Clarification about Forester Hunter's Favored Terrain

[Great Poison]

"Favored Terrain (Ex): A forester gains the ranger’s favored terrain ability. She gains her first favored terrain at 5th level and a new favored terrain every 4 levels thereafter. In addition, at each such interval, the bonuses on initiative checks and skill checks in one favored terrain (including the one just selected, if so desired) increase by 2. Starting at 5th level, a forester adds half her favored terrain bonus on damage rolls while in her favored terrain and fighting a creature native to that terrain."

This replaces animal companion.

This feature is fine and dandy. I've bolded these two lines because of the following text from default Hunter;

"Animal Companion (Ex): At 1st level, a hunter forms a bond with an animal companion."

Was Forester supposed to gain Favored Terrain at level 1? Or are you supposed to wait five levels to get a feature for something you traded at at first level? I'm confused. I hear a lot of praise for this archetype, but I feel like this is an oversight within the context of archetype design (granting features earlier or later than when a feature is acquired) and would like someone else's insight as to why that is.

[Claxon]

Nope. It's just telling you that your getting this ability in exchange for animal companion class feature, even though it's coming at a later level. It's pretty explicitly telling you it comes at 5th level. So yes, you wait.

Now, it does raise the question of should it come earlier...but the way it's written no it doesn't.

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

It looks like a mistake to me, but unfortunately RAW is clear here (and sucky).

If you're not in PFS it shouldn't be too hard to persuade your GM that 1st level is far more appropriate.

[Great Poison]

Claxon wrote:

Nope. It's just telling you that your getting this ability in exchange for animal companion class feature, even though it's coming at a later level. It's pretty explicitly telling you it comes at 5th level. So yes, you wait.

Now, it does raise the question of should it come earlier...but the way it's written no it doesn't.

Right, yeah. I guess I was expecting someone to pop in like "nope! That's an error, we meant to put a 1 in place of a 5 there" and I apologize for that expectation. I realize that would let Hunter get more Favored Terrains than a Ranger does, though I don't know how powerful that would be since Favored Terrain isn't a particularly consistent or powerful class feature.

Was Forester supposed to gain a 1st level benefit for losing their companion?

[blahpers]

Note that there are some archetypes that grant replacement abilities at levels earlier than the abilities they replace (e.g., the hedge witch's spontaneous healing). Neither are common, but they do exist.

It's unlikely that a Paizo rules designer will pop in at this point, but not impossible. Barring that, though, it's as it is.

It may not even be a mistake--even rangers don't get favored terrain at 1st level. Then again, maybe they meant the first terrain to come online at 3rd like a ranger but the damage bonus to come online at 5th and it got "corrected" in editing?