Without doing too much meta gaming I am wondering if it would make sense to multiclass my Human Gloom Stalker Ranger. He is currently level 5 and I am thinking about taken either 2 levels in Rogue or Fighter the next couple of times we level up.
For rogue I would be looking to get the benefits from Sneak Attack and Cunning action. With the Fighter I was looking to get Second Wind or Action Surge.
At level 4 I took the ability score improvement, so at the moments I have no "feats" (Should I have picked Sharp Shooter or the x-bow feat??)
Currently I feel my stats are very good (We rolled the dice creating chars and I was lucky), and therefor I think I could support another class.
Str: 16 Dex: 18 Con: 14 Int: 13 Wis: 18 Cha: 11
As I have never before multi classed a char I played, I would like to get some recommendations from you. Would you do it? Or should I keep him as a pure Gloom stalker? What is your preferred multiclass for a Ranger and what pros/cons do you see?
A 2 level Fighter dip would work well for you. Action Surge is awesome, whilst Second Wind is a free heal. The extra fighting style could be helpful, depending on what you took for the ranger equivalent. Since you mentioned ranged feats, I'm guessing you use a bow, so Defense fighting style nets you +1 AC for free.
A 2 level Rogue dip is a solid pick, but not for sneak attack, since you need to keep taking rogue levels to build it up. You'll get a more consistent bonus damage from Hunter's Mark. Everything else about it would be gravy, though. Expertise in two skills is huge. If you took the Deft Explorer optional class feature for your ranger, that's expertise in another skill. Cunning Action on a ranged character helps you stay at range.
Between the two, I'd pick Rogue. Expertise in three skills makes for a decent skill monkey, plus expertise in Perception would go a long way to keeping your party safe by avoiding ambushes and traps. A bonus action Dash or Disengage will be very useful for you during combat. Bonus action Hide isn't as useful since you could bonus action Nature's Veil, then standard action Hide to disappear mid-combat and stay hidden. Plus, you get bonus action Hide anyways at Ranger 14.
Honestly, there wouldn't be many drawbacks for you. Delaying Favored Enemy and Natural / Deft Explorer improvements isn't much unless you really need to adapt to a particular environment. Delaying Iron Mind isn't so bad unless you're facing a ton of Wisdom save. Delaying your next ASI isn't so bad with stats like yours. Delaying Land's Stride won't matter since you can bonus action Dash. You'd still get all of your Gloom Stalker benefits, too. Missing out on Foe Slayer and your final ASI isn't the end of the world.
Really, how much those delays matter depends upon how high a level you figure you'll reach with this character. I'd say go for it.
The Rogue is probably the best class to multiclass from the perspective of making your Ranger a better Ranger. Fighter is still a good option though it takes more than 2 levels of Fighter to be a better Ranger unless your focus as a Ranger is strictly combat capabilities.
The Gloom Stalker has pretty good features, though the base Ranger features in between those are generally less satisfying and underwhelming.
A Ranger5/Rogue2 has Cunning Action and can cast Pass Without A Trace.
Pass Without A Trace gives the same benefits as a 10th level Ranger's Hide In Plain Sight and part of a 14th level Ranger's Vanish. It only takes an action instead of 1 minute to gain the benefits, it applies to everyone within 30 ft of you instead of only you, and the benefits don't go away because you moved or attacked. It lasts for an hour or until you lose concentration, Hide in Plain Sight technically lasts until you take a shower after the initial 1 minute of applying the camouflage.
Cunning Action gives you the rest of the benefits of Vanish and then some. Whereas Vanish only allows you to use a bonus action Hide, Cunning Action does this while also doing the same for Dodge and Dash.
So with one second-level spell slot, you have better features at level 7 than a Ranger gains at level 10 and 14. And You gain the Gloom Stalker's next features at level 11 and 15, AFTER you have already gained the base Ranger's weaker features that can easily be replicated by a two-level dip in Rogue.
