where to go now? paladin archer build

[Averis Vol]

hi everyone, i currently started running the module "the city of the spider queen" and for it i thought it would be appropriate to make a paladin to traverse the underdark. his niche is that hes an archer, and channels his smites thusly.

the build so far is: Human paladin 6/shiba protector 1/cleric 1/ordained champion 2.

stats (power rolled):
str:16 (+2 gloves)=18
dex:12
con:14
int:10
wis:18(+2 level +2 periept)=22
cha:16

feats:
Flaw: iron will
Human: alertness
LvL1: Combat expertise
LvL3: Zen archery
LvL6: point blank shot
LvL9: Ranged Smite
OC1: Exotic weapon proficiency (Greatbow)
OC2: Rapid shot

now, so far this character has been very effective but i've run into a snag. i have no idea what to go even next level, Ordained Champion's other abilities past level three are all melee based and i'm not sure my DM will allow me to go back to paladin since I've multi classed.

so i'm asking you all for help now, where should my levels and feats take me?

EDIT: all books from FR and anything that isn't setting oriented (from a different setting then FR atleast) is allowed. the dragon magazines are sadly out as i have no access to them.

[brann miekka]

there's not many options for a paladin archer. you could go shining blade of heironeus but the interpretation of a piercing weapon you hold might be a bit frowned upon.

what level do you intend to play to?

[Righteous Doggy]

Knight of the Raven from expidition to castle ravenloft is pretty cool, if you wanna take a peak at that. Its full BaB and you get this little raven friend to assist you!

[Flickerdart]

Divine Might is a quick and dirty way of turning those TU attempts into damage, and you can get it as a bonus feat if you give away your useless Paladin casting. I would recommend sneaking in at least four levels of Divine Crusader, because then you can take the Holy Warrior feat for extra damage, as well as have shiny spellcasting. If your DM would let you retrain, take Ordained Champion after you take Divine Crusader, to add the War domain spells to its spells known. Take out Cleric completely, it does nothing for you, as Ordained Champion's Cleric benefits are only really useful if you have lots of Cleric levels and take Ordained Champion all the way.

Since you have a bunch of the feats anyway, consider taking the Animal domain for Divine Crusader (or with a Contemplative dip) and then taking Prestige Ranger. You'll get all of the neat Ranger archery spells added to the Divine Champion list.

You can pick up bow proficiency with Bracers of Archery, so it isn't worth the feat. The Energy Bow is better than a greatbow anyway. If you are going to keep the Cleric level, then at least make it Cloistered Cleric, for the free Knowledge domain (which you then convert into Knowledge Devotion).

[Averis Vol]

thanks for the responses!

@Brann Miekka: yea i don't think that will fly with my DM.

@righteous doggy: what book is that in?

@flickerdart: right now my turn attempts are fueling my ranged smite, since i have 2 classes that offer turning i can sacrifice both for extra smites, so i've essentially got 12 smites a day. the only reason the cleric dip is in there is for the war domain proficiency and focus to get into OC, so i'm not sure i can get rid of it.

the reason i had to take that cleric level is because i didn't have the spare feats to take the weapon focus (longsword) i would need to get into these PrC's, plus all of the OC abilities after level two are melee dependant, an as i am an archer they don't help me.
divine crusader might definitely be worth the 4 levels, even with the two dead levels and the piddly energy resistance, the fourth level spells would be perfect.

most of the things that are hindering this build is that it explicitly says "requires melee attack", i need something that doesn't specify or states its use in a ranged attack.

[Righteous Doggy]

Knight of the Raven from expedition to castle ravenloft
Its one of the priestiges that don't come out of a regional/complete source. I really love the class, its its not actually heavy with fluff. So... if you can get your hands on the book or at least the class, should take a look! You DM might have it, never know!

[Soulean]

City of the spider queen runs to a minimum of 15 with the possibility of hitting 20.

Exotic weapon master might be fun from complete warrior but you'd need to take a feat to get in and a few skill ranks.

Order of the Bow Initiate same book would be fairly easy to get into...only take this if you can use the weapon crystals from MIC.

Undead bane crystal to make precision dmg work. Requ +3 weapon but can be 'cheated' with a greater magic weapon spell.

[Fluffy_1.0]

*edit, misunderstood the question so deleted

[Flickerdart]

@flickerdart: right now my turn attempts are fueling my ranged smite, since i have 2 classes that offer turning i can sacrifice both for extra smites, so i've essentially got 12 smites a day. the only reason the cleric dip is in there is for the war domain proficiency and focus to get into OC, so i'm not sure i can get rid of it.
Ranged Smite is 1 TU + 1 smite per 3 damage. Divine Might is 1 TU for +3 damage per attack you make in the round. Ranged Smite is way worse.

You also don't get a second pool from Cleric. Your Paladin and Cleric levels just stack for determining your turning level.

Incidentally, you don't qualify for Precise Shot or Rapid Shot, because you don't have Point Blank Shot.

[Averis Vol]

City of the spider queen runs to a minimum of 15 with the possibility of hitting 20.

Exotic weapon master might be fun from complete warrior but you'd need to take a feat to get in and a few skill ranks.

Order of the Bow Initiate same book would be fairly easy to get into...only take this if you can use the weapon crystals from MIC.

Undead bane crystal to make precision dmg work. Requ +3 weapon but can be 'cheated' with a greater magic weapon spell.

i was thinking about EWM but the only really useful thing would be ranged disarm, so i couldn't see taking more then one level.


Incidentally, you don't qualify for Precise Shot or Rapid Shot, because you don't have Point Blank Shot.

oh wow. did i. *hangs head in shame* i did write in the wrong feat, precise shot should be replaced by point blank. changed it.

and i see your point now, this is my bad, i'll go change up the sheet and take Divine might as soon as i can. precise shot isn't as much of a priority as i tend to lone wolf a bit.

EDIT: smite is +3 to hit on one attack and my total turn level for damage, which is if i remember correctly about 9 right now, so it would come out the same. for now.

i did get serenity okayed by my DM though so that should help a bit.

on a related note, theres nothing stopping me from blowing 2 attempts to both smite and divine might is there? one uses a swift action, the other a free.