Pathfinder Ranger Multiclass

[BillyBobJoe]

So, in a game of pathfinder I'm playing, my character has reached a dilemma in multiclassing. Right now he is a Ranger 3, with sword and board fighting style. I want to go into Inquisitor, as right now we have a group consisting of 4 melee types, and our only healing is from our Paladin. We've found out that undead are going to be a major part of the campaign, and here comes the dilemma. My character is the son of a dishonorably discharged Cavalier, and he was going to be a mounted fighter first, and his mount is a major part of his background, but I just like the Inquisitor because it works well. So should I take a level of Cavalier for plot reasons, continue in Ranger for plot reasons, or go into Inquisitor for much less plot reasons and a lot better effectiveness?

[Mojo_Rat]

if you are going sword and board ranger I'd recommend going to lvl 6 getting shield mastery. then if you still wish go inquisitor. you can probably use wands once you have spells though to help out.

[NamelessNPC]

Choose the class you want, hop on a horse and use the fluff of the cavalier. Just because your sheet says inquisitor doesn't mean you can't follow the tenets of a cavalier order or dedicate your life to a cavalierish cause.

[grarrrg]

Ranger 3, with sword and board fighting style....group consisting of 4 melee types....undead are going to be a major part of the campaign....So should I take a level of Cavalier for plot reasons, continue in Ranger for plot reasons, or go into Inquisitor for much less plot reasons and a lot better effectiveness?

Feel Free to skip to tl;dr at the end.

First off, taking levels for 'plot reasons' is a Fluff call, which is pretty much entirely up to how YOU see the character.

Secondly, what is your race? A small race gets a medium mount, and can use the mount indoors/in dungeons without problem. A Medium character gets a large mount that cannot be used indoors/in dungeons easily.
If you are small, or expect to be outdoors most of the time, then Mount is (possibly) good. If not, skip the mount.

Third, what are your stats? And can you reassign them? It'd help to know if certain options are out.

Fourth, are you a 'normal' Ranger (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/ranger), or one of the Alternate Rangers. The Horse Lord alt Ranger gets a Mount at 4th level (you'd have to see if you can switch to the Mounted Combat Style though).

Also, why Inquisitor and not Cleric? They both have the same Bab/Hd/Saves/Armor-prof. The Inquisitor gets more Skill Points, the Cleric gets more spells, better domains and Channel Energy. Cleric also opens up access to the Holy Vindicator (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/holy-vindicator) PrC, which has Full Bab, d10hd, Heavy Armor Prof., advances Channel Energy, and has 7/10 spell casting.

You mentioned that you'll be fighting lots of undead, in that case a Cleric with the Sun Domain (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/spell-lists-and-domains/domains#TOC-sun-Domain) will be an even better choice than Inquisitor.

tl;dr
If you want a mount, skip Cavalier and go Horse-Lord alt-Ranger.
If you want to get heals/undead smashy, either take levels in Cleric (sun domain), or dip Cleric and go into Holy Vindicator.

[faceroll]

Choose the class you want, hop on a horse and use the fluff of the cavalier. Just because your sheet says inquisitor doesn't mean you can't follow the tenets of a cavalier order or dedicate your life to a cavalierish cause.

Cavalier makes riding a horse better, though.

[Akal Saris]

Personally, I'd just stay in ranger. 1 more level and you can use wand of cure light wounds and you get an animal companion horse. 2 more levels and you get favored enemy (undead), at +2 or even +4 if you want to make it your main ability.

Inquisitor is a bad healer and an ineffective class, and will be 3 levels behind on casting anyhow. Cavalier's mount will be 3 levels behind at this point, which means your animal companion horse will be as good or better for most of your levels if you just stay straight ranger. And if your schtick is sword+shield, then piling on the mounted feats is just going to leave you mediocre at two combat styles rather than good at one.