You still have Hunter's Mark that you now combine with Sneak Attack when the conditions are met.
And on top of this, you still gain Sneak Attack, Expertise, Thieve's Cant, a Rogue skill, and Thieve's Tool proficiency.
Multiclassing Fighter doesn't give you any direct comparison as far as replacing high-level Ranger features by level 7. It will give you more consistent benefits vs being a higher level Ranger as so many of the Ranger's good benefits are highly conditional. A Fighting Style is always active. An Action Surge or Second Wind will always work when you want to use it.
Your Gloom Stalker's extra attack with Dread Ambush applies to your Action Surge. So if you use your Action Surge the first round of combat, combined with the Extra Attack of being a 5th level Ranger, your first turn of combat can have 6 attacks at level 7. Be sure to specify which attacks are the Extra Attack feature and which are the Dread Ambush feature to apply the extra 1d8 damage on hit.
The rest of the benefits vs loss is a little dependant upon how long the campaign is going to last and whether or not you have talked to your DM in terms of Favored Terrain/Enemy or if you haven't and you wanna take that gamble. If you have talked to your DM to ensure that you will be in your favored terrain or will face your Favored Enemy enough times to where your features see regular use, then going full Ranger will be fine if those benefits are appealing to you. If you are unsure whether or not you will have the opportunity to utilize them, then multiclassing ensures more consistency and opportunity in using your features.
There isn't a comparable feature here to Iron Mind. And if you still plan to take 7 levels in Ranger after multiclassing then the path to get there only matters at the moment. It's just asking yourself do you want Wisdom Save proficiency or attack buffs or damage buffs or AC buffs or conditional travel/social buffs or spell slots or whatever sooner. Either way, you will eventually be Ranger7/Rogue2 or Ranger7/Fighter2.
The variant features from Tasha's negate some of the issues with the base Ranger.
In this sense, the Blind Fighting Style, if you haven't already taken it as a level 2 Ranger, can be taken as a level 1 Fighter and it effectively replaces the level 18 Ranger's Feral Senses feature.
Canny gives you expertise in one skill plus two languages. This can be seen as equivalent to a Rogue's Expertise. Do you want 2 skills doubled or one skill doubled plus two languages, assuming you did not multiclass to gain 3 skills doubled plus 2 languages (3 with Thieve's Cant)?
A 6th level Tasha's Variant Ranger gets Roving, so you will always have a +5 ft of movement. Combined with the Gloom Stalker's Dread Ambush it further increases the chances of getting yourself into position to attack an enemy on the first round of combat. All of this combined assuming you multiclass but also take 6th levels in Ranger further helps to set up for your Rogue's Sneak Attack.
Roving doesn't have a replacement feature at these lower-level multiclassing options, but it is an always active feature (you also gain permanent swim and climb speed), and it can be considered a utility option if that is your preference in place of Action Surge or Cunning Action, but also works with either of them.
Favored Foe vs. Sneak Attack is a difficult comparison. If you're multiclassing you can of course use both, but Sneak Attack can be used every single turn in which the conditions apply, whereas Favored Foe ends if you lose concentration and can't be used if you are out of uses for the day. FF also requires your bonus action for the turn, so no bonus action spells or Cunning Action, or Two-Weapon Fighting. Its damage bonus at level 6 is the same as a Sneak Attack at level 1 and scales very poorly compared to Sneak Attack if consistent damage buffs every turn is your main concern.
Thank you both for very good inputs! We are playing "Storm Kings Thunder" and I have Giant as my favored enemy :) - I guess this adventure will end with characters around lvl 13-15, so I wouldnt get to lvl 20 on the Ranger anyhow. I think I will be looking into the Rogues path and gain 2 rogue levels before advancing further on the Ranger.
(Note I edited my last post to reflect some of Tasha's options)
Since you're in a module with many predetermined creature types and terrains then the base Ranger will get plenty of use out of their primary features. You likely will not face any issue whatsoever when it comes to the issues with the Ranger at lower levels.
