Most powerful archer build?

[samcifer]

So I'm the kind of player who's used to fighting at range as a spellcaster, but would like to try a melee archer build. I'd probably go Sharpshooter feat as well as longbow so that I can attack more than once per turn and weapons with the loading property, I heard, can't be used for multiple attacks. Any advice on how to make a sniper with high damage?

[tieren]

Sniper as in "one shot one kill" would be a rogue, maybe with a few levels of fighter to bet BM manuever precision shot.

But there are other kinds of archers. EK's get the most attacks and can eventually cast haste on themselves for ridiculous rates of fire (especially with action surges, up to 9 arrows in one turn).

Rangers get good at hordes, using volley and aoe spells to fire at lots of enemies, but can't focus on one as well as the EK.

Kensai monks are another popular option but I haven't really dug into those yet.

And of course if you just want to fluff it as a magical bow firing bolts of force, a warlock with spell sniper, eldritch spear, maybe even 3 levels of sorcerer for distant spell, can shoot things from miles away.

[LudicSavant]

Bards can grab Swift Quiver to make some mean archers.

Also, you will probably find this helpful: https://ddalsg.com/2018/02/27/charop-chronicles-is-the-archer-class-really-made-up-of-archers/

[Rerem115]

If you want to use the -5/+10 aspect of Sharpshooter, either Battlemaster or Samurai is probably your best bet; Battlemaster has maneuvers to help you pull off trick shots and make sure your arrows land, while Samurai have a free source of advantage which can then be turned into a massive volley of arrows. Of course, there's also always the Arcane Archer, although I personally find that subclass to be disappointing, at least in comparison to Battlemaster or Samurai. This kind of build is reliant on landing multiple arrows per turn, and has more of a volley than a sniper flavor.

If you want a more "one shot from cover" build, Assassin with a Heavy Crossbow is probably by far your best choice.

[samcifer]

If you want to use the -5/+10 aspect of Sharpshooter, either Battlemaster or Samurai is probably your best bet; Battlemaster has maneuvers to help you pull off trick shots and make sure your arrows land, while Samurai have a free source of advantage which can then be turned into a massive volley of arrows. Of course, there's also always the Arcane Archer, although I personally find that subclass to be disappointing, at least in comparison to Battlemaster or Samurai. This kind of build is reliant on landing multiple arrows per turn, and has more of a volley than a sniper flavor.

If you want a more "one shot from cover" build, Assassin with a Heavy Crossbow is probably by far your best choice.

Yeah, I'm at work and was interrupted, so I wasn't able to list everything. I was considering Battlemaster with the Archery fighting style and maybe 1 level of Hexblade for the proficiency damage Hexblade Curse grants. Rogue's Sneak Attack would add extra damage as well.

[ImproperJustice]

Battlemaster/ Scout is a fun, flexible archer.

Kensei Longbow master is solid, if you like being mobile and having a melee option.

The humble Champion Archer is a reliable and solid shooter that shines best in the late game.
The Samurai Archer kinda falls into that category as well.

I have tried to find a way to make the Warlock (Greter Pact Weapon) archer viable but it just comes up short.

[samcifer]

Battlemaster/ Scout is a fun, flexible archer.

Kensei Longbow master is solid, if you like being mobile and having a melee option.

The humble Champion Archer is a reliable and solid shooter that shines best in the late game.
The Samurai Archer kinda falls into that category as well.

I have tried to find a way to make the Warlock (Greter Pact Weapon) archer viable but it just comes up short.

I'd only use Hexblade for the Curse to add dmg.

[MaxWilson]

So I'm the kind of player who's used to fighting at range as a spellcaster, but would like to try a melee archer build. I'd probably go Sharpshooter feat as well as longbow so that I can attack more than once per turn and weapons with the loading property, I heard, can't be used for multiple attacks. Any advice on how to make a sniper with high damage?

