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<blockquote data-quote="Storm Raven" data-source="post: 286945" data-attributes="member: 307">I think you have missed some important limitations on using things like Ray of Frost with sneak attacks.One is that you can only do this when the opponent is flat footed, otherwise denied his Dexterity bonus, or helpless. Flanking is not an option, since flanking only kicks in when you are making a melee attack. (Look up the description of flanking in the PHB if you need to). This sort of situation is likely to occur very rarely.Second, you cannot get multiple attacks with a Ray of Frost. You get one per round. For a high level rogue with a shortbow and perhaps rapid shot, that is a huge amount of increased damage potential in ranged situations when compared to his rogue/mage counterpart with his wussy Ray of Frost.For a high level rogue at all, let alone a high level rogue who has gone the two weapon route, using the Ray of Frost trick is clearly an option with less damage potential.Sure, the touch attack issue makes it more likely you will hit with your one attack than with any one of a standard rogue's multiple attacks, but they are probably more likely to get a hit in in general, and more able to deal out lots of damage if they get lucky.It balances out when you actually work through the analysis.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Storm Raven, post: 286945, member: 307"] [B][/b] I think you have missed some important limitations on using things like Ray of Frost with sneak attacks. One is that you can only do this when the opponent is flat footed, otherwise denied his Dexterity bonus, or helpless. Flanking is not an option, since flanking only kicks in when you are making a [i]melee[/i] attack. (Look up the description of flanking in the PHB if you need to). This sort of situation is likely to occur very rarely. Second, you cannot get multiple attacks with a Ray of Frost. You get one per round. For a high level rogue with a shortbow and perhaps rapid shot, that is a huge amount of increased damage potential in ranged situations when compared to his rogue/mage counterpart with his wussy Ray of Frost. For a high level rogue [i]at all[/i], let alone a high level rogue who has gone the two weapon route, using the Ray of Frost trick is clearly an option with less damage potential. Sure, the touch attack issue makes it more likely you will hit with your [i]one[/i] attack than with any [i]one[/i] of a standard rogue's multiple attacks, but they are probably more likely to get a hit in in general, and more able to deal out lots of damage if they get lucky. It balances out when you actually work through the analysis. [/QUOTE]

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