Hide In Plain Sight and Vanish are still outshined by a Rogue's Cunning Action combined with the Pass Without A Trace spell. The Tasha's variant for Hide In Plain Sight will actually be a very good option and help to ensure your Sneak Attack more often. There is no variant for Vanish, so those two levels in Rogue will make up for Vanish, and since you already have Giants as a FE then for that level you are only missing the option of another FE for something that you hope to face rather than what you know you will face (unless the DM tells you ahead of time).
The 15th level of Ranger is generally a good level for most Ranger subclasses if you make it that far. Shadowy Dodge is a big Gloom Stalker feature to miss out on, and the base Ranger still gets another known spell and a 4th level spell slot. It is all of the levels leading up to 15 that make it so disappointing to put such an investment into a full Ranger, but multiclassing will almost always make up for it.
I would also take the Primal Awareness variant instead of Primeval Awareness any day.
Tasha's did a lot for Rangers but think levels 6-8 are still really underwhelming. Level 9 loses a lot of its luster as well if you're not looking to use conjure animals. I'm personally a big fan of using Ranger 5 as the basis for a martial build. You get a lot out of it. The gloomstalker in particular is very frontloaded.
I'm going to give a big recommendation to dip both Fighter AND Rogue and leave Ranger at 5 for the rest of your career. Rogue is excellent for developing your out of combat skills while Fighter turns you into a shred freak. Action Surge + Dread Ambush is very powerful. Eldritch Knight, Echo Knight and Battlemaster all bring a lot to the build with their level 3 archetype features as well.
I would start by taking fighter to flesh out your combat potential. I'd probably take it to 4 to unlock the archetype and get an ASI in a relatively timely manner. From there I would finish the build with rogue levels until the end of the campaign. The level 15 ranger features are good, but we're talking about the tail end of the campaign (that may never happen) with many dead levels in between when dipping fighter and then rogue gives you exciting features every level.
I think you would be really happy with a build that ends up looking like this:
Ranger 5/ Fighter 4/ Rogue 6
Playing around with archetype choices for both fighter and rogue leads to some nice optionality. And don't worry about metagaming. There is nothing wrong with planning out your build so that you have a fun and satisfying experience. Metagaming is using outside knowledge during the roleplay experience.
I may have missed it. But I think there is an important question here. What's your style in combat and how do you approach it? Sneak attack is nice but it's useless after a certain distance. If your long range and Sneak Attack is your only reason for considering Rogue. Then it's pointless to take rogue because your preference is probably for a distance longer than that.
I may have missed it. But I think there is an important question here. What's your style in combat and how do you approach it? Sneak attack is nice but it's useless after a certain distance. If your long range and Sneak Attack is your only reason for considering Rogue. Then it's pointless to take rogue because your preference is probably for a distance longer than that.
Sorry yes, it seems this is left out. I have the Archery style and I want to play this guy as ranged attacker that only uses melee attacks if caught off guard. So I would always try to use my longbow or x-bow for attacks.
One important thing I'd like to note is that while I suggested going into fighter first there's nothing that says you have to. You could definitely go for some rogue levels first and then shoot to pick up action surge around the same time that a straight fighter would get their third attack. Honestly, I like that just as much if not more because it solidifies and expands your toolkit for the rest of the campaign. Fighter is mostly just a force multiplier to your combat abilities. The more I think about it the more I like taking rogue for 2-4 levels and then going into fighter for 4 levels, returning to rogue again if the campaign length permits.
I think you have a lot of fun possibilities to consider if you're going for the double dip. Eldritch Knight + Arcane Trickster is super fun for a bunch of cantrips and some more minor spellcasting and trickery. Echo Knight + Assassin is awesome for building a shadow stalker. Battlemaster + Scout is excellent for building a tactical survivalist with minimal magic. Obviously there are even more archetypes and combinations of them, on top of choosing what progression to go with. A lot to be excited about.
