In my first campaign and I kind of know a bit of what I'm doing. Just about to hit lv 3 and I wanted to know what I ideally should be doing in combat, (what weapons should I be using, what should I be doing for actions, bonus actions, reactions.) dungeons, (whenever I enter a place what should I do. I've never done anything besides attack things) what archetypes, feats, stats, equipment should I invest in to optimise my character. Aswell as should I multiclass. The idea for my rouge is that it's a gambler (main source of income) who steals for fun and in terms of combat I'd like it to be stealthy, ideally not getting hit. (I feel like to do more damage, I'd have to dual wield and not hide as a bonus action) I don't know if it's worth doing that or not, that's another question for you lol. Roleplay wise there isn't a lot going into my character. Mainly because I'm not really comfortable rping yet. (Even though my Charisma stat is pretty high for my character) I was looking for my rouge to be predominantly melee (I take it that being a little bit ranged is necessary no matter what) I want nothing to do with magic with this character really. I do however know that later on I will need magical equipment to be useful.
I'm a Half elf rogue with these stats: Strength 9, Intelligence 12, Dexterity 19, Wisdom 13, Constitution 14 and Charisma 18.
Notable other stats: Sleight of hand 6, Stealth 8, Investigation 3, Insight 3, perception 3, Deception 6 and persuasion 8.
Hope I can get some help on this as I am enjoying playing, I just want to be useful/more useful. :)
I'd suggest either Thief or Swashbuckler for your archetype. I would think you'd have more fun as a Swashbuckler and I'll give suggestions based on that path.
Pick up Elven Accuracy at level 4, and choose Dexterity for your Ability Score Increase. At level 8th level increase your Charisma by 2. Both your Dexterity and Charisma, the most important Ability Scores for Swashbuckliers, are now at max. You have 4 more Ability Score Increases/Feats left. From this point lots of options are good and your pretty free, but you can also max out your Constitution by focusing your Ability Score Improvements on it. This leaves you with one free for literally anything, I'd bump up Strength and Wisdom so you can increase both those saves by 1.
I do not suggest Dual Wielding, you can only Sneak Attack once per Turn anyway. Unlike in Video Games, in D&D, having an empty hand can be powerful by itself due to increasing the number of things you can do. Leave your off-hand and Bonus Actions open for other things, like opening up Sneak Attack opportunities, Safely running across the Battlefield, mid-battle Hiding, ect.
If you don't have a Rapier, get a Rapier. Make sure to have a Ranged option as well, I'd go with Shortbow in your case. Hand Crossbow can be nice, but not if you want to use your Bonus Action as well.
Thanks @SladeTracey. In terms of going swashbuckler rp wise, does that mean I can't be stealing something from one of my group (I only intend to do this once) because I wouldn't be a thief archetype? Also would that mean I essentially have to be a a pirate and also rp more because of the charisma. I don't really want my character to be a face of the group. I'd just want to throw little comments here and there. What do you mean by opening up sneak attack opportunities? I have both a Rapier and a Shortbow. Do you think I should multiclass or no? When entering a dungeon what should my course of action be judging from my stats? I think I'm supposed to find and disable traps and pick locks from what I'm to understand. In terms of attacking I guess I should try to be hidden or have an ally in 5 feet of an enemy beforehand so I can do a sneak attack and use either the rapier or shortbow and then bonus action? And lastly what would be a consistent way for me to get advantage on attack so I can use sneak attack?
An archetype doesn't really prevent or define actions. It is true that a Swashbuckler has the idea of being a charismatic face, but that doesn't mean you have to play it that way. Swashbucklers engage in Swashbuckling, to Swashbuckle means: "engage in daring and romantic adventures with ostentatious bravado or flamboyance", you don't have to be the face, you just need to be adventurous (it's almost like your already an Adventurer). Lockpicking and Trap Disarming are standard Rogue tasks because they get Proficiency with Thieves' Tools along with Expertise. If you didn't put one of your Expertise in Thieves' Tools, you should by level 6. You should also put one Expertise in Investigation since you'll want to look around a lot to catch that kind of stuff. When you go into a room, look around, search the room, the door, the chest, ask the DM questions about what you see, get information; disarm traps first, tell the party about secret doors you find, and unlock locks; these are the basics of dungeoneering. However, depending on how you do this, your fellow party members and the DM may take this as annoying metagaming instead. How you should act in a D&D game is largely dependent on others in the group, the best you can do is ask your DM and fellow players about things they're okay with and what they are not.
