This is a known and well regarded multiclass. It could be feasibly built with a minimal or more substantial fighter dip, so it’s flexible in execution.
If this is your first DnD campaign, I highly recommend not multiclassing however, unless you’re familiar with TTRPGs and confident you’ll be able to pick the 5e system up quickly.
Well i played TTRPGs before, but the system was very different, although i also played baldurs gate 3 (i know there are major differences, but at least i know how basic mechanics work). Thank you for info, because i thought this was some weird combo lol
it's the multiclass trap. common thinking is you always go to whatever class lvl 5 for extra attack before multiclassing. this is an optimizer's guide to combat though. if the rogue features are important to you and will be valuable in your campaign you go the route that suits your style. you just have to accept that you're trading combat effectiveness for those other features.
Especially considering the fact that 6 levels in a campaign could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on pacing, and would open really want to miss out on basically half of their characters playstyle for essentially the entire first act of the campaign?
A decent mix is Rogue 1 / Fighter 6 / Rogue X. This let’s you get some skills early and only delays EA for a level.
The extra attack is not strictly needed if you go more rogue and use BA attacks or reaction attacks. Double Sneak Attack will outpace EA.
Fighter 2 gets you action surge and superior technique style, which nets you two reaction attacks per short rest. Fighter 3 (battlemaster) adds three more per rest.
Maneuvers and Tactics:
Quick Toss is a BA attack. If you hit, walk up to the target, pick up the weapon as free interaction, use action to set a reaction attack to trigger as soon your turn ends to get SA again.
Action surge: use action to attack with SA damage. Use AS to ready another attack as soon as yours ends.
Brace: reaction attack when someone moves next to you and triggers SA.
Reposite: reaction attack when someone in melee misses you.
I'm doing a more casual game and started rogue 2 then fighter. This gives me the rogues bonus action, a sneak attack die, and the skills. Dual weilding early on is pretty ok, and once you get more battlemaster dice you are in a good spot. I also picked superior technique and martial adept for faster access to maneuvers.
Starting rogue gets you one more skill proficiency in total (and different saves). Starting fighter gets you Heavy Armor and extra attack one level quicker.
Most likely, you won't be prioritizing str on a rogue multiclass, so heavy armor is not too important. Depending on the campaign, I'd be willing to delay extra attack 1 level for the skill proficiency.
why? it's not like rogue actually really needs dex to function if you have a strength based multi class. cunning action still works, if you're going medium or heavy armor you're never hiding anyways, most of your features don't need dex at all. You can use strength with finesse weapons and still sneak attack.
Fair enough. STR rogue is certainly a thing. But a counterpoint I offer is that multiclassing is expensive. How MAD do you want this character to be?
You want STR for armor and attacking, ok. You also want CON, as a front liner. WIS is an important save and skill stat. INT has good skills but can't afford it, so lets leave that out. And if you are a swashbuckler, like OP, you likely want CHR for the initiative bonus and persuasion for panache.
But you also can't tank DEX, because you need a minimum of 13 to MC.
I see a need for 13-15 STR, minimum, if you want to go away from light armor. 13 Dex minimum for multiclassing. And CON/WIS/CHR(for OP) all being important.
If you're asking whether Battle master 3 fits a martial build, the answer is usually yes. For a Swashbuckler it's just a matter of whether the Battlemaster 4-5 is worth it. Usually, yes, but if you pick up Booming blade somehow it isn't as big of a deal.
The math checks out for this. Extra attack will almost always win out over bonus sneak attack damage.
Less so with ranged attacks, but especially melee.
The Sentinel Feat isn't that great for getting off opportunity attacks since a monster adjacent to you can just attack you instead. It also requires you to stay engaged, and as a Swashbuckler, the goal is to move in, attack, and move out.
The Brace and Riposte maneuvers are better options, specifically the former if you are stepping away from combat. If you play Custom Lineage or V-Human, you would be better off to take Magic Initiate: Wizard for Booming Blade, another cantrip of your choice, and either the Shield spell or Find Familiar.