Edit: Responding to what was posted while I was posting. Sneak Attack doesn't have a range limit in 5e. You're fine landing sneak attacks with the longbow and even have the new steady aim to help set up advantage if necessary.
Sneak Attack will apply within the weapon's normal range (the first number in the parenthesis). Any ranged weapon fighter without Sneak Attack is going to do their best to be within normal range so as not to impose disadvantage on their attack, which would also negate Sneak Attack.
You do not need to use your full movement at once. You can move a little, such as to get within the normal range for a ranged weapon attack, allowing you to attack normally, and apply Sneak Attack if the other conditions are met. Then use the rest of your movement to move away to a safer position.
Rogue's have Cunning Action to give them more movement per turn if they need it. Gloom Stalker's have an extra 10 ft. on the first round of combat. The Roving variant for the Ranger in Tasha's gives an extra 5 ft of movement.
The Sharpshooter feat completely removes long-range penalties, meaning you can attack from 600ft away at no penalty using a longbow. If the other conditions for Sneak Attack are met during this attack, then you get to apply Sneak Attack damage at 600 ft. away.
I wasn't even considering attacking from outside the normal range denying advantage. Saying a class is bad at archery because it can't attack from outside the weapon's normal range is...silly.
Especially considering sharpshooter is a feat that every archer ends up taking.
Well outlined Korbin_Orion. Between cunning action, action surge and gloomstalker/ranger movement boosts this is going to be one mobile character. Strafing techniques will be no problem.
Okay, I'm fully convinced you should go rogue first now. Expertise and Cunning action will be less exciting at levels 10-12, but picking them up now will be very nice. Ranger 5/ Rogue 3 will feel like a fully formed character with a diverse and exciting kit, at which point the fighter dip serves to keep your power scaling up in a way that synergizes incredibly well with the gloomstalker base.
With your ability scores, you're ridiculously overpowered from the start, so I wouldn't worry too much about hyper-tuning your build. You're going to excel no matter what you do. Go with what's fun and what fits the campaign. I'm currently playing a gloom stalker (level 14) and I just took an RP dip in twilight cleric and it was the best RP decision I could have made. I've spent years running around with my companions as the "death from the shadows" type. Always encouraging my party to "wait until nightfall" before we head out on a mission (which the human paladin always argues against) and I've truly enjoyed RPing my ranger as "a little tense" during the daytime because he feels a bit vulnerable and once the sun drops into the horizon, his tension eases and he's more relaxed and jovial. Now, with the twilight cleric dip (thanks to the support of his local temple), he can share a small piece of what makes him feel so at home in the darkness (Eyes of Night) and the paladin is declaring "so THIS is what your fuss was all about... I LIKE it!". The RP is delicious.
Ranger is a beautiful class to multiclass with. The basic rules ranger leans a bit more toward RP. With the new options in TCoE, your ranger can easily lean into mechanical superiority. It's all good. You'll play a multitude of characters over your D&D career. Not every one needs to be super-optimized for you to enjoy it. Dive into the RP and let the story guide your choices. It's eminently more rewarding when your choices have history and story behind them.
Rogues now have Steady Aim. I would go that rout (all the way), but neither (Rogue or Fighter) is a bad choice. The sneak attack damage will continue to build as you gain levels. With fighter at level 5 you'll gain nothing but hit points. Rogue adds all kinds of really useful abilities that synergize nicely, too many to mention.
It should also be pointed out that sticking pure Gloomstalker is a solid option too!
With those base stats you can take something like skilled expert feat to get roguish level skills.
At level 11 you effectively get a third attack with the feature that allows you to try again if you miss. Multi classing will delay this, even if you go fighter, you won't get this till much later
Hi,
Without doing too much meta gaming I am wondering if it would make sense to multiclass my Human Gloom Stalker Ranger.
