. (FWIW though, sometimes my gloomstalker goes last, anyone can roll badly.)
I've been having a run of 'bad' luck with really low initiative rolls on my stalker, +8, and on average I'm going somewhere in the middle of turn while the +1-4 and -1 init players are above me with the ******* gelatinous ooze ...
Wish I had those on my Gloomstalker. 21 dex is as good as 20 dex. ask your DM if you can take the optinal class features, Canny is an absolutely amazing bonus for Rangers. Your next ASI's should either be Con/Wis, or Resilient Con. Then take Fey Touch or Shadow Touched and +1 the wis.
Don't bother with Arcane Archer, it's actually terrible, just get Battle Master or Samurai. Samura's bonus action give all your attacks advantage, when combined with Gloom Stalker's Dread Ambush Feature, and Sharpshooter is actually just disgusting. Battle Master is very good with a bit more utility options. Dont waste your time or planning energy on the two-weapon fighting idea. You're a sharpshooter. DO. NOT. GET. INTO. MELEE.
Zephyr Strike is also a spell you should get, it's amazing. Movement speed, extra damage (force damage) and advantage on an attack roll , just another good thing to synergize with Sharpshooter.
As far as multiclassing beyond Ranger/Ftr, Twilight Cleric, 1 level, will get you access to everything you need in a multiclassing option. Then just keep pumping up Ranger.
Elven Accuracy is a trap, most of the time. It's very hard to guarantee advantage (other than with Zephyr Strike and Samurai), since a lot of it is dependent on visibility/hiding, which can be very DM dependent.
Ranger 5+ (Gloom Stalker)/Samurai 3-4 with Sharpshooter is one of the best ranged first-round Nova builds, imo. Add Twilight 1 to that, for the advantage on initiative, Darkvision range, and improved spell utility (ritual detect magic, my favorite.)
Your primary objective should be finding +1/2/3 magic bpws (long or short, its just about making your attack bonus better), Cloak of Elvenkind (or Boots, but Cloak is better,) and then going for something like Eyes of the Eagle, and Watchful Helm (if you don't dip Twilight.)
You want to Perceive Everything/Hide from Everything/Go Before Everything And then NOVA the **** out of things. Then have good continual damage with Zephyr Strike/Sharpshooter, or attacking with Advantage some other way/Sharpshooter.
Yeah, I asked him if I could move the bonus I gained from the potion to Wisdom instead and he suggested that if I'm patient I might receive an additional bonus to dex at some point...Idk we'll see I guess.
1. Any particular reason I should take a ASI next time vs something like Fey touched?
2. That's sad to hear it's terrible. It seems like it could be a fun add. The samurai idea is super interesting, I am trying to avoid overlapping too much with party members so I wasn't considering Battle Master. So, even though I've already gotten into situations where I've needed to use swords instead of my bow you wouldn't worry about two-weapon fighting? What fighting style would you take instead?
Yeah it seems everyone is recommending it, I plan on taking it at level 5.
Twilight is a strong possibility if I take something other than Ranger and Fighter. My play is to take 15/16 levels in Ranger by the end.
3. I've not had a good feeling about Elven Accuracy despite the praise I've seen with it especially with my so far lack of advantage opportunities.
4. I have taken Sharpshooter but have been nervous about using the -5 so far. I definitely would have missed a lot of time in my last fight where I hit because I didn't take the -5 beforehand.
5. I did get a +1 longbow just recently. How do I go about finding these items other than just getting them when the DM decides? I've also heard about bracers of archery and a quiver of Ehlonna?
6. That makes sense, should I be considering something like Alert or Observant than?
1. You could take Fey Touched, but it doesn't really do anything for you. Misty Step is... ok. But you have Zephyr Strike anyway. Getting two of your stats to another + bonus is, imo, better.
2. If you're finding yourself using swords.... as a bowmaster, you've got some explainin to do! As for dual-wielding, just dual wield without the feat - or use a single weapon a shield. For Fighting Styles, take Defense, or Druidic Warrior - if you think you'll be in a party lacking the Guidance Spell.
3. Elven Accuracy is good if you are trying to crit fish with Samurai on the turn you activate the ability, rolling 18d20 can probably end up with a few crits. Beyond that, it can be oky with Zephyr Strike, or as a Gloom Stalker if your enemy just cant see you. I would say it is in general 'ok' but not fantastic unless you have a dm that likes to help you get advantage on your attacks.
4. Unless your DM is throwing higher than normal AC enemies are you, you should be using Sharpshooter, especially if you have advantage on the attack. As the other guy mentioned, you can use the Sharpshooter calc (somewhere online) to do the math, or just figure out the pattern naturally.
5. I dont know what sort of campaign your DM is running, and it will depend on your DM on how magic items are acquired. Random treasure, purchased from a merchant, crafted with downtime, etc.... Bracers of Archery is worthless, and Quiver of Eholonna is a quiver that holds more arrows but otherwise doesn't do anything. Unless it is free, avoid spending any time or gold on it. For a Sharpshooter Gloom Stalker the things you want are the things that let you go first, things that let you hide more, and things that let you be more consistent in dealing damage. +1/2/3 bows, cloak/boots of elvenkind, luckstone, ioun stone of mastery, cloak of the bat, ring of spell storing, Watchfull Helm, or items like Horn of Valhalla which act as force multipliers.
But without knowing what your DM is running/how they are running it - you are going to need to be the one to bring that up to the DM and ask them 'how' items can be acquired - they will probably give caveats and some items may not be ... up to the DM.
6. Alert is a great feat, +5 init is already awesome, and not being surprised is always good if it ever comes up. Observant is more of a niche feat if you want to build a passive Perception and Investigation monster, but I would only do that if you already have Prof/Expertise in those skills, and have nothing else to take. Alert would be first before Observant, as would maxing out WIS and possibly CON with ASIs.
1. Fair enough, it's good to see others' perspectives. If I am using Hunter's Mark having Misty Step as an escape plan to get out of danger and maintain the Hunter's mark could still be helpful.
2. I mean even Legolas (I get he's technically a fighter and not a Ranger) has times he has to use swords, but I get your point. I've had multiple fights already where I've gotten enemies close enough that I'd take a disadvantage to use a bow and had to use my swords, now that I have sharpshooter and can shoot from further away I'm trying to change that and stay further back in the party, but I need to balance it with being one of the ones with highest passive perception, which has kept us from some deadly traps that black dragons have laid out on some of our paths.
3. I have very rarely had an advantage on attack rolls so far, perhaps with Zephyr Strike, or if I took Samurai that would change. So it's not a feat I'm heavily considering but not completely ruling it out.
4. It's probably just the current quest we're on that's giving us some high-level AC things. Our last fight was an Echo-Knight that had like a 19 AC. We've had to run from an Adult Black Dragon but also it kidnapped the kids in our town so we're likely fighting it soon...
5. So far my +1 bow I got from a purchase from a Sorcerer who made magic weapons after he sent us on a quest, and I got a +1 short sword in the fight with the Echo-Knight who left it behind when he fled. My Paladin got a dragon slayer longsword which was stuck in the neck of a Chimera (also a sword of the Echo-Knight). My fighter just got a +1 battle-axe from a merchant. Why are the bracers useless? That makes sense how do I balance the items that help you hide better with also having a Rogue that wants/needs items like that? What do you mean some items might not be up to the DM?
6. I definitely like Alert more than Observant, and if my DM lets me switch to deft explorer I can choose perception as my skill and it could end up being almost a light version of Observant. (A couple more languages, so not quite understand and interpret any language I can see them speak and the doubled proficiency bonus would eventually outpace the +5 to passive perception bonus, with no passive intelligence bonus). I guess I also need to try to re-think ASIs vs Feats, I find feats more fun than a bonus to my skill points.
Alert is great, an excellent defensive feat. Fey Touched is also great. Again, it's just one option, my preference is for skills and roleplay, but having a free once-per-day misty step (ontop of learning misty step) is a top tier combat option too. It all depends on what your campaign asks of you. I first hand experienced a great skill monkey ranger in Rime of The Frostmaiden, where those survival checks kept the whole party alive while traveling.
I would honestly tell you to not be afraid to use the -5 in sharp shooter. You are, statistically speaking, shooting yourself in the foot by NOT using it. with a +5 modifier in your DEX, and archery fighting style, AND a +1 bow, you are doing yourself a disservice by not taking advantage of all the goodies you have to deliver the damage. There is a formula for figuring out when you should, and shouldn't use the -5. I'd look online about it.