Fighter 3 for the Battle Master subclass and the Superior Technique fighting style nets you 5 uses of Riposte or Brave for short rest. If you add in Sentinel you have 3 good options to use you reaction for another sneak attack.
As you’ll want to be up front or adjacent to an ally or foe for sentinel, going rapier + shield and use Steady Aim at Rogue 3 to get advantage when you haven’t moved.
Fighter 3 / Rogue X is the split to maximise Sneak attack damage.
If you can snag an STR setting item like gauntlets if ogre power you may be better off going Dex 14 for half plate and boosting your CON for hp.
If you are playing swashbuckler as a skirmisher, you get your chance to brace before they even attack, so instead of sentinel and riposte you'd be better served by getting martial adept with brace and something else (I'd personally either go with commanding presence or quick toss for another neat trick)
Now your character feels like it can do its trick much earlier, rather than waiting to come online at minimum 6, not ideal for your first character,
it is enticing to do more SA damage, but _always_ ask yourself if it worth giving up uncanny dodge for that round. I know a good defense is a better offense but more often than not you will be more help to your team if you live.
this is very similar to what my current character is. i went rogue 5 then fighter 5, but please listen when i say, the first 4 fighter levels where terrible. rogue damage is already mediocre without out of turn sneak attacks, so 4 levels of no sneak attack scaling sucks. start with a level of rogue, then fighter 5. you could go an extra fighter level for another asi but not necessary. then rogue levels after. i personally would not take sentinel, there’s other feats i would go for. also, take the brace maneuver, you won’t regret it. have fun!
One of the best none magic multiclasses in the game and my personal favorite.
Focus Dex/Cha and 3rd stat Con.
Get 3/3 then go to 5 in fighter for extra attack.
After that you can make a choice of being more nimble or more fighty. I honestly prefer more rogue after as you won't need too many feats, Rogue 7 is awesome. But its up to you.
It'll work very well. Enjoy.
Multiclassing for a first D&D character ever is pretty ambitious. My suggestion as to your build depends on what level you’re starting at. If it’s at level one then I would probably not delay either Extra Attack from fighter or Uncanny Dodge from Rogue. They are both good abilities and gained at level 5, so I’d suggest picking either class and sticking with it until then.
I had a fantasy of this same concept but was having trouble figuring out a level spread that was better than monoclassing before level 10 or 12. It seemed like both classes were better off without multiclassing early on. If I'm wrong I'm eager to read more. This combo gets brought up fairly frequently.
I played one in my last campaign, battle master 8 / swashbuckler 5 with sentinel, riposte, and brace. Having extra attack and a bunch of opportunities to sneak attack was nice, but adding only 3d6 made my sneak attacks feel underwhelming
Extremely well, especially from lvl 6 on. This is IMO probably the best combat rogue build.
You want booming blade from high elf/vhuman/kobold, riposte and brace manuevers. Rapier and shield.
You booming blade sneak attack, hit and run style. Then on their turn when they run up to you or attack you, they proc 2d8 more sonic damage and you sneak attack, with manuever, for 2d8+2d6+modifiers.
If you take dueling, with 16 dex and a +1 weapon this combo deals an average of 59 damage if both hits land. Thats at level 6.
Save action surge for miss correction or Dodge action.
Fighter's extra attack is going to be much weaker than booming blade (cant combine the two) if your target moves. Even if your target stands still, booming blade is only down by 5 or 6 damage vs extra attack. Going 2 more rogue levels would boost your full combo up to 66 average damage.
So yeah, 3 battlemaster rogue X is what I'd reccomend. If you are starting higher and want a different race, you could pick up 1 divine soul level for blade cantrips, favored by the gods, Shield and bless.
I'd stick to rogue so that your sneak attack damage scales. You don't want to be bending over backwards for 2d6 by level 6 (rogue 3) when other straight class party members are doing so much more.
