Rogue Sneak attacking anything in game

[m149307]

Is there a way that i would be able to sneak attack something that is normally immune to SA? Like a feat of something?

[Zombimode]

Maybe there is a feat, but more to the point there are spells (like gravestrike and vinestrike) as well as weapon crystals (truedeath crystal for the undead and demolition crystal for constructs).

[Azoth]

Lvl3 ACF Penatrating Strike allows half SA damage to targets immune if you are flanking them.

[Catalysis]

Lvl3 ACF Penatrating Strike allows half SA damage to targets immune if you are flanking them.

Take the feat craven, the bonus fully applies to your SA damage (it's not divided by 2) while using penetrating strike.

(Craven allowe you to add your character level to SA damage)

Catalysis

[m149307]

Zombimode, I am not going to dip into any spell casting classes since this is low level. And how many crystals can you have, and how much do they cost?

Azoth, Catalysis, do I need to go 3 levels into rogue for that ACF? I was planning on doing a slight dip for my swordsage build.

[Catalysis]

Zombimode, I am not going to dip into any spell casting classes since this is low level. And how many crystals can you have, and how much do they cost?

Azoth, Catalysis, do I need to go 3 levels into rogue for that ACF? I was planning on doing a slight dip for my swordsage build.

Yes, the alternate class feature starts at level 3, it replaces all trap sense bonus.

Good luck with your build!

Catalysis

[m149307]

Which book is the ACF out of?

[Catalysis]

Which book is the ACF out of?

Dungeonscape page 13

[LordHenry]

There's also a weapon crystal in MIC, Truedeath crystal I believe, that lets you sneak attack undeads normally. Very nice to get, since they usually are quite common.

[Segev]

With the rules in the Rules Compendium, you needn't take any caster levels to cast the spells that give you the ability to hit what you're aiming for. Take wands; each of these spells is a swift action to cast, and thus activating the wand is a swift action. You're a rogue, so UMD is a class skill; wands should thus be pretty easy, given their flat DC 15 to activate with UMD.

The spells you want to look into are:

Grave Strike (undead)
Golem Strike (constructs)
Vinestrike (plants)

You may also want the 4th level wand "ooze puppet," because that will let you do something about the remaining creature type that is immune to your Sneak Attack.

Each of those spells can be found in the Spell Compendium.

[Bakkan]

The five creature types immune to Sneak Attack are Constructs, Elementals, Oozes, Plants, and Undead.

Weapon crystals (Magic Item Compendium) can take care of 2 of these types (Constructs and Undead), but you can only have one crystal on each weapon at a time and they have a decent cost.

Spells can take care of three of them (Constructs, Plants, and Undead), but you need a swift action to cast the spell as well as the actions to retrieve the wand, and you need to be able to reliably hit the DC 20 Use Magic Device Check.

The Penetrating Strike ACF applies to all of them, requries no actions in combat, and trades away a mostly useless class feature at a natural break point for Rogue.

[Oddman80]

Also coming out of Dungeonscape, though, are WAND CHAMBERS!
When you can afford it, attach 3 wand chambers to your weapon (1000 gp each) and put a wand of each spell (Grave Strike, Vine Strike, Golem Strike).

Total weapon investment = 5250 gp, and you can now SA 70% of the SA immune creatures out there. Sure, there are maintenance costs with needing to pick up more wand along the way as they run out of charges, but compare that to a single Greater Truedeath Crystal that only lets you sneak attack Undead. It requires a +3 equivalent weapon, so you need to sink in a total of 28,000 gp into your weapon to get that ability (10K for crystal, 18K for +3 bonus)


However, there is a nice little alternate here, so long as you have not actually built your character yet. If you are willing to use a race with a dragonblood subtype, and give yourself at least at CHA 11, you can pick up Dragonfire Strike. Which allows you to choose to convert all of your sneak attack damage into Fire damage (and add another 1d6 to that damage). Granted fire is the highest energy type that is resisted against... but how much overlap can there be (immune to critical & resists fire)?

If you really want to invest heavily in the concept, sake Sorcerer level 1 with Draconic Heritage, and choose your draconic heritage to be a less resisted energy type (Sonic? Acid?) then, when combined with Dragonfire Strike, all of your sneak attack damage turns to that energy type.

[m149307]

Ok, so if I cast the spell using UMD, would I be able to attack that same round?

[Gavinfoxx]

There's a slightly better worded version of that acf, better than the one in Dungeonscape, in the book Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. The EtCR version works a bit better with craven and such, things are a bit less ambiguous.

[Curmudgeon]

Take the feat craven, the bonus fully applies to your SA damage (it's not divided by 2) while using penetrating strike.
No, Craven damage is not divided by 2; it simply doesn't apply. Penetrating Strike is untyped bonus damage, not sneak attack. As Gavinfoxx mentioned, Lightbringer Penetrating Strike (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, page 208) is a superior ACF because the damage is sneak attack, and the Craven bonus can then be added. You'll need to pay a bit to join the Lightbringers, but membership has obvious rewards.

[Catalysis]

No, Craven damage is not divided by 2; it simply doesn't apply. Penetrating Strike is untyped bonus damage, not sneak attack. As Gavinfoxx mentioned, Lightbringer Penetrating Strike (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, page 208) is a superior ACF because the damage is sneak attack, and the Craven bonus can then be added. You'll need to pay a bit to join the Lightbringers, but membership has obvious rewards.

I already knew about the multiple lightbringers ACF, but I thought the rogue's ACF was the same as dungeonscape. Sorry!
Thanks for clearing that up!

[Catalysis]

Ok, so if I cast the spell using UMD, would I be able to attack that same round?

It depends on the casting time: golem strike and grave strike are only taking your swift action for the round, I beleive.

[Oddstar]

There's also Deathstrike Bracers in the Magic Item Compendium, p. 93. Three times a day, they let you sneak attack undead, constructs, plants, oozes, or elementals (as far as I know, this is the only way to SA oozes or elementals, because they can't be flanked, meaning that Penetrating Strike won't work against them). Also in the Magic Item Compendium, p. 35, is the Ghoststrike weapon quality, which lets you sneak attack undead with that weapon. Two other ways to sneak attack undead are to take two levels in the prestige class Skullclan Hunter, Miniatures Handbook, p. 20, or to take the ACF Death's Ruin, Complete Champion, p. 51, which gives half your SA dice against undead, but you can't take that and Penetrating Strike, which is generally better. There's also an epic feat in Dragon Magazine 297, p. 28, Destructive Attack, which lets you make death attacks against undead, constructs, and plants; if they survive the death attack, they still take SA damage. There's also the feat Savvy Rogue, Complete Scoundrel, p. 80, which allows you to do your strength damage from Crippling Strike to targets normally immune to sneak attacks (although this won't work against undead, since they are normally immune to ability damage).