Bows are still great, and will continue to be my weapon of choice.

I never power-leveled weapon skills anyway by hitting rocks or other non-enemies (because I think it's stupid), so that change makes absolutely no difference to me.
Nor did I use to not pull the string all the way back.

Still seem pretty good to me. Killing everything with pretty much no effort like before.

Originally posted by KOBOLD:

I'm feeling the same, used to be able to kill a troll with 7 well placed wooden arrows but I can shoot 20 fire arrows at them now and they don't die

literally just killed my first troll on a new char with 22 fire arrows...

Basically the new food balance breaks down to:
If you're doing work or your attack strategy involves keeping distance, eat stamina foods
If you're doing a lot of melee combat, eat health foods

Bows work fine for me. In the beginning they are slow, but after gaining some levels they are great.

I'm feeling the same, used to be able to kill a troll with 7 well placed wooden arrows but I can shoot 20 fire arrows at them now and they don't die

Bows feel fine, make sure to upgrade them and increasing your skill, bows are more focused on its skill now, with lower levels requiring more full draws or you will miss.

Wooden arrows have been made weaker, to give you a point to upgrading your arrows.

If not using bows, a shield and a 1 handed weapon works great, parrying attacks and counter attacking.

2 handed hammers are still great in dungeons where you can hit enemies behind walls with the shockwave.

Havn't tried stealth or daggers yet, but apparently thats a viable way to go too.

Why would you say useless?

I use it almost exclusively. You do need to upgrade it.

Bows are still very powerful, but you have to train the skill and favors stamina over health (you will have to run around more).

But don't forget to have a shield and a melee weapon of your choice ready, once the monsters close the gap.

With full skill they are still brilliant.
Sadly new vanilla player will never reach that point since you cant level the bow anymore on Rocks/Trees

It’s my primary weapon, so fine for me.

It's fine, they work best getting the jump on enemies that haven't spotted you yet. Right now wolves are still dangerous for me but even a hunters bow+flint arrows could one shot them if I spotted them first. This is massively useful on an enemy that might kill me in two or three bites.

It's you. Bow works just fine.

Bows work fine, was a real life saver during 4th boss

Nope. Bows are great still, massively overpowered. Just use stamina foods in situations where you plan to remain ranged. For me personally that reduced stamina drain from maintaining the draw is a lifesaver as I have progressive nerve damage and potato aim, I can't twitch fire with accuracy. So now I'm better able to take my time to line up my shots, which saves me both stamina and ammo overall as far more are hitting.