CMaster/SS Fighter Build

[Implayingnude]

How would everyone optimize a Crossbow Master/Sharpshooter (Fighter/??) Max level 10.

Being V. Human

Rolled Stats are: 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17

I'm thinking possibly 6 Fighter(BM)/4 Rogue(Assassin)

This gives you:

(4) Feats
Surprise/Advantage against monsters first round.
2d6 Sneak Attack Damage
Two attacks with bonus attack from hand Xbow
Action Surge/Cunning Action

[Citan]

Hi!
Rolled Stats are: 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17

Variant Human starting, so sadly Bladesinger out.

STR 12 / DEX 17+1 / CON 16 / INT 9 / WIS or CHA 15+1, other stat gets what's left.
Battlemaster 6 / Rogue 2 / either Life Cleric 2 or Warlock 2 (or even better since you have stats for it: Life Cleric 1 / Warlock 1 for 1/short rest Bless).

It's not that I dislike Assassin, it's that I'm more of the kind that prefers easy and reliable.
In that way, having the opportunity to cast Bless on yourself and others, or Hex on one enemy to shove him easier (you don't care since you have Crossbow Expert) seems better.

If you had UA, then I would have said Shepherd Druid for that 1/short rest advantage on ranged attacks against one enemy, but well... ;)

Of course you are missing on one ASI, but you can still get Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert and max WIS. :)
In fact I'm not even sure Rogue is that needed if you plan on always staying at range, unless you want to Hide&Attack every turn.
Otherwise, better go Fighter 8.

[Mister_Squinty]

Hi!
Rolled Stats are: 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17

Variant Human starting, so sadly Bladesinger out.

STR 12 / DEX 17+1 / CON 16 / INT 9 / WIS or CHA 15+1, other stat gets what's left.
Battlemaster 6 / Rogue 2 / either Life Cleric 2 or Warlock 2 (or even better since you have stats for it: Life Cleric 1 / Warlock 1 for 1/short rest Bless).

It's not that I dislike Assassin, it's that I'm more of the kind that prefers easy and reliable.
In that way, having the opportunity to cast Bless on yourself and others, or Hex on one enemy to shove him easier (you don't care since you have Crossbow Expert) seems better.

If you had UA, then I would have said Shepherd Druid for that 1/short rest advantage on ranged attacks against one enemy, but well... ;)

Of course you are missing on one ASI, but you can still get Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert and max WIS. :)
In fact I'm not even sure Rogue is that needed if you plan on always staying at range, unless you want to Hide&Attack every turn.
Otherwise, better go Fighter 8.

Does Hail of Thorns work with Sharpshooter? Fighter 6/Ranger(Hunter) 4 gives some utility spells, Colossus Slayer, 2nd fighting style, etc.

[Citan]

Does Hail of Thorns work with Sharpshooter? Fighter 6/Ranger(Hunter) 4 gives some utility spells, Colossus Slayer, 2nd fighting style, etc.
Yeah, it certainly works. ;)
If you like the fluff and abilities of Ranger it's certainly another very fine option (I'd pick the Horde Breaker rather than Colossus Slayer because it's not that difficult to enable as a ranged attacker, but it's personal taste really).

[Mister_Squinty]

Yeah, it certainly works. ;)
If you like the fluff and abilities of Ranger it's certainly another very fine option (I'd pick the Horde Breaker rather than Colossus Slayer because it's not that difficult to enable as a ranged attacker, but it's personal taste really).

So, a Ranger would/could get 4 Sharpshooter attacks a round with Xbow expert and Horde Breaker... I'm in.

[Easy_Lee]

I say Fighter 6 / Warlock 4 simply because firing your crossbow from within darkness, using Devil's Sight, gives you advantage on every attack and makes it prohibitively difficult for enemies to retaliate. With Archery, Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert, and 20 Dexterity by level 10 on top of that, you're making three attacks per round, advantage and +6 to hit, 1D6+15 damage per hit before even adding manuevers or critical hits.

[Implayingnude]

I say Fighter 6 / Warlock 4 simply because firing your crossbow from within darkness, using Devil's Sight, gives you advantage on every attack and makes it prohibitively difficult for enemies to retaliate. With Archery, Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert, and 20 Dexterity by level 10 on top of that, you're making three attacks per round, advantage and +6 to hit, 1D6+15 damage per hit before even adding manuevers or critical hits.

That's pretty sick, what would you say stats look like? I don't play much casters, and haven't touched up on Warlock.

[Easy_Lee]

That's pretty sick, what would you say stats look like? I don't play much casters, and haven't touched up on Warlock.

With your rolled stats, you could start with 18 dexterity and 16 constitution and charisma. That's plenty good enough to multiclass into warlock. After that, wisdom > strength > intelligence.

[JNAProductions]

Two attacks with bonus attack from hand Xbow

I'm not sure I understand-you either mean three attacks total (2 from your Action, 1 from a Bonus Action) or one attack from a Bonus Action (from Crossbow Master). You CANNOT get two attacks as one Bonus Action.

[Mister_Squinty]

I'm not sure I understand-you either mean three attacks total (2 from your Action, 1 from a Bonus Action) or one attack from a Bonus Action (from Crossbow Master). You CANNOT get two attacks as one Bonus Action.

2 attacks from Fighter 6 and one bonus action attack from Xbow Master.

[JNAProductions]

2 attacks from Fighter 6 and one bonus action attack from Xbow Master.

Yes, I'm aware. I'm not sure the OP is, though-the line I quoted seems to indicate they think they can get two attacks as one bonus action.