Highest possible at-will melee damage archer would probably be something like a Battlemaster with Archery fighting style, Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, possibly Prodigy (Athletics), a belt of Storm Giant Strength, a bunch of darts, and a lenient DM who didn't force you to use your object interaction to draw darts to throw. By level 20 you'd be capable of kicking someone prone (Athletics +21 = basically auto-win against anything) and then making 4 attacks at +12 with advantage (for prone target) for d4+19 damage per hit. That's approximately 80 HP of damage at will, twice that on an action surge.

[djreynolds]

So I'm the kind of player who's used to fighting at range as a spellcaster, but would like to try a melee archer build. I'd probably go Sharpshooter feat as well as longbow so that I can attack more than once per turn and weapons with the loading property, I heard, can't be used for multiple attacks. Any advice on how to make a sniper with high damage?


For 1 powerful shot, it has to be rogue 15/ martial 5 x or rogue 14/bladesinger 6, this way you have 2 attacks to ensure you land your sneak attack. You're still taking sharpshooter, but you damage is from sneak attack, but an extra +10 is a nice topping

For multiple attacks, it has to be fighter 11/ something 9 for 3 attacks and you are leaning on sharpshooter and "riders" (like hunter's mark, hex, even divine favor) or you are spamming bless perhaps to make sure sharpshooter lands

IMO battlemaster is the best base, because precision allows you to use sharpshooter but also allows you to concentrate on a rider such as hex, still short rest dependent

A ranger or champion can have say hunter's mark/hex going but may need an ally with bless to help with sharpshooter's -5

An EK or bladesinger with haste rocks, but may need a source of advantage or an ally spamming bless to help shaprshooter's -5.

For me, the best build I've seen usually has battlemaster (from 3-12 levels) and rogue. And you are usually concentrating on bless, hex, hunter's mark, or haste.... maybe a ranger spell like lightning arrow or swift quiver

For MaxWilson's build, I might grab that brute archetype instead of battlemaster and grab bless from magic initiate to help with sharpshooter

[Whit]

Magic initiate?
If u want cheese go HVarient with sharpshooter. Go bow 1d8 or heavy crossbow. 1d10 fighter1 archery +2 to hit
Rogue +. Your a one shot wonder with 17 dex at lvl 1 that’s +7 to hit -5 sharpshooter you still get +2 to hit +10 damage. +1d6 sneak attack when allies within 5ft of target. You then continue your asi feats to what u want. Assassin arch u need to get alert for that 1 time assassin. But honestly I would go basic thief. Get lucky feat and increase dex. Don’t go for 2 attack’s as your main damage is the one shot sneak attack. Just make sure you can hit. It’s al about the thief SA shot the othercatrsck will be basic.
The other dips to get a 2nd attack or 1d6 or 1d8 is not worth it. If u want to add flavor u could go hexblade and later get improved pact weapon for a awsome looking bow +1/+1 hex spell 1d6 hex curse increase crit 19/20 add prof to damage.
But remember. Rogue sneak attack will be your 1 shot per turn cream and butter

[Mortis_Elrod]

I’ve always like a Hexblade Archer for ranger smites. I posted a build in another thread about such a thing, the OP over there had amazing rolled stats though and the build was really mad. Eldritch admires though are great for crits.

If your looking for a skirmishing Archer here’s a few ideas

Kensei 6/Scout 9/Gloomstalker 3/Fighter 2

It’s a bit all over the place sure but if Close Quaters combat is allowed then your getting +3 to hit off that. Pick up a longbow turn off the lights and do some wicked Green Arrow stuff. You could go shadow monk instead and use shortbows too. If you don’t want action surge you could spread the fighter levels to scout and gloomstalker picking up more ASI/Feats.

Stealthier version is Shadow Monk 6/Scout 10/Gloomstalker 4
Grab sharpshooter and Skulker. Variant human saves an ASI, so you can still max Dex and wisdom. Works as a skirmisher and sniper. Starting level should be ranger for best health and proficiencies. This is if you don’t use close Quarters shooter, you don’t need fighter levels so not action surge sadly.

