I started playing D&D again in March 2018. In May I found AL @ a game store 50 mins away. They had x2 4hr games on the 2nd Saturday of each month.
The following week I found another game store 1hr15mins away. They play every Wednesday for 2hrs.
Between them I have a lv4 monk, lv 8 bard, lv11 paladin/hexblade, my lv 11 GloomStalker, multi class, lv 3 paladin and a lv 3 fighter(I only play when my 8 yo daughter can come 1x/mo
Gloomstalker 5 / Rogue X / maybe battlemaster 3-4 is really cool. like this you can play a bounty hunter / royal assassin / hitman / demonhunter stuff :).
if you go over rogue 3 ( what you really want ) dont forget you can craft poison with your poisoners kit. criminal background give you proficient too.
you can play like a really badass: stealthy like hell, attacks from behind, uses poison to cripple your prey.
My group is starting in a couple of weeks we will be starting at lvl9. All of our backgrounds are going to be bountyhunter. What is interesting is my DM asked us if we wanted to do a reactionary type game. We will be hunting down a group of killers who killed a bunch of people and stoled their ship (CR). I am thinking of being a VH. Who is Gloomstalker, Assassin Rogue, and Champion Fighter. Any thoughts on the build?
Going range or melee? Are you planning on going 3/3/3 on that build? 5/4 on Gloom/Assassin would net you 2 ASI/Feats and an extra attack. Depends on what you want to do, and how quickly you need something from fighter...in my opinion of course. Playing Gloom/Assassin myself.
Fighter-Champion: if your in it for Improved Critical only, stop at 3, maybe 4 for ASI.
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Quick build: Gloom5, Assassin3, Champion 3. You'll get the base features you want @ Lv11. As your campaign starts @ lv9, I would go Gloom 5/Assassin 4 so you don't fall behind on ASI.
Depending on what weapons & feats you choose I would skip Champion. While Figher is great for Action Surge, 2nd Fighting Style and sub-class, the Improved Critical +5% chance isn't that great compared to Battle Master( Superiority Dice & Maneuver) or Eldritch Knight(increased caster lv & spells: Shield, Absorb Elements & Find Familiar). Also you don't want to double up on Extra Attack if you can avoid it.
Alternative build: Fighter BM/EK Lv5. Gloom Stalker Lv3. Assassin 1, to start at lv9.
Then you can pick up Fighter lv6-8 for 2 ASI. Take Assassin to Lv3-5, leave Gloom @Lv3. I'd take Fighter to Lv11 for Extra Attack x3.
Fighter Lv11, Ranger 3, Rouge 5, last lv can go towards whatever gets you another ASI. At lv11, you'll have the bones of what you want. By Lv16 (BM/EK lv8, GS lv3, ASSN lv5) you'll have a very strong character. With Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, +2 Dex, +2 Dex, and still have 1-2 more ASI to choose(if V-human).
***sorry for rambling. It's hard to type on mobile & proof-read. Also I love Gloom stalkers, I have 3 theory crafted on Dndbeyond for different builds/purposes.
Since I have a sorcerer-shadow, cleric-grave, Wizard-War and Rogue-Assassin. I think my magic is covered, and the Rogue is going melee. I figured handcross bow. Starting out with the crossbow feat. 8 in St. 15+1 for Dex, 13 Con, 12 Intel, 14+1 Wis and 10 Char. I know I need to up my Dex to 20 so I will concentrate on that first. Then get Sharpshooter when I can.
I wasn't sure how far to take Gloomstalker or Assassin so was thinking only lvl4 on each then 12 on Fighter. Probably not the best, but wasn't sure.
We can use anything we want. Since our background is that of Bountyhunters that have known and worked exclusively with each other for a while now. I wanted to make a build that would work well with the rest of the team. And cover something that is missing.
Fighter 12, Gloom 4, Assassin 4 can work out good. You get 6 ASI/Feat(s). Starting with CB Expert is great. If you take your 1st 6 levels as Fighter I'd take +2 Dex @lv4 and Sharpshooter @ lv6. Then take next 4 levels as either Gloom or Assassin and take +2 Dex (@lv10). As long as you have 20 Dex before Teir 3(lv11) you'll be golden.
As for when to take which levels, it varies on how your campaign is going, what suits your playstyle and when you "feel" it's right to take those lvs.
