I uhhhh I don't use feats all that often, but one of my favorite min/max strats for an assassin rogue is to pour everything into maxing out Dex, then con, and having the race as a bugbear. The race makes your base reach 10ft, gives a bonus to Dex, and any surprise attack made with it deals an additional 3d6 damage. That's especially good because any surprise attack made by an assassin is an auto crit, making that an extra 6d6 instead of 3d6
I used that build in a 5th level PvP tourney one of my friends was hosting. It got banned shortly after 😂😂 they shouldn't have added things I could hide behind on the map, it caused so much havoc
I give free non combat feats in every campaign, sure some of them can help combats (with extra stats), but honestly I like letting PC's distinguish themselves more. If it really effects combat and makes things easy I can always just tune up, but 5e gives so few methods for FULLY distinguishing ones self why not?
Unless you roll like me. I have a swashbuckler rogue with a 20 Dex and 20 Cha (no Alert feat yet). Even with a +10 to Initiative, I'm more often going second or third in our group (even behind the fighter with +2).
Unfortunately, you can't, currently be a Tabaxi Rogue with Swashbuckler for AL games... I have been having a lot of fun with a Drow Swashbuckler though, expertise in Persuasion and being able to drop Faerie Fire on clustered enemies to let you have an even better chance of connecting. Really, really wish that you could dual wield with the rapier and a dagger without taking the feat for it, often adding thrown daggers into the mix
Loved the intro. I played in a party that gave homage to ATeam. Our wild magic sorcerer was "Murdock" and our Barbarian was BA. He was terrified of riding horses so we had to find ways of tricking him/knocking him out
Also a little further expanding on the idea; gain proficiency in Herbalism kit. Make all the healing pots. Pour then down your allies' throats as a bonus action. Cuz Cure Wounds and Healing Word are overrated, amirite?
If you wanted to play a magic rogue (arcane trickster), ritual caster, mage slayer, mobile and magic initiate would make for a fun build. Ritual caster gives you a whole other array of spells to choose from, mage slayer with mobile and sneak attack means you can destroy enemy castors, drop any concentration spells they’re holding and can easily get up to them even if they have magical difficult terrain in the way. Magic initiate is for an extra spell and two cantrips to add to your repertoire of magic. I love magic in DnD, and will always find some way of getting it even in a martial class
Alert for power Assassins, maybe Sentinel for Swashbuclers. Magic initiate is nice for the Arcane Trickster and Tavern Brawler is pretty cool for a Sherlock Holmes type Inquisitive.
@@Dark_Zeraora Though for a Rogue specifically it's probably closer than for most who choose between Ritual Caster and Magic Initiate mostly for Find Familiar. Since they don't get Extra Attack, they're likely to be using their Bonus Action on something other than Two Weapon Fighting, and the Blade cantrips work with Sneak Attack if you can pick up at least one of them it's a straight upgrade over attacking normally
@@neoman4426 I think it's best for arcane trickster so you can use one of the spells you learn something other than illusion/enchantment can go elsewhere.
I was just thinking about on demand help action for the skill monkey class or one desperate sneak attack trigger (Wouldn't expect a familiar to survive long enough for more)
That first line was basically the start of a one-shot I ran during summer vacation. Only one of them actually knew the A-Team... Was still a wonderful session with great roleplay.
I'm wracking my brain on how to continue this series for other classes. They need to be different enough from each other to have value. It could happen though. Nerdarchist Dave
First time player here. I had chosen rogue thief as my class as it fit my backstory as I had written it out first before choosing the race or class. It turns out that my character is the face of the party so I mixed some of these feats which are linguist, mobile, observant and Alert. This way I have options on if I have to talk my way out or fight my way through. I have to say for my first campaign its been really fun so far.
OMG thank you so much for this!! I have been trying to find something comprehensive on class specific feats like this! This is perfect and I can not wait to see what you guys thinks on the other classes :D
I love melee rogues and I often call my builds front-line rogues. In our current campaign I am playing one that due to difficulty I dipped 2 levels into warlock to get the Armor of Shadows invocation to get my AC up. I am a dual-wielding swashbuckler so I can almost always get a sneak attack (+ Hex) each round. Never thought about asking our Battlemaster to take Commander's Strike to help out - thanks for that tip!
For all Gnome and Halfling Rogues... starting your Dex Attribute at 17 and take Squat Nimbleness at 4th lvl... raising it to 18 giving you Proficiency in Athletics and/or Acrobatics and increasing your Movement by 5'! It's a Most Have. Not only that but it then gives you advantage with Athletic and/or Acrobatic Checks against being Grappled! Love it!
For a high level campaign I was in recently, I went with Rogue 17, Bard 3, Arcane Trickster and School of Lore - gotta have me my Mage Hand Legerdomain and the Lore school let me get 3 more skill proficiencies, plus getting expertise in 2 more skills is nothing to sneeze at. Couple those with Reliable Talent and I only have a small handful of skills where I'm not getting an automatic 10 to the roll. And thanks to all my expertises I have a +17 to Stealth, Acrobatics and Slight of Hand (+5 from a Dex of 20, +12 - 6 times 2 - from the double proficiency bonus.) Took Prodigy to get one more expertise for a total of 7 and put those in Perception, Insight, (+13 to both) then also did Deception and Persuasion (+15 in both) Also took Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert and Alert. Oh and did I mention that I won a Ring of Invisibility? Yeah, he's kinda sneaky
9:00 IDK if you are right on this. As far as I know, rogues can only use sneak attack once per turn. I may be wrong. If I am, then lmk because I could really use this feat.
I played a lizardfolk scout rogue with athlete. I only played him briefly, but I imagine if I took him to lvl 8 and grabbed mobile it would have been insane how slippery he could be.
Arcane Trickster will give you access to Find Familiar. That can be incredibly useful for taking a look around without getting noticed. magic Initiate will give you access to ANY spell albeit it at a lower level. Inflict Wounds from the Cleric list would be very nice if your Rogue is undetected and needs to do good damage quietly. Spare the Dying looks useful as well to allow the Rogue to keep a party member on their feet so they can gain advantage with their Sneak Attack damage.
I think Lucky is a natural fit for the rogue. 1. Because with one attack per turn all the way to level 20 you really can’t afford to miss when it counts or you’ll waste your action. And 2. Because your stealth modifier can be sky high but a natural 1 will still get you caught as fast as anyone else
Natural one on stealth is a non-issue after Reliable Talent. Minimum roll of 10 in all skills you're proficient in. And you should be proficient in stealth to begin with.
@@Nerdarchy Some people play with critical fails and successes (Nat 1 and 20 respectfully) which automatically make people fail or succeed on the roll. As far as the op is concerned, I've been working on a build that should address this concern. Race: Elf. Class: L3 gloom stalker ranger L17 assassin rogue. At level 7 take the elven accuracy feat from your 4th level of rogue. Gloom stalker makes you invisible anywhere people need dark vision to see, so you should have increased advantage while fighting there. Also if you fight in melee and are flanking your target with an ally, you can trigger your super advantage that way. Finally, make sure you pick up the ranger skill, zypher strike. Your L3 ranger will have a potential 3 uses of it, which gives advantage on the first hit after you cast it. I've thought of some other ways to get advantage but they either require nerfing the potential damage output too much (such as taking 3 levels of samurai fighter which removes the possibility of getting your L17 assassin ability) or relying on allies to give you advantage (such as casting fairy fire.)
Mobile is an excellent feat to give a Rogue. Frees up your bonus action, because you no longer have to disengage from a creature you attacked on that turn.
