i wasn't talking about your build, there was a different one using pact weapon, which is, by definition, melee.
Oh that comment was directed at me? Yeah the improved pact weapon invocation let's you use bows with pact of blade. The oathbow has a long range of 600 with no disadvantage thanks to sharpshooter. So it matches eldritch spear with spell sniper, and only distant spell metamagic tops it there.
Hex and hexblade curse only have a range of 30 though, so max damage can only be done within that range.
First- you want a race with a dex and wisdom bonus, ideally a Wood Elf or Variant Human
CR Gunslinger Fighter subclass. Take Archery (+2 to hit) and Violent Shot, and get the highest damage die rifle you can- Ideally Bad News (2d12+1d8 fire on a dex save) or Antimatter Rifle (6d8). You can get this by level 3.
From there you could take Ranger for the reasons you mentioned, but I would actually instead take Rogue for Sneak Attack.
From there you just need another PC or a hireling to use the Help action on you, and you get advantage on the attack roll + Sneak Attack. With Violent Shot you can also increase the damage on ht by your base weapon die in exchange for a +2 to the misfire score, but with high bonuses and advantage you can do this without issue.
Best situation possible, with Bad News at level 4 you could deal 7d12 (Bad News base) + 1d6 (Sneak Attack) + 1d8 (fire, on a dex save) + 5 (dex score) damage, which averages at a 58.5 damage shot with a pretty massive range and +9 to hit with advantage- Not bad!
Even without Bad News you are still looking at potential for 1-6d12+1d6+5 damage on a +9 to hit with advantage at long range- at level 4
Note: If you keep investing into Rogue you end up with +1d6 damage per 2 additional levels. You can also still choose to multiclass into Warlock for Hex or something, but for more raw damage in a single hit Rogue is your best bet.
First- you want a race with a dex and wisdom bonus, ideally a Wood Elf or Variant Human
CR Gunslinger Fighter subclass. Take Archery (+2 to hit) and Violent Shot, and get the highest damage die rifle you can- Ideally Bad News (2d12+1d8 fire on a dex save) or Antimatter Rifle (6d8). You can get this by level 3.
From there you could take Ranger for the reasons you mentioned, but I would actually instead take Rogue for Sneak Attack.
From there you just need another PC or a hireling to use the Help action on you, and you get advantage on the attack roll + Sneak Attack. With Violent Shot you can also increase the damage on ht by your base weapon die in exchange for a +2 to the misfire score, but with high bonuses and advantage you can do this without issue.
Best situation possible, with Bad News at level 4 you could deal 7d12 (Bad News base) + 1d6 (Sneak Attack) + 1d8 (fire, on a dex save) + 5 (dex score) damage, which averages at a 58.5 damage shot with a pretty massive range and +9 to hit with advantage- Not bad!
Your best situation possible has a 42.25% chance of misfiring (65% per roll) which would be an auto miss regardless of hit modifiers. Anything less than a 22 would miss.
It also is reliant on literally priceless and entirely optional weapons to be given to you be the DM.
Gunslinger could still be an option, but not as good at burst damage (violent shot is too risky to use that much in 1 shot).
surprise someone, as snipers do, autocrit on all attacks first round, use surprise together with fighters extra action for 6 attacks, add on hunters mark, maneuvers and sneak attack. Be an elf and take elven precision and use an oathbow
start rolling some serious damage.
You can start with ranger levels, meaning you wont be useless at any point in your career up to 20.
Multiclass Warlock/Sorcerer with the Eldritch Spear Invocation, Spell Sniper Feat, and Distant Spell Metamagic. Your Eldritch Blast now has a range of 1200 feet. The Agonizing Blast Invocation is obligatory, for adding Charisma to every Blast.
Also, take the Quickened Spell Metamagic; within 600 feet you can cast Eldritch Blast at the same target twice on your turn.
The Empowered Metamagic feat can be combined with either of the above to mitigate low damage rolls.
So I'm going with Warlock 2/Sorcerer 10. (or higher)
I would even go so far as to get repelling blast and take 3 in rogue for sneak attack and assassin.. This way you can also push them back up to another 40 feet AND auto crit.
(if you want to go even heavier into multiclassing take 2 in fighter for action surge -- 8 or 16 eldritch blasts at auto crit? and with empowered? oh gosh) oh my... and with haste too?
(for all intents and purposes, mechanically, warlocks are just as much 'snipers' as a ranger with it's long distance EB spamming)
Assassin Rogue with a Long Bow will do it... however...
