At first I was extremely underwhelmed with the Hoopak, and still think for most builds it is weak, but I did find one build it is awesome on:
Kender Rogue with a fighter dip and great weapon fighting.
This gets you proficiency with a Hoopak and Great Weapon Fighting style.
Great Weapon Fighting. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
Hoopak is a 2-handed finesse weapon which means you can reroll every 1 or 2 you roll on your attack or sneak attack. This is a flat 0.7 damage boost for every sneak attack dice. Also because it is a "melee weapon" the bonus would apply to ranged attacks made with a Hoopak as well.
This is pretty cool and takes the Hoopak from being terrible to being pretty good on a Rogue that gets proficiency and the fighting style.
Do it with an Arcane Trickster and you could reroll the 1s or 2s on your booming blade or green flame blade as well.
Kender Rogue with a fighter dip and great weapon fighting.
This gets you proficiency with a Hoopak and Great Weapon Fighting style.
Great Weapon Fighting. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
Hoopak is a 2-handed finesse weapon which means you can reroll every 1 or 2 you roll on your attack or sneak attack. This is a flat 0.7 damage boost for every sneak attack dice. Also because it is a "melee weapon" the bonus would apply to ranged attacks made with a Hoopak as well.
This is pretty cool and takes the Hoopak from being terrible to being pretty good on a Rogue that gets proficiency and the fighting style.
Do it with an Arcane Trickster and you could reroll the 1s or 2s on your booming blade or green flame blade as well.