Is exacting strike or point blank shot the better feat for a ranged fighter?

[Unicore]

I have no idea how to calculate the DPR of Exacting strike, but it feels like there should be a way to calculate which feat is better for a first level fighter with a short bow (the better ranged weapon for the ranged fighter until higher level). My gut instinct is that PBS is better, but I would love to be proven wrong, especially since PBS requires an action to enter the stance.

[Unicore]

My gut instinct also tells me the answer would be that exacting strike could only be better than Point blank shot if your bonus to attack on the second shot still gets you a crit chance better than .05%

[Captain Morgan]

Setting aside 1st level DPR, I feel like PBS will be the better feat in the long run because it can combine with other actions. Though I guess that could change when you get a better bow stance.

Another consideration: how much do you want to be a turret and fire 3 times a round? Because that is the only time you can use Exacting Strike.

[Castilliano]

Exacting Strike is a Press, so it's your 2nd action at best, benefiting your 3rd Strike only if you miss. It has the benefit of working with melee too if you're a switch hitter, yet I don't think that makes up for how uncommon it'd be to use vs. PBS which you'd nearly always use.

For a Fighter/Archer, I'd be looking at Double Shot & Triple Shot for when I have so many actions to shoot.

[Phntm888]

I don't know that either necessarily IS better than the other. On the one hand, if you miss your second Strike, being able to avoid an increase in MAP for the third Strike is highly beneficial, especially at level 1. At the same time, the +2 damage from PBS applies to every attack that hits, even if it means that during the first turn you lose one attack entering the stance.

I think Exacting Strike gives you a better chance of hitting twice in one round to counter out bad dice luck, but given that a Level -1 foe like a Goblin Warrior has an AC of 16, I don't think there are many creatures that would give you a higher than 0.5% crit chance at level 1. I think PBS gives you higher damage overall, at the expense of maybe having some rounds where you only hit once with your first attack.

If you make a Human, you can get both, of course. I don't see any Fighter class feats that are any better for an archer at the moment.

EDIT: Fighter class feats at level 1.

[Unicore]

If your first attack hits on a 4 or better, I think Exacting strike starts to run away with it, because of how much it increases your odds of getting a critical hit on your third attack, but that is pretty rare, and it really doesn't stack well with any other archer fighter feats. It is decent as a 2nd level feat if you already have point blank shot, even if you are only going to be using it on your 2nd turn or later.

I think expecting to be a turret goes hand in hand with being an Archer Fighter. They don't really have any of the mobility options of Archer rangers and all of their feats consume a lot of actions.