Feat selection suggestion

[Byrdology]

I am going to stand in as melee support for a while so I am going with martial artist monk1/ freebooter ranger1. I'm going to alternate monk ranger till monk 4/ ranger the rest.

Str: 15 (17 human)
Dex: 14
Con: 13
Int: 10
Wis: 16
Cha: 10

Starting with dodge and maybe toughness for lvl 1
Combat ref for 2nd lvl as monk.

Will be using a guisarme for reach, and unarmed flurry for close melee. Any suggestions on where I should take this?

[Hawktitan]

Boon companion when you get an animal companion. Aside from that get your typical power attack feat. You planning on tripping with the guisarme? You can't get improved trip (no combat expertise). Maybe go with the step-up feats, I'm not sure. I wouldn't get dodge as your first feat, rather I'd wait to get it as your 2nd monk bonous feat as I'm not terribly impressed with the selection of feats a martial artist gets.

[magikot]

Why monk/ranger? What does the class combination allow you to do that pure monk or pure ranger doesn't? What do you see your character doing in and out of combat?

[Byrdology]

Yes, I will be tripping. It says that you don't need to meet pre reqs for monk bonus feats. As far as concept, I wanted a scout and tracker with great combat versatility and survivability. I didn't want any of the supernatural monk stuff, so I am only going to 4 to get some goodies from that. I wanted higher hit dice for melee, and the extra skills and abilities that the ranger brings to the table. I actually thought about going to monk 8, but by that point I probly should just stay monk.

I was going to do the combat style archery, but I was wondering if I should look into natural weapon or two handed weapon instead.

[magikot]

Tripping quickly ceases to be a viable maneuver as the enemies begin to fly and get larger and larger or even immune to trips. If you are in a campaign with mostly humanoid creatures it remains viable longer. Grappling is a better maneuver than tripping IMO because it stays viable much longer.

A maneuver master may be better suited to this style of play than a martial artist. If you want to do a maneuver build you don't want archery. Either of the other fighting styles would be better. Natural weapons lend themselves to a grapple style and two-weapon techniques are good for disarm styles.

[Byrdology]

It's not a maneuver build, it's mainly combat versatility. Flurry for close range, a reach weapon for AoO, and a back up ranged weapon (maybe shurikens for flurry?). I was just thinking of tripping to use as a back up maneuver. He is a switch hitter in essence, a grizzled old scout who is useful and versatile in and out of combat.

[Byrdology]

Ok, I am going with power attack and toughness as a level one ranger, and I'm picking up combat reflexes as a level two monk. I decided on only a two level dip as a monk so I can get the 2nd bonus feat and evasion, and the rest will go to ranger. I am thinking abou trading favored terrain for orisons.