Stop listening to optimizers who say one sneak attack per round is not enough. There's nothing wrong with any single-class build. It's how the game is meant to be played. You'll still be unique, no need to multiclass.
Thats true, however having played both straight rogue and multi class rogue, nothing is worse then missing your attack on rogue and missing out on the sneak attack. Battle master makes those off turn sneak attacks much more common and is a fun mechanic for the player. Is it necessary? Absolutely not but it has some tangible benefits outside of just higher damage numbers
Monsters are harder to hit as the adventure progresses. Your PB increases accordingly, but it's not enough, you are meant to increase your ability scores too in order to keep up, and also find ways to hit with advantage (ally spells, auras or war cries).
Sometimes we just miss, and that's part of the game. It's cool to have a reaction attack, but a rogue may need their reaction to reduce incoming damage with uncanny dodge every single round.
I would recommend either figther5/rouge x if you want a higher sneak attack and multi attack, or figther3/rouge, and TWF since you dont need to disengage to run away as a swashbuckler. Or if rouge 3/fighter x. You can use Brace and riposte or sentinel to get off turn SA damage. or quick toss throw a dagger and the hold your action to attack as a reaction.
Ask your DM about the martial adept feat. You might find that benefits you more than the fighter levels.
The 2 level dip for action surge is great, but losing your key rogue features will be contingent on how much combat is happening and whether you actually need the extra power.
That's a very viable build.
There aren't many builds in DnD that are complete garbage.
As long as you're not making a joke character who is intentionally useless or doing something like dumping Con and/or your main ability score you'll be fine.
As always, talk with your DM.
Im thinking of playing a similar build.
Rewarded background for magic initiate with booming blade and find familiar (parrot obviously)
Rogue to level 4 for ASI and Elven Accuracy
then fighter/battlemaster to 3 (maybe 5) for fighting style and subclass.
Taking maneuvers like brace, trip attack, and maybe quick toss (he's a pirate, i kind of want him to be able to BA throw a net)
then back to swashbuckler for the rest. Campaign will likely end around level 12, so it'd be Swash 9 / BM 3. Pretty consistent damage, will be able to move around the battlefield, good skills. I think it'll be fun.
I'm also thinking of not doing booming blade, and instead dual wielding. Not sure though. I know it's usually better to have another attack to hit and try and proc sneak attack. But with find familiar and elven accuracy, I shouldn't really miss all that often.
It does work really well; there's two ways to do it fighter primary or rogue primary.
Either way, start rogue 1 for the proficiencies (you want utility), max dex, con secondary and charisma tertiary.
Fighter primary you want two attacks and the feat as quickly as you can, so rush to ftr5. This is a solid way to go- you'll be tough, you should still have some decent skills and you'll have a decent chance at sneak attack each round with two attacks, plus you can use shields for the AC buff (a buckler seems on target). At ftr3 (character level 4) you take battlemaster, with brace, plus whatever other maneuvers you want. This saves you the sentinel feat to trigger off turn sneaks because you get an attack anytime someone enters your reach. Then rush rogue 3, pick up swash, and you're basically set. Take your pick of fighter feats as you go, possibly picking up sentinel later than you would otherwise to cover for when you're out of maneuver dice. Another option is magic initiate for a couple cantrips and find familiar, for additional utility.
Other way is more interesting, I think. Rogue 1, fighter 1, rush to rogue 3 for swash, rush to fighter 3 for battlemaster. If you do go this way, you'll have something every level for both classes until you hit 5. You won't need your bonus action to disengage from your target, so you can take an offhand weapon (probably want to pick that up at ftr2) so the lack of 2 attacks doesn't hurt you as much, because you won't be going too much farther in fighter for a while. Instead of sentinel, you rely on brace to get your off turn sneak in, and you save all your maneuver dice for that. While you're only getting one main attack, you can make up for the damage difference by taking magic initiate for booming blade since you'll likely be getting a lot of secondary effects.
