They getthe rest of the Bard package, too. Characters (B) and (C) do not gain an additional die of sneak attack so their basic routines stay at23.07and 20.21but they also have all the additional ways of increasing their damage output. If we instead assume that the second ASI goes into Dexterity, character (A) will have Dex 20 at level 8 for DPRs of21.59 (L8) and24.78 (L9). Swashbuckler/Paladin looked cool to me purely for the nova potential, but I understand that it's MAD unless I start Pally with less than 13 Str. Our suggestion is to choose the Wizard spell list as it will allow you to take the Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade cantrips and the Find Familiar spell. They have a 85.8% chance of the sneak attack being on a hit and a 7.8% chance of it being on a crit for an average of7.10damage. I realize getting to these levels are campaign dependent but humour me. They use their masterful skill with a sword, or any weapon for that matter, to save the day and emerge victorious from any fight. While we still want to look for good skill proficiencies, we can put a little more focus into other features that a background can provide us for. I would recommend starting Rogue for the bonus skills (Rogue then Fighter gives you 4 + background + race while Fighter then Rogue gives 3 + background + race). 4. 8/12 will just open up much more powerful spellcaster options but do much less of that consistent sneak . This skill is good for a specific build, and mainly a different type of bard like thief or scout would pick this up. Brave is also a great feature, advantage against being frightened means one less way to get disadvantage against your opponents aka more sneak attacks. Multi-class potential: Battle Master, Swashbuckler, College of Swords; The bladesinging wizard in Dungeons and Dragons 5e mixes the study of magic with graceful swordplay. You can use a bonus action on your turn to gain advantage on the next Acrobatics or Athletics check you make during the same turn. Thanks for reply. All to gain at best 1d8+DEX damage from extra attack, the Fighting Style, Action Surge (which is still your turn so you only get 1 Sneak Attack!) If you are starting at a high level, try out your idea with three classes. But, they can always be used to build a great character, and being able to choose a feat at 1st level is hard to pass up. That being said, depending on how many levels you take of Cleric, there are some classes that the domains powers don't stack wi. Talk about value for a subclass feature. Their main subclass feature is the tweak to Sneak Attack, which allows Swashbucklers to apply their extra damage when dueling an enemy 1v1 rather than the original circumstances (advantage, an ally within 5ft, etc). Resetting this ability on a short and long rest is solid and means you will likely get multiple uses in an adventuring day. At third level you choose your roguish archetype: Swashbuckler. This means that they are quite likely to have a solid CHA modifier to help be the face for the party. Rely on fancy footwork to slide back in behind the barbarian with the rest of your 25 movement (RP continuing to taunt). You just lost 2.5d6Sneak Attack damage every turn! You can either increase one ability by 2 points or two abilities by 1. This would give a DPR excluding sneak attack of 8.25. CHA: Face skills and bonus to Initiaitve makes CON a priority for Swashbucklers. This gives a total DPR of 20.99. I'm aiming for Swashbuckler, and I'm having a blast so far. Started out a Lvl 3 Half Elf with this subclass. The battle master gives us just about everything we would want from combat feats, and even more to really round out our combat experience. But I do see your point. Youre right that your action will typically be used for attacking, rather than using Panache. As your teammates get stronger you might find yourself left in the dust if you dont make very clever use of your latter abilities. They have proficiency in the stealth skill built in. Its a little counterintuitive, and sure, most sneak attacks have nothing sneaky going on, but we love getting to deal that extra damage, so were not complaining. It doesnt have to be, but it can become pretty annoying. 1000% yes. Sleight of Hand (DEX) Maybe. Im thinking 4th level per class but narrowing it down to three is so difficult. 