Ranger/Rogue 6/14 or 3/17?

[DeVox]

Hey all, I've been agonizing and changing my mind over my build. I play a bow rogue, do most of my fighting within a group at ranged, and max my rogue skills to perform mechanic duty as a rogue. I'm currently lvl 3 ranger for diehard, 2 weapon fighting and bow strength, with a feat spent in ranged proficiency, and in point blank shot. I'm at a point (lvl 14) where I'm re-evaluating my planned build. I still want to be the rogue groups look to to deal with traps and locks, but I'm wondering if going ahead and doing 3 more levels in ranger to get ranger spells, manyshot and improved two weapon fighting, as well as another favored enemy, would be worth giving up the 2d of sneak attack and +1 trap sense I would lose, as well as the one rogue special feat I would miss out on. Any thoughts on how each build would affect end game usability of my character?

[gavagai]

If you can keep all your relevant skills maxed, I'd suggest going 6 ranger. 14Rog/6Rng offers over 17Rog/3Rng:
+1 BAB @ lv20
+6hp (meh)
another level of FE and Ranger FE Damage enhancement
free manyshot and itwf
+2 fort saves
an extra spell! Woo!!!

In addition:
1) You already can't take advantage of tier III rogue PrEs, but you can go ranger. Arcane Archer (the first tier has many perks for a ranged character, d6 and ghosttouched), Deepwood (a chance to make a mega crit every 10 seconds isn't bad), or Tempest (boost your melee/sneak attack dps) all offer interesting tools for you.

2) Since sneak attacks don't synergize with ranged attacks very well, the extra sneak dice aren't as good as what the ranger pres offer (i.e., AA's passive d6 or a burst crit damage vs. 2d6 that rarely triggers).

3) The last special rogue feat is usually Skill Mastery -- which imho is outweighed by the combat benefits of rng.

Whatever you do, have fun and good luck. xD