I play a Swashbuckler Rogue in various games and find them to be one of the consistently higher damage dealers. Add to that the extremely built in mobility of the swashbuckler and you are very effective at positioning and inherent battlefield control by forcing enemies to focus on you and not your casters. In this case, I think the 'Alert' feat is better than 'Mobile'. I also like 'Lucky' when you absolutely want to hit/save/attempt. Use the 'Resilient...' feats to add +1 to an odd numbered ability score and gain proficiency; especially this if you have the odd con score. Arcane tricksters I never have seen in a game; do people play this. Perhaps a Thief build with 'Magic Initiate Warlock'. Fire at 120' ranged or move in for SA. Gain a bit more damage with HEX or use Protection from G/E.
I once made a rogue meant for social espionage. She had the Linguist and Observant feats like your build does, but I instead focused on giving her a little magical help with Magic Initiate and Ritual Caster, both of the wizard class. A rogue with a familiar can be rather useful.
Great ideas Guys. Can I suggest for your Melee build that you substitute Dual Wielder for Defensive Duelist, allowing you to add your proficiency modifier to your AC IF you don't have a second weapon in your off-hand. Even better if you're using a buckler with your rapier!
I got a goblin scout who mainly uses a light crossbow and tries to stay away from enemies (usually as far as possible) since they're typically larger than he is.
I'm in the process of playing through an inquisitive rogue, with gloom stalker ranger. Two weapon fighting with dual wielder, great with insightful fighting. Pick out the enemy captain fire off Hunter's Mark, sneak right up - land a sizeable amount of 1st turn damage and then when you've dealt with them just dash back into the shadows and repeat... if it's not going your way, pop cunning action, cover your escape with spiked growth and you're out of there too. With a high dex, Evasion and Uncanny dodge you can be rather a pain in the enemy ranks while dealing some consistent solid damage.
Just built a level 5 for a new campaign. My friends use a custom point buy and you can spend three points to get a level one feat regardless of race. So warforged skirmisher Inquisitive rogue with a level 1 Athlete, and lvl 4 asi to dex. Starting with a 15 dex, this bumped me to 16 from athlete, 18 from skirmished and 20 from the ASI. so stat block of Str 8, Dex 20, con 14, int 14, wis 14 and cha 6 This build is meant primarily to be the scout/sneak of the group (the others had been playing for a while and had no characters who had great stealth or thieves tools proficiency). Combine level 3 inquisitive skills that help certain Wis and int rolls, and expertise in stealth and perception (with insight and investigation at level 6) and this is a great scout/tip of the spear. Especially since a warforged skirmisher gets normal speed for stealth after an hour traveling solo. It is also a sturdy fighter since warforged dark wood armor gives it 19 AC. And you can pick a target and use insightful fighting to get a consistent sneak attack on a single target. I've had a lot of fun with it so far, I'm tempted to go melee with skirmisher at 8, but there are so many great feat options, i'll probably look at what I need most when I get there
Regarding sharpshooter, I think it Is not always good to take that -5. Generally it’s better to get that sneak attack damage than the +10 ( after certain levels) a minus 5 could be the difference between landing SA and not.
So one feat I tend to include in my games makes it so if someone misses you with an attack you can use your reaction to hit them with an opportunity attack. I also changed how dodging works increase your armor class by your dexterity modifier so a rogue with 20 dexterity and a set of stubbed leather could take the dodge action to get an AC of 22.
I know y'all didn't want to get into spcific races, but if you're able to take it, the wood elf magic racial feat from xanathar seems really good for any rogue. 1 druid cantrip (guidance) and a daily cast of both longstrider and pass without trace.
Just a brilliant video. I find that soulknife makes for a very interesting duelist with Mage Slayer instead of Dual Wielder (which isn't as needed with psychic blades) for even more chances to get your sneak attack as a reaction. It also helps if you are of a race with magic resistance to make closing with a caster that much easier.
A Kenku Rogue with a low Charisma and the Observant feat who repeats back what he/she has heard or lip-read, without understanding the significance or social appropriateness, would be hilarious! If they also utilized disguises, but parroted back statements from people they are impersonating out of co text, then that would be even better! 😂
I went for a very combat-centric, utility heavy, sneaky dump truck. Halfling (Lucky Racial is amazing) Swashbucker (free mobility + Rakish Audacity is nice) Moderately Armored (for shield prof, still wear light armor for dex bonus, also because the bonus action slot already has a lot going on, dual wielding isn't necessary) Sentinel (Extra Sneaks) Defensive Duelist (More reaction options for defense, 27AC -> 33AC on use) Lucky (Best Utility Feat, period) Magic Initiate (Sorcerer: GFB, BB, Absorb Elements. Combination offense/defense options. Also adds +Cha to GFB) (Level 20+ at the moment...)
My favorite rogue build: the sniper High elf (assassin) Cantrip: minor illusion, or, I dare say it, true strike Take sharpshooter Take elven accuracy Now, at level 8, you can hit with 3d20 to attack from 600 feet with a longbow sneak attack that can auto-crit if you get suprise. Later feats are going to be alert at twelve and things like skulker, athelete, or mobile to keep from getting pinned down.
Half-orc, 1st lvl Fighter for heavy armor (you read that correctly), shield, and con save, the rest Arcane Trickster. Feats: Orcish Fury, Sentinel, Warcaster, and Tough. Grab Booming Blade or Greenflame Blade and enjoy...
my feats for my high elf phantom rogue are crazy out of the box, first off I took feat elven accuracy so I'm rolling 3D20 on attack rolls when I bonus action steady aim which is 80% of the time so I rarely miss. For my second feat I took ritual caster - wizard and bought the phantom steed ritual steed spell so I now have 100' of movement even when I use steady aim which doesn't allow "me" to move but my mount can. The phantom steed when hit has a 1 minute (10 rounds of combat) dismount time which is insane, and when battle is over and I lost my mount, I need 11 minutes to get it back again.
I'm a level 2 drow elf rogue, soon to be level 3. I believe I am going with the Swashbuckler archetype once I hit level 3. For this I would like a high AC, especially if I am going with the Panache skill frequently. Taunting enemies so their focus is on me so my allies will get the advantage for one hit. The feats I think I'll be needing for this build are: -Alert for +5 initiative, plus Rakish Audacity gives +charisma modifier -Defensive Duelist for added AC for a reaction -Duel Wielder for an AC increase -Medium Armor Master for 3 AC instead of 2 plus no disadvantages on stealth. I haven't decided on the 5th feat though I think mobile could work, but wouldn't that overlap Fancy footwork and Cunning Action? Edit: nevermind on the Medium Armor Master hence the prerequisite is to have proficiency in medium armor
If you play a forest gnome arcane trickster, you're trading a starting feat from human for an extra cantrip since you already get Minor Illusion. Worth considering. 👍
Still like being an arcane trickster with mobile feat. Booming Blade on something then trying to get the threat to chase you. Good times. Especially if you're a teeny bit at range with a whip for booming blade.
I'm Glad you mentioned the racial feats but sad you didnt go into them. Elf Rogues are the clear winners with Elvin Accuracy which essentiall lets you roll 3 D20 and take the highest number instead of 2 D20 when you have advantage which is obnoxiously powerful. Although another interesting race choice is the Dwarf, with Dwarven fortitude give rogues access to reliable self healing combined with the amor profciencys of a mountain dwarf to make a melee rogue quite a bit heartier and able to stay in the fight for longer
Observant and Skulker on a Rogue with darkvision means that you can hide from other races with darkvision, in lightly obscured areas (darkness), with No disadvantage to you. My Trixter uses the Control Flames cantrip to darken and extinguish light sources to exploit this.
