Okay, this might be a bit of a vent more then anything, hoping that writing things out (and I've been talking with my DM as well about the issue I've been having) will help (it also is interesting to hear others opinions). Anyway, I've been playing a rogue for a while now, and we've even gotten to level 12 in our campaign. It wasn't until recently, though, that I started to FEEL the damage drop off that rogues tend to have when compared to other classes... But now I seem hyper aware of it.
I play a Thief rogue. I LOVE the thief rogue. I love fast hands, and I have a GM who is very generous with what can be used for it... But I also play a sniper with sharpshooter and a heavy crossbow. Currently, combat, for me, just feels like "I careful aim... And shoot... 45 damage." and that's it! We have a paladin, a barbarian, a bard and a wizard in the group, all of which doing their things, and when compared to the paladin, 45 damage is, actually, kind of paltry! Sure, the others don't REALLY match both of our damage output (Bard and wizard are more support and disruption, and the barbarian is really good at sticking to a target, but doesn't actually do that much damage), but it's just feeling the damage drop off next to a character who literally pumps out 60 to over 100 damage in a turn is like "And I do... 35... I rolled low." But you can't add DAMAGE to the rogue, that would just make combat that much harder to balance for the DM, and it might just turn monsters into sacks of hitpoints, rather than actually add anything interesting to the fight (big damage numbers are an ego boost, sure, but they hardly make for anything dynamic)
It just feels like my most optimal play, every turn, is to just aim and shoot for as much damage as I can dish out... And even then it doesn't feel like it has impact! I don't feel like a threat on the board, and everyone else either does something interesting or just loads more damage!
So I've toyed with the idea of getting in close. Using fast hands again, like I did, utilizing the full kit that the thief has to offer to actually DO something in combat, rather than just play Sniper from TF2. The problem is that I have this really awesome ranged weapon that I feel like I'd be waisting if I DIDN'T use it. But there just isn't any SPICE to combat, and I'm kinda tired of just... flavorless attacks.
So how would, or do, you get around the simplicity that is rogue combat? Where you dont just say "I aim and shoot." Or "I stab the guy that's attacking my friend?" I always thought it would be neat if there was a subclass that allowed you to reduce the damage you do on a sneak attack (roll x less dice), but the sneak attack has an added effect (the target makes a save or is blinded/restrained/stunned/ until the end of your next turn). Give the rogue some battle master-like options of adding something interesting to their attacks that they can go "Do I try to disable the target to make it an easier fight... or do I just go for raw damage?"
It's also strange, to me, to feel like Rogues feel like the best class to run a "sniper" on, (the "one shot, one kill," mentality), but it seems their actual, optimal range is melee to sixty feet, and anything farther then that is actually sub-optimal if you want to utilize your whole kit.
I guess multiclassing would be the best option for you to make your ranged fighting a bit more interesting.
Either into Fighter to get some Battle Master maneuvers or if your INT is decent into Arcane Archer for fancy special arrows. You only get two uses per short rest which sucks but the effects of some of them are super strong.
Or if your WIS is decent then multiclassing into Ranger is also an option I guess. Ensnaring Strike is a fun smite-like spell to use even as ranged character. For subclasses that give you a bit more than just "I shoot, done." you could look into Beast Master or Drakewarden for a companion (which would also help with triggering sneak attack if you're on your own) or Swarmkeeper so your attacks can also move the target in a direction of your choice if they fail a STR save for a bit of battlefield control (also great additional damage if combined with spike growth or other hazards).
Unfortunately outside of Battle Master maneuvers 5e combat is extremely simplified and some of the best ways to make it more interesting is to get some spells because spell casting gets all the creative juice WotC has left. It sucks a lot but there's no point in fighting against the system unless you plan to homebrew. Either that or it requires a lot of DM buy-in to give you additional options. Like using the environment to do fancy stuff or to give you additional equipment like fancy arrows, magic items that let you do more and so on.
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I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
In terms of pure damage you should be comparing yourself to the barbarian as I'm guessing the paladin is smiting almost every attack, which leads me to think the DM is giving you 1-2 larger encounters per long rest instead of 6-8 smaller ones. Rogues and barbarians tend to do better when you have a lot of encounters.
As for making combat more interesting, it depends on what you find interesting. Melee rogue is always interesting for me as you have to think about which enemies you can sneak attack, where you can stand to avoid dying, and, if you use the flanking rules, where you can stand to get advantage.
You could also talk to your DM about whether fast hands applies to magical items as most mundane items aren't even as useful as getting advantage on your attack, this becomes even more interesting when you get the ability to use any magical item at 13. If I were DM I wouldn't allow it as a general rule, but I would be willing to make reasonable exceptions for items that don't do things like cast fireball.
Traps, all my rogue does is build and test traps. We got land mines, dynamite bear traps. Trip wires. Dropping weights. When the explosives start getting set off it puts the fight in a real mood.
