Human variant archery fighter- did I lock myself into a subpar race?

[CTurbo]

Sharpshooter is a great starting feat because you can bump Dex to 18 at level 4 whereas taking it at level 4 leaves your Dex at 16.

 

[Yunru]

I'm going to disagree with those that say Battlemaster (although it is a good suggestion), as Samurai is clearly the superior sniper

 

[Andrew Enns]

Alright, thanks everyone. I feel better about my choices. Its highly possible i just never multiclass. I feel I should give a more detailed explanation, because maybe then I can get even better advice on how to build the character concept. And just FYI, ive tried looking for any sort of guide or build like it, and the closest I've come to finding one was it being mentioned in a youtube video.

Anyway, its me and 4 other quasi new players, the DM wants us starting at lvl 1, will allow us to tweak our character from what we initially rolled, but we have to keep the same rolls, race, class, backgrounds etc. I rolled quite good with a 17, 16, 15, 14, 12, 10. We ended up not having any range, so I'm going to play a ranged fighter. I have 2 choices. Either long bow, which lends itself to a sniper type character; or hand crossbow, which is more of a short ranged "gunslinger" type build.

Personally I love the gunslinger concept myself, I'm just not sure what the best way to go about building that type of character is. Like, light armor or heavy armor. Battlemaster or eldritch knight. Stealth or in your face.

Maybe you guys have some further insight.

 

[RogueJK]

For a hand crossbow "gunslinger" Variant Human Battlemaster Fighter:

STR 14
DEX 17+1
CON 15+1
INT 10
WIS 16
CHA 12

Take Perception as your Human bonus skill. Take Athletics and Acrobatics as your Fighter skills. Pick up Stealth and another skill of your choice from a Background. Take Archery as your Fighting Style.

I'd go Crossbow Master at Level 1, granting you two attacks from the start, and allowing you to attack with your Hand Crossbows at close range if needed. Then Sharpshooter at Level 4, extending the useful range of your Hand Crossbow to a respectable 120 feet. With a DEX of 18 from the start, you can afford to wait until Level 6 to bump DEX to 20.

Wear Light Armor, carry several Hand Crossbows, and have a Rapier for backup.

You'd be an effective short to medium ranged attacker, with your bonus attack helping to make up for your lower damage compared to a Longbow. (2 attacks from Level 1-4, 3 attacks from 5-10, and 4 attacks from 11+.) You'd also be an effective party Scout.

I'd consider dipping Ranger for 2-3 levels to get an extra skill, the Defense fighting style for +1 AC, Hunter's Mark for +1d6 to each of your attacks, and Darkvision plus some ambush bonuses from Gloomstalker if you go 3 levels. Or alternately, you might consider dipping Rogue for 1 level to get an extra skill, some Sneak Attack damage, and Expertise in Stealth and Perception.

 

[CTurbo]

For a hand crossbow "gunslinger" Variant Human Battlemaster Fighter:

STR 14
DEX 17+1
CON 15+1
INT 10
WIS 16
CHA 12

Take Perception as your Human bonus skill. Take Athletics and Acrobatics as your Fighter skills. Pick up Stealth and another skill of your choice from a Background. Take Archery as your Fighting Style.

I'd go Crossbow Master at Level 1, granting you two attacks from the start, and allowing you to attack with your Hand Crossbows at close range if needed. Then Sharpshooter at Level 4, extending the useful range of your Hand Crossbow to a respectable 120 feet. With a DEX of 18 from the start, you can afford to wait until Level 6 to bump DEX to 20.

Wear Light Armor, carry several Hand Crossbows, and have a Rapier for backup.

You'd be an effective short to medium ranged attacker, with your bonus attack helping to make up for your lower damage compared to a Longbow. (2 attacks from Level 1-4, 3 attacks from 5-10, and 4 attacks from 11+.) You'd also be an effective party Scout.

I'd consider dipping Ranger for 2-3 levels to get an extra skill, the Defense fighting style for +1 AC, Hunter's Mark for +1d6 to each of your attacks, and Darkvision plus some ambush bonuses from Gloomstalker if you go 3 levels. Or alternately, you might consider dipping Rogue for 1 level to get an extra skill, some Sneak Attack damage, and Expertise in Stealth and Perception.

I agree with all of this except trade crossbow and Crossbow Expert for longbow and Sharpshooter

 

[RogueJK]

Normally, yes. But the OP's last post, just above mine, stated:

I have 2 choices. Either long bow, which lends itself to a sniper type character; or hand crossbow, which is more of a short ranged "gunslinger" type build.

Personally I love the gunslinger concept myself, I'm just not sure what the best way to go about building that type of character is.

So that was for the specifically requested "hand crossbow gunslinger" build.

 

[FrogReaver]

Gunslinger is fun. Crossbow expertise use great early. Take sharpshooter at level 4. Increase dex afterwards.

Be a battlemaster. Use precision attack almost exclusively when you think you only missed by no more than 4ish. Oh and always use the -5/+10 unless something has outrageously buffed ac.

Plan on light armor but for part of the game medium could be better

 

[FrogReaver]

Also I’ve always wanted to play a gunslinger style character that carries around a long bow, a heavy crossbow and a hand crossbow and pulls out the appropriate weapon depending on range etc.

 

[FrogReaver]

If you get tired of the fighter progression a rogue multiclass works great with this as well.

 

[RogueJK]

If you get tired of the fighter progression a rogue multiclass works great with this as well.

I think a Ranger multiclass is more optimal than Rogue for a character like a Hand Crossbow Gunslinger with a high number of attacks per round. Especially from a damage standpoint. (Unless you're planning to take 5 or more levels of the alternate class, in which case Rogue starts to pull ahead.)

The Ranger's Hunter's Mark spell applies 1d6 extra damage to each of your hand crossbow attacks each turn, not just one attack like Sneak Attack. It also doesn't rely on having an adjacent ally or Advantage, like Sneak Attack. Though Hunter's Mark is not without some minor flaws, namely that you can't use your Crossbow Expert Bonus Action attack during the round when you first cast it or a round when you're moving it to a different target, it only affects one target at a time so you have to focus your fire until that enemy goes down, and it's a Concentration spell that could potentially be disrupted. So Hunter's Mark is best utilized when fighting one or two tougher enemies, rather than hordes of weaker enemies.

The Rogue's Cunning Action, which is one of its prime lower-level abilities, isn't as useful for a character that relies on an additional Crossbow Expert attack, which is what you'll want to be spending your Bonus Action on during most turns.

And Ranger has other spells than Hunter's Mark that can give you some additional utility.