@
OlegRu
1) Bard is pretty much spot on for your concept. If you want to be more skill-focused and a better caster, lore bard is probably a better fit, and certainly fits your RP concept. Valor is generally worthwhile if you're willing to invest feats, ASIs, and spell choices to make your weapon combat. Basically, you'd have to decide how high of a priority good archery is to your character.
You could probably also fit this character concept into a warlock, depending on your willingness to stretch class flavor.
2) Con is very important, for both hit points and for making concentration checks. Most people recommend starting with a 14 here if at all possible.
3) Personally, if I'm sitting back casting, I'd rather have just the shield than just the sword, but that's personal preference.
4) A) Breastplate if you can afford it. B) Scale mail or chain shirt if you can't (depending on how much you value stealth). C) Studded leather if you value stealth, can't afford a breastplate, and have a 16 Dex, OR you decide to go lore bard.
5) Yea, the general feats you'd be looking at are Sharpshooter (a near must for focused archer builds), War Caster (helps with concentration and lets you not worry about hands), and possibly Elven Accuracy. I like Elven Accuracy because it does give a +1 stat bump, and both elves and half elves will usually have a 17 in Cha or Dex at level 1 assuming point buy. Others don't value the bump quite as highly, and it usually devolves into math arguments when discussed.
I, personally, don't find character building past level 10 or so very interesting, so I tend to only evaluate the best feats for levels 4 and 8. At levels 12, 16, 19, I assume you'd just want to bump your favorite stat up to 20 if it isn't there already.
6) Tough call. I think in strictly numeric terms getting your main stat to 20 is probably better, but I tend to value the quality of life benefits that feats provide over the number increase. But there's good arguments for either direction. I would personally advise not getting Sharpshooter until 8, because it really starts to pay off once your accuracy has improved and you have more ways to generate advantage. (Even without Elven Accuracy, advantage is huge for Sharpshooters.)
7) Yea, can't trade cantrips, but you can trade in one spell for another whenever you level. For Bards, up to level 10 I tend to think of it as you gain 2 spells every level, but lose 1. Spells to choose have to be based on the concept, but for an archer, anything that gives advantage is good. Look for spells that don't require concentration, and any spells that are bonus actions or reactions.
8) Well, with jack of all trades, you'll be decent at a lot of skills. I tend to prefer to put Expertise in skills I have a high stat in, but really, this is something that can definitely be a role-playing choice. I haven't seen too many DMs play a style where any one particular skill check will make or break you, but only you know that about your own game.