I don't know how effective the Sentinel feat would really be for what you want it to do.. Even melee rogues (at least the one I play), tend to not actually be on the front line. This is especially true if your melee rogue already has the mobile feat. They are rarely in a situation where both enemy, ally and rogue all have a 5ft distance to each of the other two. As such, they rarely have an opportunity where a nearby ally is attacked by an enemy and the rogue also being within range to attack that enemy as a reaction. Worst of all, even when the the rogue is in that situation, the _rogue_ is the one most likely to be targeted by an attack due to low hp/ac and being a major damage dealer. Sentinel is designed for your tanks. You can either prevent enemies from leaving your reach to go after your allies or you can punish enemies for going after allies within your reach thus at the same time encouraging your enemies to instead attack you. If you're a rogue and want to deal sneak attack damage outside your turn, you're best off relying on allies like a battlemaster fighter with commander's strike (or w/e it's called) or the newly released order domain cleric. Speaking of the battlemaster, you can also take the Martial Adept feat and get access to maneuvers like Riposte. In fact, there are plenty of battlemaster maneuvers that can add a bit of variety to using a rogue in combat. Pushing enemies out of reach, lunching at them to stay out of reach, adding precision to your sneak attack and simply knocking them prone for potential advantage (but more likely to half their movement when chasing you).
The main point with picking Sentinel for Rogues is doubling your Sneak Attacks per round. You could do it other ways too, like with Battle Master's Riposte, or having an ally cast Dissonant Whispers for your opportunity attack. You won't get to do this all the time, but neither can you use any feat all the time. With Lucky, you run out of luck points. You won't use GWM against a Beholder (if the DM plays them with their correct Int score). And you won't be able to use Mage Slayer in every combat. Personally I wouldn't pick Sentinel for my Rogue but I can see why someone would. Then again, I don't think Rogues are even a damage dealer class to begin with.
My dm ruled that the Eldritch claw tattoo increased reach, so when he made a short campaign starting at level 12 and could choose 1 uncommon item and 1 rare, I chose the tattoo and sentinel feat and the tunnel fighter fighting style, so 1 level fighter and 11 rogue. Weird build I know, but we barely got hit. Also my rare was cube of force to stop spells .
You forgot to mention the Defensive Duelist feat for the melee rogue which gives you the ability to add your proficiency bonus to your armor class if you have a finesse weapon in your hand.
That requires your reaction. So it's directly competing with your other Reactions like: Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, AoO, Sentinel, Riposte, etc Also, I find that a Rogue with the Mobile feat rarely get's hit to begin with. I think being able to Hide and walk around in Dim Light without being noticed with the Skulker feat would be better than 2-4AC on a single hit.
As a build? Just use a regular thief. The "Fast Hands" ability allows you to use the "Use an Object" action. A holster for a wand of "Animate Objects" that opens a bag containing ten stones as you fall back to hide while your ten minions do a minimum of fifty hp of damage per round to your foes is always a good place to start. Alert, Observant, Skulker, Dungeon Delver, Sharpshooter, Lucky, and Skilled to round out my own and the party's abilities.
Magic initiate for Booming Blade and/or Green Flame blade and hex. these are a straight damage boost to your normal combat and hex has some situational uses with giving disadvantage to a targets skill checks based on a stat, like giving DA to STR to an enemy that likes to grapple your party members or to DEX on an enemy that keeps hiding from you (or maybe to charisma on a vender when one of your party members is haggling them ;P) 10/10 for any and all rogues
fun fact the DM never expects you to start dropping enemies from 600ft away with sharp shooter, and as a 20th level assassin rogue you can let loose 40d6+4d8+5 damage in a single shot which has an average of 163 damage so yeah. Or if your a warlock with the spell sniper feat and the eldritch spear invocation you can smack someone in the face at 600ft away with no penalty to hit though only dealing 4d10+20 damage at 20th level for an average of 42 damage assuming each attack hits.
Honestly all a rogue needs to make his offense better in melee is shadow blade. Your sneak attacks become psychic damage. If i had to pick a feat though ot would be lucky 1st then ritual caster or magic intiate. Bow rogue is cool, but most feats that involve ranged weapon use is crap for a rogue or just plain crap.
In my Curse of Strad game I'm in I currently just have Crossbow Expert, but even while making 3 attacks with hand xbows plus sneak attack, I still can't do anywhere near what the two barbarians are doing. But I think one did his math wrong but that doesn't account for the other still doing way more dmg than me, specially when barbs have no conditions for their dmg like sneak attack. I was actually wanting this character to die because he doesn't really do much but pick a lock every now and then or spot things. Like the last boss battle we had all I did was run around kiting a scarecrow around as I pelted it with bolts, while everybody else killed the boss and one barb two shot (duel wielding) the werewolf leader a few moments after we downed the boss.
Hi! Great video! I have a question. For rogue, If the enemy attacks the fighter. And I use my sentinel Reaction. Do i hit 1d8+3(Rapier) and then Sneak attack( 1d6)? OR is it only Sneak attack only 1d6? Please help thank you!
I have a question, im new to playing dnd and im a rouge theif and I have evasion. The guide doesnt says it requires a preparation or action so is it just a passive skill thats always on? I ask because thats what i think but my dm says it does require a action/preparation
@@Nerdarchy thanks for such a fast reply! I just found out about evasion cause im new to dnd and my dm said it required a action or me knowing the attack was coming to use it.
Yeah, if you read the description it's once per turn rather than per round or per your turn. Usually that limits to two in a round, but high level Rogues (Thief) could get four in the first round since your Reaction recharges at the beginning of your turn and they get two for the first round if not Surprised, if you use the optional Mark Action rule you could get three (six for Thief) since that allows you to OpAttack that one without using your Reaction at Advantage, and if you use Unearthed Arcana and take a couple of levels of Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin you could take the Tunnel Fighter Style and potentially trigger it on everyone's turn as that lets you make OpAttacks against anyone without using your Reaction by using your Bonus Action on your turn as well as use your Reaction to get one on someone who tries to skirt around you without leaving your threat range
Two level of paladin and two levels of moon Druid let’s you smite three times in one turn with two of them being second level and the attacks do 1d8 and you get the extra health, this is if your Druid has seen and is able to transform into the very ridiculous dienyichous(sorry spelling it’s a raptor), no feats required so any race works
I have a question. I am new to playing d&d. In my current d&d group, the DM has change the d&d campaign 7 times in two years. (we play every other week) I feel like this bad DMing because he change the d&d campaign without players' concern.
I've seen this a lot in our games. I personally feel it come from DM burnout. 2 yrs every other week about 52 sessions. Every 7th session or so they want to switch games. I've played with a gm that only believes 3,5, and 7 session arcs. Maybe if the group switched off dms it would help. Has the group had discussion about this situation? Have you asked the dm why they only want to play for so long? Have you asked is there anything you or others in the group can do to help? Most problems in a group dynamic require communication in order to be solved. Nerdarchist Dave Nerdarchist Dave
I was wondering, I play Adventures' League. Can my Arcane Trickster use the cantrip Minor Illusion to create a fake wall to hide behind? I imagine that the take wall would be set about 10 feet from the real wall in the large room, say 40 by 40 feet. Is there any ruling on this sort of use of Minor Illusion?
The size is limited to a 5ft cube if I remember right, & it has to be an object. You can use it to break line of sight and hide. I usually make a crates, barrels, bushes. Someone has to use an action to examine it in order to determine if it's an illusion.
I came up with a rogue/monk build for just being fast Tabaxi for the feline agility trait 18 levels of monk to have your maximum unarmored movement Mobile feat Two levels of rogue to get cunning action to dash as a bonus action
With all that speed, I can't see why you'd need Dash as a Bonus. I play a Dragonborn Monk with Mobile Feat. I find it very rare that I can't automatically Disengage to a safe distance at the end of my turn. I would hate to give up any of my Ki using bonuses that deal damage for some extra movement.
Charger uses your Action to Dash and your Bonus action to attack for only +5 damage. Better off to go with a Feat that gives you Booming Blade (or Greenflame Blade.) At level 5 you'll deal 1D8+2D8 and it keeps scaling as you level. Plus you still have your bonus action left over to do anything you want.
