Brute Archers

Brute Archers (AKA Giant Archers, Ballista Giants or Snipers) are Brutes-version of Archers. They have a very powerful, accurate ranged attack from a long distance (about 6 - 7 tiles ) and will have to recharge for about 2 seconds after every shot. Much like Brutes' attack, Brute Archers' attacks hit like a truck and will send your troops flying if they're not dead after the impact. They can also take about 3 or 4 hits before dying.

They never burn houses, and have no pathfinding goal. Upon landing, they wander around aimlessly, although if they have sighted troops, they will move and pursue. At the longer reaches of their range, they will prefer to target unarmoured troops over shielded troops. However on getting closer to landing at the beach, they will prefer to target shielded troops

They come in groups of 2 - 5, usually 2, sometimes they come alone. However, multiple ships may approach the island at the same time.

Basic counter: Troop positioning.

Strengths

 * Can 1-shot most units.
 * Can survive a few hits without falling in battle.
 * Can still kill units with shields effectively
 * Will decimate every unit that cannot block ranged attacks. (Pikes and Archers.)
 * Seemingly 100% accurate shots. Move your units while their arrows are flying to evade.
 * High knockback (even if blocked), may throw units into water which causes them to drown.
 * Can kill multiple units with a single shot, may take up to three infantry units to block an arrow

Weaknesses

 * Can't block ranged attacks, though normal Archers can not match them.
 * Often in low numbers.
 * Weak against Infantry.
 * Weak against a high level Plunge.
 * Cannot shoot units who are on elevated positions if they are too close to the overlooking ledge.

Strategy
They are very good at thinning your troops out so that the next incoming waves so it is important to avoid this at all costs, hide your units behind big houses and hills. Using abilities like Plunge or Volley to instantly kill them from a safe position is the best way to minimise the effectiveness of Brute Archers. Rushing them with Infantry is a great option if the terrain allows you to. Although they outmatch Archers entirely on plain terrains, Archers can be positioned on high grounds ( >=2 titles tall) so that Archers can attack Brute Archers without risking any units. Pike Charge can also be used in certain situations, but it's not advised to do so since pikes don’t have shields to block incoming arrows, thus taking a larger number of troops, also it’s rarely effective enough to kill them.

Having a Sure-footed Infantry unit taking the arrows for an Archer unit to shoot might be the one of the safest options (do note that by this way, you don't have to scramble your formation to avoid their arrows)

Link
*Source: http://badnorth.wikidot.com/enemy-brutearchers