He is currently level 5 and I am thinking about taken either 2 levels in Rogue or Fighter the next couple of times we level up.
For rogue I would be looking to get the benefits from Sneak Attack and Cunning action.
With the Fighter I was looking to get Second Wind or Action Surge.
At level 4 I took the ability score improvement, so at the moments I have no "feats" (Should I have picked Sharp Shooter or the x-bow feat??)
Currently I feel my stats are very good (We rolled the dice creating chars and I was lucky), and therefor I think I could support another class.
Str: 16
Dex: 18
Con: 14
Int: 13
Wis: 18
Cha: 11
As I have never before multi classed a char I played, I would like to get some recommendations from you. Would you do it? Or should I keep him as a pure Gloom stalker?
What is your preferred multiclass for a Ranger and what pros/cons do you see?
Thanks a lot in advance for your advice!
/Zayin
A 2 level Fighter dip would work well for you. Action Surge is awesome, whilst Second Wind is a free heal.
The extra fighting style could be helpful, depending on what you took for the ranger equivalent. Since you mentioned ranged feats, I'm guessing you use a bow, so Defense fighting style nets you +1 AC for free.
A 2 level Rogue dip is a solid pick, but not for sneak attack, since you need to keep taking rogue levels to build it up. You'll get a more consistent bonus damage from Hunter's Mark.
Everything else about it would be gravy, though. Expertise in two skills is huge. If you took the Deft Explorer optional class feature for your ranger, that's expertise in another skill.
Cunning Action on a ranged character helps you stay at range.
Between the two, I'd pick Rogue. Expertise in three skills makes for a decent skill monkey, plus expertise in Perception would go a long way to keeping your party safe by avoiding ambushes and traps. A bonus action Dash or Disengage will be very useful for you during combat. Bonus action Hide isn't as useful since you could bonus action Nature's Veil, then standard action Hide to disappear mid-combat and stay hidden. Plus, you get bonus action Hide anyways at Ranger 14.
Honestly, there wouldn't be many drawbacks for you. Delaying Favored Enemy and Natural / Deft Explorer improvements isn't much unless you really need to adapt to a particular environment. Delaying Iron Mind isn't so bad unless you're facing a ton of Wisdom save. Delaying your next ASI isn't so bad with stats like yours. Delaying Land's Stride won't matter since you can bonus action Dash. You'd still get all of your Gloom Stalker benefits, too. Missing out on Foe Slayer and your final ASI isn't the end of the world.
Really, how much those delays matter depends upon how high a level you figure you'll reach with this character. I'd say go for it.
The Rogue is probably the best class to multiclass from the perspective of making your Ranger a better Ranger. Fighter is still a good option though it takes more than 2 levels of Fighter to be a better Ranger unless your focus as a Ranger is strictly combat capabilities.
The Gloom Stalker has pretty good features, though the base Ranger features in between those are generally less satisfying and underwhelming.
A Ranger5/Rogue2 has Cunning Action and can cast Pass Without A Trace.
Pass Without A Trace gives the same benefits as a 10th level Ranger's Hide In Plain Sight and part of a 14th level Ranger's Vanish. It only takes an action instead of 1 minute to gain the benefits, it applies to everyone within 30 ft of you instead of only you, and the benefits don't go away because you moved or attacked. It lasts for an hour or until you lose concentration, Hide in Plain Sight technically lasts until you take a shower after the initial 1 minute of applying the camouflage.
Cunning Action gives you the rest of the benefits of Vanish and then some. Whereas Vanish only allows you to use a bonus action Hide, Cunning Action does this while also doing the same for Dodge and Dash.
So with one second-level spell slot, you have better features at level 7 than a Ranger gains at level 10 and 14. And You gain the Gloom Stalker's next features at level 11 and 15, AFTER you have already gained the base Ranger's weaker features that can easily be replicated by a two-level dip in Rogue.
You still have Hunter's Mark that you now combine with Sneak Attack when the conditions are met.
