Hi,
This will be for an upcoming rise of the runelords (anniversary edition). So far our party seems to be shaping up as follows
Melee Oracle
Swashbuckler (from advanced class guide, which will be published by start time)
wizard/cleric Mystic Theurge (with early entry at 3rd, progressing wizard after MT10)
I'm looking to fill the role of ranged damage and possibly other utility as needed, except trapfinding because every option that gives you trapfinding is (IMO) a terrible option for an archer.
I'm really considering most everything at this point. Zen Archer Monk, early entry Eldritch Knight, Gunslinger, Ranger and Oath of Vengeance Paladin. I really like the snapshot line and I seem to be able to get those feats in place by level 9 with the ranger, paladin (with one level fighter dip) and the gunslinger.
Any recommendations?
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Zen Archer
Ranger
Paladin
Fighter (not the archer archetype though)
Sohei
Inquisitor
All make fine archers. Based on your post, I'd say go ahead and make the Zen Archer. Zen Archer and Ranger both get early access to the the vital Improved Precise Shot feat, they can shoot in melee without penalty, and can get a snap-shot like class feature without taking the feat.
You also have standard monk tricks to fall back on, and will have good defenses and high mobility. Damage starts out low, but will ram up very quickly after level 3. Combine with Qinggong for even more utility.
As far as pure damage? Paladin archer will do well. Really though this comes down to taste. Personally I would recommend a samurai MOUNTESD Archer. At level 5 you can reduce your ride archery penatlies to -1/-2. Other than that its up to you. I would go switch hitter ranger.
Actually the ranger would be of the sable company marine archetype (hippogriff rider), and also you incur NO penalty for firing a bow while mounted as long as you use only a single move (hippogriff moves at 100' at 4th level). It's certainly under consideration, but riding the hippogriff would take away from the snapshot line since you're well out of the 15' threat radius you've been granted.
Edit: Also, I'm not really worried as much about DPR. All archers are at the top of the charts in that regard, I guess I'm looking for which character is going to be the most useful to this group in this AP, and I do enjoy being involved in all aspects of the AP (not just combat).
it might not be completely optimal, but i really like a zen archer/empyreal sorcerer/arcane archer.... there are a few ways you can balance the levels depending on how much magic you want- personally, i'd probably go 8 straight levels of Zen Archer then take 1 level of sorc @9 and finish arcane archer the rest of the way.
another interesting option would be to make a base aasimar and start with (in this order) 1 level of sohei, 1 level of eldritch knight, 1 level of empyreal sorcerer, 5 more EK levels, and then whatever combo you like of EK and arcane archer... this option is a little bit of a slow starter (functionally have poor BAB up to 4th level) but by 15th level your BAB is still only down 2 but you've gained 11-12 caster levels; you don't gain as much of the archery specific tastiness as the zen archer build but you'll get a lot more utility from the much higher spellcasting level.
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it might not be completely optimal, but i really like a zen archer/empyreal sorcerer/arcane archer.... there are a few ways you can balance the levels depending on how much magic you want- personally, i'd probably go 8 straight levels of Zen Archer then take 1 level of sorc @9 and finish arcane archer the rest of the way.
I really like this option to make a "Hawkeye" type character. Arcane Archer is the best option to use that trick arrow feel.
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Shame about losing evasion though. But I suppose you can always drop the...*ugh* 25k for a ring at higher levels...or hopefully get it crafted for less.
You could also take a two level dip into Sniper Rogue. The Accuracy feature to halve range penalties is very nice. I wouldn't want to delay the ZA progression, but it is an option.
I'm assuming the knowledge skills can be handled by the thuerge, which begs the question of if the party needs a second knowledge role worse than it needs what a ranger (or another class) brings.
When we ran it, our Ranged Threat was an Arcane Duelist Bard. Certainly lacked the offensive punch of some of the suggestions but had some nice tricks, covered several key rolls and Inspire Courage adds a lot of damage via your comrades.
There’s another issue here in that a Archer usually brings nothing but DPR to the team. A Tank blocks and does damage, a arcane caster does battlefield control, area effects, buffing & utility spells, etc.
And it looks like your party is low on skills. I thus suggest Ranger. Yes, the MT will have lost of KS, but he can't cover them all. Get Local and Nature.
And, there are some nasty traps. As Imbicatus mentions, those two Ranger archtypes can cover traps too.
You need to REALLY Max out Perception. Like- dump a feat into it max.
There’s another issue here in that a Archer usually brings nothing but DPR to the team. A Tank blocks and does damage, a arcane caster does battlefield control, area effects, buffing & utility spells, etc.
I've seen you mention this in a couple of older threads and I never wanted to necro those to respond, so I'm glad you came here. Firstly, the only archers not lending to the party utility are fighters. Every other class that can use a bow can bring something, even the 8 int paladin is going to bring some diplomacy to the table (which is probably one of the top three skills) and that's on top of shield other + lay on hands cheese. The Zen Archer Monk can bring stealth and take Wisdom of the Flesh (Disable Device) to round out this party a bit with at least some trap handling ability.
The ranger brings a ton of useful things with his spells and skills, but I think you recognized that yourself.
Saying Archers "usually bring nothing but DPR" is only true if your archers are usually fighters.
Secondly, let's not downplay the utility of damage. Ending a combat two rounds early because of the face melting damage your archer cranked out saves a lot of resources.
So the thread actually got me reconsidering the trapper ranger as the one level dip to help qualify for eldritch knight, and it would give the group a trap finder plus backup on knowledge checks as well as a ton of additional magic. It pretty much should check all the boxes and would get improved snapshot by level 11 instead of 9 due to the loss of a BAB point. Perception will suffer for lack of wisdom (and no feats to focus in it) but all in all it's not terrible.
The only drawback to this is being a diviner and having to find divination spells worth taking at each level every day.
every fighter should be able to contribute something out of combat... with traits to add class skills and their richness of feats if a fighter doesn't have anything to do besides damage its their player/builder's fault. now, granted, it might only be 1 thing, but they should have something. but i digress...
on topic: the seeker archetype can be combined with wildblooded[empyreal]... that way your casty archer (who's already cranking wisdom, making for great perception) gains trapfinding :)
the seeker would wreck things for a number of reasons, he'd need to be an aasimar to get a third level racial to qualify for EK early which in turn would rob you of a feat which you desperately need. Otherwise you're stuck playing a fighter1/seeker6 before you qualify and 8th level to take EK, and that would be a long and underpowered road.
In either event, you're rocking two skill points a level during your EK time because you've got a 10 int, so you can have perception and disable device capped out and that's all.
of my two suggestions, the less optimal archer (because he'd have more magic) would have to be an aasimar (but that was stated in my original post)- he would be a bit feat starved; the zen archer should have no problem with it though... zen archer gets as many bonus feats level 1-8 as a fighter (1,2,4,6,8 for ftr v. 1,2,6, plus focus and spec for ZA), plus he doesn't need rapid/many shot thanks to flurry and he could still be a human if you want! (edit: oh, and don't forget Perfect Strike and Point Blank Master, also free... so, more bonus feats than a fighter)
ZA 8/seeker empyreal sorc 1/AA would have 1 level of only 2 skills (whenever you take sorc) and could be a little behind on BAB if you take the sorc level early, but he'd make a badass archer who can find/remove magical traps and offer some spell support (and use crazy AA powers on his arrows). the other build is more of a caster/archer gish and regardless of +/-seeker will not be able to match the ZA in ranged combat (with the possible exception of ambushes when the gish can really buff up beforehand.