10. If you miss with an attack roll, you can roll it again with advantage. The Rogue hits harder if only a single attack hits, but the Fighter has more opportunities to hit. Each villain you come across is going to provide a different opportunity for you to use your words like weapons. As a Swashbuckler Dex is likely to be your primary ability so the loss of heavy armour is not a big deal. I chose the disarming strike maneuver because disarming your opponents feels like a three musketeers move. An example of this would be Hellish Rebuke, which forces the target to make a dexterity saving throw. A couple of other honorable mentions are the Urban Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, Criminal, and City Watch backgrounds. Just like any character that utilizes charisma, the swashbuckler rogue is an exciting opportunity for roleplay. Is it another option for cunning action? You get to deal extra damage whenever you land a sneak attack on someone, as shown on the table above. This guide is meant as a deep dive into the Swashbuckler Rogue subclass. Athletics (STR) Not as important as acrobatics, but does factor in nicely to Elegant Maneuvers, so we can consider it. This allows you to get around the battlefield with more ease than your average combatant and create more opportunity for sneak attacks. While at first glance theres a nice spread of features as you level up, picking them up at 3rd, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels, this class can be very top-heavy. If you can see your attacker when they hit you, you can use your reaction to halve the attacks damage. She's already a criminal, and she's melee based - she uses EB only if she's out of range. I have further clarified it to only consider the result of the first successful attack, the alternative is to roll all attacks and apply sneak attack to the better result. Going single weapon with a Rapier as my Kensai weapon. This subclass presents us with opportunities to attempt daring stunts, berate our opponents, and in general, turn our combats into a performance. If every attack lands they all have roughly the same damage. The other noted weakness of the Swashbuckler is the Rakish Audacity feature. Well, no. They have the ability to hide when only obscured by a creature that is one size larger than them (so medium or larger). Rogues are masters of stealth and subterfuge, only plunging in the knife at opportune moments before . Granting disadvantage to a creature to all targets except you may seem like a backward ability for squishy rogues (usually this is a option for tankier classes). I'm not a fan of multiclassing Monk and Rogue. Hone your skills with the blade, and sharpen your tongue. As soon as you take this subclass at 3rd level, you gain the ability to add your charisma modifier to your initiative roll. Since Sneak Attack dice double on a crit as well and are once per turn, you have to factor in the odds of at least one of your attacks critting, at least one only hitting or both missing. Both should still be higher than 13, but hex blade lets us use charisma with our weapons rather than our strength or dexterity. The swashbuckler class gets a slew of excellent abilities that make it one of the best rogue subclasses. A well-armed pirate leaps from the crows nest to confront his enemy. 2. DPR factors in accuracy as well as potential damage on a hit. If you want to boost your melee, go with College of Valor to pick up shield proficiency and you can still get an Extra Attack at level 6. Touch 3: What You Are is What You Play. Answer (1 of 2): The best multiclass options are, of course, those that build upon your character in a way that makes sense within the story where the character exists. Disarming Strike, Riposte, Parry and many others are all great options. The second option is much more balanced, and feels like a nice way to split the difference. Think about it: if its just you and your foe, youre sneaking; if an ally gets within 5 feet of your foe, youre sneaking; and if you have advantage for any reason, youre sneaking. Now, as an adult, I aspire to remind people that sometimes a little bit of fantasy is all you need when life gets to be too much. better AC, movement, deflect missiles and a few options with ki make this look nasty. Is that something specific? While you could get away going completely unarmoured, Cunning Action completely replaces Step of The Wind,Sneak Attack requires the weapon to have the Finesse property so you can't Sneak Attack with a longsword via Kensai or with your unarmed attacks and you will need to have 11 levels of Monk before the bonus damage exceeds that of a short sword or 17 if you are using Rapiers. If miss or opponent near death, use Two Weapon Fighting with Shortsword in offhand for 1d6+Sneak Attack (and maybe Hex damage). Plus, were still getting 6 ASIs, which makes this feel like were not missing out on much. If I use Booming Blade cantrip, that is a bonus action right? Also, as we discussed in the limitations section, there is a lot of potential to improve upon this subclass and make it your own with feats. This could be used to bump up dex to increase the chance to hit and add some damage. You just attack like normal, but with a cool (although loud) bonus. Finish the round I think the fighter multiclass also fits the theme well. Use your Panashe action to taunt the enemy (and win (they are now at a disadvantage to hit anyone but you)) DPR excluding sneak attack is 15.98. Plus, the rest of your features lean heavily towards close-combat, if youre looking for a charismatic gunslinger, just move on to a class or subclass that favors ranged weapons and work from there. What follows is a lot of maths. RELATED: The 10 Best Warlock Multiclass Combos In D&D. In particular, the combination of Hexblade warlock and Swashbuckler rogue can be lethal. and the Subclass. Check out our article 5e Multiclassing Combinations: Your Ultimate Guide for a Masterful Multiclass. The swashbuckler attitude is something that permeates into just about every on-screen hero we see nowadays. 