3 Gloomstalker Rogue and the rest into Scout Rogue is my personal favorite.
Ranger (preferably revised) Primeval Awareness, favored enemy, Hunter's Mark, and natural explorer help you find/track your target. Take the archery fighting style.
Spells like Fog Cloud can help you get away after you assassinate your target. Goodberry keeps you fed while you wait for days, hiding under camouflage waiting for your target.
Gloomstalker Dread Ambusher gives a bonus to initiative rolls, meaning if you can't hit your target from a hidden vantage point, at least it's more likely you'll shoot first. It also buffs your movement on the first turn of of the fight, handy if you need to reposition. You can make an extra shot, in the first round, if your first shot doesn't kill the target, this pairs well with the extra damage from hunter's mark. The extra shot also gives an extra d8 of damage.
You also get the spell disguise self which is amazingly helpful when escaping in escaping the castle after you assassinate the duchess.
The best benefit to this particular ranger is Umbral Sight which makes you straight up invisible to anyone with darkvision while in darkness.
Scout Rogue
I'll just let you read scout rogue, it's pretty obvious why that class lends itself to sniping.
I'd use a long bow since it has the best range, a crossbow would interfere with the second shot gloom stalker gives you. Sharpshooter is a no-brainer. If you begin as a rogue, this combo gives you about 9-11 skill proficiencies depending on your race, which I'd suggest Wood Elf. Expertise in stealth and survival to begin with, maybe athletics(for climbing) as you progress in rogue. The background that lets you remember terrain might be best or even the urban bounty hunter... It's a good idea to swap out one of your tool proficiencies(the phb lets you do this) for proficiency with the poison kit. Poison all your arrows with the best poison you can find.
First- you want a race with a dex and wisdom bonus, ideally a Wood Elf or Variant Human
CR Gunslinger Fighter subclass. Take Archery (+2 to hit) and Violent Shot, and get the highest damage die rifle you can- Ideally Bad News (2d12+1d8 fire on a dex save) or Antimatter Rifle (6d8). You can get this by level 3.
From there you could take Ranger for the reasons you mentioned, but I would actually instead take Rogue for Sneak Attack.
From there you just need another PC or a hireling to use the Help action on you, and you get advantage on the attack roll + Sneak Attack. With Violent Shot you can also increase the damage on ht by your base weapon die in exchange for a +2 to the misfire score, but with high bonuses and advantage you can do this without issue.
Best situation possible, with Bad News at level 4 you could deal 7d12 (Bad News base) + 1d6 (Sneak Attack) + 1d8 (fire, on a dex save) + 5 (dex score) damage, which averages at a 58.5 damage shot with a pretty massive range and +9 to hit with advantage- Not bad!
Your best situation possible has a 42.25% chance of misfiring (65% per roll) which would be an auto miss regardless of hit modifiers. Anything less than a 22 would miss.
It also is reliant on literally priceless and entirely optional weapons to be given to you be the DM.
Gunslinger could still be an option, but not as good at burst damage (violent shot is too risky to use that much in 1 shot).
Checked misfire rules, had thought it was the attack roll (not the die roll). Even then, you can still add +1 or +2 base weapon damage reliably. Realistically this is probably what you would want to do either way, unless
I used Bad News as an example of the max damage potential- of course it's high and dependent on the DM allowing it.
If you don't have access to Bad News, you can still get a Hunting Rifle (2d12), Exandria Rifle (1d12, 4 shot reload), or Musket (1d12). Even with just the Musket you are looking at 2-3d12 + Sneak Attack + Mods, all available by level 4, and then with levels in Rogue or Ranger you can scale that through levels quite a bit.
Multiclass Warlock/Sorcerer with the Eldritch Spear Invocation, Spell Sniper Feat, and Distant Spell Metamagic. Your Eldritch Blast now has a range of 1200 feet. The Agonizing Blast Invocation is obligatory, for adding Charisma to every Blast.
Also, take the Quickened Spell Metamagic; within 600 feet you can cast Eldritch Blast at the same target twice on your turn.
The Empowered Metamagic feat can be combined with either of the above to mitigate low damage rolls.
So I'm going with Warlock 2/Sorcerer 10. (or higher)
I would even go so far as to get repelling blast and take 3 in rogue for sneak attack and assassin.. This way you can also push them back up to another 40 feet AND auto crit.
RAW says for sneak attack “... must use a ranged or finesse weapon” So it would not stack with the other EB damage, but the assassinate feature would work nicely for advantage. You only get the auto-crit if the target is surprised.
First- you want a race with a dex and wisdom bonus, ideally a Wood Elf or Variant Human
CR Gunslinger Fighter subclass. Take Archery (+2 to hit) and Violent Shot, and get the highest damage die rifle you can- Ideally Bad News (2d12+1d8 fire on a dex save) or Antimatter Rifle (6d8). You can get this by level 3.