And on top of this, you still gain Sneak Attack, Expertise, Thieve's Cant, a Rogue skill, and Thieve's Tool proficiency.
Multiclassing Fighter doesn't give you any direct comparison as far as replacing high-level Ranger features by level 7. It will give you more consistent benefits vs being a higher level Ranger as so many of the Ranger's good benefits are highly conditional. A Fighting Style is always active. An Action Surge or Second Wind will always work when you want to use it.
Your Gloom Stalker's extra attack with Dread Ambush applies to your Action Surge. So if you use your Action Surge the first round of combat, combined with the Extra Attack of being a 5th level Ranger, your first turn of combat can have 6 attacks at level 7. Be sure to specify which attacks are the Extra Attack feature and which are the Dread Ambush feature to apply the extra 1d8 damage on hit.
The rest of the benefits vs loss is a little dependant upon how long the campaign is going to last and whether or not you have talked to your DM in terms of Favored Terrain/Enemy or if you haven't and you wanna take that gamble. If you have talked to your DM to ensure that you will be in your favored terrain or will face your Favored Enemy enough times to where your features see regular use, then going full Ranger will be fine if those benefits are appealing to you. If you are unsure whether or not you will have the opportunity to utilize them, then multiclassing ensures more consistency and opportunity in using your features.
There isn't a comparable feature here to Iron Mind. And if you still plan to take 7 levels in Ranger after multiclassing then the path to get there only matters at the moment. It's just asking yourself do you want Wisdom Save proficiency or attack buffs or damage buffs or AC buffs or conditional travel/social buffs or spell slots or whatever sooner. Either way, you will eventually be Ranger7/Rogue2 or Ranger7/Fighter2.
The variant features from Tasha's negate some of the issues with the base Ranger.
In this sense, the Blind Fighting Style, if you haven't already taken it as a level 2 Ranger, can be taken as a level 1 Fighter and it effectively replaces the level 18 Ranger's Feral Senses feature.
Canny gives you expertise in one skill plus two languages. This can be seen as equivalent to a Rogue's Expertise. Do you want 2 skills doubled or one skill doubled plus two languages, assuming you did not multiclass to gain 3 skills doubled plus 2 languages (3 with Thieve's Cant)?
A 6th level Tasha's Variant Ranger gets Roving, so you will always have a +5 ft of movement. Combined with the Gloom Stalker's Dread Ambush it further increases the chances of getting yourself into position to attack an enemy on the first round of combat. All of this combined assuming you multiclass but also take 6th levels in Ranger further helps to set up for your Rogue's Sneak Attack.
Roving doesn't have a replacement feature at these lower-level multiclassing options, but it is an always active feature (you also gain permanent swim and climb speed), and it can be considered a utility option if that is your preference in place of Action Surge or Cunning Action, but also works with either of them.
Favored Foe vs. Sneak Attack is a difficult comparison. If you're multiclassing you can of course use both, but Sneak Attack can be used every single turn in which the conditions apply, whereas Favored Foe ends if you lose concentration and can't be used if you are out of uses for the day. FF also requires your bonus action for the turn, so no bonus action spells or Cunning Action, or Two-Weapon Fighting. Its damage bonus at level 6 is the same as a Sneak Attack at level 1 and scales very poorly compared to Sneak Attack if consistent damage buffs every turn is your main concern.
Thank you both for very good inputs!
We are playing "Storm Kings Thunder" and I have Giant as my favored enemy :) - I guess this adventure will end with characters around lvl 13-15, so I wouldnt get to lvl 20 on the Ranger anyhow.
I think I will be looking into the Rogues path and gain 2 rogue levels before advancing further on the Ranger.
(Note I edited my last post to reflect some of Tasha's options)
Since you're in a module with many predetermined creature types and terrains then the base Ranger will get plenty of use out of their primary features. You likely will not face any issue whatsoever when it comes to the issues with the Ranger at lower levels.