Some of my worries with certain options is trying not to outshine other party members who don't look into their character options as much as other and then complain about certain things. (Such as going first all the time, when obviously with the bonus to initiative I'll frequently go first) I didn't like not getting my Dread Ambush ability the time my party was surprised so I do keep having thoughts on Alert. I am almost definitely going to take Fey touched at some point (it helps boost my Wisdom to the next modifier number) and having a fail-safe misty step to get out of melee (or to a trap door in time before the dragon comes like the bard did in one of our earlier session) makes a lot of sense to me plus another spell of some sort.
That makes sense. I feel like I want to find out around what the enemy AC is before using sharpshooter, but I also get that I'm missing out on big damage opportunities not using it. Though I've had 2 fights since I've gotten it. One we were ambushed and then put into magical darkness, once I got away from that I was in melee, after defeating the melee person the party had to run from the dragon, and second was a fight with an Echo night with a high AC so I was worried about missing.
Well, ****'em , you are a Gloom Stalker, your entire job IS to deal with enemy stat blocks, and you have exactly one tool to do so - dealing damage. If other members of your party decide not to read their character sheet, tough. People that complain because they felt like being dunces and building legitimately suboptimal characters due to sheer incompetence is NOT your problem. It is that player and the DM's problem.
At low levels, I would say, anything with AC 15 or less, you should be Sharpshooting if you have advantage, AC 12 or less, always, even without advantage. Over that ... check the math since it will depend on your total + to attack, and the math of that vs sharpshooter or not.
Lol fair enough.
So would you say you wouldn't use Sharpshooter round one because you're unsure what the AC is then if you find out it's less than 15 don't be afraid to use it?
Under typical circumstances, Zephyr Strike and Misty Step are functionally similar. Misty Step would work better in difficult terrain or for crossing obstacles (but you have to be able to see); it would also let you teleport out if completely surrounded by enemies. Zephyr Strike will let you move places you can't see assuming you can travel around it. Both are bonus actions to cast. Misty Step isn't concentration and is one time use of a 2nd level spell. Zephyr Strike is first level, concentration, and lasts a minute (10 rounds of combat).
I don't think you have to feel badly about always/frequently going first. It's what your character does and it's how their power is aligned. Other character types benefit from moving later anyway, after the tactical situation unfolds, and there are a lot of players who actually don't like the responsibility of going first. If they want to go sooner, they will have to roll better or get some of the same feats and stats when they level up, and if it's important to them, they will. (FWIW though, sometimes my gloomstalker goes last, anyone can roll badly.)
That makes sense, though if you have Misty Step through Fey Touched it doesn't use a spell slot, so in theory I have Fey Touched cast Hunter's mark for more damage output, then if I get into a bad situation I cast free Misty Step to get away, but still could have Hunter's Mark up.
That's a good point (I also have had at least one fight since getting it where someone in my party went before me, though ironically the person who's had comments about me going first all the time wasn't there for that session)
I guess I also need to try to re-think ASIs vs Feats, I find feats more fun than a bonus to my skill points.
Honestly, your stats are already hella high, like beyond what my character will get even if they take only ASIs up to level 20. At level 7 my character's stats (12 STR 16 DEX 15 CON 10 INT 15 WIS 10 CHA) total to 78. Your character's stats add to 98.
Wish I had those on my Gloomstalker. 21 dex is as good as 20 dex. ask your DM if you can take the optinal class features, Canny is an absolutely amazing bonus for Rangers. Your next ASI's should either be Con/Wis, or Resilient Con. Then take Fey Touch or Shadow Touched and +1 the wis.
Don't bother with Arcane Archer, it's actually terrible, just get Battle Master or Samurai. Samura's bonus action give all your attacks advantage, when combined with Gloom Stalker's Dread Ambush Feature, and Sharpshooter is actually just disgusting. Battle Master is very good with a bit more utility options. Dont waste your time or planning energy on the two-weapon fighting idea. You're a sharpshooter. DO. NOT. GET. INTO. MELEE.
Zephyr Strike is also a spell you should get, it's amazing. Movement speed, extra damage (force damage) and advantage on an attack roll , just another good thing to synergize with Sharpshooter.
As far as multiclassing beyond Ranger/Ftr, Twilight Cleric, 1 level, will get you access to everything you need in a multiclassing option. Then just keep pumping up Ranger.
Elven Accuracy is a trap, most of the time. It's very hard to guarantee advantage (other than with Zephyr Strike and Samurai), since a lot of it is dependent on visibility/hiding, which can be very DM dependent.
Ranger 5+ (Gloom Stalker)/Samurai 3-4 with Sharpshooter is one of the best ranged first-round Nova builds, imo. Add Twilight 1 to that, for the advantage on initiative, Darkvision range, and improved spell utility (ritual detect magic, my favorite.)
Your primary objective should be finding +1/2/3 magic bpws (long or short, its just about making your attack bonus better), Cloak of Elvenkind (or Boots, but Cloak is better,) and then going for something like Eyes of the Eagle, and Watchful Helm (if you don't dip Twilight.)
You want to Perceive Everything/Hide from Everything/Go Before Everything And then NOVA the **** out of things. Then have good continual damage with Zephyr Strike/Sharpshooter, or attacking with Advantage some other way/Sharpshooter.
Yeah, I asked him if I could move the bonus I gained from the potion to Wisdom instead and he suggested that if I'm patient I might receive an additional bonus to dex at some point...Idk we'll see I guess.
1. Any particular reason I should take a ASI next time vs something like Fey touched?
2. That's sad to hear it's terrible. It seems like it could be a fun add. The samurai idea is super interesting, I am trying to avoid overlapping too much with party members so I wasn't considering Battle Master. So, even though I've already gotten into situations where I've needed to use swords instead of my bow you wouldn't worry about two-weapon fighting? What fighting style would you take instead?
Yeah it seems everyone is recommending it, I plan on taking it at level 5.
Twilight is a strong possibility if I take something other than Ranger and Fighter. My play is to take 15/16 levels in Ranger by the end.
3. I've not had a good feeling about Elven Accuracy despite the praise I've seen with it especially with my so far lack of advantage opportunities.
4. I have taken Sharpshooter but have been nervous about using the -5 so far. I definitely would have missed a lot of time in my last fight where I hit because I didn't take the -5 beforehand.
5. I did get a +1 longbow just recently. How do I go about finding these items other than just getting them when the DM decides? I've also heard about bracers of archery and a quiver of Ehlonna?
6. That makes sense, should I be considering something like Alert or Observant than?
1. You could take Fey Touched, but it doesn't really do anything for you. Misty Step is... ok. But you have Zephyr Strike anyway. Getting two of your stats to another + bonus is, imo, better.
2. If you're finding yourself using swords.... as a bowmaster, you've got some explainin to do! As for dual-wielding, just dual wield without the feat - or use a single weapon a shield. For Fighting Styles, take Defense, or Druidic Warrior - if you think you'll be in a party lacking the Guidance Spell.
3. Elven Accuracy is good if you are trying to crit fish with Samurai on the turn you activate the ability, rolling 18d20 can probably end up with a few crits. Beyond that, it can be oky with Zephyr Strike, or as a Gloom Stalker if your enemy just cant see you. I would say it is in general 'ok' but not fantastic unless you have a dm that likes to help you get advantage on your attacks.
4. Unless your DM is throwing higher than normal AC enemies are you, you should be using Sharpshooter, especially if you have advantage on the attack. As the other guy mentioned, you can use the Sharpshooter calc (somewhere online) to do the math, or just figure out the pattern naturally.
5. I dont know what sort of campaign your DM is running, and it will depend on your DM on how magic items are acquired. Random treasure, purchased from a merchant, crafted with downtime, etc.... Bracers of Archery is worthless, and Quiver of Eholonna is a quiver that holds more arrows but otherwise doesn't do anything. Unless it is free, avoid spending any time or gold on it. For a Sharpshooter Gloom Stalker the things you want are the things that let you go first, things that let you hide more, and things that let you be more consistent in dealing damage. +1/2/3 bows, cloak/boots of elvenkind, luckstone, ioun stone of mastery, cloak of the bat, ring of spell storing, Watchfull Helm, or items like Horn of Valhalla which act as force multipliers.
But without knowing what your DM is running/how they are running it - you are going to need to be the one to bring that up to the DM and ask them 'how' items can be acquired - they will probably give caveats and some items may not be ... up to the DM.