@@jaysonburke6839 mobile feat, charger feat, and scout rogue have synergy. Mobile allows the PC to ignore difficult terrain when they dash, and charger allows you to dash and make an attack with a +5 damage bonus. This is almost like 2 extra sneak die. The scouts reaction can be used to put distance between the PC and other enemy creatures. Charger deals more damage than BB at lvls 1-4, roughly same damage lvls 5-10, and more damage 11-20. Most campaigns and games don’t make it past lvl 10.
Charger uses up your Action, Bonus Action, and a Feat for +5 damage. At Level 5 BB/GFB deal between 4.5 - 13.5 average damage. Not to mention they only use your Action and give you elemental damage. Trickster can even get them without a Feat.
@@jaysonburke6839 any rogue can get BB/GFB with elf/half elf features at level 1. My point is that it does more or compatible damage from level 1-10, while improving on a rogues mobility in unfavorable circumstances. If everyone has advantageous or preferable combat conditions and environmental factors then it doesn’t matter what build you have, your party is going to win. Ensuring your parties capabilities when things don’t go in your favor increases the likelihood of success when it matters most.
im lvl 4 gnome arc trickster in my game right now, for me I'll be taking resilient(con) for the concentration sv throws (also bumping the stat to even number) after dex cap, then possibly alert before pumping int
Looking at your possible build path, I would suggest grabbing War Caster over Resilient since it allows you to have advantage on all concentration checks and you can use a spell instead of a melee weapon when you make an AoO, wich is great for AT rogues since spells like shadowblade get sneak attack damage
@@thurismundbotheric7598 Shadow Blade actually doesn't say it uses a spell attack. It just says that it counts as a simple melee weapon, so you would be able to use it regularly in an Opportunity Attack.
@@thurismundbotheric7598 That's true- I actually took Warcaster for Booming Blade (definitely used with Shadow Blade).. but also Resilient (Con), started in a new group a couple weeks ago. 5th level variant human.
You don't get more sneak attacks per turn. That's a strict condition of sneak attack. You can, however, get more sneak attacks per round if you can somehow attack on another person's turn. This is done by being able to attack using your reaction. All rogues can do this with attacks of opportunity but there are options as well such as your allies granting you a reaction attack (a battlemaster with Commander's Strike or an order domain cleric with the Voice of Authority class feature) and, as explored here, feats of your own. When it comes to feats, I would rather recommend the Martial Adept feat and gaining access to the Riposte maneuver. Riposte punishes those who attack you. Sentinel punishes enemies for attacking people other than you. As a squishy rogue, you likely want the former even if it means giving up your uncanny dodge.
@@UberBri Yes. Also, NOWHERE does it say your reaction counts as your turn so by process of elimination you can figure it out as well. In fact, the opposite is stated. I recommend just reading the definition of Reaction as found in the PHB pg 190 and then remember that the way sneak attack is written only restricts it to once per turn.
oO PPH Oo I was under the impression that SA could be only used once per turn per round. However, that isn’t the case per Jeremy Crawford. www.sageadvice.eu/2015/06/18/sneak-once-per-turn/
Okay though, but I find observant + sharpshooter + skulker to be better at low levels if you pick V Human. You only get one shot as a rogue anyway, and if you have expertise in perception you can spot and snipe literally anything that moves.
I disagree with the sharpshooter feat pick. If you're ranged you're always only getting 1 shot to try to score sneak attack damage. Inherently the rogue as a striker is a gamble. Compare it to a fighter who gets more attacks for less damage, the rogue gets 1 attack for a lot of damage. And so taking that -5 to hit even if you have advantage is rough especially since they don't get a chance for the archery fighting style like rangers or fighters to balance that a bit more. And if you take that at level 4, at best your to hit is +5 if using point buy. So even at level 5 you get up to +6 to then go down to +1 to hit with the sharpshooter. A strength 8 wizard has better odds at hitting by that point. It's just super high risk of doing nothing and far too often DMs don't plan for large battlegrounds so the range isn't much of an issue either. So you're really taking the feat to ignore most cover and I'm not sure that's worth a feat/Ability Improvement spot.
I'm gonna make a rouge bard mix that's the master of everything, 9 expertises and jack of all trades for everything else I'm gonna be able to do whatever I want in most situations
Half-Elf gets two skill proficiencies and they can get Prodigy; if you add Skill Expert to that then you'll get a crud ton of proficiencies and expertise's.
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I uhhhh I don't use feats all that often, but one of my favorite min/max strats for an assassin rogue is to pour everything into maxing out Dex, then con, and having the race as a bugbear. The race makes your base reach 10ft, gives a bonus to Dex, and any surprise attack made with it deals an additional 3d6 damage. That's especially good because any surprise attack made by an assassin is an auto crit, making that an extra 6d6 instead of 3d6
I used that build in a 5th level PvP tourney one of my friends was hosting. It got banned shortly after 😂😂 they shouldn't have added things I could hide behind on the map, it caused so much havoc
I ran a one-shot where I gave everyone a free feat in character creation. The party ended up being all rogues with the mobile feat. It was great.
I give free non combat feats in every campaign, sure some of them can help combats (with extra stats), but honestly I like letting PC's distinguish themselves more. If it really effects combat and makes things easy I can always just tune up, but 5e gives so few methods for FULLY distinguishing ones self why not?
Giving everyone a free starting feat encourages players to go beyond the human race too. 👍
@@GoodOldGamer watch everyone become half elves with elven accuracy ;)
Sneak attack, run away, I can dash, It’s OK, no reaction attack
My dm give free feat to all species
That intro was gold
Thanks glad you dug it.
Nerdarchist Dave
Tabaxi rogue
Highest stats Dex,Cha
3rd lv. choose swashbuckler
4th lv. Alert feet
Go first every time
Unless you roll like me. I have a swashbuckler rogue with a 20 Dex and 20 Cha (no Alert feat yet). Even with a +10 to Initiative, I'm more often going second or third in our group (even behind the fighter with +2).
I have a Halfing Swashbuckler with +15 to Initiative. Only way I didn't go first (or tie for first) was when I roll a 1.
@@blairbird8022 I still could go second (or later) with a +15 with the way I roll. We also have a ranger with a +7 that rolls well.
Unfortunately, you can't, currently be a Tabaxi Rogue with Swashbuckler for AL games...
I have been having a lot of fun with a Drow Swashbuckler though, expertise in Persuasion and being able to drop Faerie Fire on clustered enemies to let you have an even better chance of connecting.
Really, really wish that you could dual wield with the rapier and a dagger without taking the feat for it, often adding thrown daggers into the mix
20 charisma rogue is BROKEN I legit skipped the last 1/4 of my DM’s campaign by convincing the monster to be our friend
Loving being able to see the rules text while you guys talk about it. Helps so much. Great work.
Loved the intro. I played in a party that gave homage to ATeam. Our wild magic sorcerer was "Murdock" and our Barbarian was BA. He was terrified of riding horses so we had to find ways of tricking him/knocking him out
Another great feat for a thief rogue specifically: Healer. Grab a couple healers packs and you can be the party healer.
I actually took that for my V-human Thief rogue, and also took Mobile.
With the thief’s fast hands feature you can use the healer’s kit as a bonus action!
Which is why I did it. If the magic healers run out of healies, I can come running in with my conventional meds and save le party.
He be a retired Army medic, my V-humie rogue.
Also a little further expanding on the idea; gain proficiency in Herbalism kit. Make all the healing pots. Pour then down your allies' throats as a bonus action. Cuz Cure Wounds and Healing Word are overrated, amirite?
If you wanted to play a magic rogue (arcane trickster), ritual caster, mage slayer, mobile and magic initiate would make for a fun build. Ritual caster gives you a whole other array of spells to choose from, mage slayer with mobile and sneak attack means you can destroy enemy castors, drop any concentration spells they’re holding and can easily get up to them even if they have magical difficult terrain in the way. Magic initiate is for an extra spell and two cantrips to add to your repertoire of magic. I love magic in DnD, and will always find some way of getting it even in a martial class
Getting magic in martial classes is easier in 5e than any other edition.