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"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
Dipping into arcane might help indeed! But it's true that Rogue's damage is a bit lacking when compared to other martial class. - Since you said you play kinda "sniper", Ranger do have some nice spells, Hunter marks and other "on hit" effect... - Gloomstalker Ranger have some additional damage you could do well with... - Fighter gets Action Surge at level 2 as well as a Fighting Style which could suit you... And Arcane Archer (which I didn't know of) looks freaking awesome! -- tho ask your DM if that'd work with something other then shortbow/longbow...! - You could also accept that you'll be outclassed by other in Damage and go Knowledge Cleric 1 to get Double proficiency in two skills for "free", guidance, bless, and some other decent spells and be an even better skill/ability check character...
A custom rules we've been using at our table is that you can make a "called shot". You make your attack vs a +5 Bonus to AC (basically ¾ cover) trying to aim for a critical area to do some effect: blind enemy for a round, knock a weapon out, remove/break one's focus, etc. One could even argue to make that attack at Disadvantage if you don't have something like Sharpshooter Feat - which you do! That makes using the environment/and your imagination that much more viable.
One thing that my DM also did for me was to let me get some thrown-dagger-like ability, used as a cantrip with my action. That way, it would scale with my level and my Dex. So 1d4, 2d4 at 5, 3d4 at 11 (so already slightly better then a crossbow bolt on average from 1d10 avg. to 5.5 → 3d4 avg. to 7.5), and 4d4 (avg 10) at 17. It's a small thing but it helps. If you can get a bigger damage die (Light Crossbow for d8 maybe?)... You will need to get that DM approved...
But yeah, homebrew asides, multiclassing is your answer. There a a couple nice build out there, people like to min-max that kind of stuff (dnd deep dive on Youtube comes to mind). I'd say : as long as you keep having fun, damage isn't always the answer to everything! I for one, like skill monkey (Reliable Talent FTW!) and Knowledge Cleric sure is tempting for a 1 level dip!
You can also make swashbuckler insanely gadgety and combo friendly with the right multiclass / racial feats. My current swashbuckler is basically a taunting little Kobold juggler who likes to flitter annoyingly in and out of an enemy's reach and drag them out of formation. Multiclass into Battle Master for the Brace Maneuver and Trip Attack primarily, take a Martial Adept feat for more, plus either Thrown Weapon Fighting Style or Dueling (I took Thrown for the RP flavor). Kobold Legacy now grants access to Sorcerer Cantrips, most notably Booming Blade. If I'm in melee range, I hit them with Booming Blade, possibly knock them prone with Trip Attack (only requires a successful weapon attack to trigger, not the attack action itself) and retreat to a safe distance with Fancy Footwork (only requires a melee attack, not the attack action itself or even a weapon attack) and possibly a bonus action Second Wind, Hide, Dash, or even Action Surge for good measure. To get up from the prone state they'd have to trigger Booming Blade's Thunder Damage off the movement, then would still only have 15 ft of movement to re-engage. If I'm safely in throwing range, I keep a shortsword/rapier handy and throw daggers or darts with a free hand and Thrown Weapon Fighting Style (you can even Trip Attack off the ranged attacks). If a creature gets close and I have spare superiority dice, Brace Maneuver triggers as my reaction to punish them for it (which can also trigger Rakish Audacity if you've baited them away from everyone). It doesn't even require all that much of a dip, maybe 3 levels at most plus the feat for an ASI, 5 if you want a second attack action (you don't need it). The only abilities you'd lose out on are an extra d6 for Sneak Attack, Elusive, an ASI and Stroke of Luck, none of which I'm really losing sleep over late game.
You can do a few things to increase your damage. These options which are expensive and somewhat situational.
option 1, find a way to reliably attack on another creatures turn. Sentinel would be your easiest choice but would require you to go shoulder to shoulder with your paladin to even somewhat reliably use. Creatures next to both of you that attack the paladin would grant you a reaction attack for a 2nd chance to land sneak attack in the same round. It’s probably one attack roll without advantage so you’re slightly less likely to hit, but your DPR increases by about 60% with those reaction attacks.
option 2, find a way to get a blade cantrip. Booming blade and green flame blade would add atleast 2d8 to your damages and scale similarly to your sneak attack. Again, this requires you to be in melee.
option 3. Multiclass into ranger or fighter. Fighter 1 gets you fighting style. Ranger 3 hunter subclass gets hordebreaker with situational 2nd chance to land sneak attack vs a different creature on your turn if you miss.while archery definitely only works with your ranger weapon attacks, horde breaker works with ranged and melee and even blade cantrips.
Option 4. If you’re an elf, take elven accuracy. Steady aim for 3 d20s gives just under a 15% chance to crit with each attack. Sneak attack crits are nice.
if you’re buddy buddy with the paladin and work as a team, compelled duel or other buffs to your armor class to incentivize attacks vs the paladin potentially bring more value than a smite if you get the sentinel feat.
I think another issue I see with the initial post is this awesome ranged weapon. It's okay to not marry yourself to a particular playstyle or build just because the DM throws a cool item your way, if you want to build for some other play style work you should with your DM and see if you can find an alternative, or just have the cool ranged weapon be a nice piece to what you were already doing/planning to do. Splitting yourself between what a Thief Rogue does best (slipping around the battlefield, using their Cunning Action to full effect) and what this ranged weapon wants you to do (Shoot a lot from range, which is honestly a job best left to a straight Ranger) seems to be pulling OP into two non-synergistic roles when it comes to combat.
