Regarding point #1 about archers' high damage...that's the way it's supposed to be IMO. The whole modus operandi of being a bird is that you sacrifice some survivability to be a damage dealing machine. If archers didn't deal very high amounts of damage, there wouldn't be any reciprocity. It's a poetic balance: the most dangerous class is also the squishiest. So, in short, bumping the damage on birds' endgame gear is change I agree with.

Regarding PvP stuff....well I don't do PvP, so obviously this is no expert opinion, but common sense tells me that balancing PvP is probably close to impossible when you have valiant rings, dragon rings, and whatnot thrown into the mix. You said it yourself: a ring can make or break a fight. The question is: do you want PvP to be about rings? Or do you want it to be about strategy and skill? Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm guessing you want it to be about skill. That being the case, a suggestion I would make is that rings in general should be made inactive in PvP arenas.