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Looks good so far. My first Pathfinder character is a PFS Switch Hitter. I have the Infiltrator archetype(swapped out Favored Terrain((mostly useless and highly situational)) and the Urban Ranger archetype. A few words of advice.
I don't find the ranger spells to be extremely useful. As a switch hitter, you are mainly going to be attacking. Try to get the GM to allow the APG Ranger archetypes. If he lets you, dump the spells and take the Skirmisher archetype and get some hunters tricks instead. Many of them are free actions, immediate actions or swift actions. Some are quite good.
Don't bother investing too much time and money in ranged combat. Usually, I only fire a few arrows before engaging in melee combat. This is why you don't waste feats on archery stuff like Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot. I would rather go Composite longbow over heavy crossbow. I carry a few Javelins as well for short range combat. Gives me more options after dropping my bow. You can also throw them with your main hand while holding your Great Sword/Falchion in your off hand.
Always choose Humans as your first favored enemy. Even if you are human. It doesn't make you an evil character, it just means that you have trained extensively to combat them.
Half-orc is a good race for the switch hitter. Switch hitters aren't very feat intensive, so you can get by just fine without the extra feat. Darkvision is worth a feat by itself and Orc Ferocity is pretty useful as well.
Skirmisher is awesome for Surprise Shift alone. I think that's what it's called.
Anyways, grabbing Rapid Shot and Manyshot without prerequisites is pretty much the entirety of the archery portion of a switch hitter. QuickDraw and Power Attack being the other half.
Half Orc for the Falchion and darkvision is always nice. You can even pick up a bite attack with just a trait to threaten close when using the bow or a reach weapon, if that's what you choose to do.
And don't give up on the spells just yet, Instant Enemy is a wonderful spell if you constantly keep your first favored enemy pumped up.
If you go with a crossbow, Rapid Reload at 5.
If not, then Step Up or Skill Focus (Diplomacy if you took a trait to get it, Stealth if you use it, or Perception if you don't keep it max rank by default) or Iron Will or Combat Reflexes or Deadly Aim (so you can get Ranged Trip later) or if you're using a melee weapon with an extended crit range maybe Martial Dominance.
My bad. You are correct. Rapid Reload is not necessary for this build.
The DM is using a point buy system that isa bit generous. 36 points and each stat starts out at 9. It cost 1 point to increase a stat by 1 upto 15, 2 points to 16, 3 points to 17 and 4 point to 18
str 16
dex 16
con 16
int 15
wis 14
cha 10
Looks good, but maybe consider putting the 15 in wis rather than INT. (+1 will save and +1 Perception at 4th are worth more than getting a tenth skill as a human ranger.)
1. Combat Reflexes, Quick Draw1st) power attack,quick draw
2nd) pick archery and get rapid shot
3rd)deadly aim
5) undecided
If you're going to be a switch-hitter, get maximum bang-for-your-dexterity-buck with a reach weapon and Combat Reflexes generating four AoOs/round. Take Power Attack and Deadly Aim later, and only after attack bonus is sufficiently large that you're not incurring a significantly increased chance of whiffage.
2. Rapid Shot
3. (*anything)
4. (*retrain 3rd-level feat to Boon Companion)
5. Flexible Foe
6. Manyshot
Would picking crossbow mastery heavy crossbow be a horrible idea?Yes. Never use feats to duplicate what gold can buy. 1000gp adds Adaptable to a bow, and 1500gp buys an opalescent white pyramid ioun stone for martial proficiency in a weapon (which in your case could be a heavy repeating crossbow, or an orc hornbow).
Based on what I read switch hitters precise shot and point blank isn't recommended so I wanst planning on getting those 2
For switch-hitters who melee close-in, they're back-burned. (Both are regrettably required for Clustered Shots, but you can always dip a few levels of fighter to get them when DR is becoming prevalent.)
I understand your point about taking power attack or deadly aim at later level.
As a ranger, you're typically going to have a lower attack-bonus than a fighter or a barbarian against most things (because most things will not be your favored-enemy). Taking a -2 or -3 to attack in order to pick up +6 or +9 damage at BAB4 or BAB8 is therefore a much worse prospect for you than it is for the barbarian who routinely hits on 2s with his primary. Even if your calculated odds seem good, they're really not, because reliable steady damage is preferable to less frequent massive damage that averages out the same.
(Deadly Aim is even worse than Power Attack in your case, because it's stacking on a -2 for Rapid Shot and frequent -4 soft-cover penalties (in the case your GM is adept enough to apply that sort of stuff), and all for a lower 1:2 multiplier with arrows, etc versus 1:3 for two-handed Power Attack.
The DM isn't allowing Clustered Shots. She is sticking to players handbook. She will allow things from advanced players handbook 0r 3.5 and that be case by case
As long as you can get Boon Companion to saddle up a large rhinoceros at 7th, I'd account myself plenty happy.
Aside from that, don't "chase" damage in a home-game. If the GM senses that the party is cake-walking, they'll just up-the-ante.