Character Build Help - The Gatling Gun From Outerspace

[Willywilliamrtx]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen! My new Wood Elf character has been magically propelled 600 ft straight into the air ..... how will he contribute to the fight? Why with a longbow ofcourse! I am looking for build advice for this character with the intention of having a once-per-day ''Turn that big bad into Swiss Cheese'' round, preferably before any other creature even has the chance to take a turn.

Statistical Information:
Starting Lvl: 8
Adventure Length: assume Lvl 20
Chosen Race: Wood Elf (For the +2 DEX and Mask of the Wild)
Stats (rolled by Dm): 12 18 13 12 16 12 (currently in the order I was thinking of placing them)
Class(es): Rogue(Assassin) 3/Fighter(Champion) 5 currently (so the build is online from the start with Assisinate, Improved Critical and Action Surge)
Items: 1 Magic Item with DM's approval (currently going with the Oathbow - it compliments the idea of the character to a T and doesn't do anything game-breaking aside from that one turn)
Feats: Thinking of Alert (for the +5 initiative to heavily increase the chance of going first) or Sharpshooter (To not roll at a disadvantage when attacking from beyond 150ft)

Have I not done this optimally? Am I completely wrong? What path should I follow for the encounters to come in this adventure? Engulf me with your knowledge senpais!:belkar:

edit: SO SORRY! I forgot to mention that currently UA material isn't allowed at our D&D table :(

[Rogerdodger557]

While assassin archers are nice, it doesn't really fit what you want to do for your concept imo. Champion/Hunter Ranger would work better, and get the volley ability. AoE archery is pretty gatling gun like

[Willywilliamrtx]

While assassin archers are nice, it doesn't really fit what you want to do for your concept imo. Champion/Hunter Ranger would work better, and get the volley ability. AoE archery is pretty gatling gun like

I was more thinking gatling gun as in turning that single big bad into Swiss Cheese. Volley is nice but it only comes online at lvl 10 I believe? I'd spend a lot of time with the build not being online, as to where Assassinate gives me advantage in the first turn and guarantees all hits to be crits. Combined with Oathbow's once-a-day +3d6 per attack along with an action surge that turns to 24d6 on an all hit combat opener just from those choices alone.

[MrWesson22]

Battlemaster will be better for you than champion. Ensuring those sharpshooter shots hit with precision attack is paramount. I'm currently playing a similar build. He's 6 fighter, 1 rogue right now. His level 20 build will be 12 battlemaster fighter, 5 assassin rogue, 3 UA beastmaster ranger (beastmaster is for flavor, Hunter would be better mechanically).

[clash]

Deep stalker revised ranger works really well with assassin for advantage on initiative and at level 3 an extra attack in the first round of combat.

[Byke]

Ummm if you are looking for a wacky but effective gatling gun build....7th level EK / 2 Warlock / Rest Rogue.

With War Magic, at 9th level you are firing off 2 EB + 1 Heavy Xbow shot for 2d10 + 2xChar + 1d10 + dex.

at 11th 3d10 + 3xchar + 1d10 + dex + 2d6 sneak - action surge for another 3d10 + 3x char.

it a pretty one dimensional sustained dam build but you do have some utility with you EK & lock spells. Plus you can fluff EB to be balster bolts from outer space :P

Oathbow is pretty broken actually :) search on how to kill Tiamat in 1-2 rounds (Oathbow is in all of the) , the build above doesn't require any gear

[Joe the Rat]

Deep stalker revised ranger works really well with assassin for advantage on initiative and at level 3 an extra attack in the first round of combat.
...and get thee to Alert. Assassin tricks are reliant on 1) Surprise, and 2) Going first.

[Willywilliamrtx]

Deep stalker would be bomber - hope it gets released in the next official book so I can actually use it. But until that time no such luck for me D:


Concerning EB: I am aware that one of the ways to deal stupendous amounts of damage is to milk EB, but I've never liked the idea of it really.

Concerning Battlemaster: Would trading off the 19-20 critrange (and eventually possibly 18-20) for Precision Strike be worth it? At lvl 8 I'd be attacking with a +10 to hit (20 dex, 3 prof + Archery Style) and advantage as per Assassinate. Granted Assassinate hits are criticals regardless so I can see the point being made here.

[Varlon]

Concerning Battlemaster: Would trading off the 19-20 critrange (and eventually possibly 18-20) for Precision Strike be worth it? At lvl 8 I'd be attacking with a +10 to hit (20 dex, 3 prof + Archery Style) and advantage as per Assassinate. Granted Assassinate hits are criticals regardless so I can see the point being made here.

If you're looking for one-turn nova, well, at Fighter 5 you get 4 attacks in a round with Extra Attack and Action Surge. Battlemaster gives you 4 Superiority Dice per short rest. If you go Assassin, when you get surprise and win initiative, you'll have 4 attacks at advantage, all critting on a hit. Take the -5 from Sharpshooter on every single one. Use Precision Attack to turn misses into hits, and on solid hits apply another maneuver to add a doubled d8 to damage.

[MrWesson22]

It isn't just precision attack. Take a look at all the maneuvers. Basically all other than precision add d8 damage as well as a special effect. But yeah, turning a d8 + dex +10 damage miss into a hit is pretty significant. To me it's much better than turning a hit into a crit 5% of the time.

[Easy_Lee]

The main thing with assassins is making sure you get that surprise round. How will you see your opponents? How will you ensure they don't see you? How will you get your group members and DM to cooperate?

Also, bugbears (player race) do bonus damage on a surprise attack. So that's mandatory if you want the true maximum damage.

[Sir cryosin]

If you go Valor bard at level 10 you can pick up swift quiver. Giving you 4 attackes and pick up sharpshooter. That with long bow 4d8+dex+40 or get crossbow expert and heavy Xbow 4d10+dex+40.