Hello, I’m playing a table of RotRL ran by a friend who’s starting GMing because of me GMing, and one of the party members has nailed their character down as an ifrit gunslinger.
I’m currently debating between going full offense and magic with a Dex based, rapier wielding magus (definitely getting Fencing Grace by 3rd level), or the party’s dedicated healer as a cleric of Erastil.
I have not played either classes, and would love some advice on either one.
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Short Bits:
Fencing/Slashing Grace doesn't work with spell combat. FAQ.
However you can use the agile weapon special ability.
Dex-based magi in general do a ton of damage and are pretty survivable.
You don't really need a "dedicated healer" in Pathfinder. In fact if you try to build as one you'll often find yourself bored with nothing to do. Fortunately there are tons of cleric archetypes that give you things to do in addition to the occasional heal. From the summon-focused Herald Caller to the buffing, not-quite-a-bard Evangelist you can find lots of combat niches as options. I hesitate to give much more detailed advice without knowing what you find interesting. (Other than to say that the theoretically combat-specialized Crusader archetype is pretty weak considering what you give up.)
In that case I’ll skip the magus thing and focus on being support. The game I’m running isn’t allowing archetypes, if that was the case I would look at Arcane Healer but alas.
For cleric of Erastil, I was thinking along the lines of a support caster who is more than capable of some combat with the longbow. The domains I would choose would be Animal (for the animal companion-would most likely choose wolf or small cat) and Good.
Of course, I could go for inquisitor or warpriest of any of the good gods, not just Erastil.
If you haven’t played cleric before, they go through an unexpected focus change as you level up. At low level, your martial abilities will matter more and be relatively ok compared to martial classes. But as you level and gain more spells per day, your martial abilities will sit unused as casting a spell becomes a better use of your turn than swinging a sword or shooting a bow.
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It's really hard to make a bow-wielding cleric more than "OK" at ranged combat, especially if archetypes aren't allowed. There are just too many feats required.
Inquisitor or Warpriest - yeah, they both make great ranged attackers. The inquisitor (in particular) is a great party buffer, and can take the animal domain. But you are giving up the higher level cleric spells, which your party may need.
I think the warpriest is better as a support caster than the inquisitor. But the inquisitor has a lot of other skill advantages. Both can make good archers in different ways. The inquisitor can spike higher but the warpriest has good sustain.
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I think the warpriest is better as a support caster than the inquisitor.
It's a matter of opinion, and in what you are looking for in a "support" caster. I value the inquisitor pretty high because of the variety of long-duration buff spells that can be party force multipliers. Spells that you cast at the beginning of the day and don't need to worry about during combat. I've played several of them, and once I pass 7th level I'm pulling out my lesser Rods of Extends and chucking heroism, greater magic weapon, and magic vestment until I run out of spell slots.
You’re pretty likely to have an arcane caster to cast heroism anyway. Magic weapon and magic vestment don’t stack with the native enhancement bonuses on items, so they aren’t typically very relevant, unless you are in a low wealth game.
By support I meant more like condition removal or even healing. But warpriest also has the prepared caster advantage of leaving a spell slot empty to prepare what is needed in the field.
The cleric of Erastil can work fine. As Melkiador pointed out as clerics level up their weapons become less important. If you go this route, you do not need to focus fully on archery to be effective. If you go human, you can pick up point-blank shot and precise shot at 1st level. That will allow you to function as an archer at low levels before your spells begin to come into their own. Take Deadly aim at 3rd level to get some extra damage. Take the Animal (or Feather) and Good domain. Use your 5th level feat to take Boon companion to boost up your animal companion to full progression. After this spend your feats boosting your spells or other things instead of archery.
At low level your archery will give your character something valuable to contribute to combat. After your spells become more effective you can still use it when needed. One thing it may be useful for is to finish off a wounded target without having to use spells. This will probably be mostly at the end of the combat after you have cast your spells. Using a bow to finish off a target with a few HP left is a good tactic. An opponent with 2 HP left can still attack and damage a party member. Putting the wounded target down saves the parities resources so is away good.
Your animal companion will also give you something else to contribute to combat. When you get the animal companion at 4th level it will be pretty weak, but once you get to 5th level and take boon companion it should be fine.
If you go Inquisitor of Erastil take the feather domain. It replaces speak with animal to a bonus on perception. Follow the same feat progression I listed above to 5th level, but after that go more of an archery focused character. Pick up Rapid Shot and Manyshot at 7th and 9th level. This character will be more of an archer than the cleric. Bane and Judgements will keep you chance to hit and damage up even with the slower progression of feats. There are some archery focused feats but not a lot. This character will be very good at skills.