Help with an archery build

[Socko525]

Hello all,
I'm in the process of developing a ranged archery build and I could use some help.

I don't have my ability scores yet because I haven't rolled them so I'm working on the build without them, so for all intents and purposes let's assume that I'll be able to meet the pre-requisites for most feats.

I'll be starting at level 7, and I'll be playing a human as I'm well aware of how feat intensive archery is.

All sources except Tome of Battle are allowed, this includes Dragon Magazine content.

My plan was to make a Scout 5/Cloistered Cleric 1/Ranger 1.
Scout 5 so I could get evasion to start, and trade away the evasion from ranger later on for the spell reflection ACF, but I don't know if its just better to be Scout 4/Cloistered Cleric 1/Ranger 2.

Feats:
1: Point blank shot
human: precise shot
flaw: mercantile background (this is pretty much a necessity since my DM doesn't believe in WBL, and I'll have only starting gold for a lvl 7 character)
flaw: far shot(only as a prereq for ranged skirmisher), or maybe darkstalker?
level 3: if far shot, ranged skirmisher(for skirmish dmg to out to 60'), if not rapid shot?
Cloistered Cleric ACF: Travel Devotion, Knowledge Devotion
Ranger 1: Track
Scout 4: Swift hunter
level 6:improved skirmish
level 9:?
level 12:?
level 15:?
level 18:?

This is where I have trouble deciding. I've read pretty heavily through the swift hunter handbook, so my trouble is with what ACFs/substitions to take.
From all the reading I've done it looks like travel devotion/rapid shot is preferred over the manyshot/greater manyshot route, so I figured I'd go that way. Which makes me wonder, is it worth going the ranger archery track to ultimately just use it for improved precise shot? If not should I go the two weapon track and have that as a backup to my ranged attacks? Or for convience sake should I just stick with the archery style.

I was planning on giving up wild empathy for the voice of the city ACF and 1st favored enemy for the arcane hunter ACF.

And then giving up my animal companion for the shooting star ranger substitution levels to gain additional spells/day.

Here's another dilemma, should I go this route or instead go mystic ranger? Everything will progress slower (delayed combat style, 3 favored enemies as opposed to 4, etc) but I'll get significantly more spells and access to 0 level and 5th level spells.

So what do you think? Should I take any other Prcs? Or stick with this?

What feats should I take? Or perhaps there's a better build all together?

My role in the party would be skill monkey/ranged support (our party has a cleric with the saint template, a bear warrior barbarian, a straight classed ninja, and a vow of poverty monk)

Thanks in advance for your help, I realize the description is kind of long.

Also since I basically will have ~400 gp(300 from mercantile background) for quite a while (in the process of adventuring from level 1 to level 7/8 our party has amassed around 2000 gp combined), any thoughts of how we can make some gold to afford magic weapons?

 

[Pergentile]

Vow of Poverty Monk? Seriously? Is his intent to suck as hard as possible? Just kidding!

Cragtop Archer+Deepwood Sniper are very nice prestige classes.

Association with an assassins guild would be good for a sniper, and is a good way to make good money (people play a lot to have other people killed).

Take Able Learner feat (must be human) to make any skill that has ever been a class skill stay as a class skill (only costs one point/rank).

 

[Socko525]

Vow of Poverty Monk? Seriously? Is his intent to suck as hard as possible? Just kidding!

Trust me I already had that conversation, but think about it I'm in a party with a straight classed ninja who has no plans of prestiging....optimization is not really their forte.

Cragtop Archer+Deepwood Sniper are very nice prestige classes.

I remember Deepwood Sniper from Master's of the Wild, and I'll have to look into Cragtop Archer. I also read in a few places Targeteer Fighter is good as well as Peerless Archer.

Association with an assassins guild would be good for a sniper, and is a good way to make good money (people play a lot to have other people killed).

I'm all for it but I doubt the saint cleric would be willing to let that fly...then again I would be very sneaky, so I'll see if I can't explore this route.

Take Able Learner feat (must be human) to make any skill that has ever been a class skill stay as a class skill (only costs one point/rank)

I was thinking about this, but my DM runs it that if you ever get access to a skill through a class its a class skill, so Able learner would kind of be a waste.

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to look into Cragtop Archer.