6. Alert is a great feat, +5 init is already awesome, and not being surprised is always good if it ever comes up. Observant is more of a niche feat if you want to build a passive Perception and Investigation monster, but I would only do that if you already have Prof/Expertise in those skills, and have nothing else to take. Alert would be first before Observant, as would maxing out WIS and possibly CON with ASIs.
1. Fair enough, it's good to see others' perspectives. If I am using Hunter's Mark having Misty Step as an escape plan to get out of danger and maintain the Hunter's mark could still be helpful.
2. I mean even Legolas (I get he's technically a fighter and not a Ranger) has times he has to use swords, but I get your point. I've had multiple fights already where I've gotten enemies close enough that I'd take a disadvantage to use a bow and had to use my swords, now that I have sharpshooter and can shoot from further away I'm trying to change that and stay further back in the party, but I need to balance it with being one of the ones with highest passive perception, which has kept us from some deadly traps that black dragons have laid out on some of our paths.
3. I have very rarely had an advantage on attack rolls so far, perhaps with Zephyr Strike, or if I took Samurai that would change. So it's not a feat I'm heavily considering but not completely ruling it out.
4. It's probably just the current quest we're on that's giving us some high-level AC things. Our last fight was an Echo-Knight that had like a 19 AC. We've had to run from an Adult Black Dragon but also it kidnapped the kids in our town so we're likely fighting it soon...
5. So far my +1 bow I got from a purchase from a Sorcerer who made magic weapons after he sent us on a quest, and I got a +1 short sword in the fight with the Echo-Knight who left it behind when he fled. My Paladin got a dragon slayer longsword which was stuck in the neck of a Chimera (also a sword of the Echo-Knight). My fighter just got a +1 battle-axe from a merchant. Why are the bracers useless? That makes sense how do I balance the items that help you hide better with also having a Rogue that wants/needs items like that? What do you mean some items might not be up to the DM?
6. I definitely like Alert more than Observant, and if my DM lets me switch to deft explorer I can choose perception as my skill and it could end up being almost a light version of Observant. (A couple more languages, so not quite understand and interpret any language I can see them speak and the doubled proficiency bonus would eventually outpace the +5 to passive perception bonus, with no passive intelligence bonus). I guess I also need to try to re-think ASIs vs Feats, I find feats more fun than a bonus to my skill points.
1. I gave up on Hunter's Mark, there's better things to do with my BA most of the time. Like Zephyr Strike to ensure Sharpshooter hits. Or , if you multiclass as Rogue, Steady Aim(and/or Z strike.)
2. I can't really say why you as a squishy non-front-line character are getting into melee range, are your tanks not doing their job? As a high perception player, you can totally be up front - but you should fall back when combat starts - and the actual melee fighters should step up. You have essentially 70+ feet of movement and get your attacks in with Zephyr Strike and Dread Ambusher + normal movement.
3. No usages of Umbral Sight in combat? DM must hate you as much as mine do.
4. Sharpshooter is as most things in the game, situational, just recognize what situation is for what feat, item, strategy, or spell. Sucks when a high-ac enemy gets thrown at you and you can't rely on sharpshooter, but having the Archery fighting style really helps you still deal consistent non-sharpshooter damage to those types of enemies when you don't have advantage.
5. The DM controls how, when, where, and what magic items you get, usually. The Bracer's of Archery aren't totally useless, they just aren't good. They add +2 to your bow damage, but they also take up a very valuable Attunement slot for very little real gain. If it's all you have to put in that Attunement slot, it's OK, but in my experience of playing Gloom Stalkers, it's at best a C tier item.
As for having a rogue that also wants the same items, there's nothing wrong with that. But your DM ultimately is in charge of choosing what magic items get handed out, while it is is the party's responsibility to determine WHO gets the item. Who's better at stealth, you, or the Rogue? What type of Rogue? Do they really need stealth - do they utilize it properly? I have seen to many Rogues playing sub-optimally, not engaging with their abilities properly and trying to be Dexadins (Dex Paladins) were they get Sneak Attack instead of Smite.... Just standing on the Front Line using Steady Aim to get advantage, ....and other weird strats that I don't think make sense. As a Sharpshooter, you can and should HIDE to try and get free advantage - heck, take the Skulker feat even to improve that aspect.
6. ASI vs Feats comes down to a consistency vs FUN issue. Sharpshooter wants ASIs - but you already have maxed Dex. After that, Perception from WIS is the typically the next most important stat. BUT it isn't strictly neccesary to max that, 16 or 18 will do just fine in most cases. But if you have an odd-number, take a half-feat like Fey/Shadow Touched, or such. Resilient is a great feat to take to round out an ability score and get the safe prof. Skill Expert is very underrated in my opinion, as it is one of the few ways for non-Rogues/Bards to get Expertise in things. Though, I just take 1 level of Rogue on almost all of the rangers I've made, sometimes 2. (BA Dash, Disengage, Hide are also just amazing tools to have.)
My current Gloom Stalker, is actually Phantom Rogue 3/Gloom Stalker 5/, going into Fighter (to 4). Then going to a total of Phantom 8/Gloom 8/Samurai 4, with my end-game items HOPEFULLY being a +3 Longbow, Cloak of Elvenkind, Ioun Stone of Mastery, and Luck Stone, and Eyes of the Eagle (or Watchful Helm if my DM lets me have it, it's not part of our Campaign materials, sadly.) and whatever other non-attunement items I can get, like Gloves of Theivery, Ring of Puzzler's Wit, and anything else that's not attunement.
I won't get Elven Accuracy, as an Owlin, which makes me sad. BUT, I will get to roll 6 attacks with advantage on my first turn of combat, and then decide how to/not sharpshooter/zephyr/steady for the rest of it as I buzz around in the sky.
Out of combat, (and Stealth in it,) I have prof in Acrobatics, animal handling, arcana, history, insight, sleight of hand, thieves tools, expertise in investigation, perception, stealth, and survival, 7 languages, and with Phantom, short-rest prof in ANY skill or tool I want.
Plus I can do funny tricks with Disguise Self, Rope Trick. I've got multiple extra damage adders (that aren't Hunter's Mark) such as Wails from the Grave, Sneak Attack, and Favored Foe (and Zephyr Strike.) Action Surge, of course is funny with Dread Ambusher. And of course Fighting Spirit, Action Surge as mentioned for that six attacks in the first round of combat.
+3 Longbow and Mastery stone will be something like +12 to hit with Sharpshooter, or + 17 without, and that will be glorious. I do plan on taking Alert, for a +15 init total. And finally, prof in saves Dex, Con, Int, and Wis. with stupid high passives of 27/26/21. Plus 150 ft umbral sight darkvision bullshit, and 10ft of blindsight (the fighter choice) for invisibles.
And a +18 Perception with advantage (most of the time,) combined with a +19 Stealth with Advantage, and my enemies have disadvantage on Perceiving me (from Cloak of Elenkind).
I will perceive space and time, and my enemy will perceive an empty space!
But, a lot of it matters on how my DM runs the game. and my teammates.
Wish I had those on my Gloomstalker. 21 dex is as good as 20 dex. ask your DM if you can take the optinal class features, Canny is an absolutely amazing bonus for Rangers. Your next ASI's should either be Con/Wis, or Resilient Con. Then take Fey Touch or Shadow Touched and +1 the wis.
Don't bother with Arcane Archer, it's actually terrible, just get Battle Master or Samurai. Samura's bonus action give all your attacks advantage, when combined with Gloom Stalker's Dread Ambush Feature, and Sharpshooter is actually just disgusting. Battle Master is very good with a bit more utility options. Dont waste your time or planning energy on the two-weapon fighting idea. You're a sharpshooter. DO. NOT. GET. INTO. MELEE.
Zephyr Strike is also a spell you should get, it's amazing. Movement speed, extra damage (force damage) and advantage on an attack roll , just another good thing to synergize with Sharpshooter.
As far as multiclassing beyond Ranger/Ftr, Twilight Cleric, 1 level, will get you access to everything you need in a multiclassing option. Then just keep pumping up Ranger.
Elven Accuracy is a trap, most of the time. It's very hard to guarantee advantage (other than with Zephyr Strike and Samurai), since a lot of it is dependent on visibility/hiding, which can be very DM dependent.
Ranger 5+ (Gloom Stalker)/Samurai 3-4 with Sharpshooter is one of the best ranged first-round Nova builds, imo. Add Twilight 1 to that, for the advantage on initiative, Darkvision range, and improved spell utility (ritual detect magic, my favorite.)
