D&D (2024) Abusing True Strike 2024

[Zardnaar]

Heavy armour proficiency is no longer linked to subclass in any case.

This is dependent upon subclass. From level 6, War clerics can cast either shield of faith or spiritual weapon without concentration.

I'm aware but that's an exception. Unique to war cleric. Downside you're still a war cleric (2024 looks a lit better tbf).

You can still get heavy armor though. I wouldn't bother myself but it's an option.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think the best single-class Rogue combat wise is going to max a casting stat and get Truestrike through Elf, Magic Initiate or Arcane Trickster.

I think the absolute cat's meow for a Rogue will be a 2-level Warlock dip with max Charisma for Agonizing Blast-Truestrike along with two more Invocations.

I know this is an oversimplification but:

a 5th level Rogue with an 18 Dex is doing Weapon + 4 + 3d6 on a sneak attack

A 3rd level Rogue with 2 levels of Warlock and a 16 Charisma TS-AB is doing Weapon + 6 + 3d6 on a sneak attack

And it only gets better from there as Truestrike gains +2 damage with every ASI and another +1d6 at 11 and 17 in addition to staying on the sneak attack tree.

Comparing these at 11th level:

Rogue 11 (20 Dex): Weapon+5+6d6

Rogue 9/Warlock2 (20 Charisma): Weapon + 10 + 7d6

In addition to doing more damage the multiclass can change damage to Radiant or if he has Pact of Blade to Psychic, Necrotic or Radiant.

Thank you. I was having similar thoughts you laid it out better.

TS stack with potent cantrip? Asking for a friend. My take is yes but could be wrong.

 

[Kurotowa]

Yes, Cleric, Rogue, and non-Valor Bards are the best bets for a True Strike build. Others are possible, but the spell doesn't synch with Extra Attack.

All of those need to get the spell through Magic Initiate (Wizard), though.

High Elf also works, now that they can freely assign their species Wizard cantrip.

The thing with the new version of True Strike is that unlike previous weapon cantrips, it works best when your caster stat is prioritized. There are some interesting interactions, though, and here are some of the ones with better potential I've found.

A Cleric or Druid using True Strike with a Musket. This one needs either High Elf or Magic Initiate. Both classes want to prioritize their casting stat, both classes can get martial weapon proficiency easily, and both classes only make one enhanced attack so they don't care about the limitations of either True Strike or the Musket. Your spell slots are still stronger, but it's a little better than a basic attack cantrip. I'm a kinda tempted to make a Druid frontier mountain man, Davy Crocket style.

An Arcane Trickster Rogue that goes Int primary and Dex secondary. It's easy for AT to pick up True Strike from their subclass. Going for this build has its pros and cons. You get slightly better spell DC, slightly worse Cunning Strike DC. Your damage is a little better thanks to True Strike, but your AC will be a little worse. The big gain is that it's easier to take Telekinetic for ultimate Mage Hand shenanigans. You just may want to use a whip or shortbow.

A Celestial Warlock stacking the benefits of Agonizing Blast and Radiant Soul for triple Cha modifier to their one weapon attack. This is the budget version of the same build with Green-Flame Blade. It does a bit less damage than either using GFB or going traditional Blade Pact, but there are two upsides. One is that it takes fewer invocations; you don't even need Blade Pact if you use a Simple weapon. The other is that it works with shortbows and light crossbows, if for flavor reasons you really want to use one of those instead of Eldritch Blast.

 

[StitchedSpartan]

While not optimal at all, I find the idea of a party face swashbuckling type Rogue using True Strike with Charisma to be fun. The creativity the spell offers is nice

 

[ECMO3]

Thank you. I was having similar thoughts you laid it out better.

TS stack with potent cantrip? Asking for a friend. My take is yes but could be wrong.

Yes ... and if you are multiclassed it stacks with a Warlock Truestrike-Agonizing Blast. I think the wording on this is clear.