Also, if you want a list of decent basic items for your Cunning Action to use as a Thief (Depending on how your DM rules Fast Hands' "Use an Object" bonus):
Acid Vial - 20ft Ranged Improvised Attack or Improvised Melee Attack, 2d6 Acid damage on hit. (25gp per item)
Ball Bearings - Spread over 10ft area (2x2 Square), Creatures in area must move at half speed, succeed on a DC10 DEX saving throw when moving full speed (sounds low, but there's a lot of clumsy low DEX creatures out there), or fall prone on a DEX fail. (1gp per item, Starting Item of Burglar's Pack)
Bomb - 60ft Range, each creature within 5ft must succeed on a DC15 DEX throw or take 3d6 Fire Damage. (125gp per item, may not be available in settings w/o gunpowder)
Caltrops - Spread over 5ft area (One square), Any creature moving through the area must make a succeed on a DC15 DEX saving throw or take 1 piercing damage and stop moving, reducing their movement speed by 10 until they regain at least 1 HP. Creatures can ignore the save by moving at half speed (1gp per item)
Gunpowder (Horn or Keg) - You can either place the item in front of you, throw it (Horn), or roll it (Keg). You can *try* throwing the keg, but most DMs I've known would rule that it's a fairly heavy item (some might not even let you carry it at all). Either way, once the object is set on fire (like, say, with a Fireball spell or an arrow lit on fire), it explodes, dealing fire damage to all creatures within 10ft (3d6 for a horn, 7d6 for a keg). A successful DC12 DEX saving throw halves the damage. (35gp for horns, 250gp for kegs, availability depends on setting/DM discretion)
Hunting Trap - Set in front of you over a 5ft area (One square). A creature that steps on the trap must succeed a DC 13 DEX saving throw or take 1d4 piercing damage and stop moving. The creature can make a DC13 STR check to break free of the trap but takes 1 additional piercing damage on a failure. Depending on whether your DM allows it as a part of the same action or an additional use of Fast Hands, you can also secure the trap to the ground by a 3ft chain. A creature trapped by the object is limited to the radius of the chain when it next takes its movement. (5gp per item)
Manacles - Can be used to bind a Small or Medium sized creature (Usually your DM will require a successful Sleight of Hand check). Escaping the manacles requires a DC20 DEX check, breaking them requires a DC20 STR check. A creature proficient with Thieves Tools can pick the lock on a DC15 DEX check. The manacles also have 15 HP. (2gp per item, my favorite Fast Hands item because of the shenanigans of pulling the handcuff trick on someone XD. Also, pretty useful for crowd control depending on how your DM rules the binding condition.)
Flask of Oil - You can splash the oil (Melee) or throw it (20ft range). Either way, it's an improvised weapon attack. On a hit, the target is covered in oil for one minute. If the target takes fire damage in that time, they take an additional 5 fire damage. You can also pour the oil over a 5ft area. If lit, the oil burns for two rounds and deals 5 fire damage to any creature that enters or ends its turn in the area (can only take the damage once per turn). (1sp per item, very handy with the tinderbox item)
Basic Poison Vial - Fast Hands effectively gives you the bonus action portion of the Poisoner feat, so you can at least buy basic vials of poison. You can coat one slashing/piercing weapon or 3 ranged ammunitions for one minute. On a hit with the coated weapon, the creature must make a DC10 CON saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage. (100gp per item)
Rope - A versatile item, while it doesn't have any strict printed rulings your DM may allow you to take any number of actions with it (bind a creature, trip them, restrain their legs). Whatever you do with it, Ropes have 2 HP and a DC 17 STR check to break regardless of their material. (1gp for 50ft of hemp rope, 10gp for silk)
Empty Sack - Another item that doesn't have a strict printed rule but can be very useful to keep in your pocket. Uses I've found include pulling it over a target's head (another Sleight of Hand check) to either blind them or gag them, or to catch a precious falling object before it shatters on the floor. (A whopping 1cp)
Soap - Another blinding tool that's up to DM discretion. (2cp per item, honorable mention to Small Bag of Sand and Bottles of Perfume as well)
Tinderbox - Lights fires, typically for Fast Hands the object must already be pretty flammable (5sp per item, usually a piece of starting equipment)
To get up from the prone state they'd have to trigger Booming Blade's Thunder Damage off the movement, then would still only have 15 ft of movement to re-engage.
As of an errata in 2020, this was revised to not trigger Booming Blade... Sadly. The text was changed to "If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then...". See Crawford's Tweet on the "standing up" : https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/663030224154562561
Aside from that, I LOVE the flavour you posted to do something with Fast Hands of Thieves. Flask of Oil is a good one... Easily lit with cantrips (Fire bolt, Produce Flame, Create Bonfire, etc) and a DM might even rule that those squares are slippery...
Also a fan of caltrops. Dropped in combat by a mage hand (or thrown manually), it can really turn tides if well used (and DM isn't too mean with the "well, they saw you throwing them").