If you plan on going Fighter lv 12, I'd lean more towards Battle Master over Champion. Damage wise I believe that the short rest rechargeing Superiority Dice & Maneuvers will out pace the Improved Critical and "additional Fighting Style", especially as you will get a second Fighting Style from Ranger lv 2. Archery & Defensive are the only ones effective for your build. Unless for some crazy reason you want Two Weapon Fighting for melee, but that's not ever necessary with Crossbow Expert.
---- Personally I'd recommend building out 2 characters. Start @ lv 1 and level up the character(s) with each sub-class & multi-class. Stop @ Lv 5, 11, 17 and do a mock combat. It helps me get an idea how effective each build will be, when to multi-class and how many levels in each dip.
-------With 18 Dex, Archery Fighting Style & a +1 Magic Hand-Crossbow you will have +10 to hit @ lv 6-8 and +11 to hit @ lv 9. Using Sharpshooter with +5/6 to hit works great against any enemy with AC 16/17 or less. There are formulas & calculators that you can look up and use.
-----When using a Hand Crossbow it boils down to: with a +5 to hit(using SS) vs enemies with AC 16 or less, use SS 100% for highest DPR. If you have Bless or Advantage, you can use SS 100% vs AC:18/19.
The lower/less your weapons damage dice, the better you benefit from Sharpshooter. If you're rolling additional damage dice like Hunter's Mark/Hex/Divine Fury/Crusaders Mantle/Elemental Weapon, you will want to be more conservative with SS. IE: the higher your chance of damage rolled will make you wany a "guaranteed" hit. The lower your maximum damage the more impact SS will have.
----I've seen a Fighter/Archer build that used Darts & Daggers. Since it's only a d4+dex+SS, it's most effective to always SS, regardless of enemies AC.
I'd take first 6 levels in Fighter/Battlemaster. Precise Strike, Goading Strike, Trip. Archery fighting style.
First ASI Elven accuracy. Take +1 dex so you are at 18.
Second ASI, Sharpshooter.. yes you could flip these, but with such a low to hit and fighting monsters with predominantly low hp, I find it better in this order, just try and sneak for surprise/advantage, and reroll.
Next is 4 levels of Ranger taking Defense fighting style, gloom stalker ranger, and getting that Dex to 20. Hopefully by now you have a good feel for what terrain and favored enemy will do you best.
Next 10 levels are all rogue assassin, I suggest alertness feat, mobility, perceptive, and/or Resilient Wisdom.
The build starts out sort of blah until level 3, and then just gets better every level. At level 6 it is a very solid archer, at level 9 it is hitting well above its weight class, by 13 it's just plain silly damage AND utility. Knocking flying baddies out of the air and critting High CR monsters dead before anyone else has so much as drawn weapons.
ĎPS Median at lvl 9 is a solid 60 or 120 hp in round 1. Median mind you, not max damage, and that's no magic items, no crits. With 26% chance per shot to crit from surprise/Stealth
What would everyone's opinion be after lvl 5 gloomstakler and going barbarian? I currently got to lvl 7 due to events and my character is a Shadar Kai Gloom Stalker Ranger lvl 5 and she enjoys long range damage when needed, but mainly jumping into the thick of it causing mayhem and sending body parts flying. Thoughts on multiclassing into barbarian or what other class would work for damage and just causing mayhem on the battlefield?
I actually have a 20th lvl character thats awesome, hes 11 lvls gloomstalker, 6 lvls arcane archer and 3 lvls inquisitive rogue. I only took one feat which was sharpshooter but with only a +2 in dex and pass without trace i can hit a max of 50+ on a stealth roll with a nat 20! And my out of stealth damage doesnt suffer to much either
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Rogue is a great multiclass for gloomstalker, especially assassin rogues.
I actually think Scout is a better option, you get a lot more, sure you lose assassinate, but unless you are getting surprise all the time, the scout features will be more useful more often
Rogue is a great multiclass for gloomstalker, especially assassin rogues.
I actually think Scout is a better option, you get a lot more, sure you lose assassinate, but unless you are getting surprise all the time, the scout features will be more useful more often
You can get surprise all the time as long as you are in darkness, you are invisible, instant natural 20 in every combat.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Disclaimer:This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Rogue is a great multiclass for gloomstalker, especially assassin rogues.
I actually think Scout is a better option, you get a lot more, sure you lose assassinate, but unless you are getting surprise all the time, the scout features will be more useful more often
You can get surprise all the time as long as you are in darkness, you are invisible, instant natural 20 in every combat.
