Meichrob7
2020-01-04, 07:45 PM
I often get eye rolls from my dnd friends for bringing up and trying out various methods of having a rogue make two attacks in a round that trigger sneak attack damage. This is possible RAW as long as the basic requirements for sneak attack are met and you make the attacks on different turns in the round. This works because
This (as far as I know) always uses your action and usually requires your bonus action and serious investment. If you are doing it alone and reliably. Any rogue can do it easily if the enemy provokes sneak attacks or a battle master fighter commands you to make an attack.
The main way to get this to work is having method of either gaining an additional action or a way to make an attack with just your bonus action, either way you then use your main action to ready an attack for another turn. The immediate thought is two weapon fighting but because off hand attacks require an attack action first, these don’t work. Generally you need some serious investment in multiclassing, a very rare magic item, or you need to wait till you gain haste as an arcane trickster.
The multiclassing options are berserker barbarian’s frenzied rage (which actually works better than you’d think), a fighter with action surge, or any sorcerer quickening one of the “make a melee weapon attack” cantrips as a bonus action. All three of these require a few levels and are limited in how often they can be used.
The scimitar of speed is the only official magic item that lets you make a bonus action attack without first taking the attack action. One of the planeshift books has a set of bracers that let you cast a cantrip as an action and bonus action but people rarely use planeshift and you’d still need to get the “make a weapon attack” cantrip with the elf race, a feat, or a level dip.
The last option is haste as an arcane trickster (or you could do it with another spell casting class so it’s a 4th way multiclassing can give you an attack without an action). This is something they don’t have access to until level 13 (beyond the scope of most campaigns) and unlike all the other PHB rogues, arcane trickster doesn’t double their damage with their level 17 feature meaning this option is less broken than it might otherwise seem.
All of these require a lot of investment and most of them don’t give you advantage on any of your attacks. Haste leaves you a free bonus action to gain advantage on one attack and a barbarian can use reckless attacks give you advantage that turn, so again one attack, but the rest don’t so even if you can trigger sneak attack with an ally within 5ft, you have a decent chance of missing without advantage.
Because the find familiar spell can be gained with a single level or a feat and the owl familiar can flyby and use the help action, if the character can gain advantage on one of their attacks alone, then with a familiar they can get advantage on two attacks.
I say all of this to give some context for how Bolts from the grave breaks the rogue action economy for far less investment than any other option.
Bolts from the grave activates after any cunning action, and fires off a dexterity fueled spell attack you are proficient with. This can benefit from sneak attack but uses up your sneak attack for the turn. That last line was there so you couldn’t attack and then fire a bolt from the grave to get two sneak attacks in one turn, but by simply holding an attack action and then using a cunning action you can still easily make two sneak attacks in a single round. Because the hide action and the new aim action both give advantage you can still gain advantage on the bolt from the grave spell attack which puts you at the required 1/2 which lets you effectively have permanent advantage if you have a familiar spamming the help actions
This method of gaining two sneak attacks per round is the strongest option by far. No other option gives you unlimited uses, most don’t give advantage on any attacks, and the two methods that do give advantage use up an action or bonus action the turn you activate them so you delay your “full damage” until round two.
It is also the option that is easiest to pull off, the only one that even comes close is the arcane trickster which can’t do this until level 13.
Bolts from the grave is a strong level 13 feature, comparing it to haste it’s shorter range (the spell attack has a range of 30 ft) but can be done more often and is quicker to start up. The revived rogue also doesn’t get a damage doubling feature later so this abuse of sneak attack triggers wouldn’t be inherently broken anymore, they’d be somewhat balanced if it was a level 17 feature.
I don’t think this topic has been brought up yet but I’ll take this down if it has. A lot of people have talked about this feature being broken in a similar way to eldritch blast, where dipping a few levels gives you a strong ranged attack that scales off a desirable stat, or how it’s strong because it gives you 2d6 free damage, or another chance to activate sneak attack if you missed with your attacks as an action, but I haven’t seen anyone talk about it’s synergy with multiple sneak attacks per round.
