D&D 3.x Arcane Trickster Spell and Feat Suggestions (3.5e)

[Prism]

If you are using FR sources then snillocs snowball (unapproachable east)is one of the best 1st level touch spells going. It allows up to 5 touches which could all be in the same round or split

A good higher level FR spell is thunderlance (magic of faerun)at 4th level. Flanking at up to 20' with a force attack.

Spells to get people grappling (to sneak) are evards tenticles and gutsnake (magic of faerun)

Grease, shatter, haste, blink, greater invis are other great options

I agree with Thanee and go the archery route to combine bow attacks, ranged touch attacks and if no sneak is on then use other spells. Also, until you are about 10th level your sneak damage won't be huge anyway so make sure you focus on other spells to generally benefit the party

 

[Hypersmurf]

@Pielorinho: Don't forget Rapid Shot...

... Precise Shot?

-Hyp.

 

[Thanee]

*puzzled*

He listed Precise Shot... but not Rapid Shot.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

I was thinking of doing a human being... not to into halflings...

I'm sure human will work fine, too. Bonus feats and skill points are always handy.

Thanks for the tips and if you could just quickly tell me what your Arcane Tricksters were and what they had I'd appreciate it.

Well, first one was an archery-based (using buff spells and some offensive spells) elf and the second one a halfling with some archery, but mostly Weapon Finesse for melee and Quicker than the Eye (similar to Improved Feint, and I wouldn't pick that up again). Both had a typical rogue skill selection with trap detection and removal, lock and pocket picking, and various detection skills among others, i.e. Bluff. Both also had Improved Initiative and super-high Int (as pure wizard) and high Dex.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pielorinho]

@Pielorinho: Don't forget Rapid Shot, an absolute must-have, if you go for the archery feats (taking those purely for ranged touch is a waste of feats, you will hit even with the -4 almost always, given the high Dex this character will most likely have).

Hmm. Problem with rapid shot is that it'd really only be useful with a small shortbow, doing (I think) 1d4-1 damage with each shot, due to my crappy str. I don't want to sink a valuable feat into quickdraw, so I couldn't use it with a thrown weapon most of the time, and that 1d4-1 damage isn't really enough to justify a feat's expenditure.

Sure, under some circumstances I'll be able to make an extra sneak attack with it, but it's pretty spendy in spell levels or equipment to make a full attack's worth of ranged sneak attacks.

As for precise shot's not being worth it for ranged touch attacks, this may be so--but often, my target will benefit both from cover (from an ally) AND from the -4 firing into melee penalty. Against an opponent with a touch AC of 12, I'd still (at fourth level) need to roll 12 or better to hit this opponent. With precise shot and point blank shot, that drops to 7 or better, a much better chance of success. It seems pretty useful to me.

Daniel

 

[Thanee]

Well, if you can sneak attack, you can sneak attack with every attack usually (standard Invisibility being the only really noteworthy exception).

And base damage isn't overly important, once you add up with the pile of d6.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pielorinho]

Well, if you can sneak attack, you can sneak attack with every attack usually (standard Invisibility being the only really noteworthy exception).

That's one exception; the other notable exception is attacking from hiding. Way I read it, to make your first attack from hiding be a sneak attack, you just have to succeed on a hide check; to make your second one be a sneak attack, you have to succeed on a hide check with a -20 penalty.

I just don't see it happening that often.

Daniel

 

[Thanee]

That's only when you hide during combat, usually hiding should lead to a surprise situation, I think.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Hypersmurf]

He listed Precise Shot... but not Rapid Shot.

Ah, gotcha.

I thought you were saying taking Rapid Shot for ranged touch attacks was a waste, because you'll hit even with the -4.

-Hyp.

 

[Rashak Mani]

If you want to be really nasty, take a look at the Kiss of the Vampire spell in Magic of Faerûn and what it allows you to do with your touch attacks (with three attacks per round thanks to Haste, this one is just ugly, even without sneak attacks ).

Bye
Thanee

Oh ! I'd love to use that spell ! You get immunity to death spells too ! No can do though... We aren't playing FR or 3.0...