Multiclassing can be a nice idea every once in a while, but with Rogue I tend to only give up on 1 level so that I can get the full 10d6 Sneak Attack Damage, and you definitively don't want to miss out on the level 17 Archetype features (especially not for Swashbuckler, as its Feature is one that lets you reroll with Advantage on an Attack that you miss). I can neither say I recommend it nor don't recommend it, this paragraph will contain advice for if you decide to Multiclass. If you do want to Multiclass, do not take any more than 3 levels of another class (which will lose you an ability score increase, but not a needed one). If you want to keep the no spellcasting thing going, then you have 3 Options: Barbarian, Fighter, and Monk. Barbarian isn't a great option, you can do things with it, but I would steer away. If you go Fighter you can pick up Fighting Style (Dueling) and the 3rd level Archetype Feature. Battlemaster if you want more active Features or Champion if you want to double your Crit Chance (Crit on a 19 in addition to a 20). When it comes to Monk: Way of the Shadow seems nice, but it isn't with only 3 Levels; Way of the Kensei is the best option for you in this case, but it still isn't great. I don't recommend Monk unless your going to put a lot of levels in it. If you don't mind a small amount of Spells then you could choose Ranger and use your Spell Slots on only Primeval Awareness and Hunter's Mark. Rangers can also pick up Fighting Style (Dueling), something that most people don't notice. With the Hunter Archetype you could pick up Horde Breaker which would allow you to make an additional weapon attack without using up your Bonus Action, or Colossus Slayer which is an almost guaranteed 1d8 additional damage.
Setting up Sneak Attacks depends on your DM or other party members in most cases. Consistently gaining Advantage isn't always an option, but someone else using the Help Action to give you Advantage, you or someone else using a Spell (such as the Cleric Spell Guiding Bolt) or Feature that grants Advantage, being Hidden (or Invisible), the Target having a Condition that would give you Advantage (Blinded, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned, or Unconscious), or Improvising an Action based on how the DM reacts can give it to you more often. However, you can get Sneak Attack without Advantage. Firstly, all Rogues can Sneak Attack if the target of their attack has another hostile target within 5ft, they aren't incapacitated, and you don't have Disadvantage. Secondly, a Swashbuckler gains an additional way to Sneak Attack: if you are within 5ft of the target, there are no other creatures within 5ft of you, and you don't have Disadvantage. For Swashbucklers, Sneak Attack is extremely easy to activate without Advantage: either have an ally beside your target, or move so you only have target beside you; as a Rogue you can Dash and Disengage as a Bonus Action to easily make it so. The Dashing, Disengaging, Hiding, and some Improvised Actions that a DM may allow you to do as a Bonus Action that could give you Advantage are what I mean by opening up Sneak Attack Opportunities.
Ultimately, Sneak Attack is the most complicated 1st level Feature in the game. As a newbie you may initially have some difficulty setting up your Sneak Attacks, but it is more easy than it seems at first. Remember, you have three different possible checklists to activate Sneak Attack, and almost infinite ways to meet at least one of those checklists.
The definition that you provided for swashbuckle is just not what I see my character as. She likes gold, gambling and being stealthy. Not really into adventures or flamboyance. So ideally I'm trying to find out what archetype would be best for combat and not really interested in ones helping with rp or ones that go against the selfish kind of cold nature I had in mind for her. As for thieves tools and investigation I think I'm proficient in those already. Thank you for giving me a guideline of what to do in rooms :).
In terms of multiclassing if I were to do it I'd go with fighter. From what you've said anywhere between 1 and 3 lvs worth. I just need to figure out what the benefits are for not multiclassing.
Thank you for clarifying Sneak Attacks for me too. I think I have a decent idea of what to do when I enter a room and how to go about using Sneak attacks now, whereas I didn't really before.
P.S. In terms of damage If I do two weapons attacks, do I get sneak attack damage for both? Obviously two weapon attacks means I'd be doing more damage per turn but giving up utility for the damage, that's something I've also been weighing up. Damage vs utiltiy.
