[PF] Archer themed Paladin

[Xaragos]

I am trying to work on an archer themed Paladin for a friend of mine. Its a 25 point build. Alignment Lawful Good. Looking to make him through level 12.

Stats/Race combo

14 Str
16 Dex (+2 for racial) for 18
12 Con
13 Int
7 Wis
15 Cha

Human taking fast learner for +HP and skill per level

Are there any archetypes we should consider? What feats/skill allocation do you recommend? What equipment are must haves? Should he take the mount or go for the weapon bond?

Thanks playground!

[BWR]

You have the Divine Hunter (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/paladin.html) archetype. Don't know what common consensus says about how good it is, but the paladin in our group has it and does fine. We don't really see that it adds too much and giving up some of the normal paladin abilities can be a pain. however, it isn't worse than the normal paladin in our experience, and being able to enchance your weapon with ranged enhancements can be quite nice.

Other than that, the normal archer feats of Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim, Clustered Shots, Rapid Shot, Multishot, and hope that you meet a lot of evil opponents.

[stack]

Oath of vengeance for more smites, all the standard archery feats, maybe extra lay hands if you really needier smiting. Works best for a game with many evil enemies. Try to talk you into letting you trade medium/heavy armor for pbs or precise shot. Celestial servant is nice too, provided the spell list additions are allowed to stack since they modify the same feature but do not interfere with each other.

Weapon or mount work, depends on what you want and if you will be outside.

[Psyren]

Sacred Servant is the best overall Paladin archetype and works quite well with archers.

Divine Hunter is decent but doesn't really give you anything you can't get on your own. Plus, you lose all your auras, and the abilities you gain in return seem to want there to be several other archers in the party besides you, which is rarely the case in practice. About the only unique advantage it has over the regular paladin is Distant Mercy, and even that isn't vital.

There is also Holy Gun, but we don't talk about that one.

[Fax Celestis]

Don't Inquisitors make good archers too?

[Psyren]

Don't Inquisitors make good archers too?

Yes - 4d6 bane on every shot, sacred/profane bonuses to attack and damage (i.e. stacking with everything else), Wis to initiative, and spells like the Litany line. Combine with the Preacher or Spellbreaker archetypes to drop the now-useless teamwork feats and you're set.

[Slipperychicken]

You have the Divine Hunter (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/paladin.html) archetype. Don't know what common consensus says about how good it is, but the paladin in our group has it and does fine. We don't really see that it adds too much and giving up some of the normal paladin abilities can be a pain. however, it isn't worse than the normal paladin in our experience, and being able to enchance your weapon with ranged enhancements can be quite nice.

It helps a lot in the early levels to pick up the required feats quickly. Once you have those, an additional feat isn't going to make or break your character.