I think new weapons and armour are a great idea.
the
look of weapons and armour hasn't changed since the game began
(unless you count the 60 ruby scam to change your sword

)
As for the bow (or crossbow) since it is a two handed weapon, when equiped you should not be able to use a shield, therefore a bow has to do more damage to offset the lower armour rating.
My pet peeve about this game is that
there is not enough strategy, greater selection of weapons and armour could definately add extra strategy to the game.
possibly add some mythical armours (they have been discussed):
- dragon armour (damage bonus)
- elf armour (agility bonus)
- dwarf armour (skill bonus / strength bonus)
- hydra armour
- titan armour
there could be a tonne of other mythical armours and bonuses for having a complete set and split sets of certain combinations on top of what the actual stats of that armour say.
as an example:
-a complete set of dragon armour gives you an additional 10% damage
- a complete set of elf armour gives you +10% to avoid a hit
and so on