human fighter - no archetype - just get a Composite Bow and do a traditional archer build. Get a haste item and at 11th level you should be firing around 6 arrows per round dealing about 15-20 points each, on a non crit.
I'm with TxSam... Straight-up archer fighter is disgusting and the player that made the PC loved playing it.
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Half orc with alt racial traits (sacred tattoo, shamans apprentice)
Orc horn bow weapon
Warpriest (Molthuni arsenal chaplin) gets weapon training
fates favored trait, reactionary.
swift action buffs, hits just as hard as a fighter, if not harder. Divine favor is a great spell for low levels, and once you have the 4th level spell Divine power you even have the same amount of attacks. Channel vigor is also a great spell for ANOTHER +4 to ranged attacks.
since Half orcs count as humans, take human favored class bonus for warpriest.
take all the same feats as the fighter, has weapon training just like fighter, and can spend swift actions to get better hit and damage numbers
sure you have a few less hp from a d8 hd vs a fighters d10, but you also get up to 6th level spells that can help a lot more than an average of 21 hp at 20th level. 20 feats vs a human fighters 22 feats.
at 20th you have 5 less bab, but can get an additional +11 to hit and 7 damage, from 2 spells, which makes up for missing 4 damage on precise strike
IF the fighter is hasted or has a speed enhancement on their bow, they can pull back ahead in DPS, but by less than an entire shots worth of damage
I'm with TxSam... Straight-up archer fighter is disgusting and the player that made the PC loved playing it.
yeah - so disgusting that we had to ban it in our games.
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The two most powerful ranged attack builds that I've seen in play were both in the same game, which went from 1st to 19th levels through a mix of two APs and a few high-level modules & PFS scenarios.
One was my wife's zen archer monk, which she didn't even put a lot of effort into optimizing--at least compared with the two compulsive min-maxers in that group. By the end, she could hit anything on the map, and it was nearly impossible to hit her or make her fail a save.
The other was a warpriest with an improvised thrown weapon build. I don't know the details of that build at all, just that magic items with higher CLs counted as higher-bonus magic weapons in their hands. So they carried a bunch of 1st-level pearls of power, because those are obscenely cheap for their high CL. And if they didn't need to overcome DR, or didn't think they'd have time to collect all their pearls after a fight, they just threw regular old bricks at the enemy.
In contrast, my melee-monster PC went the Vital Strike route, and frequently one-shot enemies with his impact earthbreaker. But those other two easily had him beat on DPS for most of the campaign, simply from their greater number of attacks per round.
In contrast, my melee-monster PC went the Vital Strike route, and frequently one-shot enemies with his impact earthbreaker. But those other two easily had him beat on DPS for most of the campaign, simply from their greater number of attacks per round.
Archers benefit in 3 major areas when you consider DPS.
1. They normally get to go first dues to having a high Dex based Iniative2. They get a lot of shots, Many shot, rapid shot and a haste item give them 3 extra shots above their level progression.
3. they usually don't have to move, meaning a composite bow arhcer can begin shooting at no penalty at 100'+, yet a melee has to move to get into melee.
Kineticist is a great switch hitter and my personal favorite for ranged damage. It's also naturally better against swarms and DR, without having to rely on outside sources. There are options that can do more damage per round in optimal conditions, but the kineticist just works well without needing a ton of investment.
Non-mythic, pretty much [cavalier or fighter or ranger]* 1/wizard (Evocation/Admixture) 6/eldritch knight 2/arcane archer 3/eldritch knight +8. +17 BAB and 9th level spells without needing to take Prestigious Spellcaster on top of the arcane archer prerequisites; take the Magical Knack trait at 1st level, the Arcane Armor Training feat at 3rd level, and retrain Arcane Armor Training to Quicken Spell at 12th-13th character level (on gaining 5th level spells).
Alternately, an elf (or possibly half-elf) Wood mystery oracle leveraging the Wood Bond revelation (which explicitly works with bows) with the elf alternate FCB (for 12 levels) and taking 4 levels in deadeye devotee can be a pretty good divine caster/ranged damage dealer. Note that Wood Bond is a competence bonus, which stacks with the luck bonus from divine favor or divine power; essentially, the oracle/deadeye devotee has the same total attack bonus with a bow as a full BAB class for 19 out of 20 levels (other than gaining the last iterative more slowly) plus gets to add divine favor or divine power on top.
*- depending on if getting a head-start on Mounted Archery (for archery on a phantom steed) from cavalier (emissary), the extra feat from fighter, or Favored Enemy (or Ranger's Focus with the guide archetype) and the ability to use wands of cure light wounds, barkskin, etc. without Use Magic Device checks are more desired
There are really so many cool ways to make a ranged damage character. I doubt anyone could meaningfully try all of them.
Another favorite of mine is to combine elf with nature fang druid and the eagle domain. It gives you a pretty good archer who is also a full caster. It's not the most powerful thing, but it's a lot of fun with a lot of versatility
If you want to focus on archery while keeping it simple, a fighter with advanced weapon training can pump out some reliable high damage.
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My opinions:
Inquisitor is the most "versatile" because in addition to good damage from judgments and bane their spells let them adapt to a wide range of situations, and are good out of combat as well.
Alchemists are the most "mutable" (he-he) because it doesn't take many feats or discoveries to make them a good ranged attacker, so you can make all kinds of builds. The bombs target touch so even in the 2nd or 3rd range increment the attacks are still pretty good.
Gunslingers are the "easiest" to play. Good range on 2-handers and target touch in the first increment. Be a musket master and fill the air with lead.
Kineticists are the most "technically challenging." They can be among the most phenomenal ranged attackers but you have to really understand they can and cannot do - probably by playing/playing with one in an earlier campaign and seeing the mistakes in action.
Multiclass/multi-archetype characters are the "strongest." But again, technically challenging. I played a Gunslinger (bolt ace) 5/Warpriest (Molthuni Arsenal Chaplain) X that was ridiculous. Honestly: too powerful and I didn't play it very long because combats were boring for me and the rest of the party.
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In contrast, my melee-monster PC went the Vital Strike route, and frequently one-shot enemies with his impact earthbreaker.
If I could get one of my GMs to allow me to play a Large race, this would totally be the kind of character I'd LOVE to play.
A large Impact earthbreaker would be completely insane paired up with a charge and Greater Vital Strike!
But back on topic, I played a Dwarven Monk Zen Archer in the Giantslayer AP and it was fantastic.
So when we encounter enemies who fight at range, And we dont have any easy way to get to them we struggle a lot...
In my experience this is mostly a low level problem. By mid level, you'll probably have a caster that can overcome issues like this, such as casting fly, dimension door or telekinetic charge on party members. Still, being ranged can be its own kind of fun, so I'm certainly not saying to not do that.
You may also want to consider which magnitude of range you want in your ranged damage options. Archery has great range by default. But there are many midrange or even short range builds that can be a lot of fun. The kineticist defaults to 30 foot maximum range, but can be increased with infusions. The alchemist bomb has a range increment of 20 feet, which isn't bad, but still worse as the enemy gets further away and is out of reach at more than 120 feet away.
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In contrast, my melee-monster PC went the Vital Strike route, and frequently one-shot enemies with his impact earthbreaker.
If I could get one of my GMs to allow me to play a Large race, this would totally be the kind of character I'd LOVE to play.
A large Impact earthbreaker would be completely insane paired up with a charge and Greater Vital Strike!
But back on topic, I played a Dwarven Monk Zen Archer in the Giantslayer AP and it was fantastic.
*Laughs in huge impact butchers axe greater vital strike furious finish*