Hide In Plain Sight and Vanish are still outshined by a Rogue's Cunning Action combined with the Pass Without A Trace spell. The Tasha's variant for Hide In Plain Sight will actually be a very good option and help to ensure your Sneak Attack more often. There is no variant for Vanish, so those two levels in Rogue will make up for Vanish, and since you already have Giants as a FE then for that level you are only missing the option of another FE for something that you hope to face rather than what you know you will face (unless the DM tells you ahead of time).
The 15th level of Ranger is generally a good level for most Ranger subclasses if you make it that far. Shadowy Dodge is a big Gloom Stalker feature to miss out on, and the base Ranger still gets another known spell and a 4th level spell slot. It is all of the levels leading up to 15 that make it so disappointing to put such an investment into a full Ranger, but multiclassing will almost always make up for it.
I would also take the Primal Awareness variant instead of Primeval Awareness any day.
Tasha's did a lot for Rangers but think levels 6-8 are still really underwhelming. Level 9 loses a lot of its luster as well if you're not looking to use conjure animals. I'm personally a big fan of using Ranger 5 as the basis for a martial build. You get a lot out of it. The gloomstalker in particular is very frontloaded.
I'm going to give a big recommendation to dip both Fighter AND Rogue and leave Ranger at 5 for the rest of your career. Rogue is excellent for developing your out of combat skills while Fighter turns you into a shred freak. Action Surge + Dread Ambush is very powerful. Eldritch Knight, Echo Knight and Battlemaster all bring a lot to the build with their level 3 archetype features as well.
I would start by taking fighter to flesh out your combat potential. I'd probably take it to 4 to unlock the archetype and get an ASI in a relatively timely manner. From there I would finish the build with rogue levels until the end of the campaign. The level 15 ranger features are good, but we're talking about the tail end of the campaign (that may never happen) with many dead levels in between when dipping fighter and then rogue gives you exciting features every level.
I think you would be really happy with a build that ends up looking like this:
Ranger 5/ Fighter 4/ Rogue 6
Playing around with archetype choices for both fighter and rogue leads to some nice optionality. And don't worry about metagaming. There is nothing wrong with planning out your build so that you have a fun and satisfying experience. Metagaming is using outside knowledge during the roleplay experience.
Thanks! Sounds really good. True multiclass with both fighter and rogue added sounds really fun actually!
I may have missed it. But I think there is an important question here. What's your style in combat and how do you approach it? Sneak attack is nice but it's useless after a certain distance. If your long range and Sneak Attack is your only reason for considering Rogue. Then it's pointless to take rogue because your preference is probably for a distance longer than that.
Sorry yes, it seems this is left out. I have the Archery style and I want to play this guy as ranged attacker that only uses melee attacks if caught off guard. So I would always try to use my longbow or x-bow for attacks.
You're welcome! I'm happy you like the idea.
One important thing I'd like to note is that while I suggested going into fighter first there's nothing that says you have to. You could definitely go for some rogue levels first and then shoot to pick up action surge around the same time that a straight fighter would get their third attack. Honestly, I like that just as much if not more because it solidifies and expands your toolkit for the rest of the campaign. Fighter is mostly just a force multiplier to your combat abilities. The more I think about it the more I like taking rogue for 2-4 levels and then going into fighter for 4 levels, returning to rogue again if the campaign length permits.
I think you have a lot of fun possibilities to consider if you're going for the double dip. Eldritch Knight + Arcane Trickster is super fun for a bunch of cantrips and some more minor spellcasting and trickery. Echo Knight + Assassin is awesome for building a shadow stalker. Battlemaster + Scout is excellent for building a tactical survivalist with minimal magic. Obviously there are even more archetypes and combinations of them, on top of choosing what progression to go with. A lot to be excited about.
Edit: Responding to what was posted while I was posting. Sneak Attack doesn't have a range limit in 5e. You're fine landing sneak attacks with the longbow and even have the new steady aim to help set up advantage if necessary.
