Hey everyone, I'm trying to put together a heavy x-bow rogue and could use some help. The only way I've figured out to do this is to start out as a rogue and once I level up take a level of ranger. After that everything is up in the air. What would it be worth it to take more levels of ranger? What feats could be good besides sharpshooter? Any advice or ideas are appreciated.
The Heavy Crossbow on a Rogue isn't terrible. You don't need the Crossbow expertise feat at all and it's the only way to give you a 1d10 damage die.
I agree with you, 1-2 levels of Ranger (you could take Fighter but you need a Str of 13 min). Ranger requires Dex & Wis 13, which you DO have Dex 13+ and probably should have Wis 13 as a Rogue!
Benefits:
1 Level of Ranger:
Medium Armor Proficiency (this doesn't seem that awesome, but depending on what you find your adventure it can be better then Studded Leather, plus you can take Medium Armor Expertise to get a +3 AC from Dex and ignore the Stealth penalty!)
Martial Weapon Proficiency (gets you Heavy Crossbow)
+1 Range Skill
2 Levels of Ranger:
Fighting Style: Archery. +2 to Hit, and you only get 1 attack a turn so it better count!
Ranger spell: Hunter's Mark, this gives you another +1d6 damage on a target and can be moved with a Bonus Action
3 Levels of Ranger:
Colossus Slayer: +1d8 damage to any target not at max hitpoints
Horder Breaker: If two enemies are within 5', you can make 2 attacks around, this means IF you miss your first attack there is the possibility of still getting your Sneak Attack off on the other target.
Keep in mind Rogues have amazing abilities so every level you give you is not a level of Rogue.
Every 2 levels of not Rogue sacrifices 1d6 Sneak Attack.
Ranger is one of the few classes that can make that up, but Hunter's Mark requires a spell slot.
Arcane Trickster does do well to keep your spell slots increasing.
Actually you need 13 Str OR 13 Dex to multiclass fighter.
This way you could get the Archery fighting style with only one level (and the heavy crossbow proficency, if you REALLY want to. It's just a +1 damage overall). Taking ranger levels are not required for a rogue to be a good ranged combattant: the extra skill may be good, but the Rogue already gets a lot of 'em, hunter's mark is straight up worse than a +1d6 sneak attack,as it requires a spell slot and a bonus action (that you should use to Hide).
Sharpshooter would be good only for ignoring cover, as the Rogue get's plenty of damage on top of his attack; a penality to hit would provide worse and worse damage the more you gain SA dice.
So i think if you really want to get the HCB proficency, your best bet is 1 level of fighter, this way you wont delay your ASIs , SA dice and other Rogue abilities and get the +2 to hit.
Just played a game where another PC went 6 Rogue(trickster) 3 Ranger, had crossbow expert and was our main damage dealer, he went great. I can't remember if he had/ was planning on sharpshooter, but once you have archery fighting style and reasonable dex it is feasible to take the -5 penalty and shred every round (with a bit of dice luck).
Hey everyone, I'm trying to put together a heavy x-bow rogue and could use some help. The only way I've figured out to do this is to start out as a rogue and once I level up take a level of ranger. After that everything is up in the air. What would it be worth it to take more levels of ranger? What feats could be good besides sharpshooter? Any advice or ideas are appreciated.
The Heavy Crossbow on a Rogue isn't terrible. You don't need the Crossbow expertise feat at all and it's the only way to give you a 1d10 damage die.
I agree with you, 1-2 levels of Ranger (you could take Fighter but you need a Str of 13 min). Ranger requires Dex & Wis 13, which you DO have Dex 13+ and probably should have Wis 13 as a Rogue!
Benefits:
1 Level of Ranger:
Medium Armor Proficiency (this doesn't seem that awesome, but depending on what you find your adventure it can be better then Studded Leather, plus you can take Medium Armor Expertise to get a +3 AC from Dex and ignore the Stealth penalty!)
Martial Weapon Proficiency (gets you Heavy Crossbow)
+1 Range Skill
2 Levels of Ranger:
Fighting Style: Archery. +2 to Hit, and you only get 1 attack a turn so it better count!
Ranger spell: Hunter's Mark, this gives you another +1d6 damage on a target and can be moved with a Bonus Action
3 Levels of Ranger:
Colossus Slayer: +1d8 damage to any target not at max hitpoints
Horder Breaker: If two enemies are within 5', you can make 2 attacks around, this means IF you miss your first attack there is the possibility of still getting your Sneak Attack off on the other target.
Keep in mind Rogues have amazing abilities so every level you give you is not a level of Rogue.
Every 2 levels of not Rogue sacrifices 1d6 Sneak Attack.
Ranger is one of the few classes that can make that up, but Hunter's Mark requires a spell slot.
Arcane Trickster does do well to keep your spell slots increasing.
Actually you need 13 Str OR 13 Dex to multiclass fighter.
This way you could get the Archery fighting style with only one level (and the heavy crossbow proficency, if you REALLY want to. It's just a +1 damage overall). Taking ranger levels are not required for a rogue to be a good ranged combattant: the extra skill may be good, but the Rogue already gets a lot of 'em, hunter's mark is straight up worse than a +1d6 sneak attack,as it requires a spell slot and a bonus action (that you should use to Hide).
Sharpshooter would be good only for ignoring cover, as the Rogue get's plenty of damage on top of his attack; a penality to hit would provide worse and worse damage the more you gain SA dice.
So i think if you really want to get the HCB proficency, your best bet is 1 level of fighter, this way you wont delay your ASIs , SA dice and other Rogue abilities and get the +2 to hit.
Just played a game where another PC went 6 Rogue(trickster) 3 Ranger, had crossbow expert and was our main damage dealer, he went great. I can't remember if he had/ was planning on sharpshooter, but once you have archery fighting style and reasonable dex it is feasible to take the -5 penalty and shred every round (with a bit of dice luck).
Or you could use the alternate human race and pick up the Weapon Master feat, the bonus to Dex is a good plus too.