Rogues and Two Weapon Fighting

[Zaruthustran]

Anyone can fight with two weapons as a style choice, which is a huge improvement over 3rd edition. The feats TWF and TWD give a mechanical benefit for making that choice.

It may not *seem* like much, but those feats can make a big difference to your character. Not just due to the feats' direct benefits (+1 damage, +1 ac and reflex) but because they allow a character to gain the damage and defense boosts while dumping str, allowing a greater investment in your primary stats.

Light shield proficiency normally requires a 13 str. If you're a rogue, your melee attack and damage keys off Str. Given the choice between the two Fort stats Str and Con, Con is a better choice since it not only boosts Fort defense but adds to hit points (and therefore surge value) and surges per day.

With TWD you can safely dump Str while still enjoying the defensive benefits of a light shield.

TWF adds to damage, and as a rogue dealing damage is your *job*. And the damage bonus stacks with weapon focus.

 

[ForbidenMaster]

I love the TWF rogue archetype and when I saw the TWF feat I was kind of disappointed. But then when I was actually building my character I realized how useful it was. I built a human brawny rogue and I ended up getting superior weapon proficiency with the rapier and TWF. This way I get to do 1d8 + 5 damage with a +7 to hit with my rapier, or if its the first round and I get combat advantage I get to make a ranged attack with my dagger with a 1d4 + 4 from up to 10 squares away and get sneak attack damage equal to 2d6 + 3.

 

[mlund]

Tasty perk about Two Weapon Fighting: that +1 is an untyped bonus rather than explicit Feat Bonuses to damage like Weapon Focus - so they stack.

Even an Eladrin Ranger with two Longswords and Eladrin Solider (+2 Feat bonus to damage rolls with Longswords and Spears) would benefit from Two Weapon Fighting.

Said Eladrin Soldier making a Twin Strike would be dealing [W] + 3 damage with each hit, which is pretty awesome, IMO.

Meanwhile a Fighter with 2 Weapon Fighting could be adding +1 damage to his regular attacks, +1 to his Sure Strike, and +1 to each attack when he makes Passing Attack, Rain of Blows, or Sweeping Attack.

- Marty Lund

 

[RigaMortus2]

There actually is a feat that allows you to strike with two weapons. It is called Two Weapon Flurry and as TWF as a prereq... The catch is, you have to hit someone with your primary weapon during an OA. If you hit with your prime weapon, you can also make an attack (as part of the same OA) with your off hand weapon at a -5 penalty.

FWIW...

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

If I remember correctly, the AD&D ranger could fight with two weapons before that famous drow existed...

In fact, I believe he was a ranger because rangers could fight with two weapons, not the other way around...

 

[AZRogue]

There actually is a feat that allows you to strike with two weapons. It is called Two Weapon Flurry and as TWF as a prereq... The catch is, you have to hit someone with your primary weapon during an OA. If you hit with your prime weapon, you can also make an attack (as part of the same OA) with your off hand weapon at a -5 penalty.

FWIW...

Thanks! I didn't know about Two Weapon Flurry. That would just about cover it for a bit of mechanics to back up the flavor and is enough to satisfy me. Though I'm still hoping a few more TWF options and/or Encounter powers are added for the Rogue in the Martial book. When you get the chance to hit with a Sneak Attack you don't want to miss and not have a backup attack handy.

 

[Xyl]

And the answer is: Artemis Entreri is a fictional character in a series of novels. Not a game construct in 4ed D&D.

And if you do want to represent Artemis Entreri as a game construct in 4ed D&D, he isn't a ranger or a fighter. He's a monster. You can give him whatever abilities you need.

 

[Dizlag]

Two-Weapon Flurry also has the prerequisite of being an Epic Tier feat, so it will be a little while before you'll be using it. Something to definitely look forward too!

Dizlag

 

[MindWanderer]

If I remember correctly, the AD&D ranger could fight with two weapons before that famous drow existed...

In fact, I believe he was a ranger because rangers could fight with two weapons, not the other way around...

Not unless this was in Unearthed Arcana. The 1e ranger had no 2WF abilities in the PHB. In fact, if you look at other rangers in D&D fiction that were based on 1e, they typically fight with things like greatswords or sword-and-shield.

 

[tweinst]

The main difficulty with combining rogue and ranger is that rogue powers are all dex-based and the ranger TWF powers are all str-based.