(3.5) best ways to deny dexterity bonus from range

[LaughingRogue]

Alright so i'm fooling around with the idea of playing a character :

1 Rogue/4 Wizard / 10 Unseen Seer/Spellwarp Sniper 5

or
1 Rogue/4 Wizard / Spellwarp Sniper 5 /10 Unseen Seer/

First question is which one of these do you think works best early on (i don't want other suggestions)?

Second Question is besides invisibility...what are some good options to deny your enemies Dex to incur sneak attack damage on rays from range,

Thanks in advance,

The LaughingRogue

[awa]

I personally like a good hide mod and hide in plain sight if you have shot on the run you can move shoot and hide again all in the same round. take dark stalker to remove all those annoying auto detection abbilities and it becomes a very nice tactic

[icefractal]

Cohort with a wand of Grease also works.

[Runestar]

PHB2 has deadeye shot, though it is fairly tricky to use effectively (you ready a ranged attack, and if you fire at the same time an ally successfully hits the target, it loses its dex against your ranged attack).

[AslanCross]

The Ranger in PHB2 has an ACF called Distracting Attack. It denies dexterity bonus on the creature from any range. Problem is that it IS a Ranger ACF, so you're going to need a friend of yours to take Ranger levels.

[gorfnab]

Blink, Evard's Black Tentacles or Summon Monster to Grapple your opponents, Blindness

[Runestar]

The Ranger in PHB2 has an ACF called Distracting Attack. It denies dexterity bonus on the creature from any range. Problem is that it IS a Ranger ACF, so you're going to need a friend of yours to take Ranger levels.

It actually makes the creature be treated as though it were flanked by you. Since you can't flank with a ranged weapon anyways, that ability is worthless to you.

[Eldariel]

First, I think you want US first; at least enough levels to pick up Divine Insight for crazy skill checks. Later, once you can persist level 2 spells the old-fashioned way, Hunter's Eye becomes another key.

For qualifying for SA, (Greater) Blinking works too. Though with Greater Invisibility, accept no substitutes!

[Martin Greywolf]

Spellstoring bow/crossbow/balista (wait, what?) and a wand of grease.

[magic9mushroom]

Spellstoring bow/crossbow/balista (wait, what?) and a wand of grease.

You mean a Large Great Crossbow? :smallamused:

[elonin]

By the rules you could sneak attack with a ballista if within 30'.

[nargbop]

Tanglefoot bags are cheap. They cause the enemy to waste an action breaking the goo.

[IonDragon]

There's also Ranged Pin from CWar. Let's you grapple and pin from far away.

[balistafreak]

By the rules you could sneak attack with a ballista if within 30'.

I sneak attacked with a drill-firing siege ballista once. (Maybe it was more like a scorpion? Yeah, actually, definitely a scorpion. Long story short, it involved a false-flag operation and some clever disguises. And don't ask about how you're supposed to shoot a drill.) When the DM asked "Damage?" I mimed a drill going through my torso. We didn't even bother, and splated the dude instantly. Too bad it was just a mook, albeit a high level one, but man, what a way to go.

[Paul H]

Hi


Use a simple 3rd lvl Evocation (Force) spell.............

Leomunds Tiny Hut.........

Force effect - you can see out, they can't see in, effectively making you invisible. Of course, it is a magnet for fireballs & other AoE spells.
(Warmages can take it with Advanced learming).

Cheers
Paul H

[Charlie Kemek]

You might want to take a level in spellthief instead of a level in rouge. take the master-spellthief feat and then you can steal spells and make up for your lost caster levels.

[Eldariel]

You might want to take a level in spellthief instead of a level in rouge. take the master-spellthief feat and then you can steal spells and make up for your lost caster levels.

Eh, he'll want Practiced Spellcaster anyways; that covers the lost Caster Level (Master Spellthief only covers the first one; Divination Spell Power requires Practiced Spellcaster anyways) and light armor isn't really useful beyond the first few levels (when he can wear it anyways and accept ASF and be a Rogue) as one gains the ability to keep Mage Armor up for relevant amounts of time.

As Master Spellthief doesn't increase the level of spells you can hold, it's really quite unimpressive. Rogue, on the other hand, has two key advantages:
- Way better skill list
- 2 more skill points (that is, 8 more)

Also, feats are in sparse supply. I've never seen an Unseen Seer-build painlessly use Spellthief due to the feat cost. Hell, even without it, you'll have a hard time fitting all the feats you want (and should prolly use Martial Wizard for PBS if going Spellwarp Sniper to avoid the damn prerequisites).

[ericgrau]

At low levels:

In round 1 you deny dex for free simply by targetting someone who goes after you
Sneaking up for a surprise round gives an additional denied dex attack
Grappling ally + improved precise shot
Grease
Glitterdust / Pyrotechincs
Sleep / Colorspray (colorspray not as good b/c short range)
Hold Person/Monster (not as good b/c single target and allows multiple saves)
Cause Fear (denied dex any time it does a Run action; not as good b/c single target and requires room to run)