[Mister_Squinty]

Yes, I'm aware. I'm not sure the OP is, though-the line I quoted seems to indicate they think they can get two attacks as one bonus action.

I mean that's how I took his sentence. It wasn't 100% clear, but based on the rest of his post, it looks like he got the numbers right. :)

[JNAProductions]

I mean that's how I took his sentence. It wasn't 100% clear, but based on the rest of his post, it looks like he got the numbers right. :)

Fair enough. OP, double check relevant rules just in case, but I'll assume you're a smart fellow and just wrote something that lacked clarity.

[Implayingnude]

Yes, I'm aware. I'm not sure the OP is, though-the line I quoted seems to indicate they think they can get two attacks as one bonus action.

Yes sorry, I wrote that poorly. I know that it's two attacks, plus one from a bonus action.

[JNAProductions]

Yes sorry, I wrote that poorly. I know that it's two attacks, plus one from a bonus action.

Alright. Now, on to more relevant matters, I'm not a huge fan of assassin either. The assassinate ability is nice... When it happens. That won't be terribly often.

Maybe consider going Eldritch Knight/Arcane Trickster? You only cast as if you're level 3, but that's not bad.

Or Arcane Archer, from UA? That adds some nifty ranged options.

[Citan]

So, a Ranger would/could get 4 Sharpshooter attacks a round with Xbow expert and Horde Breaker... I'm in.
Yeah, that's the gist of it. :)

I say Fighter 6 / Warlock 4 simply because firing your crossbow from within darkness, using Devil's Sight, gives you advantage on every attack and makes it prohibitively difficult for enemies to retaliate. With Archery, Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert, and 20 Dexterity by level 10 on top of that, you're making three attacks per round, advantage and +6 to hit, 1D6+15 damage per hit before even adding manuevers or critical hits.
That's another fine tactic, but beware of party annoyance with this.
If you'd like to go this way OP, I'd suggest you instead make it Warlock 3 / Life/Tempest/Nature Cleric 1, and pick the Tome Pact with related Invocation, or Chain pact with related invocation (probably the latter).
Why?
With such a build, you don't really care about Eldricht Blast.
However, you will certainly want to move around: while you could certainly just cast Darkness on a necklace that you tie afterwards to keep it with you while you move, having instead a familiar (like Owl or Pseudodragon, both 60 feet fly, or the best, Imp, that has no problem with Darkness) that can move it for you opens some very interesting tactics: not only can you use Darkness for yourself while keeping away from your party, you can now dissociate what you do and what Darkness do to adapt. Examples...
- A group of ranged attackers is too big for you to handle in one turn? You obviously don't want to go yourself in the middle of them. Send your pet in the middle of them. Now they are blind or forced to move, either scattering them or forcing them closer to your melee friends).
- One of your friend is under heavy threat, but you can't reach him yourself (or you don't want to leave a strategic position)? Off you go with the pet!
Of course, you could achieve similar results by just throwing the object, but it's less flexible.

As for why the Cleric level? Well, honestly you could do without but I'd find a bit sad not to profit from having both good CHA and WIS. It also expand your options quite a bit, including using Bless instead when out of slots for Darkness (or Bless is just enough for a fight) or emergency Healing Words.
And if you care about taking another level of Cleric later (past level 10), then you could use a maximized (Channel Divinity) Shatter (Warlock spell) when AOE is needed.

[Easy_Lee]

Yeah, that's the gist of it. :)

That's another fine tactic, but beware of party annoyance with this.
If you'd like to go this way OP, I'd suggest you instead make it Warlock 3 / Life/Tempest/Nature Cleric 1, and pick the Tome Pact with related Invocation, or Chain pact with related invocation (probably the latter).
Why?
With such a build, you don't really care about Eldricht Blast.
However, you will certainly want to move around: while you could certainly just cast Darkness on a necklace that you tie afterwards to keep it with you while you move, having instead a familiar (like Owl or Pseudodragon, both 60 feet fly, or the best, Imp, that has no problem with Darkness) that can move it for you opens some very interesting tactics: not only can you use Darkness for yourself while keeping away from your party, you can now dissociate what you do and what Darkness do to adapt. Examples...
- A group of ranged attackers is too big for you to handle in one turn? You obviously don't want to go yourself in the middle of them. Send your pet in the middle of them. Now they are blind or forced to move, either scattering them or forcing them closer to your melee friends).
- One of your friend is under heavy threat, but you can't reach him yourself (or you don't want to leave a strategic position)? Off you go with the pet!
Of course, you could achieve similar results by just throwing the object, but it's less flexible.

As for why the Cleric level? Well, honestly you could do without but I'd find a bit sad not to profit from having both good CHA and WIS. It also expand your options quite a bit, including using Bless instead when out of slots for Darkness (or Bless is just enough for a fight) or emergency Healing Words.
And if you care about taking another level of Cleric later (past level 10), then you could use a maximized (Channel Divinity) Shatter (Warlock spell) when AOE is needed.

Using chain pact and a familiar is fine for the Darkness trick. I suggested it simply because he's already ranged. Getting 16 feet away from your allies (darkness radius is 15) should usually be possible, and he doesn't have to get very close at all to his enemies.

Warlock is also nice at higher levels if he ever takes the character to other campaigns.

By the way, not strictly build related, but I'd flavor the character after Ocelot from Metal Gear.

[Rogerdodger557]

I have a character like this in the works. I used point buy, so stats are:

Str: 15
Dex: 16
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Cha: 8


I really wanted to make a character who was really into crossbows. Straight Champion fighter, crossbow expert to start off with, sharpshooter at 4, archery fighting style, all while wearing heavy armor. Proficiency in tinker's tools to take care of his crossbows.