It does not turn a miss into a hit though and therefore does not cause Sneak Attack and would also not work with other damage boosts that require a hit like Hex, Divine Smite, Conjure Minor Elementals etc.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I don't follow - how does True Strike give a Warlock the effects of Extra Attack scaling up to three attacks?

With shadow blade, you can have 4d8 + 2d6 + cha with no invocations, or 2x Cha with one. All with advantage in dim light.

With Devouring blade, you can have 2d6+cha up to three times in a turn, for a net of 6d6 + 3x cha, but only with three invocations. And for those extra two invocations you get one extra point of damage with average damage rolls if everything hits... okay, and whatever bonuses your weapon's magical properties are so in practice it's probably better. But not by a ton - and two invocations can be a lot of utility in a game that isn't mostly combat encounters.

 

[ECMO3]

The big gain is that it's easier to take Telekinetic for ultimate Mage Hand shenanigans. You just may want to use a whip or shortbow.

A Pistol offers the best damage with this for a single class Rogue.

 

[Kurotowa]

A Pistol offers the best damage with this for a single class Rogue.

A single class Rogue doesn't have proficiency with a Pistol. They get Martial weapons with the Finesse or Light property, and Pistols have neither. Hand Crossbows do, but a Hand Crossbow has little to recommend it over a Shortbow.

The Martial Weapon Training feat is keyed to Str or Dex, which means if you're going Int primary you're not getting it until at least 10th level. And I'm not sure it's worth a whole feat for an average 2 points more damage. A multiclass dip is entirely out of the question for that small an upgrade.

 

[StitchedSpartan]

A single class Rogue doesn't have proficiency with a Pistol. They get Martial weapons with the Finesse or Light property, and Pistols have neither. Hand Crossbows do, but a Hand Crossbow has little to recommend it over a Shortbow.

The Martial Weapon Training feat is keyed to Str or Dex, which means if you're going Int primary you're not getting it until at least 10th level. And I'm not sure it's worth a whole feat for an average 2 points more damage. A multiclass dip is entirely out of the question for that small an upgrade.

If you're using True Strike, a Light Crossbow (1d8) seem to be better than Hand Crossbows because you can't do the bonus action attack when using a cantrip. Off turn attack shenanigans don't worry about Loading either so it's fine. For level 1-4 characters, however, the maximum damage a ranged rogue can do is from Hand Crossbows because True Strike doesn't add damage yet.

 

[Kurotowa]

If you're using True Strike, a Light Crossbow (1d8) seem to be better than Hand Crossbows because you can't do the bonus action attack when using a cantrip. Off turn attack shenanigans don't worry about Loading either so it's fine. For level 1-4 characters, however, the maximum damage a ranged rogue can do is from Hand Crossbows because True Strike doesn't add damage yet.

The Light Crossbow is 1d8 while Shortbows and Hand Crossbows are 1d6, it's true. But the former has a Slow mastery while the latter two have a Vex mastery, and I suspect Rogues will value Vex highly enough that it's worth dropping a die size.

Then comparing the Shortbow and Hand Crossbow, the Shortbow has a massively greater range and the Hand Crossbow has the Light property. So the only reason to use a Hand Crossbow is if you have a build that needs that Light property. And I haven't seen a build like that proposed yet. Probably there's an interesting permutation of Crossbow Expert and Dual Wielder somewhere out there for some class, but it's not one anyone's immediately seized on. Maybe double Hand Crossbow Ranger exploiting Hunter's Mark bonus damage? Probably not a Rogue, though.

Edit: Hmm, looking closer at the feats I think I see why no one's proposed the build yet. Dual Wielder only allows a melee attack, so it doesn't work with double Hand Crossbow. Crossbow Expert replaces the need for Two-Weapon Fighting Style; maybe so you can take Archery? But you can't fit a Nick weapon into that, which makes things harder on a Ranger. I'll have to mock up some character ideas later.