The Nimble Duelist - Fighter, Rogue or both? (Character build help wanted)

[OverDemon]

So, I'm looking to create a character for some Adventure League, and I'm caught on the idea of a material, or semi-material character. So far I've had my eye on the possibility of a nimble duelist like character after getting inspired by a post from LudicSavant. However, I like to optimize my characters a little (to feel relevant) and am uncertain about how to build such a character, and if it's the best solution.

So if any of you fine people had comments, suggestions or even alternative or new ideas, that would be awesome. Okay, here are my thought:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/eidoran/images/c/c8/Duelist.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150628235908

So, when I think "nimble duelist" what comes to mind is a Dex-based Fighter or a Rogue. Having played neither I don't know how good they are?
What I see as important, or desired for such a character (besides the obvious like being able to hit) is:


High mobility (You want to close the gap between your opponent, or get out of danger fast)
High initiative (You want to act fast and act first. An enemy or two should be dead before they know whats going on)
Good and consistent damage (While you might have some "nuke" abilities that are limited, generally you want to give good damage every round and never "run out" of damage and become substandard.
Descent HP/survivability (You're not a massive Barbarian or a guy covered in metal, but neither should you feel threatened by a hit or two)
Evasion of damage and clumped combat (If a dragon breath fire at you, you want to make the Dex save and take no damage. If half-a-dozen spiders fall down from the ceiling around you, you want to be able to get away and engage them one at a time)
Stealth, potentially?


I don't know if all of this is necessarily as good as I imagine, but it's how I imagine the character. In regards to "pure" class types, I see the possibility of:

1: Dex-Fighter (Battle Master)

The Fighter. Lots of extra attacks, extra actions, self-healing with Second Wind, and the ability to reroll saving throws. With Battle Master you gain lots of interesting maneuvers to spice up gameplay and with the Shield Master feat you can totally avoid damage when you make a Dex-save AND you get something to use your bonus action on, trying to knock an enemy prone.

2: Rogue (Swashbuckler)

As a Rogue you have the Sneak Attack feature for lots of extra damage, and with the Swashbuckler subclass you don't need advantage so long as only that one enemy is in around you. You have Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage or Hide as a bonus action, you can use a reaction to halve an attack's damage, you can completely avoid the damage of a successful Dex-save, hear enemies locations, negate advantage against you etc.

The Swashbuckler subclass from Xanathar's Guide to Everything, again, allow you to land Sneak Attack more consistently, disengage an enemy you've hit, charm an enemy, reroll a failed attack with advantage once a short rest, etc.

3: Fighter/Rogue

With a Fighter/Rogue multiclass there's of course many combinations, but for the most part I see a Fighter 16/Rogue 4 as the best combination, though I can also imagine Fighter 12/Rogue 8 as working.

For subclasses I imagine Battle Master, Samurai or potentially the Champion for Fighter. For Rogue I see Swashbuckler or Assassin as options.

Races:

For races I imagine a Wood Elf, Lightfoot Halfling or Varient Human as options since they either come with extra Dexterity or the ability to choose it and a feat.

ASI/Feats:

Of course I'd want to raise Dex to 20 with such a character, and potentially have a descent Con and Wis to resist various effects. With something like a Swashbuckler I might want a high or okay Cha too.

For feats, well, it of course depends. Some I've looked at are:


Alert
Defensive Duelist
Dual Wielder
Lucky
Medium Armor Master
Resilient (Con or Wis)
Shield Master (as a Fighter you don't have a lot to use bonus action on, so you might as well try to knock someone prone. As a Rogue/Fighter multiclass you can use Expertise on Athletics to aid)
Elven Accuracy (Xana)
Wood Elf Magic (Xana)
Squat Nimbleness (Xana)


And that's about my thoughts and considerations for now. The character I've so far looked at is a Wood Elf Fighter(Battle Master) 16/Rogue (Swashbuckler) 4, which I would start as a Fighter.

What do you think?

Thank you in advance for any and all help.

Edit: Thank you all for the great help and advice. I really appreciate it :smile:

[Kane0]

The Swashbuckler Rogue was pretty much made for this. How set are you on getting extra attack?

[Pefgis]

I would add tabaxi to your list of potential race choices. Extra dex,Cha,and mobility options definitely enhance any agile duelist concept.