In my first campaign and I kind of know a bit of what I'm doing. Just about to hit lv 3 and I wanted to know what I ideally should be doing in combat, (what weapons should I be using, what should I be doing for actions, bonus actions, reactions.) dungeons, (whenever I enter a place what should I do. I've never done anything besides attack things) what archetypes, feats, stats, equipment should I invest in to optimise my character. Aswell as should I multiclass. The idea for my rouge is that it's a gambler (main source of income) who steals for fun and in terms of combat I'd like it to be stealthy, ideally not getting hit. (I feel like to do more damage, I'd have to dual wield and not hide as a bonus action) I don't know if it's worth doing that or not, that's another question for you lol. Roleplay wise there isn't a lot going into my character. Mainly because I'm not really comfortable rping yet. (Even though my Charisma stat is pretty high for my character) I was looking for my rouge to be predominantly melee (I take it that being a little bit ranged is necessary no matter what) I want nothing to do with magic with this character really. I do however know that later on I will need magical equipment to be useful.
I'm a Half elf rogue with these stats: Strength 9, Intelligence 12, Dexterity 19, Wisdom 13, Constitution 14 and Charisma 18.
Notable other stats: Sleight of hand 6, Stealth 8, Investigation 3, Insight 3, perception 3, Deception 6 and persuasion 8.
Hope I can get some help on this as I am enjoying playing, I just want to be useful/more useful. :)
I'd suggest either Thief or Swashbuckler for your archetype. I would think you'd have more fun as a Swashbuckler and I'll give suggestions based on that path.
Pick up Elven Accuracy at level 4, and choose Dexterity for your Ability Score Increase. At level 8th level increase your Charisma by 2. Both your Dexterity and Charisma, the most important Ability Scores for Swashbuckliers, are now at max. You have 4 more Ability Score Increases/Feats left. From this point lots of options are good and your pretty free, but you can also max out your Constitution by focusing your Ability Score Improvements on it. This leaves you with one free for literally anything, I'd bump up Strength and Wisdom so you can increase both those saves by 1.
I do not suggest Dual Wielding, you can only Sneak Attack once per Turn anyway. Unlike in Video Games, in D&D, having an empty hand can be powerful by itself due to increasing the number of things you can do. Leave your off-hand and Bonus Actions open for other things, like opening up Sneak Attack opportunities, Safely running across the Battlefield, mid-battle Hiding, ect.
If you don't have a Rapier, get a Rapier. Make sure to have a Ranged option as well, I'd go with Shortbow in your case. Hand Crossbow can be nice, but not if you want to use your Bonus Action as well.
Thanks @SladeTracey. In terms of going swashbuckler rp wise, does that mean I can't be stealing something from one of my group (I only intend to do this once) because I wouldn't be a thief archetype? Also would that mean I essentially have to be a a pirate and also rp more because of the charisma. I don't really want my character to be a face of the group. I'd just want to throw little comments here and there. What do you mean by opening up sneak attack opportunities? I have both a Rapier and a Shortbow. Do you think I should multiclass or no? When entering a dungeon what should my course of action be judging from my stats? I think I'm supposed to find and disable traps and pick locks from what I'm to understand. In terms of attacking I guess I should try to be hidden or have an ally in 5 feet of an enemy beforehand so I can do a sneak attack and use either the rapier or shortbow and then bonus action? And lastly what would be a consistent way for me to get advantage on attack so I can use sneak attack?
An archetype doesn't really prevent or define actions. It is true that a Swashbuckler has the idea of being a charismatic face, but that doesn't mean you have to play it that way. Swashbucklers engage in Swashbuckling, to Swashbuckle means: "engage in daring and romantic adventures with ostentatious bravado or flamboyance", you don't have to be the face, you just need to be adventurous (it's almost like your already an Adventurer). Lockpicking and Trap Disarming are standard Rogue tasks because they get Proficiency with Thieves' Tools along with Expertise. If you didn't put one of your Expertise in Thieves' Tools, you should by level 6. You should also put one Expertise in Investigation since you'll want to look around a lot to catch that kind of stuff. When you go into a room, look around, search the room, the door, the chest, ask the DM questions about what you see, get information; disarm traps first, tell the party about secret doors you find, and unlock locks; these are the basics of dungeoneering. However, depending on how you do this, your fellow party members and the DM may take this as annoying metagaming instead. How you should act in a D&D game is largely dependent on others in the group, the best you can do is ask your DM and fellow players about things they're okay with and what they are not.