Nerdarchist Dave
Alert for power Assassins, maybe Sentinel for Swashbuclers. Magic initiate is nice for the Arcane Trickster and Tavern Brawler is pretty cool for a Sherlock Holmes type Inquisitive.
My guess: Magic Initiate to get Find Familiar.
Or ritual caster for more versatility.
@@Dark_Zeraora Though for a Rogue specifically it's probably closer than for most who choose between Ritual Caster and Magic Initiate mostly for Find Familiar. Since they don't get Extra Attack, they're likely to be using their Bonus Action on something other than Two Weapon Fighting, and the Blade cantrips work with Sneak Attack if you can pick up at least one of them it's a straight upgrade over attacking normally
Booming blade or greenflame blade are good pick ups
@@neoman4426 I think it's best for arcane trickster so you can use one of the spells you learn something other than illusion/enchantment can go elsewhere.
I was just thinking about on demand help action for the skill monkey class or one desperate sneak attack trigger (Wouldn't expect a familiar to survive long enough for more)
I recently made a half elf rogue who was a hired killer in his backstory and have been trying to figure out how I wanna build him, so thank you
I hope you make one of these for each of the classes ...
That first line was basically the start of a one-shot I ran during summer vacation. Only one of them actually knew the A-Team...
Was still a wonderful session with great roleplay.
I love sneaking in pop references into games.
Nerdarchist Dave
Please make one for best feats for clerics!. Love the content
I'm wracking my brain on how to continue this series for other classes. They need to be different enough from each other to have value. It could happen though.
Nerdarchist Dave
depends on the Kind of cleric
First time player here. I had chosen rogue thief as my class as it fit my backstory as I had written it out first before choosing the race or class. It turns out that my character is the face of the party so I mixed some of these feats which are linguist, mobile, observant and Alert. This way I have options on if I have to talk my way out or fight my way through. I have to say for my first campaign its been really fun so far.
Welcome to the hobby.
Nerdarchist Dave
4:45 is when they get to the first feat
OMG thank you so much for this!! I have been trying to find something comprehensive on class specific feats like this! This is perfect and I can not wait to see what you guys thinks on the other classes :D
We might have to look into that.
Nerdarchist Dave
I love melee rogues and I often call my builds front-line rogues. In our current campaign I am playing one that due to difficulty I dipped 2 levels into warlock to get the Armor of Shadows invocation to get my AC up. I am a dual-wielding swashbuckler so I can almost always get a sneak attack (+ Hex) each round. Never thought about asking our Battlemaster to take Commander's Strike to help out - thanks for that tip!
For all Gnome and Halfling Rogues... starting your Dex Attribute at 17 and take Squat Nimbleness at 4th lvl... raising it to 18 giving you Proficiency in Athletics and/or Acrobatics and increasing your Movement by 5'! It's a Most Have.
Not only that but it then gives you advantage with Athletic and/or Acrobatic Checks against being Grappled! Love it!
For a high level campaign I was in recently, I went with Rogue 17, Bard 3, Arcane Trickster and School of Lore - gotta have me my Mage Hand Legerdomain and the Lore school let me get 3 more skill proficiencies, plus getting expertise in 2 more skills is nothing to sneeze at. Couple those with Reliable Talent and I only have a small handful of skills where I'm not getting an automatic 10 to the roll. And thanks to all my expertises I have a +17 to Stealth, Acrobatics and Slight of Hand (+5 from a Dex of 20, +12 - 6 times 2 - from the double proficiency bonus.) Took Prodigy to get one more expertise for a total of 7 and put those in Perception, Insight, (+13 to both) then also did Deception and Persuasion (+15 in both) Also took Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert and Alert.
Oh and did I mention that I won a Ring of Invisibility? Yeah, he's kinda sneaky
Melee Feats: 7:55
• Duel wielder
• Mobile
• Sentinel
Range Feats: 6:10
• Crossbow Expert
• Sharpshooter
• Skulker
9:00 IDK if you are right on this. As far as I know, rogues can only use sneak attack once per turn. I may be wrong. If I am, then lmk because I could really use this feat.
It's once on your turn. Not once in a round. Reactions generally happen on someone else's turn.
-Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Thank you! I’m definitely gonna take this feat bow cuz that sounds op. 😄
I played a lizardfolk scout rogue with athlete. I only played him briefly, but I imagine if I took him to lvl 8 and grabbed mobile it would have been insane how slippery he could be.
Arcane Trickster will give you access to Find Familiar. That can be incredibly useful for taking a look around without getting noticed. magic Initiate will give you access to ANY spell albeit it at a lower level. Inflict Wounds from the Cleric list would be very nice if your Rogue is undetected and needs to do good damage quietly. Spare the Dying looks useful as well to allow the Rogue to keep a party member on their feet so they can gain advantage with their Sneak Attack damage.
Another fantastic vid, great job! I particularly enjoyed the A team intro!
Now we all just have to wait for the smash-cut of a bunch of these intros!
I think Lucky is a natural fit for the rogue. 1. Because with one attack per turn all the way to level 20 you really can’t afford to miss when it counts or you’ll waste your action. And 2. Because your stealth modifier can be sky high but a natural 1 will still get you caught as fast as anyone else
Natural one on stealth is a non-issue after Reliable Talent. Minimum roll of 10 in all skills you're proficient in. And you should be proficient in stealth to begin with.
@@corygumminger6349 and Expertise.
1s aren't auto fails for skills. There isn't anyone that wouldn't benefit from lucky. It's a super feat.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Some people play with critical fails and successes (Nat 1 and 20 respectfully) which automatically make people fail or succeed on the roll.
As far as the op is concerned, I've been working on a build that should address this concern.
Race: Elf. Class: L3 gloom stalker ranger L17 assassin rogue. At level 7 take the elven accuracy feat from your 4th level of rogue. Gloom stalker makes you invisible anywhere people need dark vision to see, so you should have increased advantage while fighting there. Also if you fight in melee and are flanking your target with an ally, you can trigger your super advantage that way. Finally, make sure you pick up the ranger skill, zypher strike. Your L3 ranger will have a potential 3 uses of it, which gives advantage on the first hit after you cast it.
I've thought of some other ways to get advantage but they either require nerfing the potential damage output too much (such as taking 3 levels of samurai fighter which removes the possibility of getting your L17 assassin ability) or relying on allies to give you advantage (such as casting fairy fire.)
Mobile is an excellent feat to give a Rogue. Frees up your bonus action, because you no longer have to disengage from a creature you attacked on that turn.
I play a Swashbuckler Rogue in various games and find them to be one of the consistently higher damage dealers. Add to that the extremely built in mobility of the swashbuckler and you are very effective at positioning and inherent battlefield control by forcing enemies to focus on you and not your casters. In this case, I think the 'Alert' feat is better than 'Mobile'. I also like 'Lucky' when you absolutely want to hit/save/attempt. Use the 'Resilient...' feats to add +1 to an odd numbered ability score and gain proficiency; especially this if you have the odd con score. Arcane tricksters I never have seen in a game; do people play this. Perhaps a Thief build with 'Magic Initiate Warlock'. Fire at 120' ranged or move in for SA. Gain a bit more damage with HEX or use Protection from G/E.
I once made a rogue meant for social espionage. She had the Linguist and Observant feats like your build does, but I instead focused on giving her a little magical help with Magic Initiate and Ritual Caster, both of the wizard class. A rogue with a familiar can be rather useful.
