Increase your Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20. This is the only thing that would help but an ability score increase gets two points into any statistic.
You ignore the loading property of firearms. This does not help the Soulknife.
Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls. The Soulknife can use the his Psionic Blades as melee weapons and ranged weapons so this does not help the Soulknife either.
While a soul knife can be use either in melee or at ranged. When using it at ranged you would suffer disadvantage on the rolls from being within 5 feet of an enemy. Just as all thrown weapon attacks would. It's situational but potentially useful.
Why would you throw it at 5ft?
you wouldn't throw it at the one within 5ft of you. But you may have reason to throw it at somebody else while you have an enemy within 5' of you. That still creates the issue of disadvantage on the throw. Just like it does with a bow.
I guess why wouldn't you just attack the thing next to you?
No allies standing next to it.
Then use Steam Aim. You still get to roll two dice to hit and you apply sneak attack damage.
Soulknife is mechanically no different than getting FREE Crossbow Expert right out the gate. Only, better because it's Psychic damage. It does use your bonus action, which is a downside for Rogues, but it is value added and you can still make great use of it. If Sneak Attack applies to your target, use both attacks. You get two chances to hit and get that SA damage, and two attacks are better than one attack with advantage. If sneak attack does NOT apply, the bonus action hide or use Steady Aim to gain advantage. That way you have the same chance to hit, and you can apply sneak attack.
One Attack with advantage or Two Attacks without advantage are fundamentally the same thing. They either amount to hitting the target or not hitting the Target. However in the case of the soul knife They are less than the same thing for one basic reason. while it's admitted a small difference and much of the damage of the Rogue is from Sneak attack. It is still a difference to be noted between the two attacks.
However if your attacking with Disadvantage. No matter whether you also get advantage on the roll or not. Sneak attack will never apply. Also Advantage on a roll is a way to have sneak attack possible without the aid of others. This also makes one attack with advantage better than 2 seperate attacks without advantage.
It being a half feat does put it over crossbow expert, so I'll give you that. But I still wouldn't take either. Would rather take an ASI and fix 2 odd stats instead. That all depends though since we usually roll for stats for campaigns and not point buy. Although I think gunner only increases str and dex where only one needs focused and the other can be dumped. So if your main stat isn't 20 already by lvl 10 I would find that odd.
Agreed. The lone benefit of with the Gunner Feat too situational to warrant spending a precious ASI on it in my opinion. The Thrown Weapon Fighting style is intriguing, but there's likely other choices I would take first.
Soulknife is mechanically no different than getting FREE Crossbow Expert right out the gate. Only, better because it's Psychic damage. It does use your bonus action, which is a downside for Rogues, but it is value added and you can still make great use of it. If Sneak Attack applies to your target, use both attacks. You get two chances to hit and get that SA damage, and two attacks are better than one attack with advantage. If sneak attack does NOT apply, the bonus action hide or use Steady Aim to gain advantage. That way you have the same chance to hit, and you can apply sneak attack.
One Attack with advantage or Two Attacks without advantage are fundamentally the same thing. They either amount to hitting the target or not hitting the Target. However in the case of the soul knife They are less than the same thing for one basic reason. while it's admitted a small difference and much of the damage of the Rogue is from Sneak attack. It is still a difference to be noted between the two attacks.
However if your attacking with Disadvantage. No matter whether you also get advantage on the roll or not. Sneak attack will never apply. Also Advantage on a roll is a way to have sneak attack possible without the aid of others. This also makes one attack with advantage better than 2 seperate attacks without advantage.
If you attack once with advantage, the statistical probability of you hitting the target twice is exactly 0.
Someone earlier asked why you would throw a soulknife at 5ft. Soulknife can benefit from both the duelist and thrown fighting styles. In that very special case or even if you simple have only the thrown weapon feat(fighting style?) throwing gets you an extra two damage.
Soulknife is mechanically no different than getting FREE Crossbow Expert right out the gate. Only, better because it's Psychic damage. It does use your bonus action, which is a downside for Rogues, but it is value added and you can still make great use of it. If Sneak Attack applies to your target, use both attacks. You get two chances to hit and get that SA damage, and two attacks are better than one attack with advantage. If sneak attack does NOT apply, the bonus action hide or use Steady Aim to gain advantage. That way you have the same chance to hit, and you can apply sneak attack.
One Attack with advantage or Two Attacks without advantage are fundamentally the same thing. They either amount to hitting the target or not hitting the Target. However in the case of the soul knife They are less than the same thing for one basic reason. while it's admitted a small difference and much of the damage of the Rogue is from Sneak attack. It is still a difference to be noted between the two attacks.
However if your attacking with Disadvantage. No matter whether you also get advantage on the roll or not. Sneak attack will never apply. Also Advantage on a roll is a way to have sneak attack possible without the aid of others. This also makes one attack with advantage better than 2 seperate attacks without advantage.
If you attack once with advantage, the statistical probability of you hitting the target twice is exactly 0.