Your primary objective should be finding +1/2/3 magic bpws (long or short, its just about making your attack bonus better), Cloak of Elvenkind (or Boots, but Cloak is better,) and then going for something like Eyes of the Eagle, and Watchful Helm (if you don't dip Twilight.)
You want to Perceive Everything/Hide from Everything/Go Before Everything And then NOVA the **** out of things. Then have good continual damage with Zephyr Strike/Sharpshooter, or attacking with Advantage some other way/Sharpshooter.
Yeah, I asked him if I could move the bonus I gained from the potion to Wisdom instead and he suggested that if I'm patient I might receive an additional bonus to dex at some point...Idk we'll see I guess.
1. Any particular reason I should take a ASI next time vs something like Fey touched?
2. That's sad to hear it's terrible. It seems like it could be a fun add. The samurai idea is super interesting, I am trying to avoid overlapping too much with party members so I wasn't considering Battle Master. So, even though I've already gotten into situations where I've needed to use swords instead of my bow you wouldn't worry about two-weapon fighting? What fighting style would you take instead?
Yeah it seems everyone is recommending it, I plan on taking it at level 5.
Twilight is a strong possibility if I take something other than Ranger and Fighter. My play is to take 15/16 levels in Ranger by the end.
3. I've not had a good feeling about Elven Accuracy despite the praise I've seen with it especially with my so far lack of advantage opportunities.
4. I have taken Sharpshooter but have been nervous about using the -5 so far. I definitely would have missed a lot of time in my last fight where I hit because I didn't take the -5 beforehand.
5. I did get a +1 longbow just recently. How do I go about finding these items other than just getting them when the DM decides? I've also heard about bracers of archery and a quiver of Ehlonna?
6. That makes sense, should I be considering something like Alert or Observant than?
1. You could take Fey Touched, but it doesn't really do anything for you. Misty Step is... ok. But you have Zephyr Strike anyway. Getting two of your stats to another + bonus is, imo, better.
2. If you're finding yourself using swords.... as a bowmaster, you've got some explainin to do! As for dual-wielding, just dual wield without the feat - or use a single weapon a shield. For Fighting Styles, take Defense, or Druidic Warrior - if you think you'll be in a party lacking the Guidance Spell.
3. Elven Accuracy is good if you are trying to crit fish with Samurai on the turn you activate the ability, rolling 18d20 can probably end up with a few crits. Beyond that, it can be oky with Zephyr Strike, or as a Gloom Stalker if your enemy just cant see you. I would say it is in general 'ok' but not fantastic unless you have a dm that likes to help you get advantage on your attacks.
4. Unless your DM is throwing higher than normal AC enemies are you, you should be using Sharpshooter, especially if you have advantage on the attack. As the other guy mentioned, you can use the Sharpshooter calc (somewhere online) to do the math, or just figure out the pattern naturally.
5. I dont know what sort of campaign your DM is running, and it will depend on your DM on how magic items are acquired. Random treasure, purchased from a merchant, crafted with downtime, etc.... Bracers of Archery is worthless, and Quiver of Eholonna is a quiver that holds more arrows but otherwise doesn't do anything. Unless it is free, avoid spending any time or gold on it. For a Sharpshooter Gloom Stalker the things you want are the things that let you go first, things that let you hide more, and things that let you be more consistent in dealing damage. +1/2/3 bows, cloak/boots of elvenkind, luckstone, ioun stone of mastery, cloak of the bat, ring of spell storing, Watchfull Helm, or items like Horn of Valhalla which act as force multipliers.
But without knowing what your DM is running/how they are running it - you are going to need to be the one to bring that up to the DM and ask them 'how' items can be acquired - they will probably give caveats and some items may not be ... up to the DM.
6. Alert is a great feat, +5 init is already awesome, and not being surprised is always good if it ever comes up. Observant is more of a niche feat if you want to build a passive Perception and Investigation monster, but I would only do that if you already have Prof/Expertise in those skills, and have nothing else to take. Alert would be first before Observant, as would maxing out WIS and possibly CON with ASIs.
1. Fair enough, it's good to see others' perspectives. If I am using Hunter's Mark having Misty Step as an escape plan to get out of danger and maintain the Hunter's mark could still be helpful.
2. I mean even Legolas (I get he's technically a fighter and not a Ranger) has times he has to use swords, but I get your point. I've had multiple fights already where I've gotten enemies close enough that I'd take a disadvantage to use a bow and had to use my swords, now that I have sharpshooter and can shoot from further away I'm trying to change that and stay further back in the party, but I need to balance it with being one of the ones with highest passive perception, which has kept us from some deadly traps that black dragons have laid out on some of our paths.
3. I have very rarely had an advantage on attack rolls so far, perhaps with Zephyr Strike, or if I took Samurai that would change. So it's not a feat I'm heavily considering but not completely ruling it out.
4. It's probably just the current quest we're on that's giving us some high-level AC things. Our last fight was an Echo-Knight that had like a 19 AC. We've had to run from an Adult Black Dragon but also it kidnapped the kids in our town so we're likely fighting it soon...
5. So far my +1 bow I got from a purchase from a Sorcerer who made magic weapons after he sent us on a quest, and I got a +1 short sword in the fight with the Echo-Knight who left it behind when he fled. My Paladin got a dragon slayer longsword which was stuck in the neck of a Chimera (also a sword of the Echo-Knight). My fighter just got a +1 battle-axe from a merchant. Why are the bracers useless? That makes sense how do I balance the items that help you hide better with also having a Rogue that wants/needs items like that? What do you mean some items might not be up to the DM?
6. I definitely like Alert more than Observant, and if my DM lets me switch to deft explorer I can choose perception as my skill and it could end up being almost a light version of Observant. (A couple more languages, so not quite understand and interpret any language I can see them speak and the doubled proficiency bonus would eventually outpace the +5 to passive perception bonus, with no passive intelligence bonus). I guess I also need to try to re-think ASIs vs Feats, I find feats more fun than a bonus to my skill points.
1. I gave up on Hunter's Mark, there's better things to do with my BA most of the time. Like Zephyr Strike to ensure Sharpshooter hits. Or , if you multiclass as Rogue, Steady Aim(and/or Z strike.)
2. I can't really say why you as a squishy non-front-line character are getting into melee range, are your tanks not doing their job? As a high perception player, you can totally be up front - but you should fall back when combat starts - and the actual melee fighters should step up. You have essentially 70+ feet of movement and get your attacks in with Zephyr Strike and Dread Ambusher + normal movement.
3. No usages of Umbral Sight in combat? DM must hate you as much as mine do.
4. Sharpshooter is as most things in the game, situational, just recognize what situation is for what feat, item, strategy, or spell. Sucks when a high-ac enemy gets thrown at you and you can't rely on sharpshooter, but having the Archery fighting style really helps you still deal consistent non-sharpshooter damage to those types of enemies when you don't have advantage.
5. The DM controls how, when, where, and what magic items you get, usually. The Bracer's of Archery aren't totally useless, they just aren't good. They add +2 to your bow damage, but they also take up a very valuable Attunement slot for very little real gain. If it's all you have to put in that Attunement slot, it's OK, but in my experience of playing Gloom Stalkers, it's at best a C tier item.
As for having a rogue that also wants the same items, there's nothing wrong with that. But your DM ultimately is in charge of choosing what magic items get handed out, while it is is the party's responsibility to determine WHO gets the item. Who's better at stealth, you, or the Rogue? What type of Rogue? Do they really need stealth - do they utilize it properly? I have seen to many Rogues playing sub-optimally, not engaging with their abilities properly and trying to be Dexadins (Dex Paladins) were they get Sneak Attack instead of Smite.... Just standing on the Front Line using Steady Aim to get advantage, ....and other weird strats that I don't think make sense. As a Sharpshooter, you can and should HIDE to try and get free advantage - heck, take the Skulker feat even to improve that aspect.
6. ASI vs Feats comes down to a consistency vs FUN issue. Sharpshooter wants ASIs - but you already have maxed Dex. After that, Perception from WIS is the typically the next most important stat. BUT it isn't strictly neccesary to max that, 16 or 18 will do just fine in most cases. But if you have an odd-number, take a half-feat like Fey/Shadow Touched, or such. Resilient is a great feat to take to round out an ability score and get the safe prof. Skill Expert is very underrated in my opinion, as it is one of the few ways for non-Rogues/Bards to get Expertise in things. Though, I just take 1 level of Rogue on almost all of the rangers I've made, sometimes 2. (BA Dash, Disengage, Hide are also just amazing tools to have.)