From there you could take Ranger for the reasons you mentioned, but I would actually instead take Rogue for Sneak Attack.
From there you just need another PC or a hireling to use the Help action on you, and you get advantage on the attack roll + Sneak Attack. With Violent Shot you can also increase the damage on ht by your base weapon die in exchange for a +2 to the misfire score, but with high bonuses and advantage you can do this without issue.
Best situation possible, with Bad News at level 4 you could deal 7d12 (Bad News base) + 1d6 (Sneak Attack) + 1d8 (fire, on a dex save) + 5 (dex score) damage, which averages at a 58.5 damage shot with a pretty massive range and +9 to hit with advantage- Not bad!
Even without Bad News you are still looking at potential for 1-6d12+1d6+5 damage on a +9 to hit with advantage at long range- at level 4
Note: If you keep investing into Rogue you end up with +1d6 damage per 2 additional levels. You can also still choose to multiclass into Warlock for Hex or something, but for more raw damage in a single hit Rogue is your best bet.
This is actually one scenario where I would recommend taking Assassin. Getting Surprise is a little easier when you are 400+ feet away.
If you are successful, you then don't even need the Help action - you get advantage, and you get double mileage out of violent shot. Twice the reward, half the risk. At level 6, assuming 16s in Dex and Wisdom, you're looking at ~99 damage with your first shot. Damage will be much higher with better Wisdom or a bigger gun than the musket. After that you can Action Surge, swap guns, and get more assassinate shots. No more sneak attack but you still get advantage and auto crits with whatever you switch to.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
My Sniper build character is a Variant Human (crossbow expert) Ranger (Gloomstalker) with Archery fighting style took (sharpshooter at 4) lvl 5, then Rogue and is going Inquisitive for the ability to not require advantage for surprise attack. Will take the Skulker feat when he can.
A sniper needs to be able to deal massive damage from a distance as well as never be seen or caught, at the same time it needs to be useful when you are not sitting on a tree waiting for your target.
For race, Bugbear from MotM, a sniper strikes first and strikes hard, so the Bugbears surprise attack adds a ton of damage to your target before they can take action, while it’s sneaky trait gives you stealth and lets you fit in small spaces. The genie Warlock adds your proficiency in damage to an attack that hits once per turn, which in addition to the agonizing blast means your first strike just at warlock 2 is 1d10 + 2d6 + Cha mod + Proficiency. As you level and your eldrich blast gets extra bolts, each attack after before enemies move is another 1d10 + 2d6 + cha. Eldrich spear gives you the 300 range, and combining with spell sniper for a feat nets you 600 feat. Add in meta magic for distant spell from the sorcerer and that is 1200 feet, so that fulfills the max range at the best max damage you could get. Getting quickened spell let’s you cast 2 eldrich blasts per round, so if you start with enemies as close as 600 feet, you can deal out even more. Because of the sorlock package you can pump out a good deal of damage.
For stealth and accessibility, the pact of the chain and genie vessel (I would go for a ring) essentially allow you to have your familiar imp go invisible and take you just about anywhere if you need to infiltrate, while if your waiting out, and haven’t used it gives you a handy escape route after you nuke your target from 1200 feet away.
By dipping into twilight Cleric, you get martial weapons and heavy armor, dark vision out to 300 feet, and the very handy vigilant blessing, which gives you advantage on initiative. It also gives you access to the entire 1st level cleric spell list via the prepare spells you can switch out, as well as sleep and fairy fire, which is lets you change out utility type spells like detect magic, but also lets you pick the all important guidance cantrips, which along with applying a bonuses to all your skill rolls, applies to initiative to ensure you get your first round nukes off. there is also an argument to be made to dip into a second level of Twilight for the twilight sanctuary, giving temp hot points every round to everyone you choose who ends there turn (including you) within 60 feet.
By picking the divine soul sorcerer, you have many more options for healing or utility to customize with, bless, clairvoyance, locate object are all spells that give you more value and go into the theme of a sniper, while spells like spirit guardian are options for giving those who manage to get too close to you a headache.
For magic items, I would probably get eyes of the eagle, which obvious fits the snipers need. Because you have a familiar, a ring of spell storage would be great, cast a bunch of bless spells into it and attach it to your imp to cast it on you while you, freeing up your concentration for any other spells you’re looking to use.
this is a very basic package to work with, but I think it has some potential to be fun.
oh, huh
i just odered xanathar's from amazon, so i guess i'll see tomorrow
I did NOT eat those hikers.
