Real Talk. What's the alternative to MA when it comes to ganking people? I've literally never been killed by anyone who wasn't an MA. I've had a few people try to sneak up behind me and melee me, but I can hear you take out your sword from a mile a way and by the time you swing I am already on my horse and gone
Hmm... not sure but depends on where you are. I have never been killed by a MA solo, even when I had my dex mage a MA could not kill me. Everyone that has killed me has had to get on foot to do it because well, horses are soft as hell.
Here are some of the more common "gank" tactics in MO2.
Use a mount to close distance quickly, the build generally does not have archery or MA maxed or near it (not enough points). They only use the bow to kill the targets mount to get them on foot.
Then they move away to hide their horse so it doesnt die, and they run down the target on foot, generally because they are either one of 2 builds. A Oghmir lean or fit or a Stout Veela with the archery clades for the ability to use a 110+ strength bow and the 25 free archery skill points.
Once on foot they are able with ease to run down most builds in game with their 2 handed swords and spam click them down all the while wearing full plate of some type. Usually Molarium if in the north, or Reptile if in the south.
The "MA" is nothing more than a means to disable your ability to run away. As most people are riding around on sub level 100 mounts with between 100-200hp. Which means a 110+ str asym bow will hit for 70+ against a naked horse and 2-3 shots and that horse is dead with ease. This is without any real skill in Archery or Mounted Archery. If the person has those skills maxed it is not uncommon to see weak spot hits of 100+ with a good longbow or asym bow.
Mounted archery is just a tool in their arsenal and most people assume that is the primary form of killing. When in fact pure MAs are rarely able to kill anyone on foot unless that person stands still or runs in a straight line in an open field.