My current Gloom Stalker, is actually Phantom Rogue 3/Gloom Stalker 5/, going into Fighter (to 4). Then going to a total of Phantom 8/Gloom 8/Samurai 4, with my end-game items HOPEFULLY being a +3 Longbow, Cloak of Elvenkind, Ioun Stone of Mastery, and Luck Stone, and Eyes of the Eagle (or Watchful Helm if my DM lets me have it, it's not part of our Campaign materials, sadly.) and whatever other non-attunement items I can get, like Gloves of Theivery, Ring of Puzzler's Wit, and anything else that's not attunement.
I won't get Elven Accuracy, as an Owlin, which makes me sad. BUT, I will get to roll 6 attacks with advantage on my first turn of combat, and then decide how to/not sharpshooter/zephyr/steady for the rest of it as I buzz around in the sky.
Out of combat, (and Stealth in it,) I have prof in Acrobatics, animal handling, arcana, history, insight, sleight of hand, thieves tools, expertise in investigation, perception, stealth, and survival, 7 languages, and with Phantom, short-rest prof in ANY skill or tool I want.
Plus I can do funny tricks with Disguise Self, Rope Trick. I've got multiple extra damage adders (that aren't Hunter's Mark) such as Wails from the Grave, Sneak Attack, and Favored Foe (and Zephyr Strike.) Action Surge, of course is funny with Dread Ambusher. And of course Fighting Spirit, Action Surge as mentioned for that six attacks in the first round of combat.
+3 Longbow and Mastery stone will be something like +12 to hit with Sharpshooter, or + 17 without, and that will be glorious. I do plan on taking Alert, for a +15 init total. And finally, prof in saves Dex, Con, Int, and Wis. with stupid high passives of 27/26/21. Plus 150 ft umbral sight darkvision bullshit, and 10ft of blindsight (the fighter choice) for invisibles.
And a +18 Perception with advantage (most of the time,) combined with a +19 Stealth with Advantage, and my enemies have disadvantage on Perceiving me (from Cloak of Elenkind).
I will perceive space and time, and my enemy will perceive an empty space!
But, a lot of it matters on how my DM runs the game. and my teammates.
1. You can only use Zephyr strike to give yourself an advantage on attack once per spell cast right? Does Hunter's Mark not end up giving more damage output?
2. Well, when our fighter is missing we only have our Paladin for melee. When there are multiple enemies they don't all go after them especially after I do big damage in the first round. There was also a fight where we were on a bridge and blinded by magical darkness I was able to get away from the darkness but had jumped right into where an enemy was right in front of me. There have also been fights where the enemies come from different angles and end up coming in near my character putting me in melee range.
3. hopefully I'll get some chances at it soon.
4. Yeah between the +2 archery and the +1 bow I can hit fairly well on high AC if I don't take the -5.
5. That makes sense. if I get it and don't have something better use it but if I get something better replace it?
My rogue is an arcane trickster. Obviously, their best way for damage is getting sneak attack damage still. He's still learning his class, it's his first time playing. He doesn't try to front line but helping him be more effective would be good. I've only tried to hide with an enemy that hellish rebuked and knocked out a lot of my hp and when the dragon swooped down I should use that more.
6. Yeah I have 17 Wisdom so that's part of why I was thinking about Fey Touched. I have considered taking a level of rogue too but also don't want our rogue to feel I'm overstepping. I have noticed their ability to do that is nice
Did you take Phantom Rogue to get even more proficiencies? why 8 and 8 for Phantom Rogue and Gloom Stalker? Is that a common amount of items for each member of your party to eventually get in your games?
6 attacks on the first round? regular attack, extra attack, dead ambush, action surge regular attack, extra attack, dread ambush? are those the actions you use to attack?
that is a lot of skills. Right now my character has prof in Acrobatics, athletics, medicine, nature, perception, and survival and I speak Common, Elf, Draconic, and Slyvan (if my DM lets me change to deft explorer I'll get 2 more languages I think and I think I'm going to take the essential expertise in perception.
I haven't used my disguise self yet and don't have rope trick yet. What do you use Rope trick for? Is it worth switching from Favored enemy to Favored Foe?
I currently have a +10 hit currently because of archery +2, proficiency in longbow +2, Dex +5, +1 long bow without sharpshooter. How will you get +15 with alert are you maxing your Wisdom and Dex? My umbral sight is only 90 feet. those are definitely hight perception and stealth stats.
1. You can only use Zephyr strike to give yourself an advantage on attack once per spell cast right? Does Hunter's Mark not end up giving more damage output?
2. Well, when our fighter is missing we only have our Paladin for melee. When there are multiple enemies they don't all go after them especially after I do big damage in the first round. There was also a fight where we were on a bridge and blinded by magical darkness I was able to get away from the darkness but had jumped right into where an enemy was right in front of me. There have also been fights where the enemies come from different angles and end up coming in near my character putting me in melee range.
3. hopefully I'll get some chances at it soon.
4. Yeah between the +2 archery and the +1 bow I can hit fairly well on high AC if I don't take the -5.
5. That makes sense. if I get it and don't have something better use it but if I get something better replace it?
My rogue is an arcane trickster. Obviously, their best way for damage is getting sneak attack damage still. He's still learning his class, it's his first time playing. He doesn't try to front line but helping him be more effective would be good. I've only tried to hide with an enemy that hellish rebuked and knocked out a lot of my hp and when the dragon swooped down I should use that more.
6. Yeah I have 17 Wisdom so that's part of why I was thinking about Fey Touched. I have considered taking a level of rogue too but also don't want our rogue to feel I'm overstepping. I have noticed their ability to do that is nice
7. Did you take Phantom Rogue to get even more proficiencies? why 8 and 8 for Phantom Rogue and Gloom Stalker? Is that a common amount of items for each member of your party to eventually get in your games?
8. 6 attacks on the first round? regular attack, extra attack, dead ambush, action surge regular attack, extra attack, dread ambush? are those the actions you use to attack?
9. that is a lot of skills. Right now my character has prof in Acrobatics, athletics, medicine, nature, perception, and survival and I speak Common, Elf, Draconic, and Slyvan (if my DM lets me change to deft explorer I'll get 2 more languages I think and I think I'm going to take the essential expertise in perception.
10. I haven't used my disguise self yet and don't have rope trick yet. What do you use Rope trick for? Is it worth switching from Favored enemy to Favored Foe?
11. I currently have a +10 hit currently because of archery +2, proficiency in longbow +2, Dex +5, +1 long bow without sharpshooter. How will you get +15 with alert are you maxing your Wisdom and Dex? My umbral sight is only 90 feet. those are definitely hight perception and stealth stats.
1. While yes, that is true. The Advantage it gives, as well as the extra movement is very powerful. IF you have a long battle, 5-6, or even longer turns. It may be advantageous to go with Hunter's Mark. BUT, after many years of playing 5E, and a lot of gloom stalkers, I have mostly given up on Hunter's Mark. Hunter's Mark is 1d6 per hit, Zephyr Strike is 1d8+advantage+movement. Hunter's Mark is a set it and forget it (as long as you don't lose concentration,) and Zephyr Strike takes a slot each time....
This may come down to how your DM runs their day - how many encounters, the number of monsters and their overall toughness, and so forth. I can't give you an exact 'yes' this is better than the other, or 'no' it isn't...
2. Sounds like your DM may have slightly higher than average tactical awareness.
5. Exactly. +4 (or +6) damage a turn is rarely worth it for a Ranger when you could have gear that is far more tactically advantageous.
6. It's to late to take Rogue, IMO. It's best when taken AT level 1, because of the massive proficiency and expertise bonus it offers. At this point, you should just continue with Ranger, pick up that 2-4 in Fighter, and keep going with the Gloom.
7. I specifically took Phantom Rogue for the level 2 Bonus Actions, and the Level 3 ability to start with. The reason for 8 and 8, is that Level 9 Phantom offers essentially the same bonus as Level 8 Gloom Stalker. So, by using the ASI to get Resilient Con. instead of 9/7 with a total of 3 ASIs, 8/8 is 4 ASI. And the 'story' features of the level 9 Phantom ability are fairly useless to the group I'm in.