There are a lot of ways to build archers in 5e.

[Drazhar]

So far the most fun I have had out of a archer build has been my Gloom Stalker 5 / Battlemaster Fighter 3 / Rogue Scout 12

Human V. Sharpshooter
-Ranger for the Hunter's Mark damage, and Gloomstalker because they are awesome and my Human gains Darkvision.
-Battlemaster Fighter, for the maneuvers.... duh! Manily, Precision attack to help with the near misses.
-Rogue Scout, for the bonus poficencies, the ability to move when an attacker gets near, and of course SNEAK ATTACK!

He has been extremely fun and rewarding to play, with a lot of RP opportunites with six (6) skills that were Expertised (Scout gets Expertise in Nature and Survival). And of course the ability to do high amounts of damage especially in the first round OMG!!! lol

[samcifer]

So far the most fun I have had out of a archer build has been my Gloom Stalker 5 / Battlemaster Fighter 3 / Rogue Scout 12

Human V. Sharpshooter
-Ranger for the Hunter's Mark damage, and Gloomstalker because they are awesome and my Human gains Darkvision.
-Battlemaster Fighter, for the maneuvers.... duh! Manily, Precision attack to help with the near misses.
-Rogue Scout, for the bonus poficencies, the ability to move when an attacker gets near, and of course SNEAK ATTACK!

He has been extremely fun and rewarding to play, with a lot of RP opportunites with six (6) skills that were Expertised (Scout gets Expertise in Nature and Survival). And of course the ability to do high amounts of damage especially in the first round OMG!!! lol

I assume Ranger 5 for the lv. 2 spell slots, right? Which spells are you using for this?

[Ganymede]

In order to make the most powerful archer, you're going to need to have Strength 20, or even higher.

This advice applies whenever you want to make the most powerful anything. by the way.

[Spiritchaser]

I have a friend with a fighter1/Kensai 14 who plays at my table In one campaign.

With archery style and sharpen the blade his sharpshooter skill sees plenty of hits.

I don’t think he’s the most damaging archer possible, but he hits hard and is profoundly reliable. He has tremendous mobility and great survival tools, to the point where smarter enemies often try for easier targets after a round or two, and all the while he can pile on at will damage, at extreme range.

When things get tense, or if he gets bored of “spork bad guy with arrow” he’s plenty good with stunning strike in melee as well.

[samcifer]

In order to make the most powerful archer, you're going to need to have Strength 20, or even higher.

This advice applies whenever you want to make the most powerful anything. by the way.

Not when using DEX-focused weapons like bows or crossbows. Sharpshooter's +10 dmg. does not apply to thrown weapons, sad to say.

[No brains]

In order to make the most powerful archer, you're going to need to have Strength 20, or even higher.

This advice applies whenever you want to make the most powerful anything. by the way.


Not when using DEX-focused weapons like bows or crossbows. Sharpshooter's +10 dmg. does not apply to thrown weapons, sad to say.

If you want to devolve into total RAW madness, a powerful build for a character that uses a bow is Tavern Brawler, Great Weapon Master, and Sharpshooter. If they swing a longbow in melee, they can take -10 to their attack roll and add 20 damage. High Str helps even more there.
Don't try this at home. Nobody in their right mind should allow this.

[samcifer]

If you want to devolve into total RAW madness, a powerful build for a character that uses a bow is Tavern Brawler, Great Weapon Master, and Sharpshooter. If they swing a longbow in melee, they can take -10 to their attack roll and add 20 damage. High Str helps even more there.
Don't try this at home. Nobody in their right mind should allow this.

I don't realy see how you'd get -10 and +20 when GWM only works with heavy melee weapons and Sharpshooter only works with ranged weapons. There's no heavy weapon that counts as both melee and ranged. it's one or the other... Unless you mean on two different attacks, of course.