[OverDemon]

I would add tabaxi to your list of potential race choices. Extra dex,Cha,and mobility options definitely enhance any agile duelist concept.

In Adventure League you can only use the Player's Handbook + one other book. So if I take Tabaxi from Volo's, I can't use Xanathar's.
Is there a class + subclass you'd then recommend, or doesn't it work?

[Contrast]

I can never tell these days if rogue is purposefully being misspelt as a joke or not :smalltongue:


In Adventure League you can only use the Player's Handbook + one other book. So if I take Tabaxi from Volo's, I can't use Xanathar's.
Is there a class + subclass you'd then recommend, or doesn't it work?

There's actually an argument for using Sword Coast Adv Guide as your plus one in this case. Swashbucklers enable dual wielding but if you're going for the single rapier for the look of the thing picking up Booming Blade will help your damage output significantly. Either going high elf for the free cantrip or picking up Magic Initiate (Find Familiar is a nice pick up for the spell) are probably the ways to go about this.

This assumes you're going primarily rogue rather than fighter. Honestly just straight rogue would probably be my preferred set up for this build based on what you've said you want but I could see dipping 2-3 levels of fighter maybe after level 8 to spice things up(/sneak attack shenanigans with action surge and readying)/pick up battlemaster.

[Nidgit]

I'd say it depends how much you want to focus on combat, particularly staying in melee range. A Swashbuckler still wants to skirmish as much as possible, which is why it gets a free Disengage. A Fighter is much hardier and will thrive on the front lines more.

If you're intent on going mostly Fighter, I'd probably say just focus on Battlemaster entirely. My favorite blend of the two is Swashbuckler 13/Battlemaster 7 for more of a Musketeer vibe.

[Daghoulish]

High mobility (You want to close the gap between your opponent, or get out of danger fast)
High initiative (You want to act fast and act first. An enemy or two should be dead before they know whats going on)
Good and consistent damage (While you might have some "nuke" abilities that are limited, generally you want to give good damage every round and never "run out" of damage and become substandard.
Descent HP/survivability (You're not a massive Barbarian or a guy covered in metal, but neither should you feel threatened by a hit or two)
Evasion of damage and clumped combat (If a dragon breath fire at you, you want to make the Dex save and take no damage. If half-a-dozen spiders fall down from the ceiling around you, you want to be able to get away and engage them one at a time)
Stealth, potentially?



I have played a battlemaster up to level 9 and can say they are great fun. Now onto this list and your ideas, I bet your best bet is your idea of 16 BM fighter/ 4 Rogue. However would you like an off the cuff idea? How about a monk? Hear me out a Shadow monk can do all the things your asking for.


High mobility (You want to close the gap between your opponent, or get out of danger fast) - A monk has the best mobility of any class, the rogue is slightly faster but that takes all three of their actions while a monk can do it in their action/bonus and still do something else.
High initiative (You want to act fast and act first. An enemy or two should be dead before they know whats going on) - Monks are as good as any other high dex class
Good and consistent damage (While you might have some "nuke" abilities that are limited, generally you want to give good damage every round and never "run out" of damage and become substandard. - You can use a short sword which is 1 die smaller than a rapier but you can always use your bonus action for another attack making you have more consistent damage.
Descent HP/survivability (You're not a massive Barbarian or a guy covered in metal, but neither should you feel threatened by a hit or two) - This is where your build would win, as a monk only has as much hp as a rogue at a d8. Although you'll have more ac than a rogue could have with mearly a +2 to wisdom while wearing a suit and looking posh.
Evasion of damage and clumped combat (If a dragon breath fire at you, you want to make the Dex save and take no damage. If half-a-dozen spiders fall down from the ceiling around you, you want to be able to get away and engage them one at a time) - Monks get proficiency in all saves to help make those saves and a shadow monk can use a bonus action while in dim light to teleport 60 feet or you can cast darkness and run in the ensuing scuffle.
Stealth, potentially? - Shadow monks can cast pass without a trace for 2 ki, although your rogue will on average have more stealth the shadow monk, they can have more when it matters.

I'm not trying to change your mind but it was a though that got stuff in my head while reading what you wanted. I would say go for the BM/Rogue, but I've found monks a little more engaging. Even with the maneuvers, the balancing act of your ki and what you can do was more fun to me.

[Misterwhisper]

Envoy Warforged with built in thieves tools for expertise in them that can’t really be lost.

