Feats for a Rogue

[m4th]

I'm playing a halfling rogue 3, assassin archetype, using a light crossbow in combat. We're coming up on 4th level, and I'm having problems deciding which feat to start with. I have in mind the following:

Alert
Skulker
Dexterity Increase

Alert goes nicely with Assassinate, keeping me active in surprise rounds and at the top of the initiative order. Skulker also goes nicely with Assassinate; better vision, better hiding, and I don't reveal my position on a miss. But a flat dex boost makes me better at nearly everything I do, from attacks and damage to most of my proficient skills.

Other contenders: Tough, Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert. Tough is powerful, but maybe not necessary. Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert are also powerful, but not necessary at this point.

What would you guys take? Any feat that I've missed that I should take a second look at? Your opinions are welcome.

[Muenster Man]

I generally prefer to try and max out the primary stat as quickly as possible. Assassins would certainly benefit from higher accuracy, more damage, and better ability to hide. But Alert is great for any character. Your other choices are good, but not my favorites. I would also recommend Observant as a solid choice, if you haven't given it a look yet.

[akaddk]

As a halfling, a rogue, and an assassin, I'd go Skulker. It counters the negatives of not having darkvision nicely and makes sneaking ahead of the party and setting up an ambush easier. In fact, I reckon this feat was especially made for human and halfling rogues.

I disagree that the primary stat should be increased first. I think that it should be last. You won't see a big difference with a +1 to hit and damage but the benefits of the extra abilities of feats will come into play all the time and will help to define both your character and play experience at the table.

[Yorrin]

Honestly, the three you were thinking of are all great options, so no matter what you pick it will be a good choice. It sounds like you've got a pretty solid idea of where you're going with the character long term, and you know what you're hoping to pick up along the way. Personally I'm with Muenster Man on this one- Alert or Dex bump, with my preference being Dex bump.

[Naanomi]

Dungeon Delver + Observant is good for any rogue doing rogue-stuff. If you find yourself with a glut of Feats, Mobile could let you run up to a distant target and gut him in that surprise round; and there is always something fun a character who has already capped Dexterity can do with Martial Adept.

[Muenster Man]

m4th's build uses a crossbow as the main source of attack, limiting the usefulness of Mobile

[akaddk]

Dungeon Delver + Observant is good for any rogue doing rogue-stuff. If you find yourself with a glut of Feats, Mobile could let you run up to a distant target and gut him in that surprise round; and there is always something fun a character who has already capped Dexterity can do with Martial Adept.

Doesn't need Mobile due to Assassinate. Any ranged attack will do.

[TomPliss]

Depending on the usual layouts used by your DM, the sharpshooter feat may be less useful for you, as you're halfling and have no access to longbow and heavy Xbow (iirc).
Well, maybe, as light crossbow have a short "short range", it may be good for you...
I think experience with your character will help you figure this out, more than theorycrafting...

[Person_Man]

My personal preference is to get Dex and Con to 20 as soon as possible. They're used pretty much all the time. The feats are nifty, but less likely to be used.

Having said that, I'm not a fan of Crossbow Expert though, because the benefit to using two crossbows over two daggers (light/finesse/thrown) or shortswords (light/finesse) is marginal (and possible negative, because in this case you'd be giving up +1 to hit and damage because you're not taking +2 Dex).

[m4th]

Thanks for all the replies so far, much appreciated.

I'm heavily abusing my ability to make new characters before hitting 5th level in Adventurer's League games, so this will be my first time playing this character, but not my first time playing a halfling rogue. One thing I did notice at level 1 was how strong darkvision was, as our elven rogue was able to scout ahead in total darkness while I stayed back to watch for followers. That leads me to believe that Skulker is the most powerful choice just for the vision.

Our group meets once a week and plays for about 2 to 3 hours, so whichever feat I choose will be my only feat for a long time. The upside is that I probably have two sessions of play before I have to decide. I'll report back tonight with my impressions after playing this character.

Edit:
Regarding Observant and Dungeon Delver:
Observant is a quirky feat, not sure what to make of it. The half-stat is wasted, reading lips is fun but highly situational, and the +5 to passives... is quite odd? So I'm really good at accidentally noticing things, but if I try and focus on finding anything the feat does nothing. Do I just never make an active check and rely on the passives? That's actually not all that bad, if the DM allows me to use my passive score to search. Switching to Arcane Trickster could potentially use the +1 to Int, as well.

