Help making a fun cleric archer

[Feralarchon]

Hey guys I haven't played D&D all that much so I could use some help making a character for a campaign I will be playing with some friends. We are playing 3.5 with PHB, PHB2, DMG, CA, CM, CW, CD, CC, and the Spell Compendium. My party is a rouge, fighter, and a wizard. So i agreed to play a cleric as support, our DM doesn't want any druids because he considers them OP. Now I don't mind being party heals but I have a few problems with playing a basic melee cleric. In my other games I played as a paladin and a melee cleric seems very similar to this, also a melee cleric seems very powerful especially if I were to go as a radiant servant of Pelor and that the story would be rather boring. So in an effort to do something more interesting I was thinking of going as an elf cleric/ranger based on the feat Zen Archery and then eventually going into a Seeker of the Misty Isles. I really like the story idea behind this and I want to have a lot of fun RP opportunities. But I am concerned about its effectiveness, I need to be able to provide heals for my party and be at least moderately useful. So if anyone can help sketch out a basic build I would really appreciate it. Or if anyone else has any ideas for another fun/different style of way of playing a cleric that would be cool too.

[Randomguy]

Clerics in general are pretty powerful, so you should be o.k.

Here are some handbooks that you might find useful:
Archery Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=642.0)
Cleric Handbook. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=420.0)

If you don't want to play a melee cleric, you could play a casting cleric, using the Cloistered Cleric ACF to trade away some melee goodies for more skill points.

I'd recommend cloistered cleric anyway: This way you get the knowledge domain, even though Corellon doesn't normally grant it, and you can trade it out for Knowledge devotion, which is a great damage boost for archery.

[eggs]

Generally with a Cleric Archer I'd start:
Cloistered Cleric 3/[full casting] 17
Domains: Elf, Planning, Knowledge (swapped out for Knowledge Devotion)
Feats: Point Blank Shot (domain), Extend Spell (domain), Knowledge Devotion (domain), Rapid Shot (level 1), Zen Archery (level 3), Persist Spell (level 6), Divine Metamagic Persist (level 9), [real caster feats like Divine Defiance, Divine Spell Power, Quicken Spell or Extra Turning/Craft Rod] (12, 15, 18)

[Without flaws, DMM comes in later than most DMM builds, but Night Stick-stick stacking is prohibitively expensive until the level 9-10 range, so it's not a huge loss]

But given the sources available and the Ranger/Cleric/SotMI parameters, how about:
Ranger 2/Cloistered Cleric 3/SotMI 7/Church Inquisitor 8
Domains: Elf, War, Knowledge
Feats: Track (Ranger 1), Zen Archery (Level 1), Rapid Shot (Ranger 2), Knowledge Devotion (Domain), Point Blank Shot (Domain), Weapon Focus (Domain), Practiced Spellcaster (Level 3), Precise Shot (Level 6), Holy Warrior (Level 9), Quicken Spell (Level 12), Improved Precise Shot (Level 15), Divine Spell Power (Level 18)

EDIT: I usually assume fractional base attack; if that's not something your game uses, switch the last two feats

[Snowbluff]

Divine Power qualifies you for BaB requirements.

You are going to want a +1 Splitting Collision Composite Longbow, prioritizing Splitting with an appropriate Str ratiing for your buffs. For Arrows, use Raptor Arrows, since they BANE EVERYTHING. Worship the Appropiate Goddess and sacrifice the spell slot for the Relic power. Greater Magic Weapon your bow to increase the bonus further.

Zen Archery is awesome.

Good buffs are Divine Power, Divine Agility, Holy Transformation (Greater, Lesser, etc), and Righteous Might.