The problem I'm having with archery is at low levels aiming takes so long and enemies move quite fast, and the larger ones have deceptive range, so you either roll the dice with low odds shots, or stop combat and run away long enough to hide. Anything that takes more than a magnum and a quick normal shot has a decent chance of wrecking me if it can get past my kiting with 50% aim shots.
I've tried using counter, but it doesn't give you enough time to charge a proper shot. Defend is worse. I have a few ideas to overcome this, hopefully, and someone also suggested grabbing some basic magicbolts just to keep stuff back. But still, it's a rough hump to get over.
Magnum Revolver.
Use magnum repeatedly, every time. Load magnum, fire, and load again. The knockdown animation is usually so long you can load and aim, and 90% of time the enemy will hesitate slightly as they load a skill or decide how to attack you, and you can reach 90% aim in the time it takes them to get right next to you. Archery is a deceptively close-range combat skill!
If you're inexperienced, stick with shortbows, specifically the Elven Shortbow which I can produce with slightly better stats. Shortbows have a much faster aim time than longbows, though a shorter range, and the Elven Shortbow can be upgraded for range comparable to a longbow. This helps aim time for regular fire, and for Magnum seems to let you load the skill faster, allowing highly efficient Magnum Revolver, as you can easily fire and begin loading the skill again before the animation has fully ended.
When handling ranged combat, the skills you want are Magnum, Bow Mastery, Ranged Combat, and Critical Hit, roughly in order of importance. Bow and Ranged both add flat damage boosts, which are multiplied when Magnum is used, so they do improve your Magnum damage by degrees. While Ranged does increase aim speed, it doesn't seem to change Magnum's aim speed, which is why shortbows are so powerful, having faster aim AND load times.