Oh that comment was directed at me? Yeah the improved pact weapon invocation let's you use bows with pact of blade. The oathbow has a long range of 600 with no disadvantage thanks to sharpshooter. So it matches eldritch spear with spell sniper, and only distant spell metamagic tops it there.
Hex and hexblade curse only have a range of 30 though, so max damage can only be done within that range.
First- you want a race with a dex and wisdom bonus, ideally a Wood Elf or Variant Human
CR Gunslinger Fighter subclass. Take Archery (+2 to hit) and Violent Shot, and get the highest damage die rifle you can- Ideally Bad News (2d12+1d8 fire on a dex save) or Antimatter Rifle (6d8). You can get this by level 3.
From there you could take Ranger for the reasons you mentioned, but I would actually instead take Rogue for Sneak Attack.
From there you just need another PC or a hireling to use the Help action on you, and you get advantage on the attack roll + Sneak Attack. With Violent Shot you can also increase the damage on ht by your base weapon die in exchange for a +2 to the misfire score, but with high bonuses and advantage you can do this without issue.
Best situation possible, with Bad News at level 4 you could deal 7d12 (Bad News base) + 1d6 (Sneak Attack) + 1d8 (fire, on a dex save) + 5 (dex score) damage, which averages at a 58.5 damage shot with a pretty massive range and +9 to hit with advantage- Not bad!
Even without Bad News you are still looking at potential for 1-6d12+1d6+5 damage on a +9 to hit with advantage at long range- at level 4
Note: If you keep investing into Rogue you end up with +1d6 damage per 2 additional levels. You can also still choose to multiclass into Warlock for Hex or something, but for more raw damage in a single hit Rogue is your best bet.
Your best situation possible has a 42.25% chance of misfiring (65% per roll) which would be an auto miss regardless of hit modifiers. Anything less than a 22 would miss.
It also is reliant on literally priceless and entirely optional weapons to be given to you be the DM.
Gunslinger could still be an option, but not as good at burst damage (violent shot is too risky to use that much in 1 shot).
Pretty sure you messed up on math, bud. With Violent Shot, anything less than a 5 will be a Misfire (and 5 itself), not 22.
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Gloomstalker5/battlemaster3/assassin11/Something1
surprise someone, as snipers do, autocrit on all attacks first round, use surprise together with fighters extra action for 6 attacks, add on hunters mark, maneuvers and sneak attack. Be an elf and take elven precision and use an oathbow
start rolling some serious damage.
You can start with ranger levels, meaning you wont be useless at any point in your career up to 20.
I would even go so far as to get repelling blast and take 3 in rogue for sneak attack and assassin.. This way you can also push them back up to another 40 feet AND auto crit.
(if you want to go even heavier into multiclassing take 2 in fighter for action surge -- 8 or 16 eldritch blasts at auto crit? and with empowered? oh gosh) oh my... and with haste too?
(for all intents and purposes, mechanically, warlocks are just as much 'snipers' as a ranger with it's long distance EB spamming)
Assassin Rogue with a Long Bow will do it... however...
3 Gloomstalker Rogue and the rest into Scout Rogue is my personal favorite.
Ranger (preferably revised)
Primeval Awareness, favored enemy, Hunter's Mark, and natural explorer help you find/track your target. Take the archery fighting style.
Spells like Fog Cloud can help you get away after you assassinate your target. Goodberry keeps you fed while you wait for days, hiding under camouflage waiting for your target.
Gloomstalker
Dread Ambusher gives a bonus to initiative rolls, meaning if you can't hit your target from a hidden vantage point, at least it's more likely you'll shoot first. It also buffs your movement on the first turn of of the fight, handy if you need to reposition. You can make an extra shot, in the first round, if your first shot doesn't kill the target, this pairs well with the extra damage from hunter's mark. The extra shot also gives an extra d8 of damage.
You also get the spell disguise self which is amazingly helpful when escaping in escaping the castle after you assassinate the duchess.
The best benefit to this particular ranger is Umbral Sight which makes you straight up invisible to anyone with darkvision while in darkness.
Scout Rogue
I'll just let you read scout rogue, it's pretty obvious why that class lends itself to sniping.
I'd use a long bow since it has the best range, a crossbow would interfere with the second shot gloom stalker gives you. Sharpshooter is a no-brainer. If you begin as a rogue, this combo gives you about 9-11 skill proficiencies depending on your race, which I'd suggest Wood Elf. Expertise in stealth and survival to begin with, maybe athletics(for climbing) as you progress in rogue. The background that lets you remember terrain might be best or even the urban bounty hunter... It's a good idea to swap out one of your tool proficiencies(the phb lets you do this) for proficiency with the poison kit. Poison all your arrows with the best poison you can find.