[Snowbluff]

I’ve considered a fairly strong build for a ranged smite.

Fighter 2 (archery style and action surge)
Hexblade Blade Pact 5 (extra attack and eldritch smite)
Bard of Whispers 13 (Psychic Blades 5d6)
Grab the Sharpshooter Feat

With your bard magic secret, take Holy Weapon(if crossbow master), Lightning arrow (for burst), or swift quiver (if longbow archer). Also take the catnap spell for recharging action surge, psychic blades, and eldritch smite.

[Rerem115]

I don't realy see how you'd get -10 and +20 when GWM only works with heavy melee weapons and Sharpshooter only works with ranged weapons. There's no heavy weapon that counts as both melee and ranged. it's one or the other... Unless you mean on two different attacks, of course.

No, he's right. RAW, Longbows are both Heavy and Ranged.

[Chaosticket]

Interesting, but has anyone talked about the Crossbow Expert feat?

1 It removes the Disadvantage penalty for being 5 away (on any ranged weapon).
2 Removes the drawback of the Loading feature, meaning Crossbows are Extra Attack compatible.
3 And Allows you a Hand Crossbow to fire a shot as a Bonus Action.

It basically makes Ranged weapons fit into melee-range weapons too just from the first ability. With Sharpshooter feat removing Disadvantage from firing past your base range Increment a simple Hand Crossbow has 120feet range without penalty, a heavy crossbow has 400feet, and a Longbow has 600feet. a Variant Human picking those 2 feats by level 4 is pretty solid.
---------------------
Simple target damage may not be the best goal. Its often more efficient to use affects that apply to multiple attacks so you dont "all-or-nothing" your damage. Those tend to be once-in-a-while abilities with limits that expire very quickly. If you do then look for ways to have Advantage to attack at least to fir a BFarrow.

a simple core Valor Bard can be pretty wicked as an Archer. At level 6 you have Extra Attack, and at level 10 you can get Swift Quiver as a spell through Magical Secrets.

Its hard not to make a good Archer actually.

[tieren]

No, he's right. RAW, Longbows are both Heavy and Ranged.

If you are beating someone over the head with it it isn't a ranged weapon, its an improvised melee weapon.

[Rerem115]

Yeah, which is why he had the white text about it being utter cheese that no sane DM would allow :smallbiggrin:

[8wGremlin]

I play a gloomstalker ranger/ fighter
I use a handcrossbow and nothing else.
I have sharpshooter and crossbow master.

I have a great alpha strike.
At level 7 I get 2 attacks with an attack action.
I get a extra attack on 1st round of combat
I get a bonus action attack with the feat

I action surge and get another 2 shots. Plus an additional shot for first round of combat again

I have high Dex and usually go before enemies so have advantage on attack.

So each attack is 2d20 keep highest +4 to hit
Doing 1d6 + 3 Dex + 10 ss and I get 7 shots.

[Ganymede]

Yeah, which is why he had the white text about it being utter cheese that no sane DM would allow :smallbiggrin:

There's also the fact that it is defeated RAW by the DM saying "A bow is similar enough to a club that I will let you use it as a club."

"At the DM’s option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon." If you use a bow as if it were a club, you use the club's weapon features and not the bow's weapon features.

[CTurbo]

The combination of Ranger/Fighter/Rogue make the most powerful archers.

Champion, Battle Master, simply Fighter 2 work
Either Hunter or Gloom Stalker work
Either Assassin or Scout work

Just make sure you take at least 5 levels or Fighter or Ranger, but not both. Take Archery AND Close Quarters Shooter as your two fighting styles. Sharpshooter and 20 Dex are mandatory, Alert is highly recommended, and Mobile is very good too. Skulker and Observant are decent picks.

Gloom Stalker 5, Fighter 2, Assassin 13 makes an awesome first round sniper

Fighter 11(Champion or BM), Ranger 3(GS or Hunter), Scout 5 is a great all around Archer.