Great ideas Guys. Can I suggest for your Melee build that you substitute Dual Wielder for Defensive Duelist, allowing you to add your proficiency modifier to your AC IF you don't have a second weapon in your off-hand. Even better if you're using a buckler with your rapier!
but skulker "if you HIT" they still know where you are. So unless you are planning on missing, its not so good.
Sounds good for an arcane trickster or spell caster or if you're a ranged build with explosive arrows
The other benefits are good and it's still useful on misses.
Nerdarchist Dave
You beat me to it!
@@Nerdarchy I would go Magic Init/Warlock for hex for bonus damage and mage hand(if you are not already an arcane trickster) could be useful and fun.
I like this, even better than the best race talks. Please do more for the other classes.
I got a goblin scout who mainly uses a light crossbow and tries to stay away from enemies (usually as far as possible) since they're typically larger than he is.
A fairly typical tactic for rogues of all sizes. With good reason it works.
Nerdarchist Dave
i don't think enough people are recognizing this awesome intro. maybe it's an age thing. you guys nailed it!
This was a great video, I hope you guys make similar videos for each class. Keep up the great content
Nerdarchy Very nice guide. Loved your thematic stacking of feats. Super helpful.
Kobold Rogue Swashbuckler is great because you just always have advantage on attack rolls.
girclassgamer Unless you/your target are in sunlight. Because yay sunlight sensitivity.
I'm in the process of playing through an inquisitive rogue, with gloom stalker ranger.
Two weapon fighting with dual wielder, great with insightful fighting.
Pick out the enemy captain fire off Hunter's Mark, sneak right up - land a sizeable amount of 1st turn damage and then when you've dealt with them just dash back into the shadows and repeat... if it's not going your way, pop cunning action, cover your escape with spiked growth and you're out of there too.
With a high dex, Evasion and Uncanny dodge you can be rather a pain in the enemy ranks while dealing some consistent solid damage.
Rouge (Range) 6:24
1. Sharpshooter
2. Crossbow Expert
3. Skulker
Rouge (Melee) 7:46
1. Sentinel
2. Dual Wielder
3. Mobile
Explorer
1. Alert
2. Dungeon Delver
3. Observant
4. Skulker
Great video! Thank you for going over different ways feats can shape characters.
I like to use Observant, Lucky and Mobile for Rogue builds
You gentlemen should make a video where you reimagine the A-Team as D&D characters
Just built a level 5 for a new campaign. My friends use a custom point buy and you can spend three points to get a level one feat regardless of race.
So warforged skirmisher Inquisitive rogue with a level 1 Athlete, and lvl 4 asi to dex.
Starting with a 15 dex, this bumped me to 16 from athlete, 18 from skirmished and 20 from the ASI. so stat block of Str 8, Dex 20, con 14, int 14, wis 14 and cha 6
This build is meant primarily to be the scout/sneak of the group (the others had been playing for a while and had no characters who had great stealth or thieves tools proficiency).
Combine level 3 inquisitive skills that help certain Wis and int rolls, and expertise in stealth and perception (with insight and investigation at level 6) and this is a great scout/tip of the spear. Especially since a warforged skirmisher gets normal speed for stealth after an hour traveling solo.
It is also a sturdy fighter since warforged dark wood armor gives it 19 AC. And you can pick a target and use insightful fighting to get a consistent sneak attack on a single target.
I've had a lot of fun with it so far, I'm tempted to go melee with skirmisher at 8, but there are so many great feat options, i'll probably look at what I need most when I get there
Regarding sharpshooter, I think it Is not always good to take that -5. Generally it’s better to get that sneak attack damage than the +10 ( after certain levels) a minus 5 could be the difference between landing SA and not.
That is the risk. The rogues I've seen use it seek advantage first.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy the Mounted Combatant feat can provide a reliable source of ranged advantage.
Tristan Lawhorn amounted combatant does nothing for ranged advantage. It gives advantage on MELEE attack rolls if your target is smaller
So one feat I tend to include in my games makes it so if someone misses you with an attack you can use your reaction to hit them with an opportunity attack. I also changed how dodging works increase your armor class by your dexterity modifier so a rogue with 20 dexterity and a set of stubbed leather could take the dodge action to get an AC of 22.
I had the idea to make a thief and give them martial adept for disarm. I’m yet to try it, but I believe it would be fun.
I know y'all didn't want to get into spcific races, but if you're able to take it, the wood elf magic racial feat from xanathar seems really good for any rogue. 1 druid cantrip (guidance) and a daily cast of both longstrider and pass without trace.
Just a brilliant video. I find that soulknife makes for a very interesting duelist with Mage Slayer instead of Dual Wielder (which isn't as needed with psychic blades) for even more chances to get your sneak attack as a reaction. It also helps if you are of a race with magic resistance to make closing with a caster that much easier.
If you can kill your target in one shot, Skulker becomes much less valuable. That is, if you have alternate means of hiding.
A Kenku Rogue with a low Charisma and the Observant feat who repeats back what he/she has heard or lip-read, without understanding the significance or social appropriateness, would be hilarious! If they also utilized disguises, but parroted back statements from people they are impersonating out of co text, then that would be even better! 😂
I went for a very combat-centric, utility heavy, sneaky dump truck.
Halfling (Lucky Racial is amazing)
Swashbucker (free mobility + Rakish Audacity is nice)
Moderately Armored (for shield prof, still wear light armor for dex bonus, also because the bonus action slot already has a lot going on, dual wielding isn't necessary)
Sentinel (Extra Sneaks)
Defensive Duelist (More reaction options for defense, 27AC -> 33AC on use)
Lucky (Best Utility Feat, period)
Magic Initiate (Sorcerer: GFB, BB, Absorb Elements. Combination offense/defense options. Also adds +Cha to GFB)
(Level 20+ at the moment...)
I Love the A-team intro!
A potentially excellent feat towards Rogue Damage dealing is Poisoner. Extra damage dice on top of Sneak Attack are always tasty.
My favorite rogue build: the sniper
High elf (assassin)
Cantrip: minor illusion, or, I dare say it, true strike
Take sharpshooter
Take elven accuracy
Now, at level 8, you can hit with 3d20 to attack from 600 feet with a longbow sneak attack that can auto-crit if you get suprise. Later feats are going to be alert at twelve and things like skulker, athelete, or mobile to keep from getting pinned down.
Half-orc, 1st lvl Fighter for heavy armor (you read that correctly), shield, and con save, the rest Arcane Trickster. Feats: Orcish Fury, Sentinel, Warcaster, and Tough. Grab Booming Blade or Greenflame Blade and enjoy...
How about feats/spells guide for a chainlock. Chainlocks never get any love. 🙁
Tough and observant!
This was an amazing video and helped me with my ranger/rogue feat ideas. Please please please do ranger next
my feats for my high elf phantom rogue are crazy out of the box, first off I took feat elven accuracy so I'm rolling 3D20 on attack rolls when I bonus action steady aim which is 80% of the time so I rarely miss. For my second feat I took ritual caster - wizard and bought the phantom steed ritual steed spell so I now have 100' of movement even when I use steady aim which doesn't allow "me" to move but my mount can. The phantom steed when hit has a 1 minute (10 rounds of combat) dismount time which is insane, and when battle is over and I lost my mount, I need 11 minutes to get it back again.
I'm a level 2 drow elf rogue, soon to be level 3. I believe I am going with the Swashbuckler archetype once I hit level 3. For this I would like a high AC, especially if I am going with the Panache skill frequently. Taunting enemies so their focus is on me so my allies will get the advantage for one hit. The feats I think I'll be needing for this build are:
-Alert for +5 initiative, plus Rakish Audacity gives +charisma modifier
-Defensive Duelist for added AC for a reaction
-Duel Wielder for an AC increase
-Medium Armor Master for 3 AC instead of 2 plus no disadvantages on stealth.
I haven't decided on the 5th feat though I think mobile could work, but wouldn't that overlap Fancy footwork and Cunning Action?