5/15 is probably optimal from a damage perspective, getting extra attack for more chances to sneak attack. @swamp_slug That's some solid math. Required fields are marked *. The goal is damage vs damage/utility. Moving on from charisma, we have another way that this character excels at single combat, and really, combat in general. Eldritch Adept Whether or not you chose to grab Eldritch Blast with Magic Initiate, there are a lot of very useful invocations you can add to your arsenal of abilities. I wound up picking Battle Master because the maneuvers add some extra utility (and oomph) to your attacks, especially if you're going for Two-Weapon-Fighting or using a Scimitar of Speed. Having a reputation that inspires fear is useful in a whole slew of situations. Mounted Combatant Listen, this may sound insane, but being on a mount is one of the most consistent ways to create advantage. This doesn't include the effects of crits, the fact you may miss altogether or the fact that having additional attacks increase the odds of you landing your sneak attack (and maybe even critting it). If you play a highly mobile race like a Tabaxi or Wood Elf you can get in your melee attacks and still end your turn somewhere safe. Being able to talk during a combat, using threats and quips like their own arsenal of weapons, is something that keeps engagement in the process high. A swashbuckler is a brave, crafty, and heroic individual, while some may appear to have certain scoundrel qualities. In all ways, however, you're a master of the battlefield. You can also pick up Battlemaster for manoeuvers have Action Surge for even more attacks or mobility and a self heal from Second Wind. The idea of doing 1D8 with a rapier, 2D6 from sneak attack, plus another1D6 from Hex and potentially another D8 damage from booming blade every round for an entire hour is too good to pass up. Both of these bloodlines are great for swashbucklers. Best is the ability to grapple as a bonus action. This sounds like a super fun build to play and RP . document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. we-are-rogue: [by Derek Nekritz, abridged from the article The Miracles of Multiclassing / Middle Finger of Vecna.Art: The Duel (detail) by Shen Fei / The Shadow Glass by AlyFell / by 3D Ace Studio] Multiclassing for Fun and Profit Okay that last part is just cool, but still. If you are wielding a light weapon in each hand you can use a bonus action as an offhand attack (using your non-dominant hand to make an attack, you cant add your ability score modifier to the damage though). Swashbucklers Fancy Footwork allows them to move away after taking a weapon attack, so you can move in, attack, and move out without provoking an opportunity attack. I was confusing myself. For a rogue, this might put us in danger. Torm: the True and Loyal Fury - DnD 5e Deity Guide, Tyr: Lawful Good God of Law and Justice - 5e Deity Guide, Tempus: the Spirit of War Embodied - DnD 5e Deity Guide, Summon Greater Demon 5e Guide: Raise a lot of Hell, The Healer Feat in DnD 5e: The Solution to Healing Problems, (a) a shortbow and quiver of 20 arrows or (b) a shortsword, (a) a burglars pack, (b) dungeoneers pack, or (c) an explorers pack, Leather armor, two daggers, and thieves tools. Another ability we get at 3rd level is fancy footwork, which eliminates a creatures ability to make opportunity attacks against us if weve made a melee attack against them this turn. The first Pirates of the Caribbean has plenty of excellent examples of swashbuckler combat. Use your bonus action to Dash 30 ft closer to your enemy and draw your main light weapon We also get elegant maneuvers at 13th level, which lets us take a bonus action to prepare us for an acrobatics or athletics check so that we make the roll with advantage. However, if the following holds true, I could see a first round of combat going as follows: 1. He even has taken out proficiency with thieves tools for wood working furniture which fits better as he spends so much time breaking furniture for use as a weapon. Sneak Attack: Refer to the 5e Rogue Guide, Thieves Cant: Refer to the 5e Rogue Guide, Cunning Action: Refer to the 5e Rogue Guide. Half-Elf does make a pretty good Swashbuckler, but then Half-Elves make pretty good everything, especially charisma based characters. Also I absolutely should have put my WIS points into CON. Touch 2: The Push from the Past. Doing so gives you Jack of All Trades and another Expertise, and a Swashbuckler that cast Vicious Mockery feels very fitting. Performing for gold, Jack of All Trades, Magical Secrets, and all the lovely things that work well with the high CHA from Swash. That was a really fun to play build. Unarmored, has . Choose this only for a very specific build/plan. There are a couple of options here for how our characters will look at 20th level. They have a 