Scout 13, Ranger(GS or Hunter) 5, Fighter 2 is also a very good all around Archer.

Ranger 7, Fighter 3, Rogue 10 is good too. It's almost hard to mess up mixing there 3 together.

[samcifer]

The combination of Ranger/Fighter/Rogue make the most powerful archers.

Champion, Battle Master, simply Fighter 2 work
Either Hunter or Gloom Stalker work
Either Assassin or Scout work

Just make sure you take at least 5 levels or Fighter or Ranger, but not both. Take Archery AND Close Quarters Shooter as your two fighting styles. Sharpshooter and 20 Dex are mandatory, Alert is highly recommended, and Mobile is very good too. Skulker and Observant are decent picks.

Gloom Stalker 5, Fighter 2, Assassin 13 makes an awesome first round sniper

Fighter 11(Champion or BM), Ranger 3(GS or Hunter), Scout 5 is a great all around Archer.

Scout 13, Ranger(GS or Hunter) 5, Fighter 2 is also a very good all around Archer.

Ranger 7, Fighter 3, Rogue 10 is good too. It's almost hard to mess up mixing there 3 together.

Close quarters shooter? That's not in any book I've read. Doesn't sound like official content.

[CTurbo]

Close quarters shooter? That's not in any book I've read. Doesn't sound like official content.


Yeah I guess it's not official. I didn't remember where it was from.

https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/02_UA_Underdark_Characters.pdf




Archery and Defense then if you can't take it

[Chaosticket]

Close Quarters Shooter Fighting Style is from the Unearthed Arcana.

Fighter is solid for multiclassing. Dexterity 13+ is recommended to start with on any character. Its easy to build off.
1 level gives a Fighting Style. Archery is good, Close Quarter Style is also good especially if you dont want to spend a feat on Crossbow Expert.
2 Levels give Action Surge and its hard not to find a use for Action Surge.
3 levels gives a Martial Archetype bonus. Most of them work well with an Archer build.

Even the Samurai lets you have advantage on all attack rolls for a turn 3 times a Long Rest.
----------------
Ranger is more narrow in its usefulness. You have to have at least 13 Dexterity AND Wisdom to multiclass into it.

2 levels give you a Fighting Style, so pick the one you didnt get as a Fighter.
3 levels is...just pick the Gloom Stalker. Dread Ambusher is very useful as is Darkvision at 60 feet(especially for Humans).
-----------------
Rogue is quite good to multiclass from or any character. 13 Dexterity, again is recommended and Easy.

1 level gives you Expertise (double Proficiency) on 2 skills, so double up on your Perception, and maybe Hide.

Its good to have high Initiative and Perception in general, but on an Archer you are most likely to have high Initiative from Dexterity and possibly Wisdom. Oh and remember DARKVISION. Quite Important to actually be able to see something to hit it.
But you can run it any way you want. There are plenty of high damage ideas in this thread.

[Ebon]

I play a gloomstalker ranger/ fighter
I use a handcrossbow and nothing else.
I have sharpshooter and crossbow master.

I have a great alpha strike.
At level 7 I get 2 attacks with an attack action.
I get a extra attack on 1st round of combat
I get a bonus action attack with the feat

I action surge and get another 2 shots. Plus an additional shot for first round of combat again

I have high Dex and usually go before enemies so have advantage on attack.

So each attack is 2d20 keep highest +4 to hit
Doing 1d6 + 3 Dex + 10 ss and I get 7 shots.

We were talking about something similar over in the Ultimate Multiclass Optimizer thread. Gloomstalker's Dread Ambusher gives an additional attack to your attack action on the first round of combat. Action surge that, and you get 6 Longbow attacks for two attack actions.

I was getting my Bonus Action weapon attack from War Priest though. If we take War Cleric all the way to 9, we can take Holy Weapon, which gives an additional 2d8 Radiant to weapon attacks, and doesn't sit on one target like Hunter's Mark or Hex. This allows you to spread your attacks around.