In addition, for base Rogue, Level 5 is Uncanny Dodge, 6 is more Expertise, 7 is Evasion, and 4d6 Sneak Attack (culminating in 2d6 Wail from the Grave for Phantom.) Ninth level would give 5d6 Sneak, but losing out on the ASI from Ranger 8.
And on the Ranger side, 5 is obviously great to have, for two-attacks per turn. Level 6 isn't flashy, but you get +5 walking speed, AND climbing and Swimming Speed equal to your walking speed. So now you get even harder to pin down. At 7, Iron Mind, and at 8. The less-than-useful Land's Stride - but you can walk through your own Spike Growth.... But that 4th ASI is nice.
To be honest, 'common' amount of items is a nebulous term and is very DM dependent, I'm basing my end-game item selection on vague hints and progression clues as we play. I have been able to use downtime to acquire a few of the minor magical trinkets already, Ring of Puzzler's Wit, Luckstone, Cloak, and Eyes of the Eagle, a +1 bow, and will probably get Gloves of Thievery soon. +3 Bow, and Ioun Stone of Mastery are going to be far ,far in the future being a Very Rare, and Legendary item respectively.
8. Yes. Attack Twice, Ambush, Surge, Attack Twice, Ambush. If I had Elven Accuracy (sad Owlin noises) I'd be rollin 18d20 and it would be hilarious. But with just Samurai, turning that first round into either single-target BBEG elimination or clearing house of mooks and goons.
9. Skills are good, languages are ok. I also plan on grabbing a Helm of Comprehend Languages at some point, doesn't need Attunement, my favorite type of magic item.
10. Disguise Self can be a handy tool. For example, I cast Disguise Self and make myself appear as a very threatening 6' Orc for advantage on intimidation. OR I cast Disguise Self on myself to make my coloration blend in with the surroundings for bonus/adv on stealth (gotta pitch it to the DM though.) You can walk right past lax guards by looking like a guard. It's a very handy spell outside of combat. So far, my best use a few years ago was to have a halfing become a noble's toddler.
As for Rope Trick, it's a neat way to gain elevation in a open area, you can lean out of the 'room' and shoot your enemy, then duck back in. (Don't forget to pull the Rope in after you.) You can keep a variety of rope lengths on your belt. I've used a rope as short as 1-foot so I don't have to waste time climbing. The first time I did use Rope Trick was against a Rhemoraz, doing the lean-out trick.
Recently, my group of five got teleported by a magic bullshit circle a Mile into the air. As an Owlin , I can fly. We had a wildfire Druid, he can fly (with his Spirit) another Wildfire Druid - who doesn't read his character sheet, and two other non-flying by-any-means characters.
So, I sped towards one of the non-flyers, had them grab me on turn 1, cast a Rope Trick on turn to (and we both passed some checks to see if we could make that manuver work while falling.) Getting that character into the Rope Trick, I jumped out, flew to the other Druid (READ YOUR ******* CHARACTER SHEET) and glided him down into a reasonably soft water landing. Then went back up, and grabbed the person in the Rope Trick, while our other druid (a cool dude who reads his character sheet) saved the other non-flyer.
You can also Short Rest in a Rope Trick room, 1 hour duration (as long as your DM isnt a stickler for the 1 action/round it takes to cast.)
Favored Foe, no spell slot required, no concentration required. Sure it's only ONCE per your turn - but its damage. And Favored Enemy is just bad.
11. 20 Dex, 20 Wis, and Alert. Yes. 150ft Dark Vision is from Owlin (120) + Gloom Stalker (30). But it's never come into play. Maybe...one day.
1. You can only use Zephyr strike to give yourself an advantage on attack once per spell cast right? Does Hunter's Mark not end up giving more damage output?
Yes, but the real reason to cast Zephyr Strike isn't that advantage + extra damage, it's to get the free disengage as long as you keep concentration. The extra movement can be very good too - if there's someone hiding in the back behind a bunch of minions, hello, I can run right up to him, slash him (3 times if it's the first turn) and then also most likely jump out of melee. I can do this on my first turn with the extra movement and attack from Dread Ambusher too - so that wizard who thinks they're going to wipe our party may not even get a turn. It has proven useful many many times and in many different combat situations, including if I use my bow. In practice I get advantage a lot because I can position myself to flank if any other player is in melee.
Hunter's mark gives good damage whittling away on a single beefy opponent but it does cost a bonus action every time you move it, and is also concentration. You also can't move it unless the target dies. I think it works better for archers than melee, but I also find it not as much fun as my other options. Like would you prefer it to hail of thorns? It just depends on the specific combat again, one big enemy vs a cluster.
My gloomstalker is about to get a level in rogue, because the party doesn't have one and they are tired of the party being defeated by locked doors. Sneak attack is going to pair excellently with my playstyle and the extra proficiency and expertise are going to be very very sweet. Expertise doubles your proficiency bonus, so for example if you take expertise in stealth with a +3 dex and a +3 proficiency bonus (levels 5-8) your total stealth modifier becomes +9. If rogue appeals to you at all, you get plenty of benefits from it without even doing anything different from what you were already doing.
Favored foe doesn't require a spell slot but it is concentration. I don't use it. Currently I find concentration more of a resource limit than spell slots.
Rope Trick comes with the gloomstalker subclass at 5th level and is I think a super cool spell to have available. You can use it to hide (your whole party), but you can also use it to simply make yourself a climbing rope / magic grappling hook up to 60 feet above you if you need to climb something.
Alert is great, an excellent defensive feat. Fey Touched is also great. Again, it's just one option, my preference is for skills and roleplay, but having a free once-per-day misty step (ontop of learning misty step) is a top tier combat option too. It all depends on what your campaign asks of you. I first hand experienced a great skill monkey ranger in Rime of The Frostmaiden, where those survival checks kept the whole party alive while traveling.
I would honestly tell you to not be afraid to use the -5 in sharp shooter. You are, statistically speaking, shooting yourself in the foot by NOT using it. with a +5 modifier in your DEX, and archery fighting style, AND a +1 bow, you are doing yourself a disservice by not taking advantage of all the goodies you have to deliver the damage. There is a formula for figuring out when you should, and shouldn't use the -5. I'd look online about it.
Some of my worries with certain options is trying not to outshine other party members who don't look into their character options as much as other and then complain about certain things. (Such as going first all the time, when obviously with the bonus to initiative I'll frequently go first) I didn't like not getting my Dread Ambush ability the time my party was surprised so I do keep having thoughts on Alert. I am almost definitely going to take Fey touched at some point (it helps boost my Wisdom to the next modifier number) and having a fail-safe misty step to get out of melee (or to a trap door in time before the dragon comes like the bard did in one of our earlier session) makes a lot of sense to me plus another spell of some sort.
That makes sense. I feel like I want to find out around what the enemy AC is before using sharpshooter, but I also get that I'm missing out on big damage opportunities not using it. Though I've had 2 fights since I've gotten it. One we were ambushed and then put into magical darkness, once I got away from that I was in melee, after defeating the melee person the party had to run from the dragon, and second was a fight with an Echo night with a high AC so I was worried about missing.
Well, ****'em , you are a Gloom Stalker, your entire job IS to deal with enemy stat blocks, and you have exactly one tool to do so - dealing damage. If other members of your party decide not to read their character sheet, tough. People that complain because they felt like being dunces and building legitimately suboptimal characters due to sheer incompetence is NOT your problem. It is that player and the DM's problem.
At low levels, I would say, anything with AC 15 or less, you should be Sharpshooting if you have advantage, AC 12 or less, always, even without advantage. Over that ... check the math since it will depend on your total + to attack, and the math of that vs sharpshooter or not.
Lol fair enough.
So would you say you wouldn't use Sharpshooter round one because you're unsure what the AC is then if you find out it's less than 15 don't be afraid to use it?
I would sharp shooter regardless. Here's a good example, my brother had a +8 to hit with his glaive and he wanted to know when to GWM. We worked it out, and his limit was 19 AC. Yours will be higher because you have such high stats.
In the case of my brother, the probability of finding things above 19 AC are not -that- high. Therefore, the chances that you'll find something with higher AC, is even less. See why you should SS always? It's a caplocks button for you at this point, keep it on.
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I've been having a run of 'bad' luck with really low initiative rolls on my stalker, +8, and on average I'm going somewhere in the middle of turn while the +1-4 and -1 init players are above me with the ******* gelatinous ooze ...
2014 5E mostly
3.5 maybe.
1. Fair enough, it's good to see others' perspectives. If I am using Hunter's Mark having Misty Step as an escape plan to get out of danger and maintain the Hunter's mark could still be helpful.