77.0% chance of the sneak attack being on a hit and a 7.0% chance of it being on a crit for an average of12.74 damage. Once you do so, you cant use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest. I don't even have the Eldritch blast cantrip, instead I have booming blade. This assumes Dex 16, two weapon fighting short swords with no feats5 Fighter/3 RogueExpertise x2, Cunning Action, Second Wind, Action Surge, Extra Attack, ASI/Feat1d6+3 Attack Action1d6+3 Extra Attack Action1d6+3 Bonus Action2d6 Sneak Attack. Theyll likely have to waste their turn full dashing to get in range, which will allow opportunity attacks and kiting possibilities. So what are interesting/useful/unique multiclasses from around 12 onwards (or whatever works I'm open to opinions). Ability Scores: STR 10, DEX 16, CON 13, INT 8, WIS 12, CHA 16, Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Stealth, Acrobatics, Performance, Athletics, Intimidation, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, Language Proficiencies: Common, Goblin, Thieves Cant, Tool Proficiencies: Thieves Tools, Disguise Kit, violin, Equipment:A rapier, a shortbow and quiver of 20 arrows, a burglars pack, leather armor, two daggers, and thieves tools, a whip (unusual but inexpensive weapon), a love letter, a costume, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp. The Assassin is what it sounds. (C) A Rogue(Swashbuckler) 5/Fighter(Battlemaster) 3. On a successful check against a non-hostile target, the target is charmed for 1 minute or until you or your allies harm it. Your email address will not be published. Second Wind and get to pick either TWF of Duelling Style giving a little extra damage at will. Home. Rather than needing advantage on our target or needing them to be within 5 ft of another enemy of theirs, we can now successfully sneak attack if we are within 5 ft of our target and no one else. Thats where all of the other abilities come in. Try knocking your enemies prone too with the Shove action, thats a fun combination with grappling. Dungeons and Dragons is a Trademark of Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The Samurai and Swashbuckler subclasses synergize incredibly well, creating a damage-focused character with plenty of utility outside of combat as well. Check out our Guide to DnD Races for non-standard races. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Stealth (DEX) Always a must have for rogues, even if you are perhaps the least stealthy of the rogue archetypes. Ready a move action so that when your barbarian dashes in, you follow them, but keep a 5 distance away from your enemy (i.e., right in behind your barbarian, but not in melee range) document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Or follow us on Instagram,Twitter, Facebook, and Patreon. You now have 3 attacks a round each dealing 1d6+3 and once a turn 2d6 Sneak AttackOnce per Short Rest you can gain an extra Attack Action for 2 more attacksfor 1d6+3 each, but Sneak Attack only applies once a turn.If you're Battlemaster with Ripose and Parry you can possibly get more Sneak Attacks a round with your Battle Master ability per Short Rest for 4 chances for 1d6+3+1d8+2d6 (shortword+dex+superiority die+sneak attack)Not having Uncanny Dodge it's good to have Parry, so you can return the attack on a hit or a miss. This might put us in danger hit you, you gain the to... That this character excels at single combat, and feels like a three musketeers.. Useful in a whole slew of excellent examples of Swashbuckler combat Surge for even attacks... They hit you, you can see your attacker when they hit,... From the crows nest to confront his enemy stealth skill built in villain you come is! The Rogue archetypes would pick this up like normal, but with cool! Swashbuckler that cast Vicious Mockery feels very fitting Swashbuckler, and sharpen your tongue soon as you take this at..., if the following holds true, I could see a first of... They are quite likely to be, but being on a short and long rest will get. ( RP continuing to taunt ) you take this subclass at 3rd level, you can roll again! Pirates of the Bard package, too feels like a three musketeers move a (... Any character that utilizes charisma, we have another way that this character excels at single combat, City. You can see your attacker when they hit you, you cant use this feature again until finish! 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Use of your latter abilities each villain you come across is going to provide a different type of like. Rakish Audacity feature rather than using Panache is the ability to grapple as bonus... The Eldritch blast cantrip, instead I have Booming blade cantrip, instead have! My WIS points into CON sneak attack with three classes n't even have the Eldritch blast cantrip, is... Whole slew of situations attacks damage Rogue, this might put us in danger turn full dashing to around! Synergize incredibly well, creating a damage-focused character with plenty of excellent examples of Swashbuckler.... Specific build, and she 's already a Criminal, and she 's already a,!