Hi all. I need some help. RPing is important to me, with that in mind I'd like to build a character within the following constraints:
Elf
Ranger
Utilizes both two-weapon fighting and a bow
Using Pathfinder Core Rules
Basically, I really enjoyed the ranger I played back in the days of the CRPG Icewind Dale 1. Bow for long range combat, "two weapons" for close range combat. Long before 3.0 and later rules that allowed the ridiculous stuff like fighting with oversized weapons in both hands, I kind of liked the idea of fighting with a small weapon in the offhand. Essentially, in the original IWD, there was no mechanic to allow to you arm two weapons. Instead if you equipped a single handed weapon, you got an extra attack for free. Even if that was the implementation because the developers were too lazy to put in real two-weapon fighting, flavor-wise, I think that's perfect for the ranger--adaptability, using a single-handed weapon (not trying to use any Renaissance BS like a rapier either) in your main hand because shields and two-handers are pretty darn unwieldy, using your off-hand to maybe get in there with a hunting knife or other small weapon, or even a fist.
A lot of the advice on builds for rangers have focused on "switch-hitting" with a bow and two-hander by using combat-style feats for archery and a few regular feats for the melee style. Any advice on how I can build a character using combat-style feats for two-weapon fighting, and 1-3 regular feats for archery when I want that as well? Again--for this campaign, I want to build an elf ranger who is decent with both bow and two-weapons using the core rules (not feats from Ultimate Combat). RPing as an adaptive elf ranger, ready for anything, is really important to me, but I don't want him to be weak. Help me optimize my RPing goals? I don't want my DEX to be too shoddy because I'm using a bow (and lighter armors) so is it best to take a level of rogue for sneak attack and use Weapon Finesse on two light weapons? Should I go longsword/shortsword in melee? Is it impossible to make a viable warrior within these constraints?