A) you are invisible to something that requires darkvision to see you. You can still be identified by other senses (sound, smell, movement). B) your other party members can blow your surprise, once something knows something is there, even if it isn't you, all surprise is gone C) a full moon on a clear night could be enough light to be considered dim, thus negating the invisibility D) assuming you get surprise, you get 1 attack that is an autocrit, just 1. Sure an autocrit is nice, but I would wager that 35-40%% of the combat I see in games is in darkness
So for 35-40% of your encounters you are getting 1 critical. You are NEVER going to get surprise on your big bads or bosses and every other skill the assassin gets until 17 blows, A scout, on the other hand, gets at level 3 Expertise in Survival and Nature (awesome skills for a ranger/rogue to have), Skirmisher, at level 9 a permanent 10ft speed boost that applies to everything you can do, and Ambush Master at 13.
Heck, my Gloomstalker ranger rogue (5 ranger/3 rogue) is an Arcane Trickster who can control flames, has an invisible mage hand and an Owl find familiar, so I basically get advantage on one attack every turn, 2 if I can hide. I would say all of that is better than the occasional autocrit on trash mobs.
I've just built a lizardfolk gloom walker 5/ spore druid 2 to start dungeon of the mad mage. I don't know how effective it's going to be but I like the theme.
I'm using the new UA Class Variant Ranger Gloomstalker. The new UA class variants for Rangers is awesome! Right now I'm level 4, going to take 1 more level in ranger than looking to go into Fighter. 3 levels from fighter into the subclass Arcane Fighter. Thinking this will pretty sweet, dread ambusher is going to deal awesome damage once I get multi attack, then action surge. Being able to get Hunters mark out with spell slot and no concentration means massive damage on my first hit.
Then following that up with zephyr strike bonus actions, and using Arcana fighters abilities for my follow up attacks. Wow!
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Never had an adventure league go past level 6, cool that you have one going to level 14
I started playing D&D again in March 2018. In May I found AL @ a game store 50 mins away. They had x2 4hr games on the 2nd Saturday of each month.
The following week I found another game store 1hr15mins away. They play every Wednesday for 2hrs.
Between them I have a lv4 monk, lv 8 bard, lv11 paladin/hexblade, my lv 11 GloomStalker, multi class, lv 3 paladin and a lv 3 fighter(I only play when my 8 yo daughter can come 1x/mo
Gloomstalker 5 / Rogue X / maybe battlemaster 3-4 is really cool. like this you can play a bounty hunter / royal assassin / hitman / demonhunter stuff :).
if you go over rogue 3 ( what you really want ) dont forget you can craft poison with your poisoners kit. criminal background give you proficient too.
you can play like a really badass: stealthy like hell, attacks from behind, uses poison to cripple your prey.
My group is starting in a couple of weeks we will be starting at lvl9. All of our backgrounds are going to be bountyhunter. What is interesting is my DM asked us if we wanted to do a reactionary type game. We will be hunting down a group of killers who killed a bunch of people and stoled their ship (CR). I am thinking of being a VH. Who is Gloomstalker, Assassin Rogue, and Champion Fighter. Any thoughts on the build?
Going range or melee? Are you planning on going 3/3/3 on that build? 5/4 on Gloom/Assassin would net you 2 ASI/Feats and an extra attack. Depends on what you want to do, and how quickly you need something from fighter...in my opinion of course. Playing Gloom/Assassin myself.
@HelloAll
It depends on quite a few things. Melee or Range, Stats: Roll or Point Buy, home game or AL (are there any book restrictions?), etc.
That being said, basic breakdown.
Ranger-Gloom stalker: you either go lv5 (extra extra attack) or lv 7/8(WIS save prof, ASI/Feat).
Rogue-Assassin: minimum Lv3. Lv4 gets you ASI/Feat. Lv5 3d6 Sneak Attack & Uncanny Dodge.
Fighter-Champion: if your in it for Improved Critical only, stop at 3, maybe 4 for ASI.
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Quick build: Gloom5, Assassin3, Champion 3. You'll get the base features you want @ Lv11. As your campaign starts @ lv9, I would go Gloom 5/Assassin 4 so you don't fall behind on ASI.
Depending on what weapons & feats you choose I would skip Champion. While Figher is great for Action Surge, 2nd Fighting Style and sub-class, the Improved Critical +5% chance isn't that great compared to Battle Master( Superiority Dice & Maneuver) or Eldritch Knight(increased caster lv & spells: Shield, Absorb Elements & Find Familiar). Also you don't want to double up on Extra Attack if you can avoid it.
