Hi all,
I'm pretty new to pathfinder (limited experience in a home game/setting) and am about to start a new pbp game (Serpent's Skull, if it matters). I've gone on and rolled up a fairly standard looking switch hitting half-elf ranger for level 1 with the hopes of taking him down the 2-handed combat style path instead of archery (which seems to be the norm for switch hitters). That brings me to a couple questions:
1) Is the 2-handed combat style even viable? Are there any trap feats in it that I should be avoiding? Any particularly recommended paths?
2) Are there any particular feats I should be grabbing at level up to help support a more melee focused character? Toughness (kind of a given), Heavy Armor, etc?
3) I really like the feel/fluff of a Horizon Walker, so I picked up the Guide archetype, with plans of moving into Horizon Walker if the game goes long enough. I'm thinking that this should work nicely with Terrain Bond and all the extra favored terrains in HW. Am I missing anything here? or is this not as viable as it looks?
4) Not really related to this character so much (I don't think), but I encountered the question while trying to research him. How does the ranger capstone ability work with Guides? The guide archetype doesn't replace the level 20 bonus but does replace the favored enemy ability that is required to use the capstone. Does it just work with Ranger's Focus instead?
I'm not aiming for a perfectly min/maxed or optimized ranger here, but if I'm about to start a useless character I'd rather know and start adjusting at lvl 1, than later down the road. I'd be very grateful for any pointings out of terrible mistakes I'm making, or just suggestions of how to get the most out of a sub-optimal build.
TL;DR - can a Guide/Horizon Walker work with a two handed weapon combat style?