Darn! I haven't been playing long so I'm not up on all the errata. It's still a good combination trick since prone is so helpful to fellow melee allies, and it punishes a critter that tries to move out of their melee range by disengaging.
I also forgot to mention if you're clever (and the DM allows) you can get Manacles to do all sorts of other fun stuff. Two enemies within 5ft of each other? Try to handcuff 'em together! Flittery bad guy who just won't stay still? Handcuff yourself to them for a quasi-grapple! Something like a sturdy pole or beam nearby? Cuff 'em in place! It's why it's my favorite item for Fast Hands lol
So first of all. I plugged some math together. If I compare your described rogue to a Barbarian or Paladin or Fighter the biggest disparity starts at level 9 and 10, where the rogue starts to fall off, being an average of at least 10 points behind the Barbarian and about even with the Paladin (non-smiting). You start to catch up again at 11-12 so the dip doesn't last too long. The Fighter is about to hit 3rd attack so you aren't keeping up with a Fighter Great Weapon Master, but then I dont really think anyone is. So while you are going to feel the difference it may not be as pronounced as you think, which is impressive since both of the paladin and the Barbarian are burning limited use resources to keep ahead of your baseline (insert "I can do this all day" meme)
Now the second issue is that Rogues as a class are a 'one-trick pony' in combat, mostly because their expertise lies elsewhere. The sneak attack is really just there to make you feel like you're participating, but mathematically speaking, without adding in additional subclass specializing in combat, you're not the top killer.
Now some people might find that depressing. I find it freeing. You now know that choosing to do something OTHER than Steady Aim + Sharpshooter is viable as you are not the sole or even best damager on the field (just the most reliable over time). Now you get to use those Fast Hands or even just the 'Improvised Action' or something in the environment that can be interacted with for dramatic or impactful event.
Don't let yourself be bored. Look at the field and think outside the rules as written, and don't think in terms of 'I'm going to apply this effect' just think of it in terms of the action you're going to take, the DM will figure out the effects of your actions, hopefully you'll be firing off his or her creativity by utilizing your own.
Now some people might find that depressing. I find it freeing. You now know that choosing to do something OTHER than Steady Aim + Sharpshooter is viable as you are not the sole or even best damager on the field (just the most reliable over time). Now you get to use those Fast Hands or even just the 'Improvised Action' or something in the environment that can be interacted with for dramatic or impactful event.
Don't let yourself be bored. Look at the field and think outside the rules as written, and don't think in terms of 'I'm going to apply this effect' just think of it in terms of the action you're going to take, the DM will figure out the effects of your actions, hopefully you'll be firing off his or her creativity by utilizing your own.
That, in a nutshell, is a very wise tip and rules to play by.
I know I like to min-max personally, and my DM did gave me a few tools here and there to improve my DPR, but I KNOW and UNDERSTAND that others will cause waaaay more damage then I can even dream of.
So : I aim for the style, the fun, the "out of the box"! Improvised action and "called shots" can be your friend here.You will still do reliable damage (Elven Accuracy does help a lot with crits, if you get a Keen Blade homebrew dagger) and in the end, it's damage your party can count on as well. It is a Team game/effort after all (you'll still be unbeatable on Ability checks with Reliable Talents and Expertise! HA!).
Honestly that's the same mindset I have when it comes to Eldritch Blast. There are plenty people that complain that you pretty much have to do it and the Agonizing Blast invocation as Warlock since you don't have enough spell slots to cast all the time and other damage cantrips are strictly worse ... however for me it means I just need to take this one cantrip and invocation and I'll be good in terms of damage output forever so I can dedicate my other cantrips and spell slots etc. to utility and flavour instead of damage.
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I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
I think one of the problems with rogue is how it's presented at early levels. Newer players will see Sneak Attack at Level 1, compared to other classes out the gate (Paladin just gets a poor man's Detect Good and Evil and a Healing ability, Fighter gets a fighting style that may or may not be a damage buff and a heal, Barbarians kind of do better out the gate with rage but it's much more limited at Level 1, and standard ranger gets... tracking? Kinda?) and go "Oh hey, this must be the big weapon damage class". Once their buddies start getting the shiny new toys (Extra Attack, Smite, Reckless Attack, Hunter's Mark) while they're more or less stuck with same old Sneak Attack, they tend to dismiss rogue as "boring" or "not what they signed up for".
It doesn't help how much the rogue's best talents are not strictly written down in the rulebook, for example there's a ton of items I listed before that are up for DM interpretation, like the bottle of perfume or some of the manacle tricks. They're not EXPLICIT abilities these items have, but from a simple storytelling perspective spritzing someone in the eyes with a perfume bottle is a comedy trick as old as the hills, and you're just hoping the DM nods their head and goes "Yep, that makes sense." To me, that fits the rogue's MO as the rule-breaker, the kind of person who plays on the edges of what's allowed. But for a new player who's just learning the basic rules for combat, tacking on a bunch of things you can "kinda-sorta" do can be a bit overwhelming.
All that (the fact that Rogue are best played when thinking out of the box) probably explains why Arcane Trickster is often viewed as "one of the best" subclass (well, it's S tier for sure, alongside some other good ones...). Its versatility with Illusions makes it useful without having to think too hard about item combos and improvised actions - you get rules and spells that tells a player (new and old) what's easily doable.