Hitting the Target Twice Doesn't matter if the damage from the second strike is small in the grand scheme of things. The primary bonus to having the second attack at range is a second opportunity to apply Sneak Attack. That is all. That is the bulk of the rogue's Damage. Hitting twice without sneak attack is going to be a fraction of the damage that sneak attack would have done off of even the second attack let alone the first attack with it's just barely higher average and max damage potentials. So hitting twice for the rogue means little. Sneak attack is the important component not the number of attacks like other classes. This is what makes it different from other classes. High Variable Damage for Fewer Attacks to get similar results as the classes that do lower less variable damage over More Attacks.
It being a half feat does put it over crossbow expert, so I'll give you that. But I still wouldn't take either. Would rather take an ASI and fix 2 odd stats instead. That all depends though since we usually roll for stats for campaigns and not point buy. Although I think gunner only increases str and dex where only one needs focused and the other can be dumped. So if your main stat isn't 20 already by lvl 10 I would find that odd.
Agreed. The lone benefit of with the Gunner Feat too situational to warrant spending a precious ASI on it in my opinion. The Thrown Weapon Fighting style is intriguing, but there's likely other choices I would take first.
I don’t think ignoring disadvantage imposed by enemy creatures within melee range is too situational. I find that quite often the DM tends to send minions to diminish the effectiveness of a ranged attackers. The soul knife has a decent ranged option built into its blades by having a 60ft thrown range. Steady aim will still have its uses in a pinch, especially if you find yourself without allies.
gunner gives the soul knife the freedom to continue to target whom ever the party is piling on with a higher degree of efficacy when you are in a disadvantageous position. If your DM isn’t putting you in difficult spots or circumstances then it doesn’t really matter what you do, you’re just going to win.
Soulknife is mechanically no different than getting FREE Crossbow Expert right out the gate. Only, better because it's Psychic damage. It does use your bonus action, which is a downside for Rogues, but it is value added and you can still make great use of it. If Sneak Attack applies to your target, use both attacks. You get two chances to hit and get that SA damage, and two attacks are better than one attack with advantage. If sneak attack does NOT apply, the bonus action hide or use Steady Aim to gain advantage. That way you have the same chance to hit, and you can apply sneak attack.
One Attack with advantage or Two Attacks without advantage are fundamentally the same thing. They either amount to hitting the target or not hitting the Target. However in the case of the soul knife They are less than the same thing for one basic reason. while it's admitted a small difference and much of the damage of the Rogue is from Sneak attack. It is still a difference to be noted between the two attacks.
However if your attacking with Disadvantage. No matter whether you also get advantage on the roll or not. Sneak attack will never apply. Also Advantage on a roll is a way to have sneak attack possible without the aid of others. This also makes one attack with advantage better than 2 seperate attacks without advantage.
If you attack once with advantage, the statistical probability of you hitting the target twice is exactly 0.
Hitting the Target Twice Doesn't matter if the damage from the second strike is small in the grand scheme of things. The primary bonus to having the second attack at range is a second opportunity to apply Sneak Attack. That is all. That is the bulk of the rogue's Damage. Hitting twice without sneak attack is going to be a fraction of the damage that sneak attack would have done off of even the second attack let alone the first attack with it's just barely higher average and max damage potentials. So hitting twice for the rogue means little. Sneak attack is the important component not the number of attacks like other classes. This is what makes it different from other classes. High Variable Damage for Fewer Attacks to get similar results as the classes that do lower less variable damage over More Attacks.
With 18 Dex the second attack does an extra 6.5 damage if it hits. That's better than 0.
Also read the part I wrote in red. If sneak attack does apply, only then use both attacks. Otherwise find a way to gain advantage, via things like hiding or Steady Aim.
Edit: I apologize for the mild sarcasm in my initial response (if you read it), kind of a character flaw of mine. I edited it out.
Someone earlier asked why you would throw a soulknife at 5ft. Soulknife can benefit from both the duelist and thrown fighting styles. In that very special case or even if you simple have only the thrown weapon feat(fighting style?) throwing gets you an extra two damage.
Only reason I can think of.
The main reason is to target a creature other than the one within 5ft. most importantly the creature the party is focusing on. A party spreading their offense over multiple different creatures is much more likely to get hurt and possibly wiped than that same party taking out individually designated creatures together as a team.
another reason is that if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t need to move make use of your cunning action, an attack for 1d4+4 isn’t better than doing nothing.
It being a half feat does put it over crossbow expert, so I'll give you that. But I still wouldn't take either. Would rather take an ASI and fix 2 odd stats instead. That all depends though since we usually roll for stats for campaigns and not point buy. Although I think gunner only increases str and dex where only one needs focused and the other can be dumped. So if your main stat isn't 20 already by lvl 10 I would find that odd.
Agreed. The lone benefit of with the Gunner Feat too situational to warrant spending a precious ASI on it in my opinion. The Thrown Weapon Fighting style is intriguing, but there's likely other choices I would take first.
I don’t think ignoring disadvantage imposed by enemy creatures within melee range is too situational. I find that quite often the DM tends to send minions to diminish the effectiveness of a ranged attackers. The soul knife has a decent ranged option built into its blades by having a 60ft thrown range. Steady aim will still have its uses in a pinch, especially if you find yourself without allies.
gunner gives the soul knife the freedom to continue to target whom ever the party is piling on with a higher degree of efficacy when you are in a disadvantageous position. If your DM isn’t putting you in difficult spots or circumstances then it doesn’t really matter what you do, you’re just going to win.
