[PF] Ranger - Spellcasting, or Tricks?

[The Troubadour]

Hey there, guys!

So, my Ranger player is in doubt over whether he should take the Skirmisher Archetype and replace his spells with Tricks. What do you guys think?

[Keneth]

From an optimization standpoint, no. But rangers don't see much use from spells anyway, so if he wants use tricks, I don't see why not. If he's not sure what he wants to use, he can flip a coin.

[Corlindale]

If it's for fluff reasons, sure. But power-wise spells are probably better. I'd take the Instant Enemy spell alone over the entire list of skirmisher tricks.

[deuxhero]

Wand of Cure Light Wounds access is also nice if no one else has it.

[Novawurmson]

Spellcasting is innately more powerful, if nothing else because Paizo has released far more Ranger spells than Ranger tricks. From a pure optimization standpoint, spellcasting is the superior choice 99/100 times.

However, unless your party is very high optimization, you can get by with Skirmisher if it fits your style more. I have a Skirmisher Ranger in a medium optimization 3.P party I DM right now, and he fits in just fine.