Help with Feat Selection for Archer.

[Ysgarran]

OK, I'm undecided as to what direction I should take this 3.5 character. He just gained ninth level, 3 Ranger, 2 Fighter, 1 Abjurer, 1 Arcane Archer, 1 Deepwood Sniper with the following stats:
str 14
dex 18
con 12
int 14
wis 12
char 8

Current Feats: Alertness(Familiar), Combat Expertise, Far Shot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot (Ranger), Endurance (Ranger), Weapon Focus (Longbow (Composite)) , Scribe Scroll (Wizard)

The only feats that are open to me are those from the PHB. I took the Combat Expertise since the character has fairly low hit points and he can't really afford to get hit too often.

I see the options as:
Iron Will, to compensate for the low will save.
Improved Trip, not used much for an archer but could be nice.
Wpn Finesse, improve the hand to hand.
Dodge, go for shot on the run. (A long way away but mobility would be nice).

I like a lot of flexibility in the characters I run, so I'm actually tempted to take a couple of levels of rogue just so I can find traps with the decent search skill the character has.

Finally, am I underestimating Many-shot? It just doesn't seem to be that great of a feat to me.

 

[Voadam]

OK, I'm undecided as to what direction I should take this 3.5 character. He just gained ninth level, 3 Ranger, 2 Fighter, 1 Abjurer, 1 Arcane Archer, 1 Deepwood Sniper with the following stats:
str 14
dex 18
con 12
int 14
wis 12
char 8

Current Feats: Alertness(Familiar), Combat Expertise, Far Shot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot (Ranger), Endurance (Ranger), Weapon Focus (Longbow (Composite)) , Scribe Scroll (Wizard)

The only feats that are open to me are those from the PHB. I took the Combat Expertise since the character has fairly low hit points and he can't really afford to get hit too often.

I see the options as:
Iron Will, to compensate for the low will save.
Improved Trip, not used much for an archer but could be nice.
Wpn Finesse, improve the hand to hand.
Dodge, go for shot on the run. (A long way away but mobility would be nice).

I like a lot of flexibility in the characters I run, so I'm actually tempted to take a couple of levels of rogue just so I can find traps with the decent search skill the character has.

Finally, am I underestimating Many-shot? It just doesn't seem to be that great of a feat to me.

You seem to be a relatively low hit point low AC archer, I'd go with the dodge chain for the AC and forget the hand to hand feats, if you get caught in hand to hand you are generally going to get torn up even if you spend your remaining feats trying to be better.

Many shot allows you to add an extra unadjusted arrow damage to standard action shots for a to hit penalty, meaning you can do it after a move action.

 

[Ysgarran]

At ninth level I'm looking at 55 hit points which seems pretty low to me, especially after I took a couple of hits (total of 40 hit points of damage) from a Hill Giant the other day.

I like the idea of getting mobility at 12th which will help get me the heck out melee range when needed.

Ysgarran.

You seem to be a relatively low hit point low AC archer, I'd go with the dodge chain for the AC and forget the hand to hand feats, if you get caught in hand to hand you are generally going to get torn up even if you spend your remaining feats trying to be better.

Edit:
I forgot to mention one option:
Quick Draw: It happens more often than I like that I find myself confronted with a melee opponent. It would be really nice to get my weapons put away and out quickly.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

You know that Combat Expertise cannot be used with ranged weapons, don't you?

Manyshot is nice if you want to put out more damage with one action (e.g. when you have to move). You can adjust your position for better aim or keep retreating and still shoot a lot of arrows (while the melee enemy only gets one attack).

Oh, and get Tumble if you don't have it already!

 

[Ysgarran]

Yes, knew that one. It is one of the reasons I was thinking 'Quick draw' might be nice.

You know that Combat Expertise cannot be used with ranged weapons, don't you?

Oh, and get Tumble if you don't have it already!

 

[rowport]

Yes, knew that one. It is one of the reasons I was thinking 'Quick draw' might be nice.

The other great advantage for Quick Draw for a ranged specialist (apart from the "oh crap I got caught in melee" factor) is for thrown weapons. From a fairly close range, you can take advantage of all your ranged feats with thrown weapons, and with Quick Draw you can do it while staying ready for melee action. If you do go that route, look closely at mroe Deepwood Sniper levels, which can help increase your effective ranges.

 

[Particle_Man]

A slightly out there option, maybe go for improved unarmed strike or go for a lvl in monk. Then you can just keep your bow out if you are caught in meelee and just kick people. If you happen to kick a person down on your first attack in the round, and you have no one else in meelee with you, you can then fire off arrows with your other attacks, if any.

Just a thought.

 

[Darklone]

Next levels I'd go for fighter 2 and some rogue thingies... Weapon Specialisation will help your damage output with ranged weapons a lot and I never say no to evasion.

Manyshot is indeed nice for surprise rounds or hit and run tactics.

 

[TracerBullet42]

With your good Dex, I'd throw ranks into tumble and you can avoid the AoO that way, making Mobility not as important. I'd lean towards the Manyshot feat. I thought, like you did, that it wasn't that useful. Then I got into some combats and saw how often it came in handy. It's nice for the move 30' away and launch a few arrows. It gives you the same movement as shot on the run, but you just can't divide it up.

So the short version...I'd take Manyshot.

 

[Zad]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Improved Precise Shot. It's a great feat to have and lets you blow off a common defense. Manyshot is also a good thing to have.

My personal experience as an archer - I don't like the dodge -> shot on the run line at all, weapon finesse is really not necessary, combat expertise doesn't work for ranged combat (by my reading) and therefore is of limited use, and trip has no real sound use for you. Your saves, on the other hand, can never be high enough.