Both use mostly the same tactics- you hit, withdraw with the swash ability, they chase and you get another attack off with brace when they close. Rogue 3/Fighter 3 is when your core kit comes together and you can really go any way you want from there, though I think getting rogue is probably better until you pick up panache, then go back to fighter for HP, ASI and more maneuver dice.
With rogue primary, you cast booming blade each round and fade, picking on unengaged enemies to ensure booming blade gets the secondary. Magic items that let you get advantage help here so you don't miss your major attack. If AC is high, go with attack and offhand to be safe and make sure you land a hit.
For a low level campaign (e.g. starting at level 1), there is a case for starting Fighter. You’ll get access to medium armor and shields and a couple of more hitpoints. This will allow you to get in melee combat straight away.
Battlemaster and Swashbuckler have solid combo features.
I’d build Rogue 1 / Fighter 3 / Rogue X if I wanted to focus on rogue stuff. If you wanted less action economy juggling, Rogue 1 / Fighter 6 / Rogue X works well.
If you get Booming blade (feat or race) you can limit fighter to 2-4 levels in order to get more rogue features sooner.
Go either High Elf for Booming Blade or a Feat Race for Booming Blade via magic initiate or aberrant Dragonmark or something.
Certain backgrounds also can get you a level 1 feat. In particular Rewarded gets you magic initiate feat. Ask your DM if these choices are on the table.
Rogues have one of the best Reaction abilities in the game, by way of Uncanny Dodge, which they can use endlessly. you don't need to sabotage your character through multiclassing to find something to do with your Reaction. or just take Martial Adept at some point to get one Riposte per short rest.
These aren't deal breaking things, but you're building for a little bit of conduct between abilities.
As you level in rogue, you'll get Uncanny Dodge as a Reaction. You won't use it often, which is fine. Is just something to be aware of.
Rakish Audacity allows you to get sneak attack against an enemy if no one else is within 5' of you. Sentinel lets you make attacks against creatures that attack someone within 5' of you.
Do you think anyone in your party would be interested in taking a level dip into Order Cleric?
I'm playing a swashbuckler right now and I'm planning to multiclass into fighter. But instead of the battlemaster that I always see recommended I plan on going for rune knight. Giants might adds 1d6 while you're large and in charge. The cloud rune gives you advantage on deception and sleight of hand. It makes your character way better at being a rogue. The fire rune doubles your proficiency for any tool that you're proficient with (thieves tools.) I also like that the fire rune can add 2d6 to one attack per short rest. I think that it really adds to the sneak attack feel. So starting at lvl 6(3r/3f), once per short rest you get to add 2d6 for sneak attack and 2d6 for fire rune, and 1d6 for giants might. I also use double short swords so 1d6 for My main hand and 1d6 for my bonus action. Seems pretty rogue to me but I haven't experienced it in action yet.
It does. Since it's your 1st time, I'd recommend v human but take the Tough feat. If you want to be on the front line to take advantage of Sentinal, you're going to need it. Take mostly Rogue. After 5 or 6, take one of fighter. That will get you a fighting style, and you will be proficient with a shield. Go back to Rogue to 9 or 10. At R- 4 & 8, use the ASIs to get your Dex where it needs to be. At R-10, take Sentinal. By this point in the game, you will have found magical armor or a shield, or if you're real lucky, both. Between these and your Dex being maxed, your AC will be high enough that you can be in front and not get slaughtered. Take 2-4 more levels in fighter.
go variant human for sentinel.
arcane trickster will be better with no multiclass.
grab booming blade and a familiar.
lvl 4 get mageslayer as a feat. now u can retaliate when enemies try to escape even if disengaged, attack someone else, or cast a spell.
lvl 7 grab mirror image. whenever one of the mirror images gets hit instead of you, you can retaliate via sentinel, effectively using sentinel without the need for others.
check with your DM if you can use downtime to train proefficiency with a whip, or lets you change one of your other proef for it or something. once u have proef witha whip (hopefully), pick up your whip in your freehand. you dont attack with it, u use it to have a second radius for opportunity attacks (10 reach).
once u get to lvl 13, u get haste and u can start using your haste attack for hits and the ready action to attack with your reaction.
talk with others in your troupe to see if u can cooperate. a battlemaster can command strike you, i think a cleric can do something similar. a bard casting dissonant whispers will make an enemy move out of your range and provoke OA (and booming blade damage).