This (as far as I know) always uses your action and usually requires your bonus action and serious investment. If you are doing it alone and reliably. Any rogue can do it easily if the enemy provokes sneak attacks or a battle master fighter commands you to make an attack.
The main way to get this to work is having method of either gaining an additional action or a way to make an attack with just your bonus action, either way you then use your main action to ready an attack for another turn. The immediate thought is two weapon fighting but because off hand attacks require an attack action first, these don’t work. Generally you need some serious investment in multiclassing, a very rare magic item, or you need to wait till you gain haste as an arcane trickster.
The multiclassing options are berserker barbarian’s frenzied rage (which actually works better than you’d think), a fighter with action surge, or any sorcerer quickening one of the “make a melee weapon attack” cantrips as a bonus action. All three of these require a few levels and are limited in how often they can be used.
The scimitar of speed is the only official magic item that lets you make a bonus action attack without first taking the attack action. One of the planeshift books has a set of bracers that let you cast a cantrip as an action and bonus action but people rarely use planeshift and you’d still need to get the “make a weapon attack” cantrip with the elf race, a feat, or a level dip.
The last option is haste as an arcane trickster (or you could do it with another spell casting class so it’s a 4th way multiclassing can give you an attack without an action). This is something they don’t have access to until level 13 (beyond the scope of most campaigns) and unlike all the other PHB rogues, arcane trickster doesn’t double their damage with their level 17 feature meaning this option is less broken than it might otherwise seem.
All of these require a lot of investment and most of them don’t give you advantage on any of your attacks. Haste leaves you a free bonus action to gain advantage on one attack and a barbarian can use reckless attacks give you advantage that turn, so again one attack, but the rest don’t so even if you can trigger sneak attack with an ally within 5ft, you have a decent chance of missing without advantage.
Because the find familiar spell can be gained with a single level or a feat and the owl familiar can flyby and use the help action, if the character can gain advantage on one of their attacks alone, then with a familiar they can get advantage on two attacks.
I say all of this to give some context for how Bolts from the grave breaks the rogue action economy for far less investment than any other option.
Bolts from the grave activates after any cunning action, and fires off a dexterity fueled spell attack you are proficient with. This can benefit from sneak attack but uses up your sneak attack for the turn. That last line was there so you couldn’t attack and then fire a bolt from the grave to get two sneak attacks in one turn, but by simply holding an attack action and then using a cunning action you can still easily make two sneak attacks in a single round. Because the hide action and the new aim action both give advantage you can still gain advantage on the bolt from the grave spell attack which puts you at the required 1/2 which lets you effectively have permanent advantage if you have a familiar spamming the help actions
This method of gaining two sneak attacks per round is the strongest option by far. No other option gives you unlimited uses, most don’t give advantage on any attacks, and the two methods that do give advantage use up an action or bonus action the turn you activate them so you delay your “full damage” until round two.
It is also the option that is easiest to pull off, the only one that even comes close is the arcane trickster which can’t do this until level 13.
Bolts from the grave is a strong level 13 feature, comparing it to haste it’s shorter range (the spell attack has a range of 30 ft) but can be done more often and is quicker to start up. The revived rogue also doesn’t get a damage doubling feature later so this abuse of sneak attack triggers wouldn’t be inherently broken anymore, they’d be somewhat balanced if it was a level 17 feature.
I don’t think this topic has been brought up yet but I’ll take this down if it has. A lot of people have talked about this feature being broken in a similar way to eldritch blast, where dipping a few levels gives you a strong ranged attack that scales off a desirable stat, or how it’s strong because it gives you 2d6 free damage, or another chance to activate sneak attack if you missed with your attacks as an action, but I haven’t seen anyone talk about it’s synergy with multiple sneak attacks per round.