Stat bonus of con cha and dex.

Their built in armor is better than anything the rogue will normally get anyway.

Not having to rest, eat drink or breath is great on a class with no resources.

[Nhorianscum]

Monk X/Rouge 3 is a good base for this sorta thing if you value mobility over damage.

Otherwise just 5 levels for 2x atk/Rouge X

Or just any gishy fullcaster.

[OverDemon]

Envoy Warforged with built in thieves tools for expertise in them that can’t really be lost.

Stat bonus of con cha and dex.

Their built in armor is better than anything the rogue will normally get anyway.

Not having to rest, eat drink or breath is great on a class with no resources.

Warforged, that's Eberron, right? I don't think that's allow, being another world or universe and all.

[Rukelnikov]

Many builds possible, depends at which lvl you'd rather peak or be viable and what is the lvl you expect to reach.

Battle Master's Riposte maneuver combos excellently with Rogue's SA, and if you take the Defensive Duelist feat you can increase your AC if enemies hit or Riposte if they miss. (Disclaimer: I'm not very fond of DD personally, I like it thematically but it feels weak at low levels for me)

Note that you don't care much for the superiority die size in this case, so with 3 lvls of BM you are good, getting to 5 would be useful for the extra Attack increasing your chances of dealing SA on your turn.

The thing is the order in which you take these levels, if you start as Ftr then you will be have 1 less skill proficiency (this may not be a problem), and theres no nice jump off point below 5, 3 is not a nice jump off point because for lvls 4 to 6 you may feel a lil bit underpowered, you won't have your ASI or EA. If you keep BM until 5 and then go rogue, you won't be behind power wise, but you may not have that mobility and nimbleness until lvl 7.

[bid]

And that's about my thoughts and considerations for now. The character I've so far looked at is a Wood Elf Fighter(Battle Master) 16/Rouge (Swashbuckler) 4, which I would start as a Fighter.

What do you think?
Nothing beats monks for pure nimbleness. And BA flurry works well with swashbuckler. Add me to norianscum's suggestion.
Shadow is not very flashy, kensei is only useful if you whip/longbow, but open hand remains the most interesting.


That being said, there's no gain pushing beyond BM 11. BM is so front-loaded that BM 5 / rogue X is a good build.
You already get 7 ASI from fighter 8 / rogue 12, and reliable talent seems better than a 3rd attack. Not to mention using panache to force a duel.

[bid]

Battle Master's Riposte maneuver combos excellently with Rogue's SA, and if you take the Defensive Duelist feat you can increase your AC if enemies hit or Riposte if they miss. (Disclaimer: I'm not very fond of DD personally, I like it thematically but it feels weak at low levels for me)
Also, I think the consensus is that uncanny dodge is a better use of your reaction. A potential miss is a waste of a feat.

[OverDemon]

Nothing beats monks for pure nimbleness. And BA flurry works well with swashbuckler. Add me to norianscum's suggestion.
Shadow is not very flashy, kensei is only useful if you whip/longbow, but open hand remains the most interesting.


That being said, there's no gain pushing beyond BM 11. BM is so front-loaded that BM 5 / rogue X is a good build.
You already get 6 ASI from fighter 6 / rogue 12, and reliable talent seems better than a 3rd attack. Not to mention using panache to force a duel.

Okay? So I have it kinda reversed? You take a few levels in fighter and the rest you go Rogue?

Would you say that you should start as a Fighter, or start as a Rogue? And when should you take the levels in Fighter/Rogue?

[bid]

Would you say that you should start as a Fighter, or start as a Rouge? And when should you take the levels in Fighter/Rouge?
Could you stop with the cosmetics?
We aren't powdering our cheeks here.


What's your RP concept? An expert scoundrel, or a veteran warrior?
If you want nimbleness from the start, swashbuckler 3 is your first target. Without concentration spells, the saves won't matter.

[OverDemon]

Could you stop with the cosmetics?
We aren't powdering our cheeks here.


What's your RP concept? An expert scoundrel, or a veteran warrior?
If you want nimbleness from the start, swashbuckler 3 is your first target. Without concentration spells, the saves won't matter.

Cosmetics? What are you talking about now?

There is no RP concept yet, that was the WHOLE point of this tread. I don't know how you make your characters, but I find a playstyle I like, build and structure it, and THEN I make the backstory and figure out how I want to play it?