Okay, this might be a bit of a vent more then anything, hoping that writing things out (and I've been talking with my DM as well about the issue I've been having) will help (it also is interesting to hear others opinions). Anyway, I've been playing a rogue for a while now, and we've even gotten to level 12 in our campaign. It wasn't until recently, though, that I started to FEEL the damage drop off that rogues tend to have when compared to other classes... But now I seem hyper aware of it.
I play a Thief rogue. I LOVE the thief rogue. I love fast hands, and I have a GM who is very generous with what can be used for it... But I also play a sniper with sharpshooter and a heavy crossbow. Currently, combat, for me, just feels like "I careful aim... And shoot... 45 damage." and that's it! We have a paladin, a barbarian, a bard and a wizard in the group, all of which doing their things, and when compared to the paladin, 45 damage is, actually, kind of paltry! Sure, the others don't REALLY match both of our damage output (Bard and wizard are more support and disruption, and the barbarian is really good at sticking to a target, but doesn't actually do that much damage), but it's just feeling the damage drop off next to a character who literally pumps out 60 to over 100 damage in a turn is like "And I do... 35... I rolled low." But you can't add DAMAGE to the rogue, that would just make combat that much harder to balance for the DM, and it might just turn monsters into sacks of hitpoints, rather than actually add anything interesting to the fight (big damage numbers are an ego boost, sure, but they hardly make for anything dynamic)
It just feels like my most optimal play, every turn, is to just aim and shoot for as much damage as I can dish out... And even then it doesn't feel like it has impact! I don't feel like a threat on the board, and everyone else either does something interesting or just loads more damage!
So I've toyed with the idea of getting in close. Using fast hands again, like I did, utilizing the full kit that the thief has to offer to actually DO something in combat, rather than just play Sniper from TF2. The problem is that I have this really awesome ranged weapon that I feel like I'd be waisting if I DIDN'T use it. But there just isn't any SPICE to combat, and I'm kinda tired of just... flavorless attacks.
So how would, or do, you get around the simplicity that is rogue combat? Where you dont just say "I aim and shoot." Or "I stab the guy that's attacking my friend?" I always thought it would be neat if there was a subclass that allowed you to reduce the damage you do on a sneak attack (roll x less dice), but the sneak attack has an added effect (the target makes a save or is blinded/restrained/stunned/ until the end of your next turn). Give the rogue some battle master-like options of adding something interesting to their attacks that they can go "Do I try to disable the target to make it an easier fight... or do I just go for raw damage?"
It's also strange, to me, to feel like Rogues feel like the best class to run a "sniper" on, (the "one shot, one kill," mentality), but it seems their actual, optimal range is melee to sixty feet, and anything farther then that is actually sub-optimal if you want to utilize your whole kit.
I guess multiclassing would be the best option for you to make your ranged fighting a bit more interesting.
Either into Fighter to get some Battle Master maneuvers or if your INT is decent into Arcane Archer for fancy special arrows. You only get two uses per short rest which sucks but the effects of some of them are super strong.
Or if your WIS is decent then multiclassing into Ranger is also an option I guess. Ensnaring Strike is a fun smite-like spell to use even as ranged character. For subclasses that give you a bit more than just "I shoot, done." you could look into Beast Master or Drakewarden for a companion (which would also help with triggering sneak attack if you're on your own) or Swarmkeeper so your attacks can also move the target in a direction of your choice if they fail a STR save for a bit of battlefield control (also great additional damage if combined with spike growth or other hazards).
Unfortunately outside of Battle Master maneuvers 5e combat is extremely simplified and some of the best ways to make it more interesting is to get some spells because spell casting gets all the creative juice WotC has left. It sucks a lot but there's no point in fighting against the system unless you plan to homebrew. Either that or it requires a lot of DM buy-in to give you additional options. Like using the environment to do fancy stuff or to give you additional equipment like fancy arrows, magic items that let you do more and so on.
I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
In terms of pure damage you should be comparing yourself to the barbarian as I'm guessing the paladin is smiting almost every attack, which leads me to think the DM is giving you 1-2 larger encounters per long rest instead of 6-8 smaller ones. Rogues and barbarians tend to do better when you have a lot of encounters.
As for making combat more interesting, it depends on what you find interesting. Melee rogue is always interesting for me as you have to think about which enemies you can sneak attack, where you can stand to avoid dying, and, if you use the flanking rules, where you can stand to get advantage.
You could also talk to your DM about whether fast hands applies to magical items as most mundane items aren't even as useful as getting advantage on your attack, this becomes even more interesting when you get the ability to use any magical item at 13. If I were DM I wouldn't allow it as a general rule, but I would be willing to make reasonable exceptions for items that don't do things like cast fireball.
This is why I enjoy swashbuckler. Part of the game is to move around the battlefield finding one-on-one match-ups to maximize sneak.
Traps, all my rogue does is build and test traps. We got land mines, dynamite bear traps. Trip wires. Dropping weights. When the explosives start getting set off it puts the fight in a real mood.
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
My Homebrew Please click it, they have my family.
