(PF) Help with a flying rogue

[AsheItachi]

I have a buddy who is level 5 he is a rogue , he wants to utilize his flying , with strix, and do sneak attacks from the air, how would he go about this? this is his first time to pathfinder and im not 100% sure on rogues cause i dont play them.

Anybody with suggestions would be appreciated

[Vastly]

There isn't any special item/spell/feat/tactic that I know of that a flying rogue can use to get a Sneak Attack that a ground based rogue couldn't. Basically your options for getting a Sneak Attack are the same, the only real difference is that a flying rogue has a superior mode of transport to utilize such tactics.

If there's a feat or something I'm unaware of, hopefully someone will correct me.

[AsheItachi]

so there isnt a feat that lets you make sneak attack with a ranged?

You can bluff cant you ?

also can you get a feat to make AoO with a ranged ?

[Vastly]

Ah, you didn't exactly specify that he was using ranged attacks, though I suppose it was implied, I missed that.

You can make sneak attacks at ranged (within 30ft), no feat required, the hardest part is getting your target to grant you the sneak attack in the first place.

I stole this list from StreamOfTheSky (so credit goes to him) of options to get sneak attacks:


Win initiative - someone is considered flat footed (and thus grants sneak attacks) until they act. This only works for a surprise round and the first normal round of combat.

Flank - You have to be melee, as far as I know you there isn't a way to flank with a bow and gain qualification to sneak attack.

Invisibility/Greater Invisibility - When attacking from invisibility your opponent is considered flat footed, thus you get sneak attacks. This is negated by any ability that allows a target to see you while you are invisible.

Grease and ready a shot against the foe each round on its turn - Creatures are only balancing on their turn, so you can only get the sneak attack by readying an attack, which limits you to a single attack per turn.

Shatter Defenses feat - Requires a number of feats to utilize, but if you can panic, frighten or otherwise demoralize/scare an opponent, you can get sneak attacks on them.

Gain total Concealment - Invisibility listed above is the most common way to get this, but you can also take a level Mystery Oracle for Water Sight and shoot a bow from the center of Obscuring Mists so you can see just fine but the enemy can't see you at all, or be able to see through magical darkness and drop a deeper darkness (if its dark enough you have total concealment).


Beyond that, the only other way I know how to get sneak attacks would be to utilize the surprise follow-through line of feats with cleave. But that is both a melee setup and is best done with a dwarf and their racial line of cleaving feats.

[Daftendirekt]

As Vastly said, getting sneak attack at range is rather difficult, which is why Two-Weapon Fighting is generally the optimal way to go with a rogue (all you need to do is flank. Gravy.) I think your friend will generally find that his flight is better for utility and positioning rather than safe ranged combat. If he wants to be an uber-archer, he really should have played a Ranger or a Zen Archer monk.

[Feralventas]

To a small amount, the Sniper rogue archetype extends their sneak attack distance. It scales at +10ft per 3 rogue levels starting at 3rd (putting it at 90 total SA distance at level 18). Then there's the Ninja Trick (which can be taken as a rogue talent multiple times, stacking the effect) Deadly Range which adds another 10 feet to your sneak attack range. Using All of your rogue talents for this And taking the archetype would result in 190ft total sneak attack range at 20th level.

However, there's also the Sniper Goggles wondrous item if you can afford 20,000gp of which let you sneak attack at any range whatsoever and give +2 to damage per sneak attack dice dealt Within your normal sneak attack range.

Alternatively, if your player isn't bent on ranged sneak attacking, going for Scout Rogue (sneak attack dealt on a charge after 4th level) will let them to a hit-and-run type thing, maybe poisoning weapons, hitting, and waiting for the poison to set in before engaging again. Death From Above feat fits this particularly well (+5 to hit vs targets when charging while flying or from high ground).