i have a question about single weapon finesse ranger

[swifthunter420]

I was looking on the forums and didn't see this was wanting to know if you could make a switch hitter that uses a single melee weapon and shortbow was thinking going 12 ranger 8 swashbuckler or or 13 ranger 7 PRC duelist or maybe free hand fighter might be better? Weapons options are kukri shortsword or rapier I have no interest in TWFING please do not suggest it Any help or opinions would be great build and feat advice would be great will post build when finished this is a home game base on a 20 point build.

[Protoman]

Oh that's pretty classic. Lots of switch hitting rangee builds.

Archery combat style to get ranged combat feats. Not sure on your appeal of the shortbow though.

With your regular feats, be sure to include Quick Draw for actual switch hitting and benefiting from multiple attacks (BAB and Rapid Shot/Manyshot)
Your weapon choice is important.
Greatsword is easiest = Power Attack, Furious Focus, and that's basically all you'd ever need. Anything else is gravy.
Finesse weapons are takes more investment. If elven curve blade, still want Power Attack eventually since you're using two hands.
If rapier, it would be good to work in Fencing Grace to make melee attacks somewhat worthwhile to do.

[lemeres]

Eh, you might not have to use finesse. Strength is valuable for archery builds as well, since it adds damage on composite bows so it is not bad to have it. An easy set for stats for the point buy would be something like this:

STR: 16 DEX: 16 (14+2) CON: 14 INT: 10 WIS: 12 CHA: 8

That is enough that you are decent with either archery or melee. Jut grab something you can 2 hand, grab power attack, and have fun.

[swifthunter420]

I was thinking about rapier fencing grace and crane style

[claudekennilol]

That would work well. Take your first level as an inspired blade swashbuckler and you can start with Fencing Grace and still not have to be human (or can be human and get yet another feat).

You could be your ranger 12 / swashbuckler 8 that way.

[Seranov]

One-handed fighting is generally the absolute weakest of combat styles.

It doesn't get 1.5x Str on attacks, it doesn't get the extra attacks of TWFing (either a weapon or a shield), and it doesn't provide you with the extra AC of a shield (though technically you can wear a Buckler as an archer at no penalty, so this one is the least painful - but you can't use Crane Style this way).

You need a HUGE amount of damage bonuses (such as the Swashbuckler or Daring Champion provides) that is specifically tied to using a weapon in one hand and nothing else, otherwise you're going to be really, really far behind in damage potential.

If you really want to use a 1H weapon and an empty hand, just go Swashbuckler or Daring Champion, maybe with a Ranger dip for prereq-free Archery feats. They can use all martial weapons, which means they can use Shortbows just fine.