[Nidgit]

Cosmetics? What are you talking about now?

There is no RP concept yet, that was the WHOLE point of this tread. I don't know how you make your characters, but I find a playstyle I like, build and structure it, and THEN I make the backstory and figure out how I want to play it?

I have to assume you're doing it intentionally at this point, but once more for what it's worth:

It's Rogue, not rouge. G-U-E.

[Mythalidor]

Cosmetics? What are you talking about now?

There is no RP concept yet, that was the WHOLE point of this tread. I don't know how you make your characters, but I find a playstyle I like, build and structure it, and THEN I make the backstory and figure out how I want to play it?

By cosmetics he mean Rouge vs Rogue, Rouge is makeup, Rogue is the class.

For your playstyle combat did you want to be nimble through pure skill, or could magic be involved? You could use Shadow monk to quickly move around, or a few levels in wizard (or eldritch knight or arcane trickster) to gain a spell like Blink, or Haste.

[Keravath]

Cosmetics? What are you talking about now?

There is no RP concept yet, that was the WHOLE point of this tread. I don't know how you make your characters, but I find a playstyle I like, build and structure it, and THEN I make the backstory and figure out how I want to play it?

Cosmetics.

He is complaining about your constant misspelling of the word "ROGUE". Rouge is a type of cosmetic. Rogue is the character class as well as the word for a behavioral archetype.

As far as what you want to do, almost any combination of fighter and rogue in almost any order works pretty well.

Level 5 of fighter is extra attack but also 3d6 sneak attack for rogues.

In tier 1, rogues have one of the better damage profiles unless the other classes pick up an extra attack through PAM or crossbow expert or additional damage via hunter's mark or hex.

If you want to play a melee character that dances in and out of combat, this can be achieved either via Swashbuckler rogue or by taking the mobile feat on any other martial character. Mobile on a fighter or monk increases movement speed and allows them to run in attack and move out again without triggering opportunity attacks from the target they attacked. Swashbuckler also has the ability to land sneak attacks on targets when they don't have anyone next to them and they add charisma to initiative.

Depending on what you want out of it, pure fighter, pure rogue or almost any mix of fighter/rogue (or possibly monk/rogue) works well. However, monks have a different feel since they often use unarmed strikes so that may not be the "feel" you are looking for.

Another approach, as mentioned, might be to go arcane trickster rogue and pick up booming blade as a cantrip. This allows you to stack even more damage on your sneak attacks. Grab find familiar as a spell and you will have a familiar that can use the help action to enable advantage and sneak attack on your attacks (owl works best for this) though effectiveness may depend on how the DM decides to play the initiative for familiars.

Warlock (blade pact)/(swashbuckler or arcane trickster) rogue might be another option to double down on the higher than average charisma that you already want to have. This option might have a more magic and less of a blade wielding melee feel to it.

Another option might be ranger 5/rogue X (possibly gloomstalker).

Anyway, I'd probably suggest fighter 5 for extra attack (or rogue 1/fighter 5/rogue X if you want the extra skills for starting rogue and expertise in a couple of skills). You could also go rogue 2/fighter 5/ rogue X to get cunning action in there which is extremely useful for a skirmish type of playstyle but it does delay extra attack.

[LudicSavant]

Friendly reminder that it's rogue (a scoundrel), not rouge (makeup). :smallsmile:

Anyways, there are lots of routes to take for a nimble warrior, so it's hard to recommend just one. In the case of a melee Dex Fighter, I would strongly recommend Battle Master or Eldritch Knight. Samurai is a nice subclass, but better suited for archery. And neither Samurai nor Champion are especially nimble.

A couple routes I haven't seen mentioned here yet:
- Gloom Stalker multiclasses very well with Fighter, because the level 3 attack is part of your Action and therefore gets doubled by Action Surge. It also boosts initiative, which is one of the things you said you wanted.

- You could be a Goblin (which basically gives you Cunning Action-lite without having to actually take Rogue levels) and then go straight Fighter until at least 11.

- The EK can be very sticky with War Caster / Booming Blade, deal heavy Dex-based damage with Shadow Blade, and hop around the map with abilities like Misty Step. You basically want to take them straight to 11 or 12, then jump off into almost any full caster multiclass to accelerate your spell progression (which will fuel your mobility, defense, and offense).

