Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on feats for Swashbuckler rogues. I was thinking Sentinel or Martial Adept for Riposte and Parry. Or maybe even Mobile for the extra movement, since mobility is important for this subclass, but Fancy Footwork covers some of that feat with no Opportunity Attacks if you make a melee attack, so it's partially redundant.
I had considered Dual Wielder, which I think I saw on a Swashbuckler build online, but wasn't sure if it was a good idea as you need finesse weapons for Sneak Attack so being able to use non-light weapons isn't helpful. The build guide also mentioned using Dodge with bonus action, but I didn't think Dodge qualified for Cunning Action.
Also, considered magic initiate for Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade, but again I don't think that would help with Sneak Attack damage since it's casting a spell not an attack.
Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade can both grant sneak attack on your primary target, since you make a melee weapon attack as part of casting the spell. If you take magic initiate, you might also benefit from taking Find Familiar as a first level spell.
As far as taking Dual Wielder, you could use rapiers since they are finesse and non-light.
You are right that dodge cannot be used as part of cunning action, did they maybe give a couple levels in monk to use ki to dodge?
One of the advantages to Dual Wielded is you can go Rapier + Whip so you have a d8 weapon for max damage up close, and a Reach weapon so you can hit from 10 feet away and move without having to engage.
Also, Sentinel and Mage Slayer can be useful for Swashbucklers too.
I'm a big fan of the sentinel swashbuckler. If you rolled good enough for stats to take martial adept, it really reigns in that duelist image.
I didn’t think martial adept had a stat requirement but will look again.
I was thinking of going high elf half elf for booming blade for racial cantrip which I think would be better than GFB since rakish audacity feature would work better with it. GFB needs secondary target within 5 ft which may hamper RA sneak attack which can’t have other creature within 5 ft of me. and if I am moving in, attacking, then moving out the target will have to move to me to melee attack which triggers BB or stand still and hopefully not have a range attack.
at 4th level would it be better to have martial adept with riposte and parry or sentinel?
I'm a big fan of the sentinel swashbuckler. If you rolled good enough for stats to take martial adept, it really reigns in that duelist image.
I didn’t think martial adept had a stat requirement but will look again.
I was thinking of going high elf half elf for booming blade for racial cantrip which I think would be better than GFB since rakish audacity feature would work better with it. GFB needs secondary target within 5 ft which may hamper RA sneak attack which can’t have other creature within 5 ft of me. and if I am moving in, attacking, then moving out the target will have to move to me to melee attack which triggers BB or stand still and hopefully not have a range attack.
at 4th level would it be better to have martial adept with riposte and parry or sentinel?
If you're making an elf, might I suggest Elven Accuracy? It's very nice for rogues because you're always looking to get Advantage anyway and it gives a nice boost to crit chance.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Actually, I was looking more for Half Elf (High Elf variant). It gives me dex and cha bonuses and I still get the cantrip racial feat. But I realize that half elf qualifies for Elven Accuracy so that could be an option as well. I hadn't considered it, thanks. I don't need advantage with Rakish Audacity, but any other situations that I can get advantage it would definitely be helpful.
I had thought that Sentinel and/or Martial Adept would give me options if I wasn't able to move in, strike, and move out. So if I have to stand toe to toe I could reduce damage (parry), extra attack if enemy misses me (riposte), or reaction attack if an ally next to me gets attacked.
One of the advantages to Elven Accuracy is that pseudo-triple advantage almost triples your probability of getting a crit over non-advantage attacks. Also, remember that Sneak Attack works 1ce/turn, not 1ce/round. So anything that gives you more opportunities to attack on another character’s turn (like Sentinel) coupled with Elven Accuracy will potentially lead to you dishing out a lot of damage. Also, positioning is clutch for Swashbucklers, so Mobile really could be a boon. Also, a common roll for Swashbucklers is to hunt solitary, back line spellcasters, so Mage Slayer has several benefits to it.
I'm a big fan of the sentinel swashbuckler. If you rolled good enough for stats to take martial adept, it really reigns in that duelist image.
I didn’t think martial adept had a stat requirement but will look again.
I was thinking of going high elf half elf for booming blade for racial cantrip which I think would be better than GFB since rakish audacity feature would work better with it. GFB needs secondary target within 5 ft which may hamper RA sneak attack which can’t have other creature within 5 ft of me. and if I am moving in, attacking, then moving out the target will have to move to me to melee attack which triggers BB or stand still and hopefully not have a range attack.
at 4th level would it be better to have martial adept with riposte and parry or sentinel?
You’re right, sorry. For some reason I was thinking martial adept had a STR requirement.
Personally I would go sentinel before martial adept, but I always go for things that help the whole teams before myself.