2. I mean even Legolas (I get he's technically a fighter and not a Ranger) has times he has to use swords, but I get your point. I've had multiple fights already where I've gotten enemies close enough that I'd take a disadvantage to use a bow and had to use my swords, now that I have sharpshooter and can shoot from further away I'm trying to change that and stay further back in the party, but I need to balance it with being one of the ones with highest passive perception, which has kept us from some deadly traps that black dragons have laid out on some of our paths.
3. I have very rarely had an advantage on attack rolls so far, perhaps with Zephyr Strike, or if I took Samurai that would change. So it's not a feat I'm heavily considering but not completely ruling it out.
4. It's probably just the current quest we're on that's giving us some high-level AC things. Our last fight was an Echo-Knight that had like a 19 AC. We've had to run from an Adult Black Dragon but also it kidnapped the kids in our town so we're likely fighting it soon...
5. So far my +1 bow I got from a purchase from a Sorcerer who made magic weapons after he sent us on a quest, and I got a +1 short sword in the fight with the Echo-Knight who left it behind when he fled. My Paladin got a dragon slayer longsword which was stuck in the neck of a Chimera (also a sword of the Echo-Knight). My fighter just got a +1 battle-axe from a merchant. Why are the bracers useless? That makes sense how do I balance the items that help you hide better with also having a Rogue that wants/needs items like that? What do you mean some items might not be up to the DM?
6. I definitely like Alert more than Observant, and if my DM lets me switch to deft explorer I can choose perception as my skill and it could end up being almost a light version of Observant. (A couple more languages, so not quite understand and interpret any language I can see them speak and the doubled proficiency bonus would eventually outpace the +5 to passive perception bonus, with no passive intelligence bonus). I guess I also need to try to re-think ASIs vs Feats, I find feats more fun than a bonus to my skill points.
Lol fair enough.
So would you say you wouldn't use Sharpshooter round one because you're unsure what the AC is then if you find out it's less than 15 don't be afraid to use it?
That makes sense, though if you have Misty Step through Fey Touched it doesn't use a spell slot, so in theory I have Fey Touched cast Hunter's mark for more damage output, then if I get into a bad situation I cast free Misty Step to get away, but still could have Hunter's Mark up.
That's a good point (I also have had at least one fight since getting it where someone in my party went before me, though ironically the person who's had comments about me going first all the time wasn't there for that session)
Honestly, your stats are already hella high, like beyond what my character will get even if they take only ASIs up to level 20. At level 7 my character's stats (12 STR 16 DEX 15 CON 10 INT 15 WIS 10 CHA) total to 78. Your character's stats add to 98.
1. I gave up on Hunter's Mark, there's better things to do with my BA most of the time. Like Zephyr Strike to ensure Sharpshooter hits. Or , if you multiclass as Rogue, Steady Aim(and/or Z strike.)
2. I can't really say why you as a squishy non-front-line character are getting into melee range, are your tanks not doing their job? As a high perception player, you can totally be up front - but you should fall back when combat starts - and the actual melee fighters should step up. You have essentially 70+ feet of movement and get your attacks in with Zephyr Strike and Dread Ambusher + normal movement.
3. No usages of Umbral Sight in combat? DM must hate you as much as mine do.
4. Sharpshooter is as most things in the game, situational, just recognize what situation is for what feat, item, strategy, or spell. Sucks when a high-ac enemy gets thrown at you and you can't rely on sharpshooter, but having the Archery fighting style really helps you still deal consistent non-sharpshooter damage to those types of enemies when you don't have advantage.
5. The DM controls how, when, where, and what magic items you get, usually. The Bracer's of Archery aren't totally useless, they just aren't good. They add +2 to your bow damage, but they also take up a very valuable Attunement slot for very little real gain. If it's all you have to put in that Attunement slot, it's OK, but in my experience of playing Gloom Stalkers, it's at best a C tier item.
As for having a rogue that also wants the same items, there's nothing wrong with that. But your DM ultimately is in charge of choosing what magic items get handed out, while it is is the party's responsibility to determine WHO gets the item. Who's better at stealth, you, or the Rogue? What type of Rogue? Do they really need stealth - do they utilize it properly? I have seen to many Rogues playing sub-optimally, not engaging with their abilities properly and trying to be Dexadins (Dex Paladins) were they get Sneak Attack instead of Smite.... Just standing on the Front Line using Steady Aim to get advantage, ....and other weird strats that I don't think make sense. As a Sharpshooter, you can and should HIDE to try and get free advantage - heck, take the Skulker feat even to improve that aspect.
6. ASI vs Feats comes down to a consistency vs FUN issue. Sharpshooter wants ASIs - but you already have maxed Dex. After that, Perception from WIS is the typically the next most important stat. BUT it isn't strictly neccesary to max that, 16 or 18 will do just fine in most cases. But if you have an odd-number, take a half-feat like Fey/Shadow Touched, or such. Resilient is a great feat to take to round out an ability score and get the safe prof. Skill Expert is very underrated in my opinion, as it is one of the few ways for non-Rogues/Bards to get Expertise in things. Though, I just take 1 level of Rogue on almost all of the rangers I've made, sometimes 2. (BA Dash, Disengage, Hide are also just amazing tools to have.)
My current Gloom Stalker, is actually Phantom Rogue 3/Gloom Stalker 5/, going into Fighter (to 4). Then going to a total of Phantom 8/Gloom 8/Samurai 4, with my end-game items HOPEFULLY being a +3 Longbow, Cloak of Elvenkind, Ioun Stone of Mastery, and Luck Stone, and Eyes of the Eagle (or Watchful Helm if my DM lets me have it, it's not part of our Campaign materials, sadly.) and whatever other non-attunement items I can get, like Gloves of Theivery, Ring of Puzzler's Wit, and anything else that's not attunement.
I won't get Elven Accuracy, as an Owlin, which makes me sad. BUT, I will get to roll 6 attacks with advantage on my first turn of combat, and then decide how to/not sharpshooter/zephyr/steady for the rest of it as I buzz around in the sky.
Out of combat, (and Stealth in it,) I have prof in Acrobatics, animal handling, arcana, history, insight, sleight of hand, thieves tools, expertise in investigation, perception, stealth, and survival, 7 languages, and with Phantom, short-rest prof in ANY skill or tool I want.
Plus I can do funny tricks with Disguise Self, Rope Trick. I've got multiple extra damage adders (that aren't Hunter's Mark) such as Wails from the Grave, Sneak Attack, and Favored Foe (and Zephyr Strike.) Action Surge, of course is funny with Dread Ambusher. And of course Fighting Spirit, Action Surge as mentioned for that six attacks in the first round of combat.
+3 Longbow and Mastery stone will be something like +12 to hit with Sharpshooter, or + 17 without, and that will be glorious. I do plan on taking Alert, for a +15 init total. And finally, prof in saves Dex, Con, Int, and Wis. with stupid high passives of 27/26/21. Plus 150 ft umbral sight darkvision bullshit, and 10ft of blindsight (the fighter choice) for invisibles.
And a +18 Perception with advantage (most of the time,) combined with a +19 Stealth with Advantage, and my enemies have disadvantage on Perceiving me (from Cloak of Elenkind).
I will perceive space and time, and my enemy will perceive an empty space!
But, a lot of it matters on how my DM runs the game. and my teammates.
2014 5E mostly
3.5 maybe.
1. You can only use Zephyr strike to give yourself an advantage on attack once per spell cast right? Does Hunter's Mark not end up giving more damage output?
2. Well, when our fighter is missing we only have our Paladin for melee. When there are multiple enemies they don't all go after them especially after I do big damage in the first round. There was also a fight where we were on a bridge and blinded by magical darkness I was able to get away from the darkness but had jumped right into where an enemy was right in front of me. There have also been fights where the enemies come from different angles and end up coming in near my character putting me in melee range.
3. hopefully I'll get some chances at it soon.
4. Yeah between the +2 archery and the +1 bow I can hit fairly well on high AC if I don't take the -5.
5. That makes sense. if I get it and don't have something better use it but if I get something better replace it?
My rogue is an arcane trickster. Obviously, their best way for damage is getting sneak attack damage still. He's still learning his class, it's his first time playing. He doesn't try to front line but helping him be more effective would be good. I've only tried to hide with an enemy that hellish rebuked and knocked out a lot of my hp and when the dragon swooped down I should use that more.