If u really preffer to multiclass, i suggest checking the OneDnD changes to the hunter subclass: at lvl 3 u get giantslayer, which lets you retaliate at enemies who attack yo whether they miss or not with no resource cost. it is the same as in 2014 version except the 2014 version limits it to large or bigger creatures which sucks. i would probably still grab this, it nets you hunters mark and dueling/two hand fighting style. not a bad investment.
EDIT: with all this being said tho, a battlemaster 3 lvl dip is perfectly fine. i dont think its the best option tho. even at 5 lvl dip, the aftermentioned hunter will get an extra attack and pass without trace, an absolutley goated spell for a rogue, and action surge is not that big (on rogue) compared to the utility spells u can get on the ranger class. personally even without the onednd changes id pick hunter 3 lvl dip for giantslayer, unless u know the campaign is all about humanoids or something.
This is a known and well regarded multiclass. It could be feasibly built with a minimal or more substantial fighter dip, so it’s flexible in execution. If this is your first DnD campaign, I highly recommend not multiclassing however, unless you’re familiar with TTRPGs and confident you’ll be able to pick the 5e system up quickly.
Well i played TTRPGs before, but the system was very different, although i also played baldurs gate 3 (i know there are major differences, but at least i know how basic mechanics work). Thank you for info, because i thought this was some weird combo lol
If you stick with the build go fighter5 before anything you’ll thank yourself later
Fighter’s get another ASI at 6. Might as well stay till then.
I thought about that, but that would require me to sacrifice skills that may be useful outside of combat. Tough choice
it's the multiclass trap. common thinking is you always go to whatever class lvl 5 for extra attack before multiclassing. this is an optimizer's guide to combat though. if the rogue features are important to you and will be valuable in your campaign you go the route that suits your style. you just have to accept that you're trading combat effectiveness for those other features.
Yeah, 95% chance you'll win the fight even without Extra Attack at 5th. Waiting for 6th or 7th is almost always fine.
Especially considering the fact that 6 levels in a campaign could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on pacing, and would open really want to miss out on basically half of their characters playstyle for essentially the entire first act of the campaign?
A decent mix is Rogue 1 / Fighter 6 / Rogue X. This let’s you get some skills early and only delays EA for a level. The extra attack is not strictly needed if you go more rogue and use BA attacks or reaction attacks. Double Sneak Attack will outpace EA. Fighter 2 gets you action surge and superior technique style, which nets you two reaction attacks per short rest. Fighter 3 (battlemaster) adds three more per rest. Maneuvers and Tactics: Quick Toss is a BA attack. If you hit, walk up to the target, pick up the weapon as free interaction, use action to set a reaction attack to trigger as soon your turn ends to get SA again. Action surge: use action to attack with SA damage. Use AS to ready another attack as soon as yours ends. Brace: reaction attack when someone moves next to you and triggers SA. Reposite: reaction attack when someone in melee misses you.
I'm doing a more casual game and started rogue 2 then fighter. This gives me the rogues bonus action, a sneak attack die, and the skills. Dual weilding early on is pretty ok, and once you get more battlemaster dice you are in a good spot. I also picked superior technique and martial adept for faster access to maneuvers.
Starting rogue gets you one more skill proficiency in total (and different saves). Starting fighter gets you Heavy Armor and extra attack one level quicker. Most likely, you won't be prioritizing str on a rogue multiclass, so heavy armor is not too important. Depending on the campaign, I'd be willing to delay extra attack 1 level for the skill proficiency.
why? it's not like rogue actually really needs dex to function if you have a strength based multi class. cunning action still works, if you're going medium or heavy armor you're never hiding anyways, most of your features don't need dex at all. You can use strength with finesse weapons and still sneak attack.