Alternative build: Fighter BM/EK Lv5. Gloom Stalker Lv3. Assassin 1, to start at lv9.
Then you can pick up Fighter lv6-8 for 2 ASI. Take Assassin to Lv3-5, leave Gloom @Lv3. I'd take Fighter to Lv11 for Extra Attack x3.
Fighter Lv11, Ranger 3, Rouge 5, last lv can go towards whatever gets you another ASI. At lv11, you'll have the bones of what you want. By Lv16 (BM/EK lv8, GS lv3, ASSN lv5) you'll have a very strong character. With Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, +2 Dex, +2 Dex, and still have 1-2 more ASI to choose(if V-human).
***sorry for rambling. It's hard to type on mobile & proof-read. Also I love Gloom stalkers, I have 3 theory crafted on Dndbeyond for different builds/purposes.
Since I have a sorcerer-shadow, cleric-grave, Wizard-War and Rogue-Assassin. I think my magic is covered, and the Rogue is going melee. I figured handcross bow. Starting out with the crossbow feat. 8 in St. 15+1 for Dex, 13 Con, 12 Intel, 14+1 Wis and 10 Char. I know I need to up my Dex to 20 so I will concentrate on that first. Then get Sharpshooter when I can.
I wasn't sure how far to take Gloomstalker or Assassin so was thinking only lvl4 on each then 12 on Fighter. Probably not the best, but wasn't sure.
We can use anything we want. Since our background is that of Bountyhunters that have known and worked exclusively with each other for a while now. I wanted to make a build that would work well with the rest of the team. And cover something that is missing.
Fighter 12, Gloom 4, Assassin 4 can work out good. You get 6 ASI/Feat(s). Starting with CB Expert is great. If you take your 1st 6 levels as Fighter I'd take +2 Dex @lv4 and Sharpshooter @ lv6. Then take next 4 levels as either Gloom or Assassin and take +2 Dex (@lv10). As long as you have 20 Dex before Teir 3(lv11) you'll be golden.
As for when to take which levels, it varies on how your campaign is going, what suits your playstyle and when you "feel" it's right to take those lvs.
If you plan on going Fighter lv 12, I'd lean more towards Battle Master over Champion. Damage wise I believe that the short rest rechargeing Superiority Dice & Maneuvers will out pace the Improved Critical and "additional Fighting Style", especially as you will get a second Fighting Style from Ranger lv 2. Archery & Defensive are the only ones effective for your build. Unless for some crazy reason you want Two Weapon Fighting for melee, but that's not ever necessary with Crossbow Expert.
---- Personally I'd recommend building out 2 characters. Start @ lv 1 and level up the character(s) with each sub-class & multi-class. Stop @ Lv 5, 11, 17 and do a mock combat. It helps me get an idea how effective each build will be, when to multi-class and how many levels in each dip.
-------With 18 Dex, Archery Fighting Style & a +1 Magic Hand-Crossbow you will have +10 to hit @ lv 6-8 and +11 to hit @ lv 9. Using Sharpshooter with +5/6 to hit works great against any enemy with AC 16/17 or less. There are formulas & calculators that you can look up and use.
-----When using a Hand Crossbow it boils down to: with a +5 to hit(using SS) vs enemies with AC 16 or less, use SS 100% for highest DPR. If you have Bless or Advantage, you can use SS 100% vs AC:18/19.
The lower/less your weapons damage dice, the better you benefit from Sharpshooter. If you're rolling additional damage dice like Hunter's Mark/Hex/Divine Fury/Crusaders Mantle/Elemental Weapon, you will want to be more conservative with SS. IE: the higher your chance of damage rolled will make you wany a "guaranteed" hit. The lower your maximum damage the more impact SS will have.
----I've seen a Fighter/Archer build that used Darts & Daggers. Since it's only a d4+dex+SS, it's most effective to always SS, regardless of enemies AC.
Wood Elf Ftr/Ranger/Rogue Urban Bounty Hunter
STR 10 Dex 17 Con 14 Wis 14 Int 12 Chr 8
I'd take first 6 levels in Fighter/Battlemaster. Precise Strike, Goading Strike, Trip. Archery fighting style.
First ASI Elven accuracy. Take +1 dex so you are at 18.
Second ASI, Sharpshooter.. yes you could flip these, but with such a low to hit and fighting monsters with predominantly low hp, I find it better in this order, just try and sneak for surprise/advantage, and reroll.
