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I've made so many characters at this point that now the way I mostly manage to enjoy myself is to find a few interesting-sounding mechanics and see what I can do with them.
For a possible upcoming Carrion Crown game, I decided I wanted to give Channel Smite a try (I rarely play Clerics, when it comes to Divine casters Inquisitors are much more my style) and decided that I also liked taking that a step further and trying to build around Guided Hand.
For those without UC: Lets you use Wis. for attack bonus on deity's favored weapon.
To add an extra layer of nuttiness (and feat dependancy, har) I also decided I wanted to be an archer. I passed on Erastil because, while I find him quite intriguing from a world-building standpoint, I have no interest in *playing* a borderline misogynistic traditionalist. After some poking around on the Pathfinder Wiki I found the Empyreal Lord Shinashakti: CG, Shortbow for favored weapon, and a couple of fun domains. Sold.
Finally, the mechanics! (And what I'd like a little help on).
I'm going human, and I'm going to use the Crusader Archetype (One Domain, One less spell per day/level/tasty bonus feat selection in return) and taking Focus: Shortbow for my 1st-level Crusader bonus feat.
Here's my conundrum: I'm going for a minimal Dex of 13 to qualify for Deadly Aim later. Being Human I have two feats... Do I use them to go Channel Smite + Guided Hand to get Wis. on attack at level 1, or do I go Point Blank Shot + Precise Shot to not take that nasty "firing into melee" penalty?
Either way, the two not chosen would be picked up at level 3 and 5 repectively. But which is best to start out with?
And, please, none of the answers that tell my why this is suboptimal and I should just play "X" instead. This is what I want to do, I'd just like some outside perspective on this starting feats business.
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Oh my... you are in a bit of a fix here. Taking either route would leave you crying for the other 2.
I would suggest you go with Channel Smite + Guided Hand.
The reason being that you can always hit targets not in melee, while Point Blank Shot + Precise Shot, wouldn't make your base attack go any higher, and at 13 Dex you won't get much hits.
In any case, you do have a very interesting and viable Archer Cleric build here. Its not min-maxed, but I think that's the fun of it.
Never did thought of using Crusader to open up the way for more feats to support an "archer Cleric". Thanks for the insight.
PS: Power gamers will hate this build, but I think its kinda cool. Good luck!