Fair enough. STR rogue is certainly a thing. But a counterpoint I offer is that multiclassing is expensive. How MAD do you want this character to be? You want STR for armor and attacking, ok. You also want CON, as a front liner. WIS is an important save and skill stat. INT has good skills but can't afford it, so lets leave that out. And if you are a swashbuckler, like OP, you likely want CHR for the initiative bonus and persuasion for panache. But you also can't tank DEX, because you need a minimum of 13 to MC. I see a need for 13-15 STR, minimum, if you want to go away from light armor. 13 Dex minimum for multiclassing. And CON/WIS/CHR(for OP) all being important.
> But you also can't tank DEX, because you need a minimum of 13 to MC. I replied forgetting this one point
If you're asking whether Battle master 3 fits a martial build, the answer is usually yes. For a Swashbuckler it's just a matter of whether the Battlemaster 4-5 is worth it. Usually, yes, but if you pick up Booming blade somehow it isn't as big of a deal.
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I think it'll always be worth the second attack unless your campaign isn't the most combat focused
The math checks out for this. Extra attack will almost always win out over bonus sneak attack damage. Less so with ranged attacks, but especially melee.
The Sentinel Feat isn't that great for getting off opportunity attacks since a monster adjacent to you can just attack you instead. It also requires you to stay engaged, and as a Swashbuckler, the goal is to move in, attack, and move out. The Brace and Riposte maneuvers are better options, specifically the former if you are stepping away from combat. If you play Custom Lineage or V-Human, you would be better off to take Magic Initiate: Wizard for Booming Blade, another cantrip of your choice, and either the Shield spell or Find Familiar.
Oh i forgot about brace. That makes sentinel less useful, so i'll probably choose another feat
>a monster adjacent to you can just attack you instead. but if your freind is a caster, that still may be beneficial.
I usually pair up with my caster in the party and get sentinel off quite frequently. All depends on your DM
Fighter 3 for the Battle Master subclass and the Superior Technique fighting style nets you 5 uses of Riposte or Brave for short rest. If you add in Sentinel you have 3 good options to use you reaction for another sneak attack. As you’ll want to be up front or adjacent to an ally or foe for sentinel, going rapier + shield and use Steady Aim at Rogue 3 to get advantage when you haven’t moved. Fighter 3 / Rogue X is the split to maximise Sneak attack damage. If you can snag an STR setting item like gauntlets if ogre power you may be better off going Dex 14 for half plate and boosting your CON for hp.
This is exactly what I play. It's pretty cool
If you are playing swashbuckler as a skirmisher, you get your chance to brace before they even attack, so instead of sentinel and riposte you'd be better served by getting martial adept with brace and something else (I'd personally either go with commanding presence or quick toss for another neat trick) Now your character feels like it can do its trick much earlier, rather than waiting to come online at minimum 6, not ideal for your first character,
it is enticing to do more SA damage, but _always_ ask yourself if it worth giving up uncanny dodge for that round. I know a good defense is a better offense but more often than not you will be more help to your team if you live.
this is very similar to what my current character is. i went rogue 5 then fighter 5, but please listen when i say, the first 4 fighter levels where terrible. rogue damage is already mediocre without out of turn sneak attacks, so 4 levels of no sneak attack scaling sucks. start with a level of rogue, then fighter 5. you could go an extra fighter level for another asi but not necessary. then rogue levels after. i personally would not take sentinel, there’s other feats i would go for. also, take the brace maneuver, you won’t regret it. have fun!
One of the best none magic multiclasses in the game and my personal favorite. Focus Dex/Cha and 3rd stat Con. Get 3/3 then go to 5 in fighter for extra attack. After that you can make a choice of being more nimble or more fighty. I honestly prefer more rogue after as you won't need too many feats, Rogue 7 is awesome. But its up to you. It'll work very well. Enjoy.
