Alright so I decided to Write this up as a backup character to my Wizard I'm currently playing.
This is a Archery Paladin Build
from lvl 1 - 10
Object of this Character is to Smite at Range and be a minor party Face
RP wise this character will Be strongly set in the destruction of Evil, and the Vengence of those who commit evil deeds. Hopefully while NOT being the average jerk paladin we are used to in our group.
Oathbound Paladin of Vengence
Iomodae
Human
Stats
STR 16 +3
DEX 17 +3
CON 14 +2
INT 7 -2
WIS 7 -2
CHA 16 +3
All Stat Boosts into DEX
Skills invested in will be Diplomacy and Sense Motive
Feats
1 Point Blank Shot
1 Precise Shot
3 Rapid Shot
5 Deadly Aim
7 Many Shot
9 Clustered Shots
Mercies will be Fatigued, Diseased, then Cursed
Using Divine Bond for the Weapon instead of a Mount
Gain Channel Wrath instead of Channel Positive Energy
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ok step one take 4 levels of paladin.
step 2 get the hell out of paladin.
step 3 start taking ranger levels and look at playing a switch hitter.
feat progression
1 power attack
human quick draw
3 deadly aim
ranger 2 rapid shot
5 boon companion (take the cat in one level he will be large.) put his first stat increase into intellect its much easier to work with an animal that can understand you ;-)
7 multi shot
9 improved critical falchion.
ranger 6 improved precise shot
archetypes vengeance paladin and beast master ranger.
so here is how it goes. you will be able to use smite a ton but you dont need to use it all the time. this is a strength and charisma focused build dex is maybe fourth important. with a solid bab you should be able to hit about everything. your cat will be your defender grappling and interfering with anything that gets close but if there are no enemies at distance then you break out the falchion quick draw style and join the fray as an amazing melee combatant.
20 point buy
STR: 15 DEX: 12 CON: 14 INT: 10 WIS: 7 CHA: 18 (put the +2 into charisma) the negative wisdom sucks but you make up for it at level 2 with cha to saves, at level 4 put 1 point into strength and at level 8 put another point in to charisma.
buy a strength bow +5 at level four and a +4 strength belt.
this will be a big damage increase to you. if you start play with level 10 wealth id suggest
+4 item of str, cha, and dex, a +1 falchion, and a +1 composite strength bow +5. you still have tons of cash to do all kinds of fun stuff.
get an efficient quiver and a wide variety of arrows cast abundant ammunition to replenish your nice adamantine arrows or the like.
have a good one let me know what you think
Why on earth would you bail on Paladin?
And going Pal 4 / Ranger X to get Improved Precise Shot at Ranger 6 seems utterly self-defeating and pointless when it becomes available to anyone w/ full BAB at 11th level and for you "Ranger 6" is 10th level...
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oops i just remembered something beastmaster gives up 6th level feat so stick with vanilla ranger and go with the wolf
the ranger gets extra feats WITHOUT PREREQUISITES. thats the purpose. also paladin 4 gets your your vengeance ability and immunities. anything past that is just extra smites. if you want more smites take extra lay on hands but with cha 22 (+4 item) and 4 levels of paladin you can smite 6 times a day. even being pressed you shouldnt need that. the beauty of the ranger is you can teh bonus feats you want without prerequisites you dont have time to get since your not a fighter. also by level 10 your effective druid level for your animal companion is 7. which means large size cat for a protector/tripper.
look at paladin 5-10. not alot there. an animal companion mount that is very unimpressive. 2 extra smites. 2 extra mercies the only good thing is aura of resolve. in the first 4 levels you are golden. i often times use pally as a 2 or 4 level dip class. 2 for saves 4 for vengeance. and with 6 levels of ranger you now can use wands from your class spell list. hello: abundant ammunition, magic fang, lead blades, longstrider, all of these are nice little freebies you just get. (it is my understanding you can use a wand from your class spell list without umd if im wrong please correct me i couldnt find an exception)
so to some up
1. pally 5-10 no so impressive
2. feats you wouldnt normally be able to get.
3. free animal companion worth having.
4. a couple very useful spells by level 8
5. SKILL POINTS 6+int>2+int
6. 2 favored enemies.
7. one favored terrain
8. a MUCH BETTER SET OF CLASS SKILLS: i.e. stealth perception survival.