There's been a couple good suggestions so far...
Dipping into arcane might help indeed! But it's true that Rogue's damage is a bit lacking when compared to other martial class.
- Since you said you play kinda "sniper", Ranger do have some nice spells, Hunter marks and other "on hit" effect...
- Gloomstalker Ranger have some additional damage you could do well with...
- Fighter gets Action Surge at level 2 as well as a Fighting Style which could suit you... And Arcane Archer (which I didn't know of) looks freaking awesome! -- tho ask your DM if that'd work with something other then shortbow/longbow...!
- You could also accept that you'll be outclassed by other in Damage and go Knowledge Cleric 1 to get Double proficiency in two skills for "free", guidance, bless, and some other decent spells and be an even better skill/ability check character...
A custom rules we've been using at our table is that you can make a "called shot". You make your attack vs a +5 Bonus to AC (basically ¾ cover) trying to aim for a critical area to do some effect: blind enemy for a round, knock a weapon out, remove/break one's focus, etc.
One could even argue to make that attack at Disadvantage if you don't have something like Sharpshooter Feat - which you do!
That makes using the environment/and your imagination that much more viable.
One thing that my DM also did for me was to let me get some thrown-dagger-like ability, used as a cantrip with my action. That way, it would scale with my level and my Dex. So 1d4, 2d4 at 5, 3d4 at 11 (so already slightly better then a crossbow bolt on average from 1d10 avg. to 5.5 → 3d4 avg. to 7.5), and 4d4 (avg 10) at 17. It's a small thing but it helps.
If you can get a bigger damage die (Light Crossbow for d8 maybe?)... You will need to get that DM approved...
But yeah, homebrew asides, multiclassing is your answer. There a a couple nice build out there, people like to min-max that kind of stuff (dnd deep dive on Youtube comes to mind). I'd say : as long as you keep having fun, damage isn't always the answer to everything! I for one, like skill monkey (Reliable Talent FTW!) and Knowledge Cleric sure is tempting for a 1 level dip!
Hyrkali
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You can also make swashbuckler insanely gadgety and combo friendly with the right multiclass / racial feats. My current swashbuckler is basically a taunting little Kobold juggler who likes to flitter annoyingly in and out of an enemy's reach and drag them out of formation. Multiclass into Battle Master for the Brace Maneuver and Trip Attack primarily, take a Martial Adept feat for more, plus either Thrown Weapon Fighting Style or Dueling (I took Thrown for the RP flavor). Kobold Legacy now grants access to Sorcerer Cantrips, most notably Booming Blade. If I'm in melee range, I hit them with Booming Blade, possibly knock them prone with Trip Attack (only requires a successful weapon attack to trigger, not the attack action itself) and retreat to a safe distance with Fancy Footwork (only requires a melee attack, not the attack action itself or even a weapon attack) and possibly a bonus action Second Wind, Hide, Dash, or even Action Surge for good measure. To get up from the prone state they'd have to trigger Booming Blade's Thunder Damage off the movement, then would still only have 15 ft of movement to re-engage. If I'm safely in throwing range, I keep a shortsword/rapier handy and throw daggers or darts with a free hand and Thrown Weapon Fighting Style (you can even Trip Attack off the ranged attacks). If a creature gets close and I have spare superiority dice, Brace Maneuver triggers as my reaction to punish them for it (which can also trigger Rakish Audacity if you've baited them away from everyone). It doesn't even require all that much of a dip, maybe 3 levels at most plus the feat for an ASI, 5 if you want a second attack action (you don't need it). The only abilities you'd lose out on are an extra d6 for Sneak Attack, Elusive, an ASI and Stroke of Luck, none of which I'm really losing sleep over late game.
You can do a few things to increase your damage. These options which are expensive and somewhat situational.
option 1, find a way to reliably attack on another creatures turn. Sentinel would be your easiest choice but would require you to go shoulder to shoulder with your paladin to even somewhat reliably use. Creatures next to both of you that attack the paladin would grant you a reaction attack for a 2nd chance to land sneak attack in the same round. It’s probably one attack roll without advantage so you’re slightly less likely to hit, but your DPR increases by about 60% with those reaction attacks.
option 2, find a way to get a blade cantrip. Booming blade and green flame blade would add atleast 2d8 to your damages and scale similarly to your sneak attack. Again, this requires you to be in melee.
option 3. Multiclass into ranger or fighter. Fighter 1 gets you fighting style. Ranger 3 hunter subclass gets hordebreaker with situational 2nd chance to land sneak attack vs a different creature on your turn if you miss.while archery definitely only works with your ranger weapon attacks, horde breaker works with ranged and melee and even blade cantrips.
Option 4. If you’re an elf, take elven accuracy. Steady aim for 3 d20s gives just under a 15% chance to crit with each attack. Sneak attack crits are nice.
if you’re buddy buddy with the paladin and work as a team, compelled duel or other buffs to your armor class to incentivize attacks vs the paladin potentially bring more value than a smite if you get the sentinel feat.