I'm more thinking in line of having an enemy near you and you don't have an acceptable course of action, e.g. stabbing the guy in melee, or disengaging and moving away to throw at whoever you want.
Edit: I do see the benefit in what you're suggesting. It's certainly convenient. I just don't think it's worth the cost when you have alternate courses of action. Just my opinion. With that said, there aren't a lot of great options for rounding out an odd Dex score. It's not a terrible idea, just not what I would do.
It still scales because of sneak attack, it is similar to having a throwable short-sword and a dagger with the eldritch knights weapon bond by using the psychic blades.
Is there a sage advice that permits the dueling fighting style to stack on top of thrown weapon? I always assumed the dueling fighting style applied to…well… dueling. I see that it doesn’t say you need to make a melee attack, but that seems like an exploit rather than a suggested rule.
edit: by god I found it. I was today years old when I learned that.
Then use Steam Aim. You still get to roll two dice to hit and you apply sneak attack damage.
One Attack with advantage or Two Attacks without advantage are fundamentally the same thing. They either amount to hitting the target or not hitting the Target. However in the case of the soul knife They are less than the same thing for one basic reason. while it's admitted a small difference and much of the damage of the Rogue is from Sneak attack. It is still a difference to be noted between the two attacks.
However if your attacking with Disadvantage. No matter whether you also get advantage on the roll or not. Sneak attack will never apply. Also Advantage on a roll is a way to have sneak attack possible without the aid of others. This also makes one attack with advantage better than 2 seperate attacks without advantage.
Agreed. The lone benefit of with the Gunner Feat too situational to warrant spending a precious ASI on it in my opinion. The Thrown Weapon Fighting style is intriguing, but there's likely other choices I would take first.
If you attack once with advantage, the statistical probability of you hitting the target twice is exactly 0.
Someone earlier asked why you would throw a soulknife at 5ft. Soulknife can benefit from both the duelist and thrown fighting styles. In that very special case or even if you simple have only the thrown weapon feat(fighting style?) throwing gets you an extra two damage.
Only reason I can think of.
Hitting the Target Twice Doesn't matter if the damage from the second strike is small in the grand scheme of things. The primary bonus to having the second attack at range is a second opportunity to apply Sneak Attack. That is all. That is the bulk of the rogue's Damage. Hitting twice without sneak attack is going to be a fraction of the damage that sneak attack would have done off of even the second attack let alone the first attack with it's just barely higher average and max damage potentials. So hitting twice for the rogue means little. Sneak attack is the important component not the number of attacks like other classes. This is what makes it different from other classes. High Variable Damage for Fewer Attacks to get similar results as the classes that do lower less variable damage over More Attacks.
I don’t think ignoring disadvantage imposed by enemy creatures within melee range is too situational. I find that quite often the DM tends to send minions to diminish the effectiveness of a ranged attackers. The soul knife has a decent ranged option built into its blades by having a 60ft thrown range. Steady aim will still have its uses in a pinch, especially if you find yourself without allies.
gunner gives the soul knife the freedom to continue to target whom ever the party is piling on with a higher degree of efficacy when you are in a disadvantageous position. If your DM isn’t putting you in difficult spots or circumstances then it doesn’t really matter what you do, you’re just going to win.
With 18 Dex the second attack does an extra 6.5 damage if it hits. That's better than 0.
Also read the part I wrote in red. If sneak attack does apply, only then use both attacks. Otherwise find a way to gain advantage, via things like hiding or Steady Aim.
Edit: I apologize for the mild sarcasm in my initial response (if you read it), kind of a character flaw of mine. I edited it out.
The main reason is to target a creature other than the one within 5ft. most importantly the creature the party is focusing on. A party spreading their offense over multiple different creatures is much more likely to get hurt and possibly wiped than that same party taking out individually designated creatures together as a team.
another reason is that if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t need to move make use of your cunning action, an attack for 1d4+4 isn’t better than doing nothing.
I'm more thinking in line of having an enemy near you and you don't have an acceptable course of action, e.g. stabbing the guy in melee, or disengaging and moving away to throw at whoever you want.
Edit: I do see the benefit in what you're suggesting. It's certainly convenient. I just don't think it's worth the cost when you have alternate courses of action. Just my opinion. With that said, there aren't a lot of great options for rounding out an odd Dex score. It's not a terrible idea, just not what I would do.
Would have preferred this as a monk subclass. Even though it might fit in with assassin, I see the abilities as monk traits.
It still scales because of sneak attack, it is similar to having a throwable short-sword and a dagger with the eldritch knights weapon bond by using the psychic blades.
Is there a sage advice that permits the dueling fighting style to stack on top of thrown weapon? I always assumed the dueling fighting style applied to…well… dueling. I see that it doesn’t say you need to make a melee attack, but that seems like an exploit rather than a suggested rule.
edit: by god I found it. I was today years old when I learned that.