Optimising a Battle Master/Rogue?

[Sans.]

I'm sure I'm going to take the Rogue levels first, but I'm not sure whether to go 1 or 2 levels in Rogue. It has to be a mostly a ranged character, but also decent in melee.

[Kefvin]

I'm sure I'm going to take the Rogue levels first, but I'm not sure whether to go 1 or 2 levels in Rogue. It has to be a mostly a ranged character, but also decent in melee.

This is the build I am most likely doing. Currently only lvl 2. It does also depend somewhat on your abilitiy scores. My charname is Dexbased and uses a Rapier and will probably be getting a hand xbow as soon as possible to use up til lvl 4 when the fighter comes online.

Rogue/Fighter

Lvl 1:Rogue

Lvl2: Rogue
Cunning Action

Lvl3: R3
Swashbuckler
Sneakattack 2D6

Lvl 4: R3/F1
Fighting style: Duelist
Second wind

Lvl 5: R3/F2
Action surge

Lvl 6: R3/F3
Battlemaster maneuvers: Riposte, Goad, Trip

Lvl 7: R4/F3
ASI

Lvl 8: R5/F3
Uncanny dodge
SA 3D6

If you want to have more attacks simply take fighter lvl7,8 instead of Rogue.
I personally love the idea of being able to sneak attack on my turn and then again on the enemies turn by using riposte.

Hope this helps :)

[cZak]

What's the idea behind taking rogue levels; sneak attack dice, cunning action, Swashbuckler shenanigans?

I'm currently playing a 1/2ling Dex Archery Battlemaster 3.
At 4th plan on xbow expert; rapier/ hand xbow. Bonus attack w hand xbow for boost on damage.
Using supe dice mostly for control & debuffs.

At 6th planning Sharpshooter
Two attacks w rapier & bonus shot w hand xbow

Plan on going to 8th as Battlemaster before even considering (if) multi-class.
And not sure what to pick for 8th level ASI/ feat.

I'm probably not going to be a power house in damage, but I like the fluff;
Shoot a guy in the ass to make him so angry at me he ignores my allies (Goad)
Put a cut on an enemies face & shoot a bolt into his weapon shoulder to show I'm serious (Menace)
Shoot a guy in the foot, put a slice up his side to hunch him over off balance, then shoulder to send him sprawling (Push back)

[Sans.]

What's the idea behind taking rogue levels; sneak attack dice, cunning action, Swashbuckler shenanigans?

I'm currently playing a 1/2ling Dex Archery Battlemaster 3.
At 4th plan on xbow expert; rapier/ hand xbow. Bonus attack w hand xbow for boost on damage.
Using supe dice mostly for control & debuffs.

At 6th planning Sharpshooter
Two attacks w rapier & bonus shot w hand xbow

Plan on going to 8th as Battlemaster before even considering (if) multi-class.
And not sure what to pick for 8th level ASI/ feat.

I'm probably not going to be a power house in damage, but I like the fluff;
Shoot a guy in the ass to make him so angry at me he ignores my allies (Goad)
Put a cut on an enemies face & shoot a bolt into his weapon shoulder to show I'm serious (Menace)
Shoot a guy in the foot, put a slice up his side to hunch him over off balance, then shoulder to send him sprawling (Push back)

Sneak Attack, and maybe Cunning Action.

[rooneg]

What's the idea behind taking rogue levels; sneak attack dice, cunning action, Swashbuckler shenanigans?

I'm currently playing a 1/2ling Dex Archery Battlemaster 3.
At 4th plan on xbow expert; rapier/ hand xbow. Bonus attack w hand xbow for boost on damage.
Using supe dice mostly for control & debuffs.

At 6th planning Sharpshooter
Two attacks w rapier & bonus shot w hand xbow

Plan on going to 8th as Battlemaster before even considering (if) multi-class.
And not sure what to pick for 8th level ASI/ feat.

I'm probably not going to be a power house in damage, but I like the fluff;
Shoot a guy in the ass to make him so angry at me he ignores my allies (Goad)
Put a cut on an enemies face & shoot a bolt into his weapon shoulder to show I'm serious (Menace)
Shoot a guy in the foot, put a slice up his side to hunch him over off balance, then shoulder to send him sprawling (Push back)

FYI, you still need a free hand to reload your hand crossbow, even with crossbow expert. Sadly, the dream of fighting with a rapier in one hand and a hand crossbow in the other is pretty dead :(

Of course, you can always just put down the rapier and be a ridiculous 3 shots per turn w/ sharpshooter hand crossbow machine gun, so you've got that going for you...

[Specter]

You want Fighter1 ASAP to get Archery. After that, you want Rogue 2 for Cunning Action. After that, it's up to you, but 5 levels in each give you the most goodies, I believe.

I'd take a longbow; that way you don't need two feats to be efficient. But I also hate Crossbow Expert, so I may be biased here.

[Sans.]

Ok, thanks for all the feedback. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a Rogue 2/Fighter X.

[Saggo]

You don't have to do it immediately, but a 3rd level in Rogue at some point will give you 2d6 Sneak Attack and an archetype. Any of the archetypes will work great with the ranged build, honestly.

[Sans.]

If I use a longbow, should I max Dex first or take Sharpshooter? (I have a 16 in Dex.)

[Arkhios]

If I use a longbow, should I max Dex first or take Sharpshooter? (I have a 16 in Dex.)

I think you should be fine with taking Sharpshooter as soon as you have Archery Style.

With dex 16 and Archery, you already negate the -5 penalty to hit. Sure, you only add your proficiency bonus, but with bounded accuracy on your side, you can still hit quite reliably.

[joaber]

you could be a goblin and complety forget the 2lvl of rogue, or get just 1 for expertise. UA ranger revised is an incredible archer.