I think another issue I see with the initial post is this awesome ranged weapon. It's okay to not marry yourself to a particular playstyle or build just because the DM throws a cool item your way, if you want to build for some other play style work you should with your DM and see if you can find an alternative, or just have the cool ranged weapon be a nice piece to what you were already doing/planning to do. Splitting yourself between what a Thief Rogue does best (slipping around the battlefield, using their Cunning Action to full effect) and what this ranged weapon wants you to do (Shoot a lot from range, which is honestly a job best left to a straight Ranger) seems to be pulling OP into two non-synergistic roles when it comes to combat.
Also, if you want a list of decent basic items for your Cunning Action to use as a Thief (Depending on how your DM rules Fast Hands' "Use an Object" bonus):
Acid Vial - 20ft Ranged Improvised Attack or Improvised Melee Attack, 2d6 Acid damage on hit. (25gp per item)
Ball Bearings - Spread over 10ft area (2x2 Square), Creatures in area must move at half speed, succeed on a DC10 DEX saving throw when moving full speed (sounds low, but there's a lot of clumsy low DEX creatures out there), or fall prone on a DEX fail. (1gp per item, Starting Item of Burglar's Pack)
Bomb - 60ft Range, each creature within 5ft must succeed on a DC15 DEX throw or take 3d6 Fire Damage. (125gp per item, may not be available in settings w/o gunpowder)
Caltrops - Spread over 5ft area (One square), Any creature moving through the area must make a succeed on a DC15 DEX saving throw or take 1 piercing damage and stop moving, reducing their movement speed by 10 until they regain at least 1 HP. Creatures can ignore the save by moving at half speed (1gp per item)
Gunpowder (Horn or Keg) - You can either place the item in front of you, throw it (Horn), or roll it (Keg). You can *try* throwing the keg, but most DMs I've known would rule that it's a fairly heavy item (some might not even let you carry it at all). Either way, once the object is set on fire (like, say, with a Fireball spell or an arrow lit on fire), it explodes, dealing fire damage to all creatures within 10ft (3d6 for a horn, 7d6 for a keg). A successful DC12 DEX saving throw halves the damage. (35gp for horns, 250gp for kegs, availability depends on setting/DM discretion)
Hunting Trap - Set in front of you over a 5ft area (One square). A creature that steps on the trap must succeed a DC 13 DEX saving throw or take 1d4 piercing damage and stop moving. The creature can make a DC13 STR check to break free of the trap but takes 1 additional piercing damage on a failure. Depending on whether your DM allows it as a part of the same action or an additional use of Fast Hands, you can also secure the trap to the ground by a 3ft chain. A creature trapped by the object is limited to the radius of the chain when it next takes its movement. (5gp per item)
Manacles - Can be used to bind a Small or Medium sized creature (Usually your DM will require a successful Sleight of Hand check). Escaping the manacles requires a DC20 DEX check, breaking them requires a DC20 STR check. A creature proficient with Thieves Tools can pick the lock on a DC15 DEX check. The manacles also have 15 HP. (2gp per item, my favorite Fast Hands item because of the shenanigans of pulling the handcuff trick on someone XD. Also, pretty useful for crowd control depending on how your DM rules the binding condition.)
Flask of Oil - You can splash the oil (Melee) or throw it (20ft range). Either way, it's an improvised weapon attack. On a hit, the target is covered in oil for one minute. If the target takes fire damage in that time, they take an additional 5 fire damage. You can also pour the oil over a 5ft area. If lit, the oil burns for two rounds and deals 5 fire damage to any creature that enters or ends its turn in the area (can only take the damage once per turn). (1sp per item, very handy with the tinderbox item)
Basic Poison Vial - Fast Hands effectively gives you the bonus action portion of the Poisoner feat, so you can at least buy basic vials of poison. You can coat one slashing/piercing weapon or 3 ranged ammunitions for one minute. On a hit with the coated weapon, the creature must make a DC10 CON saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage. (100gp per item)
Rope - A versatile item, while it doesn't have any strict printed rulings your DM may allow you to take any number of actions with it (bind a creature, trip them, restrain their legs). Whatever you do with it, Ropes have 2 HP and a DC 17 STR check to break regardless of their material. (1gp for 50ft of hemp rope, 10gp for silk)
Empty Sack - Another item that doesn't have a strict printed rule but can be very useful to keep in your pocket. Uses I've found include pulling it over a target's head (another Sleight of Hand check) to either blind them or gag them, or to catch a precious falling object before it shatters on the floor. (A whopping 1cp)
Soap - Another blinding tool that's up to DM discretion. (2cp per item, honorable mention to Small Bag of Sand and Bottles of Perfume as well)
Tinderbox - Lights fires, typically for Fast Hands the object must already be pretty flammable (5sp per item, usually a piece of starting equipment)
As of an errata in 2020, this was revised to not trigger Booming Blade... Sadly. The text was changed to "If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then...".
See Crawford's Tweet on the "standing up" : https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/663030224154562561
Aside from that, I LOVE the flavour you posted to do something with Fast Hands of Thieves. Flask of Oil is a good one... Easily lit with cantrips (Fire bolt, Produce Flame, Create Bonfire, etc) and a DM might even rule that those squares are slippery...