Edit: nevermind on the Medium Armor Master hence the prerequisite is to have proficiency in medium armor
Intro sketch was pretty damn funny, had me laughing so loud i woke the folks next door
If you play a forest gnome arcane trickster, you're trading a starting feat from human for an extra cantrip since you already get Minor Illusion. Worth considering. 👍
Still like being an arcane trickster with mobile feat. Booming Blade on something then trying to get the threat to chase you. Good times. Especially if you're a teeny bit at range with a whip for booming blade.
+1 for intro alone!
Thanks
Nerdarchist Dave
I'm Glad you mentioned the racial feats but sad you didnt go into them. Elf Rogues are the clear winners with Elvin Accuracy which essentiall lets you roll 3 D20 and take the highest number instead of 2 D20 when you have advantage which is obnoxiously powerful. Although another interesting race choice is the Dwarf, with Dwarven fortitude give rogues access to reliable self healing combined with the amor profciencys of a mountain dwarf to make a melee rogue quite a bit heartier and able to stay in the fight for longer
Observant and Skulker on a Rogue with darkvision means that you can hide from other races with darkvision, in lightly obscured areas (darkness), with No disadvantage to you. My Trixter uses the Control Flames cantrip to darken and extinguish light sources to exploit this.
I don't know how effective the Sentinel feat would really be for what you want it to do.. Even melee rogues (at least the one I play), tend to not actually be on the front line. This is especially true if your melee rogue already has the mobile feat. They are rarely in a situation where both enemy, ally and rogue all have a 5ft distance to each of the other two. As such, they rarely have an opportunity where a nearby ally is attacked by an enemy and the rogue also being within range to attack that enemy as a reaction. Worst of all, even when the the rogue is in that situation, the _rogue_ is the one most likely to be targeted by an attack due to low hp/ac and being a major damage dealer.
Sentinel is designed for your tanks. You can either prevent enemies from leaving your reach to go after your allies or you can punish enemies for going after allies within your reach thus at the same time encouraging your enemies to instead attack you.
If you're a rogue and want to deal sneak attack damage outside your turn, you're best off relying on allies like a battlemaster fighter with commander's strike (or w/e it's called) or the newly released order domain cleric.
Speaking of the battlemaster, you can also take the Martial Adept feat and get access to maneuvers like Riposte. In fact, there are plenty of battlemaster maneuvers that can add a bit of variety to using a rogue in combat. Pushing enemies out of reach, lunching at them to stay out of reach, adding precision to your sneak attack and simply knocking them prone for potential advantage (but more likely to half their movement when chasing you).
The main point with picking Sentinel for Rogues is doubling your Sneak Attacks per round. You could do it other ways too, like with Battle Master's Riposte, or having an ally cast Dissonant Whispers for your opportunity attack.
You won't get to do this all the time, but neither can you use any feat all the time. With Lucky, you run out of luck points. You won't use GWM against a Beholder (if the DM plays them with their correct Int score). And you won't be able to use Mage Slayer in every combat.
Personally I wouldn't pick Sentinel for my Rogue but I can see why someone would. Then again, I don't think Rogues are even a damage dealer class to begin with.
Mobile is a great feat for a range build. If you get ambushed or get round up by enemies, you can run past them with no attacks of opportunity...
My dm ruled that the Eldritch claw tattoo increased reach, so when he made a short campaign starting at level 12 and could choose 1 uncommon item and 1 rare, I chose the tattoo and sentinel feat and the tunnel fighter fighting style, so 1 level fighter and 11 rogue. Weird build I know, but we barely got hit. Also my rare was cube of force to stop spells
.
Arcane trickster~
Feat: Fighting initiate
Blind fighting+Fog Cloud
= You get a sneak attack, you get a sneak attack, everyone gets a sneak attack
how about Reliable talent with skilled
Love the guide, guys!
Awesome glad you enjoyed it.
Nerdarchist Dave
You forgot to mention the Defensive Duelist feat for the melee rogue which gives you the ability to add your proficiency bonus to your armor class if you have a finesse weapon in your hand.
That requires your reaction. So it's directly competing with your other Reactions like: Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, AoO, Sentinel, Riposte, etc Also, I find that a Rogue with the Mobile feat rarely get's hit to begin with. I think being able to Hide and walk around in Dim Light without being noticed with the Skulker feat would be better than 2-4AC on a single hit.
As a build?
Just use a regular thief. The "Fast Hands" ability allows you to use the "Use an Object" action.
A holster for a wand of "Animate Objects" that opens a bag containing ten stones as you fall back to hide while your ten minions do a minimum of fifty hp of damage per round to your foes is always a good place to start.
Alert, Observant, Skulker, Dungeon Delver, Sharpshooter, Lucky, and Skilled to round out my own and the party's abilities.
Magic initiate for Booming Blade and/or Green Flame blade and hex. these are a straight damage boost to your normal combat and hex has some situational uses with giving disadvantage to a targets skill checks based on a stat, like giving DA to STR to an enemy that likes to grapple your party members or to DEX on an enemy that keeps hiding from you (or maybe to charisma on a vender when one of your party members is haggling them ;P) 10/10 for any and all rogues
Wisdom to make it easier to Bonus Action Hide from them seems like a good choice
fun fact the DM never expects you to start dropping enemies from 600ft away with sharp shooter, and as a 20th level assassin rogue you can let loose 40d6+4d8+5 damage in a single shot which has an average of 163 damage so yeah. Or if your a warlock with the spell sniper feat and the eldritch spear invocation you can smack someone in the face at 600ft away with no penalty to hit though only dealing 4d10+20 damage at 20th level for an average of 42 damage assuming each attack hits.
Sorta new to the channel, but I love these Velvetta cheese level intros.
Liked for the opening. Rest of the video was good, but now I want to play a rogue party.
Honestly all a rogue needs to make his offense better in melee is shadow blade. Your sneak attacks become psychic damage. If i had to pick a feat though ot would be lucky 1st then ritual caster or magic intiate. Bow rogue is cool, but most feats that involve ranged weapon use is crap for a rogue or just plain crap.
How would a rogue get a Level 2 Spell?
@@BlackStrey Arcane Trickster
In my Curse of Strad game I'm in I currently just have Crossbow Expert, but even while making 3 attacks with hand xbows plus sneak attack, I still can't do anywhere near what the two barbarians are doing. But I think one did his math wrong but that doesn't account for the other still doing way more dmg than me, specially when barbs have no conditions for their dmg like sneak attack. I was actually wanting this character to die because he doesn't really do much but pick a lock every now and then or spot things. Like the last boss battle we had all I did was run around kiting a scarecrow around as I pelted it with bolts, while everybody else killed the boss and one barb two shot (duel wielding) the werewolf leader a few moments after we downed the boss.
Hi! Great video! I have a question. For rogue, If the enemy attacks the fighter. And I use my sentinel Reaction. Do i hit 1d8+3(Rapier) and then Sneak attack( 1d6)? OR is it only Sneak attack only 1d6? Please help thank you!
I have a question, im new to playing dnd and im a rouge theif and I have evasion. The guide doesnt says it requires a preparation or action so is it just a passive skill thats always on? I ask because thats what i think but my dm says it does require a action/preparation
Evasion just happens any time you'd be able to make a dexterity save.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy thanks for such a fast reply! I just found out about evasion cause im new to dnd and my dm said it required a action or me knowing the attack was coming to use it.