The possibility of losing Sneak Attack with a ranged weapon is sort of a moot concern.
Sneak Attack will apply within the weapon's normal range (the first number in the parenthesis). Any ranged weapon fighter without Sneak Attack is going to do their best to be within normal range so as not to impose disadvantage on their attack, which would also negate Sneak Attack.
You do not need to use your full movement at once. You can move a little, such as to get within the normal range for a ranged weapon attack, allowing you to attack normally, and apply Sneak Attack if the other conditions are met. Then use the rest of your movement to move away to a safer position.
Rogue's have Cunning Action to give them more movement per turn if they need it. Gloom Stalker's have an extra 10 ft. on the first round of combat. The Roving variant for the Ranger in Tasha's gives an extra 5 ft of movement.
The Sharpshooter feat completely removes long-range penalties, meaning you can attack from 600ft away at no penalty using a longbow. If the other conditions for Sneak Attack are met during this attack, then you get to apply Sneak Attack damage at 600 ft. away.
A ranged Rogue is far from pointless.
I wasn't even considering attacking from outside the normal range denying advantage. Saying a class is bad at archery because it can't attack from outside the weapon's normal range is...silly.
Especially considering sharpshooter is a feat that every archer ends up taking.
Well outlined Korbin_Orion. Between cunning action, action surge and gloomstalker/ranger movement boosts this is going to be one mobile character. Strafing techniques will be no problem.
Okay, I'm fully convinced you should go rogue first now. Expertise and Cunning action will be less exciting at levels 10-12, but picking them up now will be very nice. Ranger 5/ Rogue 3 will feel like a fully formed character with a diverse and exciting kit, at which point the fighter dip serves to keep your power scaling up in a way that synergizes incredibly well with the gloomstalker base.
With your ability scores, you're ridiculously overpowered from the start, so I wouldn't worry too much about hyper-tuning your build. You're going to excel no matter what you do. Go with what's fun and what fits the campaign. I'm currently playing a gloom stalker (level 14) and I just took an RP dip in twilight cleric and it was the best RP decision I could have made. I've spent years running around with my companions as the "death from the shadows" type. Always encouraging my party to "wait until nightfall" before we head out on a mission (which the human paladin always argues against) and I've truly enjoyed RPing my ranger as "a little tense" during the daytime because he feels a bit vulnerable and once the sun drops into the horizon, his tension eases and he's more relaxed and jovial. Now, with the twilight cleric dip (thanks to the support of his local temple), he can share a small piece of what makes him feel so at home in the darkness (Eyes of Night) and the paladin is declaring "so THIS is what your fuss was all about... I LIKE it!". The RP is delicious.
Ranger is a beautiful class to multiclass with. The basic rules ranger leans a bit more toward RP. With the new options in TCoE, your ranger can easily lean into mechanical superiority. It's all good. You'll play a multitude of characters over your D&D career. Not every one needs to be super-optimized for you to enjoy it. Dive into the RP and let the story guide your choices. It's eminently more rewarding when your choices have history and story behind them.
Happy rangering!
Rogues now have Steady Aim. I would go that rout (all the way), but neither (Rogue or Fighter) is a bad choice. The sneak attack damage will continue to build as you gain levels. With fighter at level 5 you'll gain nothing but hit points. Rogue adds all kinds of really useful abilities that synergize nicely, too many to mention.
It should also be pointed out that sticking pure Gloomstalker is a solid option too!
With those base stats you can take something like skilled expert feat to get roguish level skills.
At level 11 you effectively get a third attack with the feature that allows you to try again if you miss. Multi classing will delay this, even if you go fighter, you won't get this till much later
I play a character multiclassing all three. On my third year and soon hitting lv 15.
Gloomstalker5/Battle master3/RogueX(all other levels). That is a very potent build giving you a great action economy, massive damage and good utility.
Seven level of Kensei monk would work wonders for this character.