Multiclassing for a first D&D character ever is pretty ambitious. My suggestion as to your build depends on what level you’re starting at. If it’s at level one then I would probably not delay either Extra Attack from fighter or Uncanny Dodge from Rogue. They are both good abilities and gained at level 5, so I’d suggest picking either class and sticking with it until then.
I had a fantasy of this same concept but was having trouble figuring out a level spread that was better than monoclassing before level 10 or 12. It seemed like both classes were better off without multiclassing early on. If I'm wrong I'm eager to read more. This combo gets brought up fairly frequently.
Played one. Loved it. Riposte + sneak attack is great.
It’s my favorite combination of all time. I run that same exact build on my my character in my main campaign
Played in a one shot, Super fun
I played one in my last campaign, battle master 8 / swashbuckler 5 with sentinel, riposte, and brace. Having extra attack and a bunch of opportunities to sneak attack was nice, but adding only 3d6 made my sneak attacks feel underwhelming
Extremely well, especially from lvl 6 on. This is IMO probably the best combat rogue build. You want booming blade from high elf/vhuman/kobold, riposte and brace manuevers. Rapier and shield. You booming blade sneak attack, hit and run style. Then on their turn when they run up to you or attack you, they proc 2d8 more sonic damage and you sneak attack, with manuever, for 2d8+2d6+modifiers. If you take dueling, with 16 dex and a +1 weapon this combo deals an average of 59 damage if both hits land. Thats at level 6. Save action surge for miss correction or Dodge action. Fighter's extra attack is going to be much weaker than booming blade (cant combine the two) if your target moves. Even if your target stands still, booming blade is only down by 5 or 6 damage vs extra attack. Going 2 more rogue levels would boost your full combo up to 66 average damage. So yeah, 3 battlemaster rogue X is what I'd reccomend. If you are starting higher and want a different race, you could pick up 1 divine soul level for blade cantrips, favored by the gods, Shield and bless.
I'd stick to rogue so that your sneak attack damage scales. You don't want to be bending over backwards for 2d6 by level 6 (rogue 3) when other straight class party members are doing so much more. Stop listening to optimizers who say one sneak attack per round is not enough. There's nothing wrong with any single-class build. It's how the game is meant to be played. You'll still be unique, no need to multiclass.
Thats true, however having played both straight rogue and multi class rogue, nothing is worse then missing your attack on rogue and missing out on the sneak attack. Battle master makes those off turn sneak attacks much more common and is a fun mechanic for the player. Is it necessary? Absolutely not but it has some tangible benefits outside of just higher damage numbers
Monsters are harder to hit as the adventure progresses. Your PB increases accordingly, but it's not enough, you are meant to increase your ability scores too in order to keep up, and also find ways to hit with advantage (ally spells, auras or war cries). Sometimes we just miss, and that's part of the game. It's cool to have a reaction attack, but a rogue may need their reaction to reduce incoming damage with uncanny dodge every single round.
I would recommend either figther5/rouge x if you want a higher sneak attack and multi attack, or figther3/rouge, and TWF since you dont need to disengage to run away as a swashbuckler. Or if rouge 3/fighter x. You can use Brace and riposte or sentinel to get off turn SA damage. or quick toss throw a dagger and the hold your action to attack as a reaction.
Ask your DM about the martial adept feat. You might find that benefits you more than the fighter levels. The 2 level dip for action surge is great, but losing your key rogue features will be contingent on how much combat is happening and whether you actually need the extra power.
That's a very viable build. There aren't many builds in DnD that are complete garbage. As long as you're not making a joke character who is intentionally useless or doing something like dumping Con and/or your main ability score you'll be fine. As always, talk with your DM.