Standard Assassinate procedure with double damage on dice. This assumes surprise conditions just to see what can be achieved. This also assumes Holy Weapon is cast beforehand (which shouldn't be hard because it lasts an hour), and I can still use my Bonus Action for another attack.

So my 7 first round attacks look like 2*d8 (9) longbow + 2*2d8 (18) Holy Weapon + 5 Dex + 10 Sharpshooter = 42 Damage / attack x 7 = 294 + Gloomstalker Bonus Damage x2 = 2*2d8 (+18 Damage) + Sneak Attack 2*2d6 ( +14) = 326 Opening Magical Weapon Damage. Add Battle Master Maneuvers to taste.

Gloom Stalker 5, War Cleric 9, Fighter 3, Assassin 3

[Drazhar]

I assume Ranger 5 for the lv. 2 spell slots, right? Which spells are you using for this?

Utility spells for the most part:

LVL 1
Hunter's Mark
Goodberry (never have to worry about food, just expend ALL un-used spell slots before end of day long rest since they last 24 hours, and you essentially have 1pt Lay on Hands during battle)

LVL 2
Pass without Trace
Healing Spirit (I know I know, it's OP spell and overused, but I love it) lol

[samcifer]

We were talking about something similar over in the Ultimate Multiclass Optimizer thread. Gloomstalker's Dread Ambusher gives an additional attack to your attack action on the first round of combat. Action surge that, and you get 6 Longbow attacks for two attack actions.

I was getting my Bonus Action weapon attack from War Priest though. If we take War Cleric all the way to 9, we can take Holy Weapon, which gives an additional 2d8 Radiant to weapon attacks, and doesn't sit on one target like Hunter's Mark or Hex. This allows you to spread your attacks around.

Standard Assassinate procedure with double damage on dice. This assumes surprise conditions just to see what can be achieved. This also assumes Holy Weapon is cast beforehand (which shouldn't be hard because it lasts an hour), and I can still use my Bonus Action for another attack.

So my 7 first round attacks look like 2*d8 (9) longbow + 2*2d8 (18) Holy Weapon + 5 Dex + 10 Sharpshooter = 42 Damage / attack x 7 = 294 + Gloomstalker Bonus Damage x2 = 2*2d8 (+18 Damage) + Sneak Attack 2*2d6 ( +14) = 326 Opening Magical Weapon Damage. Add Battle Master Maneuvers to taste.

Gloom Stalker 5, War Cleric 9, Fighter 3, Assassin 3

Okay, when damage calculations are written out this way, I find it hard to read them (math was my worst subject in school and higher math was nearly impossible for me). What do the *s mean in this case?

[Drazhar]

Okay, when damage calculations are written out this way, I find it hard to read them (math was my worst subject in school and higher math was nearly impossible for me). What do the *s mean in this case?

They are writting out their dice rolls and the math that follow is it i.e.

a longbow damage is 1d8
you add you proficency bonus (ex. Dex=20, so modifier is +5)

So in this example 1 (one) attack is 1d8+5

the number they included in (*) is the average damage in this example 2d8 (9) then number is when you take the average damage of a d8 is 5, but when there are two d8 the average is downgraded to 4.5 therefore you get 9....

[samcifer]

They are writting out their dice rolls and the math that follow is it i.e.

a longbow damage is 1d8
you add you proficency bonus (ex. Dex=20, so modifier is +5)

So in this example 1 (one) attack is 1d8+5

the number they included in (*) is the average damage in this example 2d8 (9) then number is when you take the average damage of a d8 is 5, but when there are two d8 the average is downgraded to 4.5 therefore you get 9....

Okay, that makes sense now. I usually just go directly half= 1d8 - average roll of 4, 1d10 - average roll of 5, etc.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Okay, that makes sense now. I usually just go directly half= 1d8 - average roll of 4, 1d10 - average roll of 5, etc.

for quick reference the average roll of a dice is always half the number of faces + 0.5. Thats the mathematical average. But 4.5 isn't a number on a d8, and when you're talking about such averages you round up. The way i see it, 5 still has 4.5 in it, but 4 doesn't.

