Help with Archaeologist archer feats

[Ackbladder]

I'm playing through Shattered Star (no spoilers please) with a particularly dysfunctional group. They are S&B fighter, standard barbarian and zen archer, so in order to cover as many gaps as possible I created a Fate's Favored halfling archaeologist. It's going ok so far and I'm enjoying playing him, but I'm coming to a crossroads and could use some advice.

Currently: L5, Stats (rolled): 10/18/13/12/9/18, Traits: Fate's Favored, Exchange Agent, Vagabond Child (disable device as class skill). Feats: Lingering Performance, Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim, Precise Shot (via Combat Trick rogue talent at L4).

So far I've been using a light xbow, but I'm approaching L8 with iteratives, which means I'll either need to take Rapid Reload or switch to a shortbow.

My current dilemmas are:
1) switch to shortbow or take Rapid Reload to keep xbow viable?
2) which feat to take next - L7 contenders are Leadership, Arcane Strike or Rapid Shot (assuming I don't go Rapid Reload route).
3) any classes worth dipping in the near future? Ranger? Inquisitor? Oracle with Lore Keeper?

(L8 rogue talent will be Trap Spotter, so no help on archery side there.)

I have an issue with Arcane Strike in that activating my Luck requires a swift action, such that Arcane Strike would only be available for 2/3 of the rounds in a key combat. Still worth it? So far, I'm pretty solid at hitting but do very little damage. I just hit 5th level and picked up Deadly Aim so that should help a bit, along with a luck bump to +3/+3.

Leadership would help our group a lot: I imagine taking on a 5th-level dwarven cleric of Desna (I'm a devout follower) as an assistant, which would help us a ton with healing and such. (Still not as good a solution as letting one of current group members die off and rolling a more useful class...) The L1 followers seem kinda useless - I imagine them as research assistants back at Heidmarch Manor :P. Perhaps a bunch of priests, wizards and alchemists scribing scrolls and brewing potions. This is clearly the best group wise, but again I'm taking a hit because of the retarded class selection of my fellow players.

Anything I'm overlooking? So far we're going along ok, but I'm kinda worried about being mostly martials as we advance in levels, and our healing bills are getting kinda steep (we chew through wands of CLW like candy - got chided by the priest at the Temple of Abadar last session).

[avr]

1) Shortbow is the only answer to this, unless you dip gunslinger and try something different entirely.
2) Rapid Shot, if you're hitting all the time then you should be able to afford the attack penalty and it doubles your damage. Leadership tends to result in stealing the focus of the game which isn't nice to do.
3) Unless you've built with it in mind dipping is a bad idea in most cases. Stick with bard IMO. Gunslinger (mysterious stranger) is an option, true, but it faces the same problem as arcane strike with swift action conflict.

Your group is seriously deficient in magic as you note but there's no good answer to that.

[Matthew Morris]

Not so much feats, but don't underestimate trick arrows from the alchemy manual.

Tangleshot arrows never get old for medium sized opponents. Even if they make the trivial reflex save to keep from being stuck to the floor, you've penalized them and they still have to burn an action to get free. My archerologist just hit seven and still shoots them.

Also if your umd is good, look at wands/spell page of aspect of the falcon and a metamagic rod of extend, to get your heroism lasting 20 min a level.

A bard cohort is also a good use of leadership. His performance stacks with yours :-)

[Deadmanwalking]

Basically what avr said. It's all good advice. Also, at 9th level, grab Manyshot, it's great.

[Ascalaphus]

Maybe you could trick one of the other players into using Leadership to get a cleric cohort?

I would definitely go for the shortbow; the faster reload rate means you're not standing still to reload even if you're not full-attacking.

You might even want to consider a dip into Fighter for bonus feats and longbow proficiency. The additional BAB will also help if you take Rapid Shot.

As for doing more damage - going longbow can help. If your strength is adequate, make it composite.

I do like Arcane Strike, although the collision with Archaeologist's Luck is unfortunate. Even so, having +2 damage per round 2/3 of the time isn't bad for a feat.

Are you using Bracer of Falcon's Aim yet?

[Ackbladder]

Thanks for all the excellent advice guys.

avr wrote:

Leadership tends to result in stealing the focus of the game which isn't nice to do.

I hear ya - if I take a cohort, it's going to be something that will kind of hang out in the background, buff and provide backup. Likely a cleric of Desna, perhaps an Evangelist to buff us all. I'd likely spend most of his/her feats on magic item creation, and perhaps extra channeling. Probably not even bother attacking most combat rounds.

Matthew Morris wrote:

Tangleshot arrows never get old for medium sized opponents.

I'll add those to my shopping list when I pick up a shortbow. Last session I used my only tanglefoot bag to glue a golem to the ground while the barbarian beat it to death with his ranseur. I was surprised at how effective a tanglefoot bag was (first time using).

Matthew Morris wrote:

A bard cohort is also a good use of leadership. His performance stacks with yours :-)

If I take a cohort, it'll likely be an Evangelist for precisely this reason. That way the entire group gets a bit of a buff, as well as reduced healing costs.

Ascalaphus wrote:

Maybe you could trick one of the other players into using Leadership to get a cleric cohort?

I really worry about bogging the game down. I'm pretty good about keeping track of details/buffs and knowing ahead of time what I'm going to do on the next turn, so I think I could play a cohort without slowing down the game much. I think it'd be a bit of a stretch for some of the others.

Ascalaphus wrote:

Are you using Bracer of Falcon's Aim yet?

Wow - comparing those to Lesser Bracers of Archery shows up some real flaws in the games magic item pricing. So far, I have a Ring of Feather Falling and a Wand of Lesser Restoration, and that's it besides potions and scrolls. I'll add those to the top of my shopping list, but so far the DM has not allowed us to buy magic items in Magnimar. Another reason a cohort with magic item creation feats might be a plus, assuming the DM is ok with it.