Advice: Multi-classing an elven cleric\ranger of Erastil

[Amkhat]

Hi all!
I have been thinking about making an elven cleric\ranger of Erastil for flavor and roleplaying purposes. He would (obviously) focus on ranged combat, but also being a proper support cleric.
My plan was to go 1 lvl cleric then 2 lvl ranger for skills and the ranged combat feat, and then continue the cleric path. My domains will be Feather and probably Community or Good.
With a 20 pt buy i plan on buying these stats:
Str: 14
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 12
Wis: 14
Cha: 10
Level stat boosts would go to wis or dex I guess.
I see myself using mostly buff spells and bow during combat, and channels to heal out of combat.
I will focus on ranged combat feats, and when I get an animal companion at cleric lvl 4 I will also take the Boon Companion asap.
I know that multi-classing is sub-optimal, but I wondered if you see any major flaws with this plan? Any interesting traits and feats that could fit a character like this? Most PF books are allowed.

[Diminuendo]

Alternately to Ranger, I'd reccomend Zen Archer 3; will give you 4 bonus feats based around archery. Maybe go to Zen Archer 4 to round out your BAB.

[Headfirst]

Why multiclass at all? Just be a cleric of Erastil. You get longbow proficiency, an animal companion, lots of nature-y spells, etc. Go human for the extra feat and you can get rapid shot or precise shot at 1st level, then the other at 3rd. Honestly, those are all you really need to be an effective (but not optimized) archer.

I highly recommend Plant (Growth) as your other domain.

[Markov Spiked Chain]

I'll second Headfirst, I don't think multiclassing is getting you that much here. Hunter is another option for this idea, but I don't think the archer option works as well. However, while I love Plant(Growth), I don't think it does much for an Archer build. You might consider Evangelist.

Deadeye Bowman is your go-to Erastil archer trait, letting you ignore one creature's worth of soft cover.

[RainyDayNinja]

Have you considered being a Warpriest instead? It gets you bonus feats without multiclassing, you can cast your buff spells as a swift action instead of standard, and makes you less MAD, allowing you to dump Charisma.

[Amkhat]

Thanks for the replies.
I wanted to take a dip into ranger because I felt that gave a more natureish feel to the character + some feats, skills and skill points that I felt was missing. I have tried to set up one Cleric 3\Ranger 2 and compare it with a pure Cleric 5 just to see how the first few levels will be and so far it looks like the Cleric 3\Ranger 2 is better in most regards (BAB, HP, saves, feats and skills) except spell casting and that the Cleric 5 has an animal companion at that stage.
The pure cleric will of course access the cleric spells and abilities faster as I level up, but so far I see no other advantages or am I just missing something?
@RainyDayNinja: I don't have access to the Warpriest class yet (I guess I can buy the book if I want to play one)

[Dave Justus]

Amkhat wrote:

The pure cleric will of course access the cleric spells and abilities faster as I level up, but so far I see no other advantages or am I just missing something?

Your not missing anything except for the fact that spells are everything.

A few extra skill points, a point of bab and bit of a bonus to saves are not nearly as powerful as a whole level of spells, which is what you will be behind for your entire career. Due to the nature of magic, this will become more significant, not less the longer you play.

That being said, the character you describe is perfectly playable and can certainly be fun to play. It isn't as powerful or flexible, but if you like the feel more and think it would be fun, go for it.

[Just a Mort]

Take evangelist archtype for bardic performance(you don't lose profeciency with favored weapons), and be a half orc, take sacred tattoo, and Fate's favoured for traits. At 7, after a round of bardic performance and divine favour, your base damage with that bow is going to skyrocket, and your buddies and fluffy friend (you taught him to speak common, right?) are going to love all those floating bonuses ^^

No rapid shot until you reach 7, unless you start as a human, but your animal companion should be able to dish quite some.