Rogue/Fighter, Questions

[Caspian Marqine]

Alright so I'm playing a Rogue 4/Fighter 2 in a D&D campaign around here. Now there wasn't really anything to talk about, until all the fighters quit the game due to increases in classload.


Now, I'm as far as I can tell the Meatshield. There's a Monk 6, a sort of fighter 6, but he isn't around much either, and an archer ranger to round up the fighting part.

Now I'm not doing too poorly, I have the highest AC in the party (28, due to some GM indescretion regarding magic items), but as the build suggests I'm kinda low on hitpoints.

Any suggestions for me to shore up my fighting style? Since I only have one attack what I'm doing most of the time is Improved Feint - Attack, as that helps quite a bit. I was going to use a two handed axe and a buckler until I found out that isn't a legal option. I'm thinking on falling back to my elven thinblade and picking up a large steel shield again, but is there anything else I can do?



Jonathan

 

[Crothian]

taking aadvantage of the sneak attack isa good option. Good damage and with the high Ac it should help keep you alive. What are your feats like? Are you close to spring attack? THat could help you stay out of harms way. What other characters are in the party?

 

[green slime]

Come again? From my reading of the rules, combining the Great Axe and a buckler is not an "illegal" option! You suffer -1 to your Attack, in exchange for a +1 to your AC....

As you are at least two levels away from new feat (if you don't multiclass), I'd suggest insisting that the spellcasters in the troup do their part in insuring that you last the extra mile. Make sure they haste you, etc.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Come again? From my reading of the rules, combining the Great Axe and a buckler is not an "illegal" option! You suffer -1 to your Attack, in exchange for a +1 to your AC....

As you are at least two levels away from new feat (if you don't multiclass), I'd suggest insisting that the spellcasters in the troup do their part in insuring that you last the extra mile. Make sure they haste you, etc.

You don't get the buckler's AC bonus when your hand is doing something else (mainly, wielding a weapon). You need a feat for that, and said feat only applies when you wield two weapons, not a two-handed weapon.

AR

 

[Lord Morte]

As you are at least two levels away from new feat (if you don't multiclass), I'd suggest insisting that the spellcasters in the troup do their part in insuring that you last the extra mile. Make sure they haste you, etc.

Haste is good, but not great. It is only +1 AC. Bear's endurance would be better, providing +12 hp, as would shield of faith if you don't already have a deflection bonus. IIRC it should provide +3 if your Cleric is single class. If you do have a cleric handy, try and con him into casting shield other on you and share the load.

In terms of fighting style, I'd say the large shield would be the way to go until you can get another feat if you're concerned about defense. Maybe get a magical small shield so that it does impact your rogue skills? A +1 small shield is only about 1150 gp, and would be better than a large shield in your circumstances, as masterwork means no armour check penalty.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

You do have Combat Expertise, right?

And at least 5 ranks in Tumble?

In a pinch, you can get an additional 8 points to AC at a cost of -9 to your attacks - and you can do this while still Feinting, to offset some of your penalty. Improving your AC by this much will make your HPs stretch out a little longer.

Also, look into items or spells that give miss chance - Displacement, Blur, Mirror Image. A 50% miss chance is, roughly speaking, just about the same as doubling your hit points.

 

[Psimancer]

I'm thinking on falling back to my elven thinblade and picking up a large steel shield again, but is there anything else I can do?

If you are running with Weapon Finesse, watch out for the Armor Check Penalty to your To Hit roll from the Large Steel Shield (see Weapon Finesse feat description). A lot of players seem to miss that one and DMs have a tendency to spring it on them at the most inopportune time…

 

[Caspian Marqine]

Huh, well now. Ok, further exposition feats I have are: Weapon Finesse, Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Leadership.

I'm not really a thiefy rogue, more of a Face character, I have a high bluff but oddly because I had to do alot of face stuff I don't have any ranks in Tumble (plus right now I'm in medium armor)

GM didn't really bother about the armor check penalty, but now since due to a belt of giant strength +4 my strength and dex adjustment are about the same, thus the reason why I decided to switch up to a greataxe.

What I've done recently is stick it in melee, and just go improved feint - Sneak Attack until things die. That was because there wasn't really any flanking going on, because all the main fighters are gone and the current "fighters" aren't terribly fighty.

Spell buffs sound smashing could probably use a wand of them.



Jonathan

 

[Pinotage]

I'm partial to two-weapon fighting rogue/fighters. If your next level or two is Fighter and your next feat is two-weapon fighting, you could be getting 4 attacks a round on a full attack. Add in your high AC, and 2d6 sneak attack or 3d6 if you take another rogue level, and you'll be devastating in a flanking scenario. Get dodge and mobility after that to help with your movement to get into the flanking position and with four attacks you can do a possible 12d6 extra damage from sneak attacks a round.

Pinotage

 

[cmanos]

Heh, I just started in a game. I'm playing a L1 Cleric and I am one of the meatshields!