Need help with my rogue's feats

[Ogre Mage]

I am having a tough time picking a feat for my soon to be 3rd level rogue. She is very fast and smart (20 DEX, 16 INT) and pretty strong (14 STR) but not particularly healthy, aware or personable (CON 12, WIS 11, CHA 11).

Due to low hit points, she generally prefers to rely on her mighty composite shortbow over entering melee with her rapier. She is the party member solely responsible for dealing with traps and locks (search, disable device, open locks) as well as stealth (move silently, hide). I have also pumped up spot and listen, though other party members are decent at this as well.

Possible feats I am considering include:

1. Improved Initiative: the +4 really improves my chance to get a sneak attack in at the start of combat.

2. Alertness: people deride the skill enhancing feats, but my DM has us make A LOT of spot and listen checks. It comes up so often it's hard to pass up.

3. Weapon Finesse: I prefer to use my bow, but this might be good for situations where I am forced to melee.

4. Point Blank Shot: Kind of a waste, but it is a gateway to some useful bow feats.

What do you think? Do you have any other ideas?

 

[CerebralAssassin]

Based on what you said, I would go with either Improved Initiative or PBS. Improved Initiative will help with both melee and ranged sneak attacks as well as increasing the odds of you not shooting a party member in melee because they acted before. PBS adds an additional +1 to attack and damage rolls within 30 ft, corresponding to your sneak attack ranges, and leads to Precise Shot which will eliminate the accidental shooting of your fellow PCs.

Another thing to consider may be Skill Focus or some of the dual skill enhancing feats. As the only trapfinder in your group, it wouldn't hurt to be really good at it. After all, if you're the only thief no one ever says, Are you sure it's not trapped? until it's too late

Nathan

 

[Stone Angel]

Yeah rougue feats can be tough to choose from. So you basically want to be a ranged rouge. I would go with PBS just to get a good jump on the feat chain that comes from that next being precise shot. Though imp init is good but with your high dex you should be ok on those rolls.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

I know I had a tough time picking for my now defunct rogue (GM moved away after, like, 3 weeks... *sigh* ). There's a lot of good ones. I would say, you kind of answered two of your own questions. You said one thing would be "kind of a waste" which means, it's probably not going to be as useful to you in your game as Alertness, which you say you need to use all the time.

My best advice for you is go with what you know will really help out your PC and the party in your game.

Best,

Sheri

 

[Keith]

A rogue without Improved Initiative?! I recommend it highly. Should be first feat for a rogue, I think . Provides an edge that never stops being useful.

Cheers

 

[Darklone]

What are your other feats?

I'd go with PBS, that +1 to hit and damage rocks. TWF might be nice, either for throwing some knives or going toe to toe... but if you want to head into that direction, I'd choose Weapon Finesse first.

Imp Init: Not that necessary with high dex. Useful, ok, but I prefer an additional attack with TWF or Rapid Shot instead.

 

[two]

You almost certainly want Point Blank Shot, followed by Rapid Shot.

Ignore precise shot. It is a bad feat for rogues. If you are shooting into melee (which precise shot helps deal with), a) you did not win initiative/it's probably not the first round of combat, thus, b) your foes are not flat-footed, and c) you won't get sneak attack dice.

So instead of using the bow after the enemy is aware/engaged, that's the time to flank (carefully) and attack with a melee weapon (and retreat if you take damage) getting sneak attack dice damage.

Really, for an archer-rogue, Precise Shot+Rapid Shot are great. Why? Because if you get initiative, the enemy is flatfooted (no dex. bonus) and this fact help you hit with the -2/-2 rapid shot penalty (-1/-1 after precise shot). Plus, both shots get sneak attack dice, of course (within 30'). That can put a big 1st round hurt on stuff.

So, ditch Precise shot. Ditch the skill enhancing feats. Start getting 2 attack a round as quickly as possible. Even if it's just for 1 or 2 rounds, that is a big increase in owwie potentiality.

You might even want to consider doing Rogue3 (Precise shot), then take a fighter level (Rogue3/Fighter1) to get Rapid Shot immediately at 4th level (fighter bonus feat) and then keep doing Rogue. Delaying sneak attack increase one level is not horrible.

Or, on the other hand, do Rogue2/Fighter1/RogueX, so at 3rd level you get 2 feats and can immediately do the "Precise Shot/Rapid Shot" thing. Plus, BAB and more Hit Points is never a bad thing.

 

[Atridis]

Rogue is such a versatile class that you really have to decide what kind of Rogue you want her to be. If you try to do multiple things at early levels, you'll just end up being not-so-good at each of them. If she prefers to fight with her bow, I'd recommend Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot asap. Dodge and Mobility are also handy (they're also prereqs for Shot on the Run).

On the other hand, being a Melee Rogue can be fun as heck (especially with a 20 Dex - gracious!). With Combat Expertise, Weapon Finesse and Improved Feint, skill points in Tumble and Bluff, and a rapier, you'll be doing a Sneak Attack (almost) every round.

Of course, the nature of your campaign is important too. If your party are undead hunters, then the Melee Rogue I just described is pointless (because undead are immune to Sneak Attack).

 

[Nail]

As a rogue, you need to go first.

Really.

Your best class skill depends on it. Take Impr. Init. A +9 Init mod. virtually guarantees you win.

 

[Zad]

I would suggest thinking beyond just your feat at 3rd. What about 6th? 9th? Where do you want to be by 12th? I think you'll be better off if you plan a long term progression.

For instance, if you really want to be at range, then you need point blank shot so you can have precise shot later. Of course the problem here is that you can't establish a flank with a range weapon, which is a prime sneak-attack chance. So maybe you want to get finesse and get in melee more, in which case improved init and finesse become the way to go.

Look ahead to where you want to be, then plan accordingly.

For my money, while going first is nice, if you close to sneak attack (i.e. melee not range) then going first is something of a risk, as you're ahead of the group and ripe for retaliation. Going first is not always a good thing. I'd consider melee fighting and using tumble to set up flanks.