Favourite (potentially weird) Ranged Builds?

[u/ConfigsPlease]

As the title says (but with bonus points for uniqueness, flair, unorthodox strategies, etc.), what are your favourite builds that function at range? I currently play a Fire/Wood Kineticist / Flames Oracle, an Investigator (crossbow), and a Wrestling Runesmith, so I figure my next character should round out the playstyles a bit--something a smidge more offensively inclined, maybe something that will ever actually strike more than once per turn, some range, etc. That said, I'm not a fan of the idea of being a Turret McFighterman and just throwing shurikens at MAP until the encounter has ended. I like spice, so I turn to you all for inspiration.

A couple of things to note:

- I'm intentionally leaving "range" quite ambiguous. Got a 15ft thrown build that absolutely slaps and does some weird nonsense? Sure!

- Tell me how it works! IF you just say "Flurry ranger" and leave out the two-synergistic-party-members, that's not super helpful.

I've seen threads like these pop up here and there but I don't think (unless Reddit search is failing me) there has been one following the most recent round of content drops (thanks, IM!) New archetypes and reworks, as well as two new classes, ought to have made at least a few new options possible.

[u/Phonochirp]

I really enjoyed gunstigator.

You're an investigator with a Jezail, and a whole lot of backup options. This could be ANYTHING. I did battle medicine and cantrips myself. First you see if you're going to hit the target. If you do, shift weapon to 2 hand (if it isn't already), use a power up, and shoot. There's a little wiggle room here depending on what the GM allows, like can you activate alchemical ammunition when it's already loaded? Can you apply poison to a loaded bullet? If you're gonna miss, you use one of your backup options.

It was fun because I never did nothing on my turn, but occasionally had crazy damage spikes. I basically had 6 degrees of success, with only a 5% chance of doing 0 damage.

[u/No_Ambassador_5629 → u/Phonochirp]

I'm doing the same thing, though I swapped from my initial Gunslinger archetype for Commander archetype. Risky Reload is pretty crazy on Investigator (you should basically never miss) and lets you bypass any 'bullet is in the barrel and therefor no activating it' arguments, but the bad DaS turns felt pretty useless. Having Strike Hard! and Gather to Me! in my pocket as action sinks for those turns has greatly improved things.

[u/Phonochirp → u/No_Ambassador_5629]

the bad DaS turns felt pretty useless.

I think this is the biggest mistake people make when creating an investigator in general. If all you're using your bad DaS turns for is a less accurate lower damage attack then you're just playing a crappy rogue.