Checked misfire rules, had thought it was the attack roll (not the die roll). Even then, you can still add +1 or +2 base weapon damage reliably. Realistically this is probably what you would want to do either way, unless
I used Bad News as an example of the max damage potential- of course it's high and dependent on the DM allowing it.
If you don't have access to Bad News, you can still get a Hunting Rifle (2d12), Exandria Rifle (1d12, 4 shot reload), or Musket (1d12). Even with just the Musket you are looking at 2-3d12 + Sneak Attack + Mods, all available by level 4, and then with levels in Rogue or Ranger you can scale that through levels quite a bit.
RAW says for sneak attack “... must use a ranged or finesse weapon” So it would not stack with the other EB damage, but the assassinate feature would work nicely for advantage. You only get the auto-crit if the target is surprised.
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This is actually one scenario where I would recommend taking Assassin. Getting Surprise is a little easier when you are 400+ feet away.
If you are successful, you then don't even need the Help action - you get advantage, and you get double mileage out of violent shot. Twice the reward, half the risk. At level 6, assuming 16s in Dex and Wisdom, you're looking at ~99 damage with your first shot. Damage will be much higher with better Wisdom or a bigger gun than the musket. After that you can Action Surge, swap guns, and get more assassinate shots. No more sneak attack but you still get advantage and auto crits with whatever you switch to.
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
My Sniper build character is a Variant Human (crossbow expert) Ranger (Gloomstalker) with Archery fighting style took (sharpshooter at 4) lvl 5, then Rogue and is going Inquisitive for the ability to not require advantage for surprise attack. Will take the Skulker feat when he can.
A sniper needs to be able to deal massive damage from a distance as well as never be seen or caught, at the same time it needs to be useful when you are not sitting on a tree waiting for your target.
So I’m thinking Genie Warlock 3/Divine soul sorcerer X/Twilight Cleric 1
For race, Bugbear from MotM, a sniper strikes first and strikes hard, so the Bugbears surprise attack adds a ton of damage to your target before they can take action, while it’s sneaky trait gives you stealth and lets you fit in small spaces. The genie Warlock adds your proficiency in damage to an attack that hits once per turn, which in addition to the agonizing blast means your first strike just at warlock 2 is 1d10 + 2d6 + Cha mod + Proficiency. As you level and your eldrich blast gets extra bolts, each attack after before enemies move is another 1d10 + 2d6 + cha. Eldrich spear gives you the 300 range, and combining with spell sniper for a feat nets you 600 feat. Add in meta magic for distant spell from the sorcerer and that is 1200 feet, so that fulfills the max range at the best max damage you could get. Getting quickened spell let’s you cast 2 eldrich blasts per round, so if you start with enemies as close as 600 feet, you can deal out even more. Because of the sorlock package you can pump out a good deal of damage.
For stealth and accessibility, the pact of the chain and genie vessel (I would go for a ring) essentially allow you to have your familiar imp go invisible and take you just about anywhere if you need to infiltrate, while if your waiting out, and haven’t used it gives you a handy escape route after you nuke your target from 1200 feet away.
By dipping into twilight Cleric, you get martial weapons and heavy armor, dark vision out to 300 feet, and the very handy vigilant blessing, which gives you advantage on initiative. It also gives you access to the entire 1st level cleric spell list via the prepare spells you can switch out, as well as sleep and fairy fire, which is lets you change out utility type spells like detect magic, but also lets you pick the all important guidance cantrips, which along with applying a bonuses to all your skill rolls, applies to initiative to ensure you get your first round nukes off. there is also an argument to be made to dip into a second level of Twilight for the twilight sanctuary, giving temp hot points every round to everyone you choose who ends there turn (including you) within 60 feet.
By picking the divine soul sorcerer, you have many more options for healing or utility to customize with, bless, clairvoyance, locate object are all spells that give you more value and go into the theme of a sniper, while spells like spirit guardian are options for giving those who manage to get too close to you a headache.
For magic items, I would probably get eyes of the eagle, which obvious fits the snipers need. Because you have a familiar, a ring of spell storage would be great, cast a bunch of bless spells into it and attach it to your imp to cast it on you while you, freeing up your concentration for any other spells you’re looking to use.
this is a very basic package to work with, but I think it has some potential to be fun.
Fighter Samurai gets three attacks per turn with advantage (six with action surge).
Add in Sharpshooter and the Archery Fighting Style, and you can rack up some serious damage in a round.