Multiclassing can be a nice idea every once in a while, but with Rogue I tend to only give up on 1 level so that I can get the full 10d6 Sneak Attack Damage, and you definitively don't want to miss out on the level 17 Archetype features (especially not for Swashbuckler, as its Feature is one that lets you reroll with Advantage on an Attack that you miss). I can neither say I recommend it nor don't recommend it, this paragraph will contain advice for if you decide to Multiclass. If you do want to Multiclass, do not take any more than 3 levels of another class (which will lose you an ability score increase, but not a needed one). If you want to keep the no spellcasting thing going, then you have 3 Options: Barbarian, Fighter, and Monk. Barbarian isn't a great option, you can do things with it, but I would steer away. If you go Fighter you can pick up Fighting Style (Dueling) and the 3rd level Archetype Feature. Battlemaster if you want more active Features or Champion if you want to double your Crit Chance (Crit on a 19 in addition to a 20). When it comes to Monk: Way of the Shadow seems nice, but it isn't with only 3 Levels; Way of the Kensei is the best option for you in this case, but it still isn't great. I don't recommend Monk unless your going to put a lot of levels in it. If you don't mind a small amount of Spells then you could choose Ranger and use your Spell Slots on only Primeval Awareness and Hunter's Mark. Rangers can also pick up Fighting Style (Dueling), something that most people don't notice. With the Hunter Archetype you could pick up Horde Breaker which would allow you to make an additional weapon attack without using up your Bonus Action, or Colossus Slayer which is an almost guaranteed 1d8 additional damage.
Setting up Sneak Attacks depends on your DM or other party members in most cases. Consistently gaining Advantage isn't always an option, but someone else using the Help Action to give you Advantage, you or someone else using a Spell (such as the Cleric Spell Guiding Bolt) or Feature that grants Advantage, being Hidden (or Invisible), the Target having a Condition that would give you Advantage (Blinded, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned, or Unconscious), or Improvising an Action based on how the DM reacts can give it to you more often. However, you can get Sneak Attack without Advantage. Firstly, all Rogues can Sneak Attack if the target of their attack has another hostile target within 5ft, they aren't incapacitated, and you don't have Disadvantage. Secondly, a Swashbuckler gains an additional way to Sneak Attack: if you are within 5ft of the target, there are no other creatures within 5ft of you, and you don't have Disadvantage. For Swashbucklers, Sneak Attack is extremely easy to activate without Advantage: either have an ally beside your target, or move so you only have target beside you; as a Rogue you can Dash and Disengage as a Bonus Action to easily make it so. The Dashing, Disengaging, Hiding, and some Improvised Actions that a DM may allow you to do as a Bonus Action that could give you Advantage are what I mean by opening up Sneak Attack Opportunities.
Ultimately, Sneak Attack is the most complicated 1st level Feature in the game. As a newbie you may initially have some difficulty setting up your Sneak Attacks, but it is more easy than it seems at first. Remember, you have three different possible checklists to activate Sneak Attack, and almost infinite ways to meet at least one of those checklists.
The definition that you provided for swashbuckle is just not what I see my character as. She likes gold, gambling and being stealthy. Not really into adventures or flamboyance. So ideally I'm trying to find out what archetype would be best for combat and not really interested in ones helping with rp or ones that go against the selfish kind of cold nature I had in mind for her. As for thieves tools and investigation I think I'm proficient in those already. Thank you for giving me a guideline of what to do in rooms :).
In terms of multiclassing if I were to do it I'd go with fighter. From what you've said anywhere between 1 and 3 lvs worth. I just need to figure out what the benefits are for not multiclassing.
Thank you for clarifying Sneak Attacks for me too. I think I have a decent idea of what to do when I enter a room and how to go about using Sneak attacks now, whereas I didn't really before.
P.S. In terms of damage If I do two weapons attacks, do I get sneak attack damage for both? Obviously two weapon attacks means I'd be doing more damage per turn but giving up utility for the damage, that's something I've also been weighing up. Damage vs utiltiy.