Next is 4 levels of Ranger taking Defense fighting style, gloom stalker ranger, and getting that Dex to 20. Hopefully by now you have a good feel for what terrain and favored enemy will do you best.
Next 10 levels are all rogue assassin, I suggest alertness feat, mobility, perceptive, and/or Resilient Wisdom.
The build starts out sort of blah until level 3, and then just gets better every level. At level 6 it is a very solid archer, at level 9 it is hitting well above its weight class, by 13 it's just plain silly damage AND utility. Knocking flying baddies out of the air and critting High CR monsters dead before anyone else has so much as drawn weapons.
ĎPS Median at lvl 9 is a solid 60 or 120 hp in round 1. Median mind you, not max damage, and that's no magic items, no crits. With 26% chance per shot to crit from surprise/Stealth
Dont do odd levels you lose out on Stat increase. And if you have an odd stat increase take a feat that give +1 to something that is odd.
How did this play out? I was just thinking about this build yesterday
in a few weeks we start our new campaign and i will test Gloom Stalker/ Rogue Scout.
We start with lvl 5 , so i will go for Gloom Stalker 5 because of second attack first.
3 Attacks on round 1 with hunters mark sounds so crazy at early game. After that i will go strait rogue, i dont think i will test a dip in Fighter.
Race: Human with xbow expert, first asi in dex strait to 18.
with archery fighting style this will make +9 to hit so i can make sure all 3 attacks hit.
What would everyone's opinion be after lvl 5 gloomstakler and going barbarian? I currently got to lvl 7 due to events and my character is a Shadar Kai Gloom Stalker Ranger lvl 5 and she enjoys long range damage when needed, but mainly jumping into the thick of it causing mayhem and sending body parts flying. Thoughts on multiclassing into barbarian or what other class would work for damage and just causing mayhem on the battlefield?
I actually have a 20th lvl character thats awesome, hes 11 lvls gloomstalker, 6 lvls arcane archer and 3 lvls inquisitive rogue. I only took one feat which was sharpshooter but with only a +2 in dex and pass without trace i can hit a max of 50+ on a stealth roll with a nat 20! And my out of stealth damage doesnt suffer to much either
Rogue is a great multiclass for gloomstalker, especially assassin rogues.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
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I actually think Scout is a better option, you get a lot more, sure you lose assassinate, but unless you are getting surprise all the time, the scout features will be more useful more often
You can get surprise all the time as long as you are in darkness, you are invisible, instant natural 20 in every combat.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
A) you are invisible to something that requires darkvision to see you. You can still be identified by other senses (sound, smell, movement).
B) your other party members can blow your surprise, once something knows something is there, even if it isn't you, all surprise is gone
C) a full moon on a clear night could be enough light to be considered dim, thus negating the invisibility
D) assuming you get surprise, you get 1 attack that is an autocrit, just 1. Sure an autocrit is nice, but I would wager that 35-40%% of the combat I see in games is in darkness
So for 35-40% of your encounters you are getting 1 critical. You are NEVER going to get surprise on your big bads or bosses and every other skill the assassin gets until 17 blows, A scout, on the other hand, gets at level 3 Expertise in Survival and Nature (awesome skills for a ranger/rogue to have), Skirmisher, at level 9 a permanent 10ft speed boost that applies to everything you can do, and Ambush Master at 13.
Heck, my Gloomstalker ranger rogue (5 ranger/3 rogue) is an Arcane Trickster who can control flames, has an invisible mage hand and an Owl find familiar, so I basically get advantage on one attack every turn, 2 if I can hide. I would say all of that is better than the occasional autocrit on trash mobs.
https://ddb.ac/characters/10535557/oBiaLi
I've just built a lizardfolk gloom walker 5/ spore druid 2 to start dungeon of the mad mage. I don't know how effective it's going to be but I like the theme.
I'm using the new UA Class Variant Ranger Gloomstalker. The new UA class variants for Rangers is awesome! Right now I'm level 4, going to take 1 more level in ranger than looking to go into Fighter. 3 levels from fighter into the subclass Arcane Fighter. Thinking this will pretty sweet, dread ambusher is going to deal awesome damage once I get multi attack, then action surge. Being able to get Hunters mark out with spell slot and no concentration means massive damage on my first hit.
Then following that up with zephyr strike bonus actions, and using Arcana fighters abilities for my follow up attacks. Wow!