9. my base save 9,6,6 straight pallies 7,3,7
all you lose is
1. 3 smite evils/3 lay on hands (use loh to smite)
2. 2 mercies
3. immune to charm spells (but your save is already very nice i will admit this is the only thing id miss.
4. 2nd level pally spells, 3rd level pally spells
5. crappy mount.
being an archer without perception is kind of odd i always see archers as scouts not just siege engines. and the synergy between these two classes is awesome.
hope this helps explain why i bail on pally after 4th. and why i think ranger is better than just going fighter.
StreamofTheSky - I agree completely with you.
Nepril - Dropping out of Paladin at fourth makes it so i don't get divine bond which is useful. And even aura of Resolve immune to charms. Most of my groups games go to lvl 10. Plus I really don't care for ranger a whole lot I'd go fighter before i went ranger.
I...honestly thought Nephril's post was a continuation post by the OP, since they use the same picture. Now it makes a lot more sense, heh.
Yeah going straight paladin for a reason. being able to at later lvls give smite to my entire party is a very nice bonus.
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blowing a smite evil for a dmg bonus. and its only a +11 dmg bonus. and it only applies to the people within 10 feet of you and you give up the only thing worth getting after level 4 paladin.
the best thing abotu smite evil is you can power attack and still hit. the damage bonus is nice vs outisiders, evil dragons, or undead but still its a +22 dmg at that point. but if thast honestly what you want
stat buy id suggest
STR: 16 DEX: 17 CON: 10 INT: 10 WIS: 7 CHA: 15
a little moer focus on dex since thats what your wanting. but the 16 str plus a +4 item gets you your sweet spot of a +5 composite bow. id put your level 4 stat increase into cha and 8 stat increase into charisma. for more smites and saves. u need a 17 dex to hit many shot.
feats this is going to hurt
human-point blank shot
1-precise shot
3-rapid shot
5-extra lay on hands
7-manyshot
9-clustered shot
11-improved precise shot
well goodbye melee combat. goodbye versatility. but hello a guy who can shoot a bow in full plate.
the ranged feats taken are the bread and butter the necessity for any ranged combatant. the extra lay on hands is one more smite or 2 more swift healing spells.
out of the two its pretty obvious which is more useful and more powerful but if you want a ranged paladin there you go.
blowing a smite evil for a dmg bonus. and its only a +11 dmg bonus. and it only applies to the people within 10 feet of you and you give up the only thing worth getting after level 4 paladin.
the best thing abotu smite evil is you can power attack and still hit. the damage bonus is nice vs outisiders, evil dragons, or undead but still its a +22 dmg at that point. but if thast honestly what you want
All allies must be within 10ft when you activate the ability after that they can do what ever as long as they active their new smite on their turn as a free action. Really nice when used in conjunction with summon blank spell.
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he should not need weapon focus with solid bab and since no feats require it as a prerequisite i left it out. and clustered shots comes in handy when you are not fighting evil creatures. plenty of neutral creatuers have dr. if that happens then its sorry paladin please save your arrows. i just saw snap shot as a big investment for anyone except a fighter.
but totally agree i should sub deadly aim in for extra loh.
You also have a few Elementals with DR. But anyway the fighter dip was one thing I was thinking about. When to do it was what I wasn't sure about and I think Axebeard hit that on the head for when.
I'm also thinking of building an Archer Pally and at MOST im taking 2 fighter levels just to get through the feat tax on Rappid and ManyShot and that probobly won't happen.
My first concern is what race to play, my second concern is Bracers of Archery G. or Silver smite braclet.
From what I've looked at racewise depends on what your GM allows. But human has been my go to on paladin just because that extra feat helps tremendously early on.
Just throwing this out there as a an option that has worked for me in the past and made for an incredibly fun character to play.
The character is a Halfling Paladin 10 (Holy Tactician)/Master Summoner 10. Its a ranged character who uses a bow and summoned Lantern Archons as a sort of 'hunting pack' against evil. Among other things he can grant the teamwork feat Target of Opportunity to all of his summoned creatures and gains wings of his own as an 'Aspect' taken from his eidolon.
If there is any interest in the build I'd be happy to post it.
Mercurial - I would like to see that build because of summoner I doubt I could play it in my group but it does sound very interesting.