Actually, I was looking more for Half Elf (High Elf variant). It gives me dex and cha bonuses and I still get the cantrip racial feat. But I realize that half elf qualifies for Elven Accuracy so that could be an option as well. I hadn't considered it, thanks. I don't need advantage with Rakish Audacity, but any other situations that I can get advantage it would definitely be helpful.
I had thought that Sentinel and/or Martial Adept would give me options if I wasn't able to move in, strike, and move out. So if I have to stand toe to toe I could reduce damage (parry), extra attack if enemy misses me (riposte), or reaction attack if an ally next to me gets attacked.
Do remember that Martial Adept only gives you one superiority die per short rest. If your party isn't taking short rests frequently, the feat will mostly fall flat as you'll either burn the die quickly and not be able to use it again for a while or save it for far too long hoping for that ideal moment to use it to make a difference. If your party takes short rests frequently, then you'll be able to make much more use out of the feat. Of course, many feats have similar conditional requirements that could make them just as useless over the course of an adventuring day as Martial Adept would be on a once per adventuring day basis.
That's a good point, Jhfffan. We tend not to have many combats per session though, and we probably take a short rest after a few encounters (our games are about 3-4 hours and the combat encounters tend to be short, but fun)
Something to sthink about with Martial adept for riposte and parry is competition for your reaction. Riposte is pretty much wasted if the target they moves away from you, parry might mean you miss out on the sweet sneak attack. There will be times when it does mean you get to use a reaction that round when you wouldn't have done otherwise but it is something to bear in mind.
Sentinal depends how you want to play, and the rest of the party. I play a swashbuckler as a quickly in get in his attack and get out again. You are virtually a ranged character because you want ot end your turns at range from the enemy. Sentinal is for tanks who want the enemy to stay close to them so they cant attack the other more fragile members of the party, of your party is made up of squishies and you want to tank on the tank role but if is it only for occassions when you are unable to get away you are investing a feat for something which hopefully wont happen often.
I think the biggest advantage of Mobile is the bit that rplicates "fancy footwork", 10ft of movement is nice but not worth a full feat and the difficult terrain bit is very situational. If you want a bit of extra movement and your race qualifies squat nimbleness is an option.
Duel wielder in essence allows you to up your off-hand weapon from a shortsword to a rapier (average slightly over +1 damage on a hit) and add your ability modifier so each time you hit at low levels you might expect an extra 4 damage increasing to 6 when you get dex up to 20. Not huge as you are mostly looking at your sneak attack to provide damage but nice enough
Elven accuracy is extremely powerful especially for a character looking to get advantage as often as possible. If your DM uses the flanking optional rule I would say it is broken. On the server I am on if you take Elven accuracy you don't get the ASI and it is still a popular feat (and most DMs don't use flanking).
ASIs are boring but are often the most effective way to improve your character I would be lookling at wanting to get Dex to 20 by level 10 at the latest.
Duel wielder in essence allows you to up your off-hand weapon from a shortsword to a rapier (average slightly over +1 damage on a hit) and add your ability modifier so each time you hit at low levels you might expect an extra 4 damage increasing to 6 when you get dex up to 20. Not huge as you are mostly looking at your sneak attack to provide damage but nice enough
Dual Wielder feat does not add attack modifier to the off hand attack, that is Two Weapon Fighting Style (not to be confused with Two Weapon Fighting) and requires a level in Fighter (or getting it as a second fighting style at 10 with Champion) or two in Ranger. Dual wielder allows for dual wielding non-light weapons, drawing or stowing two weapons at the same time, and gives a +1 to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
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Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on feats for Swashbuckler rogues. I was thinking Sentinel or Martial Adept for Riposte and Parry. Or maybe even Mobile for the extra movement, since mobility is important for this subclass, but Fancy Footwork covers some of that feat with no Opportunity Attacks if you make a melee attack, so it's partially redundant.
I had considered Dual Wielder, which I think I saw on a Swashbuckler build online, but wasn't sure if it was a good idea as you need finesse weapons for Sneak Attack so being able to use non-light weapons isn't helpful. The build guide also mentioned using Dodge with bonus action, but I didn't think Dodge qualified for Cunning Action.
Also, considered magic initiate for Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade, but again I don't think that would help with Sneak Attack damage since it's casting a spell not an attack.
Any thoughts would be welcome.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade can both grant sneak attack on your primary target, since you make a melee weapon attack as part of casting the spell. If you take magic initiate, you might also benefit from taking Find Familiar as a first level spell.
As far as taking Dual Wielder, you could use rapiers since they are finesse and non-light.
You are right that dodge cannot be used as part of cunning action, did they maybe give a couple levels in monk to use ki to dodge?
I'm a big fan of the sentinel swashbuckler. If you rolled good enough for stats to take martial adept, it really reigns in that duelist image.
One of the advantages to Dual Wielded is you can go Rapier + Whip so you have a d8 weapon for max damage up close, and a Reach weapon so you can hit from 10 feet away and move without having to engage.
