My Musket Master Gunslinger is level 2 right now, and I'm kinda looking for a second (or third, fourth...) opinion here.
First level I took Point Blank Shot.
I got Rapid Reload for free from MM.
I'm not a human, so that's it.
I'm fairly certain I will get Rapid Shot, Precise Shot and Deadly Aim as my next feats (at 3,4 and 5)
Not quite sure what order I should take them in though. Or if I'm maybe missing another feat that's important.
I'm fairly certain I'll take Deadly Aim before Rapid Shot. After level 4 both give -2 to attack, and while Rapid Shot probably does more damage, 1d10 (yes, I'm small too) vs +4 it also requires a Full attack and another alchemical cartridge per round.
That logic makes sense? Or get it the other way around? If I'd get one or the other at level 3, at least for that level Rapid Shot is way better than Deadly Aim.
And where does Precise Shot fit into it? before? After? Between the two?
So far I'm actually tending towards getting this one first, as we have a few melee chars, who rush in and then I take the -4, and right now Touch AC does not equal auto-hit yet.
As I said, kinda want to hear some other thoughts about this, and maybe experience reports.
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How often are you put in situations where you're taking the -4 penalty for firing into melee? If it is VERY often, you may want to take precise shot, but it does somewhat depend on you and your Dex. I have an alchemist bomber who's 6th level and still doesn't have precise shot, and I think I've only missed...maybe like 5 times because I didn't have precise shot?
In terms of damage, Rapid Shot is better than Deadly Aim.
Average Damage for 1d10 is 5.5 damage. Deadly Aim increases that to 7.5 at level 3 and 9.5 at level 4.
Rapid shot gets you two shots, which means that you get an extra shot and potentially can do an average of 11 damage a round.
Furthermore, Rapid Shot gets you two bites at the apple a round. Therefore, if you roll and miss with Deadly Aim, you're done. Whereas with Rapid shot, if you roll and miss, you have another shot which may hit.
Therefore, at early levels, Rapid Shot just edges out Deadly Aim in terms of total overall damage. The extra damage you get from Deadly Aim doesn't edge out Rapid Shot until 8th level, when you get +6 damage from Deadly Aim. Obviously, this analysis changes as the damage dice of the weapon get smaller. However, once you start to add other static bonuses, such as Dex to Damage, then Rapid Shot once again becomes better than Deadly Aim, even with tiny damage dice like 1d6.
So, if you miss a lot, take Precise Shot and then Rapid Shot. Otherwise, Take Rapid Shot.