- Swords Bards are pretty nifty, and can potentially get insanely difficult to hit (like "LOL, good luck hitting AC 40 with Disadvantage" hard to hit. Not to mention also being able to grab options like Magical Secrets: Contingency that let you cheat death outright). And you can dip Paladin 2 and smite with a (near) full casting progression.


For feats, well, it of course depends. Some I've looked at are:


Alert
Defensive Duelist
Dual Wielder
Lucky
Medium Armor Master
Resilient (Con or Wis)
Shield Master (as a Fighter you don't have a lot to use bonus action on, so you might as well try to knock someone prone. As a Rouge/Rought multiclass you can use Expertise on Athletics to aid)
Elven Accuracy (Xana)
Wood Elf Magic (Xana)
Squat Nimbleness (Xana)


- Alert: Good for basically everyone. Even better if you have high enough burst that you can potentially take out an enemy before they can act (which some EK and BM builds can)
- Defensive Duelist: This feat is best suited for people who don't have a lot of good stuff to spend their Reaction on. Rogues should basically never take it.
- Dual Wielder: Not a big fan.
- Lucky: Good all-around feat for almost anyone. Usually not my first priority, but something I'll throw in a build after I get the core pieces I want.
- Medium Armor Master: If you are going to be maxing Dexterity, use light armor, not this.
- Resilient (Wisdom): This is good, because getting mind controlled is bad. Very bad. Especially if you're the type of character who can go nova.
- Resilient (Constitution): Good, but not something I'd prioritize except on certain caster builds.
- Elven Accuracy: If you're an elf and have an odd Dexterity, this is basically a must-have for both Dex fighters and Rogues. As long as you're consistently generating Advantage, the bonus is quite significant, bumping both your accuracy and crit rate.
- Wood Elf Magic: This can be useful for getting some extra utility on Battle Master Fighters. It allows you to take Guidance and Pass Without Trace (which along with being Dex-based makes you a decent skill monkey and scout/ambusher), and Longstrider (which makes you or an ally more mobile for an hour out of the day).

[Gignere]

I’m planning a dex based duelist if/when I can be a player instead of DM again. The two builds I came up with are both Rogue X / War Wizard 2.

One is Arcane Trickster / War Magic the other is Swashbuckler / War Magic.

Both builds focuses on crit fishing with the Elven Accuracy feat.

Unfortunately you’re playing AL so you can’t combine both EA and booming blade.

So what both builds have in common and what are the differences. Both have great initiative because War Magic adds int to initiative and for the Swashbuckler build adds both int and cha to initiative.

Both are really durable because War Magic effectively gives you a minimum of + 2 ac and up to +5 ac (shield spell), you will also have access to absorb element and rogue’s halving damage as a choice depending on what is best damage mitigation.

Both will have easy access to advantage from familiar. Both are great at stealth. Both have great single target damage.

Differences are that arcane trickster is more versatile, better against hordes at higher level and definitely stronger after t3.

Swashbuckler is more mobile and can also be the face of the group. Swashbuckler also has slightly better initiative without any feat investment.

[OverDemon]

I have to assume you're doing it intentionally at this point, but once more for what it's worth:

It's Rogue, not rouge. G-U-E.

Ahh, okay. That makes more sense. I thought that was how it was spelled. Ups :wink:

[OverDemon]

Anyways, there are lots of routes to take for a nimble warrior, so it's hard to recommend just one. In the case of a melee Dex Fighter, I would strongly recommend Battle Master or Eldritch Knight.

Thanks for the reply, there's been a lot of good advice in this thread, but it also shows me that's it's more complex than I had imagined. Being somewhat inexperienced I'm considering to take a pure class (Dex Fighter or Rogue) and run with that and see how I like it. Then I can perhaps return to this thread, more knowing about what I want.


- Elven Accuracy: If you're an elf and have an odd Dexterity, this is basically a must-have for both Dex fighters and Rogues. As long as you're consistently generating Advantage, the bonus is quite significant, bumping both your accuracy and crit rate.

I don't suppose you know of any way to generate advantage on a somewhat consistent level? It seems required for you to be able to do it if you take Elven Accuracy. Attacking a prone enemy or having a friend take the Help action is what comes to mind for me.