I never would have guessed that the reaction attack would let you get another sneak attack
Yeah, if you read the description it's once per turn rather than per round or per your turn. Usually that limits to two in a round, but high level Rogues (Thief) could get four in the first round since your Reaction recharges at the beginning of your turn and they get two for the first round if not Surprised, if you use the optional Mark Action rule you could get three (six for Thief) since that allows you to OpAttack that one without using your Reaction at Advantage, and if you use Unearthed Arcana and take a couple of levels of Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin you could take the Tunnel Fighter Style and potentially trigger it on everyone's turn as that lets you make OpAttacks against anyone without using your Reaction by using your Bonus Action on your turn as well as use your Reaction to get one on someone who tries to skirt around you without leaving your threat range
Two level of paladin and two levels of moon Druid let’s you smite three times in one turn with two of them being second level and the attacks do 1d8 and you get the extra health, this is if your Druid has seen and is able to transform into the very ridiculous dienyichous(sorry spelling it’s a raptor), no feats required so any race works
Why didn't you do the type breakdown you use in this video for your best race for rogue video?
I have a question. I am new to playing d&d. In my current d&d group, the DM has change the
d&d campaign 7 times in two years. (we play every other week) I feel like this bad DMing because he change the d&d campaign without players' concern.
I've seen this a lot in our games. I personally feel it come from DM burnout. 2 yrs every other week about 52 sessions. Every 7th session or so they want to switch games.
I've played with a gm that only believes 3,5, and 7 session arcs. Maybe if the group switched off dms it would help.
Has the group had discussion about this situation? Have you asked the dm why they only want to play for so long? Have you asked is there anything you or others in the group can do to help?
Most problems in a group dynamic require communication in order to be solved.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy Okay, I was just curious.
Skulker only doesn't give away your position if you miss. If you hit it still does......
I was wondering, I play Adventures' League. Can my Arcane Trickster use the cantrip Minor Illusion to create a fake wall to hide behind? I imagine that the take wall would be set about 10 feet from the real wall in the large room, say 40 by 40 feet. Is there any ruling on this sort of use of Minor Illusion?
The size is limited to a 5ft cube if I remember right, & it has to be an object. You can use it to break line of sight and hide. I usually make a crates, barrels, bushes. Someone has to use an action to examine it in order to determine if it's an illusion.
Either magic initate or ritual caster to get find familiar, Observant and skulker
Why no feat suggestions for arcane trickster build?
I came up with a rogue/monk build for just being fast
Tabaxi for the feline agility trait
18 levels of monk to have your maximum unarmored movement
Mobile feat
Two levels of rogue to get cunning action to dash as a bonus action
With all that speed, I can't see why you'd need Dash as a Bonus. I play a Dragonborn Monk with Mobile Feat. I find it very rare that I can't automatically Disengage to a safe distance at the end of my turn. I would hate to give up any of my Ki using bonuses that deal damage for some extra movement.
Charger and mobile feats go with rogue, possible scout for some guerrilla warfare environmental theme, works well.
Charger uses your Action to Dash and your Bonus action to attack for only +5 damage. Better off to go with a Feat that gives you Booming Blade (or Greenflame Blade.) At level 5 you'll deal 1D8+2D8 and it keeps scaling as you level. Plus you still have your bonus action left over to do anything you want.
@@jaysonburke6839 mobile feat, charger feat, and scout rogue have synergy. Mobile allows the PC to ignore difficult terrain when they dash, and charger allows you to dash and make an attack with a +5 damage bonus. This is almost like 2 extra sneak die. The scouts reaction can be used to put distance between the PC and other enemy creatures.
Charger deals more damage than BB at lvls 1-4, roughly same damage lvls 5-10, and more damage 11-20. Most campaigns and games don’t make it past lvl 10.
Charger uses up your Action, Bonus Action, and a Feat for +5 damage. At Level 5 BB/GFB deal between 4.5 - 13.5 average damage. Not to mention they only use your Action and give you elemental damage. Trickster can even get them without a Feat.
@@jaysonburke6839 any rogue can get BB/GFB with elf/half elf features at level 1.
My point is that it does more or compatible damage from level 1-10, while improving on a rogues mobility in unfavorable circumstances.
If everyone has advantageous or preferable combat conditions and environmental factors then it doesn’t matter what build you have, your party is going to win.
Ensuring your parties capabilities when things don’t go in your favor increases the likelihood of success when it matters most.
im lvl 4 gnome arc trickster in my game right now, for me I'll be taking resilient(con) for the concentration sv throws (also bumping the stat to even number) after dex cap, then possibly alert before pumping int
Looking at your possible build path, I would suggest grabbing War Caster over Resilient since it allows you to have advantage on all concentration checks and you can use a spell instead of a melee weapon when you make an AoO, wich is great for AT rogues since spells like shadowblade get sneak attack damage
@@thurismundbotheric7598
Shadow Blade actually doesn't say it uses a spell attack. It just says that it counts as a simple melee weapon, so you would be able to use it regularly in an Opportunity Attack.
I was merely using as an example, I could have just as easily used something like green-flame/booming blade in its place
@@thurismundbotheric7598
That's true- I actually took Warcaster for Booming Blade (definitely used with Shadow Blade).. but also Resilient (Con), started in a new group a couple weeks ago. 5th level variant human.
Cool, and I'm not saying that he shouldn't take it at all, just that the war caster feat fits his needs better for why he wants it
What about the alert feat paired with an assassin rouge
Definitely strong for sure.
You’ll have to explain how you get the Rogues sneak attack more than once per turn. I understand getting more opportunities and all...
You don't get more sneak attacks per turn. That's a strict condition of sneak attack. You can, however, get more sneak attacks per round if you can somehow attack on another person's turn. This is done by being able to attack using your reaction. All rogues can do this with attacks of opportunity but there are options as well such as your allies granting you a reaction attack (a battlemaster with Commander's Strike or an order domain cleric with the Voice of Authority class feature) and, as explored here, feats of your own.
When it comes to feats, I would rather recommend the Martial Adept feat and gaining access to the Riposte maneuver. Riposte punishes those who attack you. Sentinel punishes enemies for attacking people other than you. As a squishy rogue, you likely want the former even if it means giving up your uncanny dodge.
oO PPH Oo Has Jeremy Crawford specifically wrote about this?
@@UberBri Yes. Also, NOWHERE does it say your reaction counts as your turn so by process of elimination you can figure it out as well.
In fact, the opposite is stated. I recommend just reading the definition of Reaction as found in the PHB pg 190 and then remember that the way sneak attack is written only restricts it to once per turn.
oO PPH Oo I was under the impression that SA could be only used once per turn per round. However, that isn’t the case per Jeremy Crawford. www.sageadvice.eu/2015/06/18/sneak-once-per-turn/
Okay though, but I find observant + sharpshooter + skulker to be better at low levels if you pick V Human. You only get one shot as a rogue anyway, and if you have expertise in perception you can spot and snipe literally anything that moves.
I disagree with the sharpshooter feat pick. If you're ranged you're always only getting 1 shot to try to score sneak attack damage. Inherently the rogue as a striker is a gamble. Compare it to a fighter who gets more attacks for less damage, the rogue gets 1 attack for a lot of damage. And so taking that -5 to hit even if you have advantage is rough especially since they don't get a chance for the archery fighting style like rangers or fighters to balance that a bit more. And if you take that at level 4, at best your to hit is +5 if using point buy. So even at level 5 you get up to +6 to then go down to +1 to hit with the sharpshooter. A strength 8 wizard has better odds at hitting by that point. It's just super high risk of doing nothing and far too often DMs don't plan for large battlegrounds so the range isn't much of an issue either. So you're really taking the feat to ignore most cover and I'm not sure that's worth a feat/Ability Improvement spot.
You guys are great!
...I would take vampirism... >:D
Just what I needed!
I'm gonna make a rouge bard mix that's the master of everything, 9 expertises and jack of all trades for everything else I'm gonna be able to do whatever I want in most situations
Half-Elf gets two skill proficiencies and they can get Prodigy; if you add Skill Expert to that then you'll get a crud ton of proficiencies and expertise's.
@@unwithering5313 yes, I think I liked at all of it and if I do it right I think I'll only be missing profiency in like 4 things