6. Yeah I have 17 Wisdom so that's part of why I was thinking about Fey Touched. I have considered taking a level of rogue too but also don't want our rogue to feel I'm overstepping. I have noticed their ability to do that is nice
Did you take Phantom Rogue to get even more proficiencies? why 8 and 8 for Phantom Rogue and Gloom Stalker? Is that a common amount of items for each member of your party to eventually get in your games?
6 attacks on the first round? regular attack, extra attack, dead ambush, action surge regular attack, extra attack, dread ambush? are those the actions you use to attack?
that is a lot of skills. Right now my character has prof in Acrobatics, athletics, medicine, nature, perception, and survival and I speak Common, Elf, Draconic, and Slyvan (if my DM lets me change to deft explorer I'll get 2 more languages I think and I think I'm going to take the essential expertise in perception.
I haven't used my disguise self yet and don't have rope trick yet. What do you use Rope trick for? Is it worth switching from Favored enemy to Favored Foe?
I currently have a +10 hit currently because of archery +2, proficiency in longbow +2, Dex +5, +1 long bow without sharpshooter. How will you get +15 with alert are you maxing your Wisdom and Dex? My umbral sight is only 90 feet. those are definitely hight perception and stealth stats.
1. While yes, that is true. The Advantage it gives, as well as the extra movement is very powerful. IF you have a long battle, 5-6, or even longer turns. It may be advantageous to go with Hunter's Mark. BUT, after many years of playing 5E, and a lot of gloom stalkers, I have mostly given up on Hunter's Mark. Hunter's Mark is 1d6 per hit, Zephyr Strike is 1d8+advantage+movement. Hunter's Mark is a set it and forget it (as long as you don't lose concentration,) and Zephyr Strike takes a slot each time....
This may come down to how your DM runs their day - how many encounters, the number of monsters and their overall toughness, and so forth. I can't give you an exact 'yes' this is better than the other, or 'no' it isn't...
2. Sounds like your DM may have slightly higher than average tactical awareness.
5. Exactly. +4 (or +6) damage a turn is rarely worth it for a Ranger when you could have gear that is far more tactically advantageous.
6. It's to late to take Rogue, IMO. It's best when taken AT level 1, because of the massive proficiency and expertise bonus it offers. At this point, you should just continue with Ranger, pick up that 2-4 in Fighter, and keep going with the Gloom.
7. I specifically took Phantom Rogue for the level 2 Bonus Actions, and the Level 3 ability to start with. The reason for 8 and 8, is that Level 9 Phantom offers essentially the same bonus as Level 8 Gloom Stalker. So, by using the ASI to get Resilient Con. instead of 9/7 with a total of 3 ASIs, 8/8 is 4 ASI. And the 'story' features of the level 9 Phantom ability are fairly useless to the group I'm in.
In addition, for base Rogue, Level 5 is Uncanny Dodge, 6 is more Expertise, 7 is Evasion, and 4d6 Sneak Attack (culminating in 2d6 Wail from the Grave for Phantom.) Ninth level would give 5d6 Sneak, but losing out on the ASI from Ranger 8.
And on the Ranger side, 5 is obviously great to have, for two-attacks per turn. Level 6 isn't flashy, but you get +5 walking speed, AND climbing and Swimming Speed equal to your walking speed. So now you get even harder to pin down. At 7, Iron Mind, and at 8. The less-than-useful Land's Stride - but you can walk through your own Spike Growth.... But that 4th ASI is nice.
To be honest, 'common' amount of items is a nebulous term and is very DM dependent, I'm basing my end-game item selection on vague hints and progression clues as we play. I have been able to use downtime to acquire a few of the minor magical trinkets already, Ring of Puzzler's Wit, Luckstone, Cloak, and Eyes of the Eagle, a +1 bow, and will probably get Gloves of Thievery soon. +3 Bow, and Ioun Stone of Mastery are going to be far ,far in the future being a Very Rare, and Legendary item respectively.
8. Yes. Attack Twice, Ambush, Surge, Attack Twice, Ambush. If I had Elven Accuracy (sad Owlin noises) I'd be rollin 18d20 and it would be hilarious. But with just Samurai, turning that first round into either single-target BBEG elimination or clearing house of mooks and goons.
9. Skills are good, languages are ok. I also plan on grabbing a Helm of Comprehend Languages at some point, doesn't need Attunement, my favorite type of magic item.
10. Disguise Self can be a handy tool. For example, I cast Disguise Self and make myself appear as a very threatening 6' Orc for advantage on intimidation. OR I cast Disguise Self on myself to make my coloration blend in with the surroundings for bonus/adv on stealth (gotta pitch it to the DM though.) You can walk right past lax guards by looking like a guard. It's a very handy spell outside of combat. So far, my best use a few years ago was to have a halfing become a noble's toddler.
As for Rope Trick, it's a neat way to gain elevation in a open area, you can lean out of the 'room' and shoot your enemy, then duck back in. (Don't forget to pull the Rope in after you.) You can keep a variety of rope lengths on your belt. I've used a rope as short as 1-foot so I don't have to waste time climbing. The first time I did use Rope Trick was against a Rhemoraz, doing the lean-out trick.
Recently, my group of five got teleported by a magic bullshit circle a Mile into the air. As an Owlin , I can fly. We had a wildfire Druid, he can fly (with his Spirit) another Wildfire Druid - who doesn't read his character sheet, and two other non-flying by-any-means characters.
So, I sped towards one of the non-flyers, had them grab me on turn 1, cast a Rope Trick on turn to (and we both passed some checks to see if we could make that manuver work while falling.) Getting that character into the Rope Trick, I jumped out, flew to the other Druid (READ YOUR ******* CHARACTER SHEET) and glided him down into a reasonably soft water landing. Then went back up, and grabbed the person in the Rope Trick, while our other druid (a cool dude who reads his character sheet) saved the other non-flyer.
You can also Short Rest in a Rope Trick room, 1 hour duration (as long as your DM isnt a stickler for the 1 action/round it takes to cast.)
Favored Foe, no spell slot required, no concentration required. Sure it's only ONCE per your turn - but its damage. And Favored Enemy is just bad.
11. 20 Dex, 20 Wis, and Alert. Yes. 150ft Dark Vision is from Owlin (120) + Gloom Stalker (30). But it's never come into play. Maybe...one day.
2014 5E mostly
3.5 maybe.
Yes, but the real reason to cast Zephyr Strike isn't that advantage + extra damage, it's to get the free disengage as long as you keep concentration. The extra movement can be very good too - if there's someone hiding in the back behind a bunch of minions, hello, I can run right up to him, slash him (3 times if it's the first turn) and then also most likely jump out of melee. I can do this on my first turn with the extra movement and attack from Dread Ambusher too - so that wizard who thinks they're going to wipe our party may not even get a turn. It has proven useful many many times and in many different combat situations, including if I use my bow. In practice I get advantage a lot because I can position myself to flank if any other player is in melee.
Hunter's mark gives good damage whittling away on a single beefy opponent but it does cost a bonus action every time you move it, and is also concentration. You also can't move it unless the target dies. I think it works better for archers than melee, but I also find it not as much fun as my other options. Like would you prefer it to hail of thorns? It just depends on the specific combat again, one big enemy vs a cluster.
My gloomstalker is about to get a level in rogue, because the party doesn't have one and they are tired of the party being defeated by locked doors. Sneak attack is going to pair excellently with my playstyle and the extra proficiency and expertise are going to be very very sweet. Expertise doubles your proficiency bonus, so for example if you take expertise in stealth with a +3 dex and a +3 proficiency bonus (levels 5-8) your total stealth modifier becomes +9. If rogue appeals to you at all, you get plenty of benefits from it without even doing anything different from what you were already doing.
Favored foe doesn't require a spell slot but it is concentration. I don't use it. Currently I find concentration more of a resource limit than spell slots.
Rope Trick comes with the gloomstalker subclass at 5th level and is I think a super cool spell to have available. You can use it to hide (your whole party), but you can also use it to simply make yourself a climbing rope / magic grappling hook up to 60 feet above you if you need to climb something.
I would sharp shooter regardless. Here's a good example, my brother had a +8 to hit with his glaive and he wanted to know when to GWM. We worked it out, and his limit was 19 AC. Yours will be higher because you have such high stats.
In the case of my brother, the probability of finding things above 19 AC are not -that- high. Therefore, the chances that you'll find something with higher AC, is even less. See why you should SS always? It's a caplocks button for you at this point, keep it on.