Help an 7th level Rogue Archer

[OakwoodDM]

I have calculated that you get an average of 0,75 hits per round when you need to roll 11 with the first attack.


Does that sound right ?

Yes, but that's not what you said. You said there'd be a 75% chance of hitting...

Anyway, on topic, I'm in the 'stick as rogue all the way through' camp. A holy bow'll go a long way to increasing his damage potential, as will some form of invisibility. Obviously, the key to increasing damage output for a rogue is maximising your number of sneak attacks. For a melee rogue, that means things like feinting and trying your hardest to flank at every opportunity. For a bow rogue you're looking at staying hidden as much as possible.

 

[orangefruitbat]

There's a real obvious thing you can do - hide first, and snipe. From the SRD:
Sniping: If you’ve already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack, then immediately hide again. You take a –20 penalty on your Hide check to conceal yourself after the shot.

Now -20 seems like a lot, but a 7th level rogue with an 18 Dex is at +14 without any synergy bonuses, feats, circumstance bonuses (a distracted opponent - such as one in melee- is -5 to spot you, and if you are 30 feet away, that's an additional -3 on their check) or magic items. And it will get better as you level up. A stealth enhancement on your armor is fairly inexpensive.

So now, you can take one attack per round (at your full bonus at an oppent denied dex), get your sneat attack dice, and stay safely hidden (not risking your own skin!). If you can take manyshot, it gets even better. You won't get the glory, but you will be effetive and stay alive.

Hey everyone. A fellow PC in my adventuring group is playing a Rogue with a focus on his archer abilities (Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot feats).

The problem is that as our party moves into the 7th/8th level range, he's becoming less effective than the rest of us in combat. The fighters and spellcasters are able to do more and more damage as they level up, but all of his extra damage is tied up in a target being denied its dex bonus. After the first round of combat, it's very rare for that happen, so he almost never gets to roll those extra dice of damage.

In our last combat, we had a very tough fight with a Bone Devil. His DR of 10/good made the Rogue almost completely irrelevant, as the most he could do without a sneak attack or a critical was 10 points of damage.

Now, I realize that the obvious solution would be for him to take Weapon Finesse at 9th level and start flanking with a rapier, but the player would prefer not to become a melee type character. So, I'm hoping this board can help out. Are there some feats, prestige classes. tactics or magic items out there that would allow him to keep playing a Rogue Archer the way he enjoys, but would also allow him to deal out enough damage in combat to not feel useless?

Thanks,
-Scot

 

[Sammael]

The halfling rogue PC in my campaign has been using sniping to great effect for quite a while. Of course, it helps that he has a Sneak (Hide + Move Silently) bonus up through the roof at 17th level (+40-something), and that I let him have a feat (around 12th level or so) that halves the sniping penalty. However, I declared that the sniping penalty doubles for every round after the first that he doesn't change position, which I feel balances the whole thing out (and forces him to move around in combat rather than stay still and snipe the whole time).

 

[satori01]

Deadeye shot is a good way to go, guarentees at least one SA per round. There is also a Feat in PHB II , Crossbow Sniper that lets you add 1/2 you dex bonus as damage when using a crossbow, it also xtends your ranged sneak attack to 60'. It does require Weapon Focus.

Weapon Foucs Crossbow, Deadeye Shot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload could be a good way to go.

Have the Rogue stealth, scout, and snipe from 60' away and start combat, then retreating backwords shoot and move back to the group. Then use Deadeye Shot to add the pain on. The Rogue wont be doing Two Weapon Fighting SA, but a Full Attack coupled with a SA, every round will take many monsters down fast. This would actually work quite well with a Knight.

 

[ScotMartin]

Excellent! Lots of good ideas. The DM has been good about letting characters rework their existing feats, so he might permit him to work in Rapid Shot or Deadeye Shot and then get an appropriate feat when he hits 9th.

Beyond that, I'll have to check on Hide skill for possible sniping, and we'll have to save up for a good bow and possibly a Ring of Blinking.

Thanks,
-Scot

 

[gyor]

I wonder if the Basic D&D will have subraces, if so he could be a Drow (elf) archer!

 

[was]

Has he thought of multi-classing with Magus? More specifically, the Myrmidarch archetype.