Also, Sentinel and Mage Slayer can be useful for Swashbucklers too.
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If you CHA is at least 13, I would suggest Inspiring Leader. CHA helps a few other swashbuckler abilities too.
I didn’t think martial adept had a stat requirement but will look again.
I was thinking of going high elf half elf for booming blade for racial cantrip which I think would be better than GFB since rakish audacity feature would work better with it. GFB needs secondary target within 5 ft which may hamper RA sneak attack which can’t have other creature within 5 ft of me. and if I am moving in, attacking, then moving out the target will have to move to me to melee attack which triggers BB or stand still and hopefully not have a range attack.
at 4th level would it be better to have martial adept with riposte and parry or sentinel?
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
If you're making an elf, might I suggest Elven Accuracy? It's very nice for rogues because you're always looking to get Advantage anyway and it gives a nice boost to crit chance.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Actually, I was looking more for Half Elf (High Elf variant). It gives me dex and cha bonuses and I still get the cantrip racial feat. But I realize that half elf qualifies for Elven Accuracy so that could be an option as well. I hadn't considered it, thanks. I don't need advantage with Rakish Audacity, but any other situations that I can get advantage it would definitely be helpful.
I had thought that Sentinel and/or Martial Adept would give me options if I wasn't able to move in, strike, and move out. So if I have to stand toe to toe I could reduce damage (parry), extra attack if enemy misses me (riposte), or reaction attack if an ally next to me gets attacked.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
One of the advantages to Elven Accuracy is that pseudo-triple advantage almost triples your probability of getting a crit over non-advantage attacks. Also, remember that Sneak Attack works 1ce/turn, not 1ce/round. So anything that gives you more opportunities to attack on another character’s turn (like Sentinel) coupled with Elven Accuracy will potentially lead to you dishing out a lot of damage. Also, positioning is clutch for Swashbucklers, so Mobile really could be a boon. Also, a common roll for Swashbucklers is to hunt solitary, back line spellcasters, so Mage Slayer has several benefits to it.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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You’re right, sorry. For some reason I was thinking martial adept had a STR requirement.
Personally I would go sentinel before martial adept, but I always go for things that help the whole teams before myself.
Do remember that Martial Adept only gives you one superiority die per short rest. If your party isn't taking short rests frequently, the feat will mostly fall flat as you'll either burn the die quickly and not be able to use it again for a while or save it for far too long hoping for that ideal moment to use it to make a difference. If your party takes short rests frequently, then you'll be able to make much more use out of the feat. Of course, many feats have similar conditional requirements that could make them just as useless over the course of an adventuring day as Martial Adept would be on a once per adventuring day basis.
That's a good point, Jhfffan. We tend not to have many combats per session though, and we probably take a short rest after a few encounters (our games are about 3-4 hours and the combat encounters tend to be short, but fun)
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Something to sthink about with Martial adept for riposte and parry is competition for your reaction. Riposte is pretty much wasted if the target they moves away from you, parry might mean you miss out on the sweet sneak attack. There will be times when it does mean you get to use a reaction that round when you wouldn't have done otherwise but it is something to bear in mind.
Sentinal depends how you want to play, and the rest of the party. I play a swashbuckler as a quickly in get in his attack and get out again. You are virtually a ranged character because you want ot end your turns at range from the enemy. Sentinal is for tanks who want the enemy to stay close to them so they cant attack the other more fragile members of the party, of your party is made up of squishies and you want to tank on the tank role but if is it only for occassions when you are unable to get away you are investing a feat for something which hopefully wont happen often.
I think the biggest advantage of Mobile is the bit that rplicates "fancy footwork", 10ft of movement is nice but not worth a full feat and the difficult terrain bit is very situational. If you want a bit of extra movement and your race qualifies squat nimbleness is an option.
Duel wielder in essence allows you to up your off-hand weapon from a shortsword to a rapier (average slightly over +1 damage on a hit) and add your ability modifier so each time you hit at low levels you might expect an extra 4 damage increasing to 6 when you get dex up to 20. Not huge as you are mostly looking at your sneak attack to provide damage but nice enough
Elven accuracy is extremely powerful especially for a character looking to get advantage as often as possible. If your DM uses the flanking optional rule I would say it is broken. On the server I am on if you take Elven accuracy you don't get the ASI and it is still a popular feat (and most DMs don't use flanking).
ASIs are boring but are often the most effective way to improve your character I would be lookling at wanting to get Dex to 20 by level 10 at the latest.
Dual Wielder feat does not add attack modifier to the off hand attack, that is Two Weapon Fighting Style (not to be confused with Two Weapon Fighting) and requires a level in Fighter (or getting it as a second fighting style at 10 with Champion) or two in Ranger. Dual wielder allows for dual wielding non-light weapons, drawing or stowing two weapons at the same time, and gives a +1 to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.