Also a fan of caltrops. Dropped in combat by a mage hand (or thrown manually), it can really turn tides if well used (and DM isn't too mean with the "well, they saw you throwing them").
I'll keep a note of a few of those! :)
Hyrkali
Full DNDBeyond.com in Dark Mode? Yes please!
Darn! I haven't been playing long so I'm not up on all the errata. It's still a good combination trick since prone is so helpful to fellow melee allies, and it punishes a critter that tries to move out of their melee range by disengaging.
I also forgot to mention if you're clever (and the DM allows) you can get Manacles to do all sorts of other fun stuff. Two enemies within 5ft of each other? Try to handcuff 'em together! Flittery bad guy who just won't stay still? Handcuff yourself to them for a quasi-grapple! Something like a sturdy pole or beam nearby? Cuff 'em in place! It's why it's my favorite item for Fast Hands lol
So first of all. I plugged some math together. If I compare your described rogue to a Barbarian or Paladin or Fighter the biggest disparity starts at level 9 and 10, where the rogue starts to fall off, being an average of at least 10 points behind the Barbarian and about even with the Paladin (non-smiting). You start to catch up again at 11-12 so the dip doesn't last too long. The Fighter is about to hit 3rd attack so you aren't keeping up with a Fighter Great Weapon Master, but then I dont really think anyone is. So while you are going to feel the difference it may not be as pronounced as you think, which is impressive since both of the paladin and the Barbarian are burning limited use resources to keep ahead of your baseline (insert "I can do this all day" meme)
Now the second issue is that Rogues as a class are a 'one-trick pony' in combat, mostly because their expertise lies elsewhere. The sneak attack is really just there to make you feel like you're participating, but mathematically speaking, without adding in additional subclass specializing in combat, you're not the top killer.
Now some people might find that depressing. I find it freeing. You now know that choosing to do something OTHER than Steady Aim + Sharpshooter is viable as you are not the sole or even best damager on the field (just the most reliable over time). Now you get to use those Fast Hands or even just the 'Improvised Action' or something in the environment that can be interacted with for dramatic or impactful event.
Don't let yourself be bored. Look at the field and think outside the rules as written, and don't think in terms of 'I'm going to apply this effect' just think of it in terms of the action you're going to take, the DM will figure out the effects of your actions, hopefully you'll be firing off his or her creativity by utilizing your own.
That, in a nutshell, is a very wise tip and rules to play by.
I know I like to min-max personally, and my DM did gave me a few tools here and there to improve my DPR, but I KNOW and UNDERSTAND that others will cause waaaay more damage then I can even dream of.
So : I aim for the style, the fun, the "out of the box"! Improvised action and "called shots" can be your friend here.You will still do reliable damage (Elven Accuracy does help a lot with crits, if you get a Keen Blade homebrew dagger) and in the end, it's damage your party can count on as well. It is a Team game/effort after all (you'll still be unbeatable on Ability checks with Reliable Talents and Expertise! HA!).
Hyrkali
Full DNDBeyond.com in Dark Mode? Yes please!
Honestly that's the same mindset I have when it comes to Eldritch Blast. There are plenty people that complain that you pretty much have to do it and the Agonizing Blast invocation as Warlock since you don't have enough spell slots to cast all the time and other damage cantrips are strictly worse ... however for me it means I just need to take this one cantrip and invocation and I'll be good in terms of damage output forever so I can dedicate my other cantrips and spell slots etc. to utility and flavour instead of damage.
I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
I think one of the problems with rogue is how it's presented at early levels. Newer players will see Sneak Attack at Level 1, compared to other classes out the gate (Paladin just gets a poor man's Detect Good and Evil and a Healing ability, Fighter gets a fighting style that may or may not be a damage buff and a heal, Barbarians kind of do better out the gate with rage but it's much more limited at Level 1, and standard ranger gets... tracking? Kinda?) and go "Oh hey, this must be the big weapon damage class". Once their buddies start getting the shiny new toys (Extra Attack, Smite, Reckless Attack, Hunter's Mark) while they're more or less stuck with same old Sneak Attack, they tend to dismiss rogue as "boring" or "not what they signed up for".
It doesn't help how much the rogue's best talents are not strictly written down in the rulebook, for example there's a ton of items I listed before that are up for DM interpretation, like the bottle of perfume or some of the manacle tricks. They're not EXPLICIT abilities these items have, but from a simple storytelling perspective spritzing someone in the eyes with a perfume bottle is a comedy trick as old as the hills, and you're just hoping the DM nods their head and goes "Yep, that makes sense." To me, that fits the rogue's MO as the rule-breaker, the kind of person who plays on the edges of what's allowed. But for a new player who's just learning the basic rules for combat, tacking on a bunch of things you can "kinda-sorta" do can be a bit overwhelming.
All that (the fact that Rogue are best played when thinking out of the box) probably explains why Arcane Trickster is often viewed as "one of the best" subclass (well, it's S tier for sure, alongside some other good ones...).
Its versatility with Illusions makes it useful without having to think too hard about item combos and improvised actions - you get rules and spells that tells a player (new and old) what's easily doable.
Hyrkali
Full DNDBeyond.com in Dark Mode? Yes please!