[Ebon]

for quick reference the average roll of a dice is always half the number of faces + 0.5. Thats the mathematical average. But 4.5 isn't a number on a d8, and when you're talking about such averages you round up. The way i see it, 5 still has 4.5 in it, but 4 doesn't.

However, when dealing with this many dice rolls, you are more likely to see a true average. There's 46 d8s in the first round of damage. 54 d8s if we add the four superiority dice (we have enough attacks) and double them for criticals thanks to Assassinate.

[Damon_Tor]

Not sure if it's worth the levels or not, but 5 levels in the mystic (as it exists in the UA article) seems like a great augmentation to any archer build, mostly due to the Nomadic Arrow discipline, which gives you one extra attack per turn, no action required, for one minute at the cost of 5psi (you'll have 27 psi per day at mystic 5). Of course it also eats your concentration to do this.

[Ebon]

So my 7 first round attacks look like 2*d8 (9) longbow + 2*2d8 (18) Holy Weapon + 5 Dex + 10 Sharpshooter = 42 Damage / attack x 7 = 294 + Gloomstalker Bonus Damage x2 = 2*2d8 (+18 Damage) + Sneak Attack 2*2d6 ( +14) = 326 Opening Magical Weapon Damage. Add Battle Master Maneuvers to taste.

Gloom Stalker 5, War Cleric 9, Fighter 3, Assassin 3

Forgot Divine Strike from the War Cleric adds another d8 to a weapon attack once per turn. This gets doubled for Assassinate as well. The four Battle Maneuver dice if spent in the opening round of combat get doubled too for another 8d8. Ten d8 add an average of 45 damage to our previous sum, giving a total of 371 split between 7 first round surprise attacks. A +2 Longbow brings this up to 385.

However, if I were to play this character, I'd be keen to play an Eldritch Knight and get Shield, Absorb Elements, and Find Familiar. The extra defense would be most welcome.

[samcifer]

Forgot Divine Strike from the War Cleric adds another d8 to a weapon attack once per turn. This gets doubled for Assassinate as well. The four Battle Maneuver dice if spent in the opening round of combat get doubled too for another 8d8. Ten d8 add an average of 45 damage to our previous sum, giving a total of 371 split between 7 first round surprise attacks. A +2 Longbow brings this up to 385.

However, if I were to play this character, I'd be keen to play an Eldritch Knight and get Shield, Absorb Elements, and Find Familiar. The extra defense would be most welcome.

If you wanted more damage, you could go off of the main stats and play an Assmir for their lv. 3 racial ability to do extra dmg. equal to the total character level, so that'd be an extra 20 dmg. at most, but every little bit helps. :)

[Knaight]

Okay, that makes sense now. I usually just go directly half= 1d8 - average roll of 4, 1d10 - average roll of 5, etc.


for quick reference the average roll of a dice is always half the number of faces + 0.5. Thats the mathematical average. But 4.5 isn't a number on a d8, and when you're talking about such averages you round up. The way i see it, 5 still has 4.5 in it, but 4 doesn't.

Both of these will slowly accumulate an error of 0.5 per die. If you're rounding to integers for some reason you can get away with either for exactly 1 die (though the latter is generally preferred), but it quickly goes off the rails. The sum of any combination of dice such that the total number of dice is an even number will always be an integer anyways, and either of these methods just gets the wrong integer, off by the total number of dice divided by two. For an odd number of dice rounded that isn't one you still get the wrong answer after rounding.

Putting aside how rounding up isn't necessary for averages (it's not like we don't know 2 significant figures here; 4.5 is an exact average) rounding is also best done at the end of a process, where you hold on to extra digits until the very end. Just use the (n+1)/2 formula for faces.