Party Creation

Your guy takes me back to my Gold Box days of playing D&D on the computer where I always had a dwarven fighter/thief in the party- I think I must have finished with at least 2 dozen different party combinations before the C64 finally went kaput- good times, good times...

 

Hi Daryk, I tend to just go full Rogue for my sniper (or snipers- I've played a couple of times without Fighter-types and taken a couple of rogues as conventional rather than magical damage-dealers). Are there great benefits to adding Fighter levels instead? I think Rog 20 has BAB of 15. I suppose you add the feats you're after faster, get better hp and armour, and don't have to burn a feat for Longbow (as far as I'm aware you can't get a composite shortbow above STR 14), though with a human you can take point-blank and precise shot at first level even with a rogue, which is all you really need to make the build viable. With (by the end) a 24-26 dex, I rarely have this guy miss, and he does 10d6 sneak attack damage. He usually has rapid shot active and at least one haste on the go (I only became aware that Haste stacks in this game very recently), so reliably puts on 5 lots of 50+ hp damage a round. He's a bit slower to pick up things like improved critical, but starts doing STR damage and being immune to fireballs much earlier, and has quicker sneak attack progression. As I say above, just as I don't want to delay my casters getting their new spell-levels, I find I am very reluctant to make any choice with a rogue character that means I have to wait for that next sneak attack dice (even if the plan at the start was to build an interesting hybrid)!

 

Adding Fighter does add feats faster, to include useful things like quick draw, weapon specialization, and greater weapon focus. If I remember to cast haste, my build gets 36d6 sneak attack dice across six attacks, plus 12 points of damage from specialization, plus all the advantages of another attack (e.g. one more chance to roll a 20 against an Iuz avatar, for which those extra two BAB and GWF help on the front end). The extra hit points don't hurt either, especially at low level (you don't always win initiative, after all).

 

Debilitating strike at level 10 a rogue does STR damage, (even with a bow) is a really nice thing when you're fighting a sea of ogres or giants.

 

Especially if you craft them a holy, shocking composite shortbow +3- or the evil version, if you please...:yes: I've had rogue characters take down an ettin in 1 rd like that...

 

Oh yeah! And if they don't fall they have a much weaker STR bonus to hit.

 

YES!! ONE TIME HE SAID "Never mind." IN A NORMAL VOICE. IT'S TRUE! REJOICE, DANCE, CELEBRATE! ZAXIS DOES NOT ONLY SING! THANK YOU GOD!

 

Good morning all, I see a lot of conversation here about Rogue sniper and sneak attacking multiple times in one round.

My question is , how? Is that first round of combat from invisibility or something? I havent levelled up to 20 on a rogue but i have tried the ranged Rogue and my sneak attacks were a lot fewer in between, i didnt know if it was positioning based or what.

Any advice would be super helpful!

 

A Rogue can Sneak Attack an enemy if he is flanking him (usually achieved by having another friendly party member also fighting the same foe), or if the enemy model is flat-footed.

Since ranged attacks don't use flanking, the easiest way to "snipe" with a Rogue is to catch the enemy flat-footed. By default, all models on both sides of the combat begin the first round flat-footed. In this case, the Rogue can execute a Sneak Attack with a ranged weapon at short range provided he goes before the enemy in question in initiative order during the first round of combat.

If your Rogue is high enough level, he gets two shots, and can even penalize the enemy by sapping his Strength!

Also, if you haven't already figured it out, "Point Blank Shot" and "Precise Shot" are absolutely essential on a ranged Rogue, as the enemy will inevitably get into engagement distance with your party's melee fighters.

Finally, once you get high enough level, "Shield Proficiency" can be fun, too, if you want to equip your Rogue with a Darkwood or Mithril Buckler (and enchant it for extra fun) so he can improve his armor class while still having both hands free for a bow.

 

Thanks a million for your quick response!!! I love this game and community so much haha.

I definitely prioritize point blank shot and precise shot for a ranged character. And i will definitely do that for a ranged rogue this playthrough!

 

The real cheese comes when Improved Invisibility is obtained. Then every attack is a sneak attack unless dispelled -which basically doesn't happen in ToEE. Whether you want to exploit this too heavily is up to you.

So I suppose your rogue could invest in UMD and buy scrolls later. I can't remember if potions of these exist, but dusts do. And you could level an NPC such as Spugnoir just for the sake of mining scrolls.

And...I don't think ToEE has a range restriction for sneak attacks as some other games do...but I might have forgotten.

 

@hammyh Thanks you mean Greater Invisibility? I will definitely have to buff him with that. That is exactly what i want to do now! And i think sneak attack is limited to 30ft unless you take a particular feat. Or potentially a spell for it.

I am contemplating making Rogue/Bard or Rogue/Wizard for this sniper, to amplify his abilities. I want to maximize sneak attack damage as much as possible here. Do you think a 14Rogue/6Wiz will do nicely or would that take away too much of the sneak attack?

 

Well, you could easily get away with single-classed rogue with UMD. In Verbonc you can buy also wands, now that I remember.

However Improved Invis (or Greater) is a lvl 4 spell, so if you were to add wizard, you probably would want to get 7th level for that.

And another thing: I have played with the Arcane Archer class, and while it is limited in many ways, the cone spells work great with archery. That might break up the monotony of just SA fights, especially if you are adding an Arcane class. Iirc in ToEE the pre-reqs are things you probably already have taken for a ranged character.

 

@hammyh Ooh good idea, i will take that into consideration. If I do go Arcane Archer, will that work from Rogue/Wizard? Because if so that is not a bad idea for higher level.

 

Also every rogue attack is a sneak attack if the target is blind (spells like color spray, blindness, glitterdust).