Ranger x Rogue (Gloom-Stalker + Scout) 8

[Nosta]

I came up with a Elfish Bowman who had like s Thorn / Rose theme. A rose that blooms in moonlight and who bow looks like twisted Bramble and Thorns. For his race I am Thinking Half Wood Elf I am just not sure how many of each class level a level 8 character should have to be effective .

Like I want him to be a good tracker and hunter with decent stealth

[Corran]

I think it will be hard to beat a 5/3 split. Extra attack will make up for lots of sneak attack dice (especially if you have sharpshooter and you are gaining advantage from fighting in darkness), and level 2 ranger spells have some good picks (it might be worth picking the darkvision spell, if you have allies without darkvision and no one also has a better way of generating it; eg a shadow monk). And you are still getting the reaction from scout. Consider a high elf for race (or half high elf), to get control flames (no verbal component), which can be used to generate advantage (though ideally you'd want someone else to cover for you here, just so you don't hurt your action economy).

Edit: I was just reading some old threads about gloom stalker rangers, and multiclassing into scout was often mentioned (I am not sold on the value of the reaction movement), so you might want to search for Gloom Stalker in the advanced search options (besides reading the suggestions that people will offer here of course).

[da newt]

In my opinion, half elf is not as strong a choice as elf because you'll be wasting the CHA bonus and missing out on +2 Dex and Elvin Accuracy to get 18 dex at lvl 4. I prefer wood elf for the extra movement, hiding and WIS.

For me, I'd go 4/4 for the ASIs to get EA and SS, then add Ranger 5 next for extra attack, and then go all Rogue.

Scout is a great subclass, but I'd be tempted to go with something that provided easy ADV (Inquisitive, Arcane Trickster w/ familiar, etc).

Expertise in stealth and survival should help (Scout gives you the expertise in Survival for free).

[Zaltman]

If you want to trade some movement and outdoor skills for ranged damage, you should give the Inquisitive a read. Insightful fighting can be used to enable sneak attack in almost any situation at any range, so it makes a powerful sniper.

[Guy Lombard-O]

Expertise in stealth and survival should help (Scout gives you the expertise in Survival for free).

Not to mention pairing it with Pass Without Trace for setting up those first strike/ambush rounds and then slipping away...

[ArtIzon]

In my opinion, half elf is not as strong a choice as elf because you'll be wasting the CHA bonus and missing out on +2 Dex and Elvin Accuracy to get 18 dex at lvl 4. I prefer wood elf for the extra movement, hiding and WIS.

For me, I'd go 4/4 for the ASIs to get EA and SS, then add Ranger 5 next for extra attack, and then go all Rogue.

Scout is a great subclass, but I'd be tempted to go with something that provided easy ADV (Inquisitive, Arcane Trickster w/ familiar, etc).

Expertise in stealth and survival should help (Scout gives you the expertise in Survival for free).

You are definitely correct regarding race selection, and most of the rest of your advice is sound.

But, even with easy advantage for the EA boost, 5/3 and taking only Sharpshooter is mathematically superior.

The following assumes Archery fighting style and a +4 in main stat (since you're spending ASIs on feats rather than boosting dex) against the expected CR8 AC of 16. I didn't include Sneak Attack damage because it's the same in both cases and doesn't significantly alter the results.

One attack with EA and SS (4/4 split): 8.55 average DPR, 16.06 to advantage.

Two attacks with just SS (5/3 split): 17.1 average DPR, 26.6 with advantage.

That's a big gap. I advise you to ignore my advice if it better suits your character, OP, but as you can see, the 5/3 split is better for optimization if that's what you're after.

SOURCES: Ludicsavant's DPR calculator (damage calculations), https://rpgbot.net/dnd5/characters/fundamental_math.html (AC)

[ThatoneGuy84]

I have to agree
5ranger/3scout split is the best option expecially if your starting at 8.
Second attack is extremely valuable.
Gloomstalker/Scout is a solid pick. I'd look closely at all rouge archetypes and see which you think is best for party composition.

[CTurbo]

I would go Wood Elf Gloom Stalker 5, then Rogue from there.

Take SS at level 4, and +2 to Dex at levels 9 and 13. I would want to add Alert and Mobile at some point down the line. It wouldn't be a terrible idea to take 2 more levels of Ranger late for more spell slots and Wisdom saves.


But yeah Gloom Stalker/Scout is a great combo.