I've been interested in making a ranged Stalwart Defender character for quite some time. One of the biggest hurdles is the inherent lack of threatened squares with a ranged weapon (important for holding down your territory in Defensive Stance) and the number of feats required to make Archery respectable in damage (which clashes with the 3 feats required for Stalwart Defender). If I have gone over things correctly, I believe this character setup should take care of those concerns and allow for a heavily armored, long-ranged, but slow moving PC equivalent of artillery.
The build at level 11 consists of 3 levels of Zen Archer (to reach into Point-Blank Master and using WIS instead of DEX for attack rolls), 6 levels of Ranger (for the abundance of Archery feats and Favored bonuses never hurt), and 2 levels of Stalwart Defender (to move our way to the Bulwark/Halting Blow defensive powers to stop people with AOOs).
Let me know if this feat tree works as I expect it:
ZA/R/SD
1/0/0 Dodge, ZA(Point-Blank Shot), ZA(Perfect Strike)
2/0/0 ZA(Rapid Shot), ZA(Weapon Focus[Composite Longbow])
3/0/0 Deadly Aim, ZA(Point-Blank Master)
3/1/0
3/2/0 Combat Reflexes, R(Precise Shot)
3/3/0 R(Endurance)
3/4/0 Snap Shot
3/5/0
3/6/0 Toughness, R(Manyshot)
3/6/1
3/6/2 Improved Snap Shot
Snap Shot and Improved Snap shot should increase my threatened area to 15 feet around me allowing me to block off a considerable amount of the battlefield especially when in my Defensive Stance. Combat Reflexes gives me the opportunity to Rapid Shot and Manyshot make up for not being able to use the Zen Archer's Flurry of Bows while in heavy armor. Point-Blank Master and Precise Shot should allow me to let the front line enemies come up to me in melee without it being an issue.
Where do I go from here to continue the concept? My first choices for my next feats will likely be from Clustered Shots and Greater Snap Shot, but I'm not sure where else to go for a low-mobility high-armor archer. Ideally the bow will be an Adaptive Composite Longbow to take advantage of the Strength boosting while in Defensive Stance.
An alternative I would point out is Fighter. Partially for faster BAB overall. Along with enough feats. By level 7 you have 4 bonus combat feats and 4 feats obtained by general progression (one more if human).
Continuing with repeating the obvious, to get the bare bones, you need:
Dodge Endurance, Toughness,
Weapon focus, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Snap Shot,
Weapon Specialization, Point Black Master.
Just doable as a human (or a Half-Orc getting Endurance as a bonus feat via racial traits);
1: Endurance*, Weapon Focus*, Point Blank Shot
2: Rapid Shot*
3: Dodge
4: Weapon Specialization*
5: Toughness
6: Snap Shot*
7: Point Blank Master
I admit a huge amount is suffered by not being able to slip Deadly Aim and Manyshot in there. So I have to concede your route is overall stronger even with a 2-level delay and adjust.
However, I would actually, in the context of the build, advise against being more focused on wisdom than dexterity. Partially to get more steam out of combat reflexes. Partially so that the prerequisites of Manyshot can be met without Combat styles. Partially to increase your CMD so enemies struggle to get around you even more.
Further, I feel a point is worth reiterating in terms of the race in your build; mostly because that bonus could speed up the whole design (particularly by switching Ranger for Fighter). Admittedly, a single level may be called out as not much but I'd argue Halting Blow is pretty damn strong and worth almost bee-lining towards.
Further, I recommend fighter (and hence not needing to avoid prerequisites) because the extra feat (potentially two via aforementioned point with Half-Orcs) will help you access Teleport Tactician. Which at level 11, 12 and further on (when Halting Blow will come online earliest anyway) become staples to actually deal with many enemies as a party's defensive line.
Physically Unfeasible wrote: However, I would actually, in the context of the build, advise against being more focused on wisdom than dexterity. Partially to get more steam out of combat reflexes. Partially so that the prerequisites of Manyshot can be met without Combat styles. Partially to increase your CMD so enemies struggle to get around you even more. This is one of the major reasons my build goes for 3 levels of Zen Archer (other than Point-Blank Master as a bonus feat without needing Weapon Specialization). Right now, considering the bonus feats I have planned, I only need a Dex of 13 to begin with for Dodge, 15 by Improved Snap Shot at 11, and 17 if I decide to go for Greater Snap Shot which I may choose to forego. Since I plan on wearing a suit of Full Plate (likely Adamantine instead of Mithril for the DR/- instead of an increased max dex AC), I won't benefit from the additional Dex to armor but will apply the check penalty to CMD vs tumbling and bluffs to move. The loss of additional Combat Reflex attacks (current build would have me at 3 or 4 per turn depending on any Dex boosting items/spells) could be an issue, but the lockdown aspect is secondary to the damage potential (also Halting Blow wouldn't be available till 13 for this build). My build allows me nearly all of the archery-based damage feats, 10 BAB out of a possible 11, pretty good saves across the board (9/9/6 base), and 6 levels of Ranger skill points which is something a Fighter/SD would severely lack.
The idea is to be a damage dealer first at range, and, when things start to get hot and heated in close, switch to Defensive Stance and punish anyone coming through my squares.
Fair enough. My primary assumption was that between point blank master, improved snap shot and halting blow, you were aiming to primarily form a steel wall for your party.
However, even with heavy armour, in fact, particularly with heavy armour - dex is a slightly stronger option than wisdom here unless you're trying to cover a particularly bad skill deficit in your group. After all, you won't benefit from the majority of your dex modifier for armour but you'll benefit from none of your wisdom. Though that is a very small squeeze in full-plate.
However; if your intent is not primarily punishing anyone trying to bypass you, then I can offer little improvement excepting tricks like a level of oracle with the lame curse so you can jump in and out of defensive stance (becoming more mobile), it's a good build. For somewhere to go; several levels of SD are actually worth it. Two good saves, full BAB, d12 HD, defensive stance, a dodge bonus to AC...and the rest. You only have few important feats left as an archer by the time you enter the class anyway. Clustered Shot, obviously. Improved Critical will further assist your output.
After that, it's kind of scraping the barrel; I'd recommend disrupting shot if I thought it'd make anyone fail their concentration checks by that level. Improved precise shot may be necessary, depending on how your campaign goes. Pinpoint targeting would provide a strong option on the move.
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