my structures but none seem to really work. I would like it if the archer’s attack would be revised so that the path travelled by the archer’s arrows wouldn’t be blocked by realistic defensive structures.
Furthermore there can be some improvement to the arc of the arrow’s path. Wouldn’t it be fun and more real if the arrow would travel with an arc? The bigger the distance the wider the arc (like 45 degrees for enemies at max range and 0 degrees for enemies within let’s say 7 blocks distance). This way, when you’re on top of an archer tower the pathing would easily pass over any battlements, but if the enemy is at the base of your tower you must have arrowslits in your walls that are at a downward angle so the archer is able to attack the enemy. And while I’m on that topic, a window item that is something like an arrowslit would be a great addition to the outlook of any defensive structure.
Finally, I like that arrows are ‘homing’ and move with the enemy as they move. It is an important part for the balance of the game and keeping the archer a viable class. But these arrows now go through objects that would definately block an arrow. Why not let the arrow hit the tree if the enemy moves behind it after the archer has shot his arrow instead of letting the arrow disappear in the tree and come out the other end? It makes archery a lot more difficult in wooded areas, but then again it is the same in the real world. To compensate you could slightly increase the speed of the arrow, which would decrease the chance of a miss; again this increase in speed would add to the realism cause these arrows travel really slow now.
In light of these suggestions I would also like to point to an earlier post from another forum user that focusses on the archer and the mechanics of its combat:[ Extra game-mechanics, (I.e. range of archers on high buildings)]. The suggestions of ‘cover when partially behind an object’ and ‘increased range on high ground’ combined with my suggestions would really benefit the archer in my opinion.