Oh and now that I think about it, I figured it's worth mentioning that the campaign enemies seem to primarily be demons who show up through random opening portals. This being said, so far it's been rare to be in a combat where the enemies were more than 60' away to start, so focusing on sniping may not be the most ideal route.

Oh and the other domain I chose was Celerity for the +10' speed bonus.

 

[Rhun]

Here is a link to an 8th level archer I'm currently playing in a PbP here at EN World:

Aeranduil Warraven, Wood Elf Ranger 2 / Fighter 4 / Order of Bow Initiate 2

This particular build is dedicated to fighting giants, but I'm sure you can get some decent ideas there. Overall, he has rocked so far, and inflicts large amounts of damage.

Close Combat Shot, gained from Order of Bow Initiate, is a life saver...it allows using a bow in close proximity to your enemy, without provoking the AoO.

 

[Empirate]

Order of the Bow Initiate, while... alright () on its own, is a trap to avoid like the plague for Swift Hunters! You don't want to spend a full-round action to deal extra precision damage with one attack. You want to attack as often as possible so you get your extra precision damage from Skirmish as much as possible.

Suggestions to the OP, in no particular order:
I find Peerless Archer (Silver Marches) to be very good for the Power Shot ability. Trading attack bonus for more damage is always nice, and this is the only Power Attack-lookalike for archers that I know of. I must admit I haven't played one (DMing most of the time), but on NPCs, this has worked out well for me.

An essential feat from mid levels onward is Woodland Archer (Races of the Wild), with several great applications. The more attacks you have, the better this gets.
Another great feat for later is Penetrating Shot.

The Wildshape Ranger might be a nice alternative, as well. Dip a level or two into Master of Many Forms, so you can become any large Animal, Humanoid or Giant. This adds a ton of versatility, so your role in the party isn't limited to "shooting stuff", and can increase your power quite a bit. You lose Combat Style, but at low to mid levels, you really only need PBS, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Swift Hunter, and Improved Skirmish to do your thing (can be got by 6th level for a Human). You also gain fast movement with this option, which is nice to trigger Improved Skirmish.

Strongheart Halfling is an interesting racial choice, for a bonus feat and an effective +2 to ranged attack rolls (+1 size and a Dex bonus). Your damage is precision based anyway, so the Str hit doesn't hurt any. Especially if you can fall back on Wildshape for those situations where you need to be big and strong.

 

[Rhun]

Order of the Bow Initiate, while... alright () on its own, is a trap to avoid like the plague for Swift Hunters! You don't want to spend a full-round action to deal extra precision damage with one attack. You want to attack as often as possible so you get your extra precision damage from Skirmish as much as possible.

Actually, I only took it to second level with my build to get Close Combat Shot, which has proved a huge boon. I've not once ever used the Precision Damage.

If there is another way to get Close Combat Shot, I would recommend it. I mean, your archer shouldn't end up in melee range often, but if he does it can really save your bacon.

An essential feat from mid levels onward is Woodland Archer (Races of the Wild), with several great applications. The more attacks you have, the better this gets.

Woodland Archer is an awesome feat, especially the Adjust For Range portion of the feat.

 

[Dandu]

If there is another way to get Close Combat Shot, I would recommend it. I mean, your archer shouldn't end up in melee range often, but if he does it can really save your bacon.

Arrowmind, a first level ranger spell, lets you shoot while threatened without provoking. This means there is no reason to go into Order of the Bow Initiate ever.

 

[Rhun]

Arrowmind, a first level ranger spell, lets you shoot while threatened without provoking. This means there is no reason to go into Order of the Bow Initiate ever.

I wish I had known that 3 years ago when I built that PC.

 

[Empirate]

Even better, Arrowmind lets you threaten in melee - with your bow!

EDIT: nevermind, Dandu linked the spell description. Really, if I could marry anybody on this board, it'd be Dandu. Never says much, but what he says is on point. Should make for good twosome newspaper-reading breakfasts!

 

[Tovec]

Arrowmind, a first level ranger spell, lets you shoot while threatened without provoking. This means there is no reason to go into Order of the Bow Initiate ever.

What about the awesome extra damage to a straight shot?
By the time I took that prestige and got only 4 or 5 or so levels in I had nearly every useful bow related feat and could choose how, how and what I wanted to shoot. And most of the time I still just used the Ranged Precision damage for the extra damage. I certainly didn't take the prestige for the fire in melee (although that was pretty cool).