[bid]

Ahh, okay. That makes more sense. I thought that was how it was spelled. Ups :wink:
Lysdexia is my Doggess. :biggrin:

[Mythalidor]

I don't suppose you know of any way to generate advantage on a somewhat consistent level? It seems required for you to be able to do it if you take Elven Accuracy. Attacking a prone enemy or having a friend take the Help action is what comes to mind for me.

Stealth is a super easy way to generate advantage, but swashbuckler has their own way to advantage by being within 5feet of an enemy with no one else around, I think?

When I say stealth is easy, its generally best with magic, like Darkness or Shadow of Moil

[RingoBongo]

Stealth is a super easy way to generate advantage, but swashbuckler has their own way to advantage by being within 5feet of an enemy with no one else around, I think?

When I say stealth is easy, its generally best with magic, like Darkness or Shadow of Moil

Swashbuckler can't grant sneak attack damage by being within 5ft. Not advantage...

[ShikomeKidoMi]

I don't suppose you know of any way to generate advantage on a somewhat consistent level? It seems required for you to be able to do it if you take Elven Accuracy. Attacking a prone enemy or having a friend take the Help action is what comes to mind for me.

Well, Battlemasters have a maneuver that prones the target. Alternately, just play in a party where one of your friends is a control/debuff caster with spells like Faerie Fire or Blind. You'll have advantage most of the time, then.

[Yakmala]

My only Level 20 character in Adventurers League happens to be a Dex based Variant Human Battle Master (Professional Duelist) and he's worked out great! Here's the progression I used for ASI's and Feats:


Level 1: Resilient +1 Dex (16)
Level 4 ASI: +2 Dex (18)
Level 6 ASI: +2 Dex (20)
Level 8: Defensive Duelist
Level 12: Sentinel
Level 14 ASI: +2 Con (18)
Level 16: Shield Master
Level 19 ASI: +2 Con (20)
Manual of Quickness of Action: +2 Dex (22)


He currently has +1 Glamoured studded leather, a +3 shield and a Cloak of Displacement. Regular AC is 24. As a reaction, Defensive Duelist can pump that to 30 and that's at disadvantage due to the cloak.


He gets to use his reaction nearly every turn:
Enemy misses: Riposte
Enemy hits: Defensive Duelist
Enemy attempts to disengage or attack an adjacent ally: Sentinel



Thanks to Resilient Dexterity (+12 to saves) and Shield Master, I dodge AoE's like a Rogue/Monk and my save vs. spells that target only me is +17.

And while a Swashbuckler can land a big single hit, a single-class Level 20 Fighter can pump out 8 attacks with Action Surge, which can be boosted by Battle Master maneuvers as needed. Land a trip on the first attack and enjoy Advantage on the remaining seven.

[Aergentum]

I'm making a character for a one shot, and I was wandering if it would be worth making a BM Fighter / Swasbuckler Rogue. This would be my first multiclass character ever, so I have absolutely no idea how to make this work.
THe character must be lvl 10. Any suggestions?

[JellyPooga]

Whilst Swashbuckler Rogue was purpose built for this, don't rule out other Archetypes;

Thief makes for a good dashing-swordsman type, with Fast Hands allowing you to use miscellaneous gear as a bonus action, such as tugging on curtains to fall on your foes, swinging on ropes/chandeliers, toppling furniture and so forth. The bonus to jump distance and climbing also helps with those midnight rooftop chases and lets not forget UMD; the ability to use any item with little more than your pure awesomeness.

Assassin might seem a little too skullduggerous, but it's also got the tools to be the other kind of "second storey man" without getting caught by jealous husbands and the like. Additonally, who doesn't like being able to really own the element of surprise?

Mastermind might seem to be going off track a little, but being able to Help at 30ft as a bonus action can easily be fluffed as a verbal tirade of quips, insults and advice. Definitely an option for a "cunning swordsman" type.

[Cikomyr]

The consistent misspelling of Rogue is really awful. Can you at least revise the thread title so my OCD don't trigger every time I browse the forums?

[Bloodcloud]

A classic combo is using riposte/sentinel to get sneak attack damage twice a turn. 5th level battlemaster is a good stopping point for that, as you have the extra attack for more chances to land your sneak. Swashbuckler is great for the mobility in-built, and you'll want to invest in rogue to build up that sneak attack (which you apply twice as much as possible). So, Ftr battlemaster 5/swashbuckler 15 would be a decent build there