Dungeon Delver (having reconsidered Observant as an option) actually steps on Observant's toes a little with advantage on the Observant passives, and otherwise is only useful against traps. So far our group has encountered one trap from levels 1 to halfway through 3. Can't see it making the list.

[UHF]

I'd consider where you want your character to be in a few levels. What will he look like at 10th level? What will he look like at 15th?

With other games I will sometimes play with character generators to see what is involved, and what I need now in order to get there. (Path Finder Burst Attack... huge amount of work, and Meh value..) I suggest figuring out where you want to be, and make plan to get there. Keep in mind what your game is like.

You know Resilient will be DANG handy as you level up. You get +1 in a stat, and proficiency with a saving throw. It seems unnecessary until you see a 17th level fighter run away crying like a little girl (its called fear).

Lucky can be used on just about any roll. Offensively or defensively.

[akaddk]

You know Resilient will be DANG handy as you level up. You get +1 in a stat, and proficiency with a saving throw. It seems unnecessary until you see a 17th level fighter run away crying like a little girl (its called fear).

Lucky can be used on just about any roll. Offensively or defensively.

Resilient is very nice but for a rogue? Whenever I consider it for a rogue I think to myself that Evasion and Uncanny Dodge kinda make it redundant. Remember, Uncanny Dodge is against any attack, which in this edition includes all spells with an attack roll. And at 15th-level you also get Slippery Mind which is just proficiency with Wisdom saves. As for fear, halflings get advantage on fear saving throws.

Lucky, however, is fairly awesome for just about any character. Although it's somewhat dependent on the DM's interpretation of the text. If he allows you to roll an extra d20 every time you roll a d20 and only have to spend the Luck point if you want to, then it's ****ing amazing. But if he requires that you spend the luck point before making the extra d20 roll, then it's just kinda average.

[UHF]

Resilient is very nice but for a rogue? Whenever I consider it for a rogue I think to myself that Evasion and Uncanny Dodge kinda make it redundant. Remember, Uncanny Dodge is against any attack, which in this edition includes all spells with an attack roll. And at 15th-level you also get Slippery Mind which is just proficiency with Wisdom saves. As for fear, halflings get advantage on fear saving throws.

Lucky, however, is fairly awesome for just about any character. Although it's somewhat dependent on the DM's interpretation of the text. If he allows you to roll an extra d20 every time you roll a d20 and only have to spend the Luck point if you want to, then it's ****ing amazing. But if he requires that you spend the luck point before making the extra d20 roll, then it's just kinda average.

I'd play Lucky as 3 rerolls that they have to pay for ahead of time.

Poison needs con saves, and fear (Wisdom) starts to be pretty common at higher levels.

[akaddk]

I'd play Lucky as 3 rerolls that they have to pay for ahead of time.


You can choose to spend one of your luck points after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined.

The problem with that wording is, which die? The attack roll die or the luck roll die?

[m4th]

Update from tonight's game session: still level 3, at least two more sessions before level 4.

We fought 3 random encounters and an evil wizard along with his two henchmen. Assassinate worked well, although I never got the auto-crit from attacking surprised creatures, I did get to halfling re-roll a 1 into a 20, one-shotting the wizard. Lucky, and it left the DM speechless for a minute.

I've dropped dex buff out of the contention for my feat.

Alert has made a comeback against skulker, I would say the two are neck-and-neck for best. One time I didn't act in the surprise round, twice I acted a few initiative points behind the baddie. My DM reads halfling's Naturally Stealthy rule the same way I do (which akaddk does not agree with, and many others as well), which made hiding in combat a reliable feature. 3 of the 5 party members have no low light vision, including the wizard, so there is always plenty of light splashing around.

We are approaching a bigger set-piece style event, a long drawn-out castle I won't spoil for those who are playing through the basic box. I suspect that a castle (or dungeon of any kind) will swing my favor back towards skulker, but we shall see.

Confirmed: toughness is not needed at this level, even with only a paladin for heals. Sharpshooter would be sorta nice, not needed.

Lucky has been put forward as a contender for best feat, and in a traveling "one adventure per long rest" game session it would indeed have been way too powerful, but I can't see it being so great in a dungeon.

Thanks again for everyone's input.