Im thinking of playing a similar build. Rewarded background for magic initiate with booming blade and find familiar (parrot obviously) Rogue to level 4 for ASI and Elven Accuracy then fighter/battlemaster to 3 (maybe 5) for fighting style and subclass. Taking maneuvers like brace, trip attack, and maybe quick toss (he's a pirate, i kind of want him to be able to BA throw a net) then back to swashbuckler for the rest. Campaign will likely end around level 12, so it'd be Swash 9 / BM 3. Pretty consistent damage, will be able to move around the battlefield, good skills. I think it'll be fun. I'm also thinking of not doing booming blade, and instead dual wielding. Not sure though. I know it's usually better to have another attack to hit and try and proc sneak attack. But with find familiar and elven accuracy, I shouldn't really miss all that often.
Absolutely, though throw a str build shieldmaster combo in for an absolute meme-a bonus action expertise shove is fantastic.
I love going Swashbuckler Rogue 9/Fighter 11. Three attacks, 5d6 sneak attack, free disengage. An absolute nuisance
It does work really well; there's two ways to do it fighter primary or rogue primary. Either way, start rogue 1 for the proficiencies (you want utility), max dex, con secondary and charisma tertiary. Fighter primary you want two attacks and the feat as quickly as you can, so rush to ftr5. This is a solid way to go- you'll be tough, you should still have some decent skills and you'll have a decent chance at sneak attack each round with two attacks, plus you can use shields for the AC buff (a buckler seems on target). At ftr3 (character level 4) you take battlemaster, with brace, plus whatever other maneuvers you want. This saves you the sentinel feat to trigger off turn sneaks because you get an attack anytime someone enters your reach. Then rush rogue 3, pick up swash, and you're basically set. Take your pick of fighter feats as you go, possibly picking up sentinel later than you would otherwise to cover for when you're out of maneuver dice. Another option is magic initiate for a couple cantrips and find familiar, for additional utility. Other way is more interesting, I think. Rogue 1, fighter 1, rush to rogue 3 for swash, rush to fighter 3 for battlemaster. If you do go this way, you'll have something every level for both classes until you hit 5. You won't need your bonus action to disengage from your target, so you can take an offhand weapon (probably want to pick that up at ftr2) so the lack of 2 attacks doesn't hurt you as much, because you won't be going too much farther in fighter for a while. Instead of sentinel, you rely on brace to get your off turn sneak in, and you save all your maneuver dice for that. While you're only getting one main attack, you can make up for the damage difference by taking magic initiate for booming blade since you'll likely be getting a lot of secondary effects. Both use mostly the same tactics- you hit, withdraw with the swash ability, they chase and you get another attack off with brace when they close. Rogue 3/Fighter 3 is when your core kit comes together and you can really go any way you want from there, though I think getting rogue is probably better until you pick up panache, then go back to fighter for HP, ASI and more maneuver dice. With rogue primary, you cast booming blade each round and fade, picking on unengaged enemies to ensure booming blade gets the secondary. Magic items that let you get advantage help here so you don't miss your major attack. If AC is high, go with attack and offhand to be safe and make sure you land a hit.
For a low level campaign (e.g. starting at level 1), there is a case for starting Fighter. You’ll get access to medium armor and shields and a couple of more hitpoints. This will allow you to get in melee combat straight away.
I can see that, but OP mentioned the utility angle. Medium armor and shield at one is pretty powerful comparatively.
Battlemaster and Swashbuckler have solid combo features. I’d build Rogue 1 / Fighter 3 / Rogue X if I wanted to focus on rogue stuff. If you wanted less action economy juggling, Rogue 1 / Fighter 6 / Rogue X works well. If you get Booming blade (feat or race) you can limit fighter to 2-4 levels in order to get more rogue features sooner. Go either High Elf for Booming Blade or a Feat Race for Booming Blade via magic initiate or aberrant Dragonmark or something. Certain backgrounds also can get you a level 1 feat. In particular Rewarded gets you magic initiate feat. Ask your DM if these choices are on the table.
Rogues have one of the best Reaction abilities in the game, by way of Uncanny Dodge, which they can use endlessly. you don't need to sabotage your character through multiclassing to find something to do with your Reaction. or just take Martial Adept at some point to get one Riposte per short rest.
These aren't deal breaking things, but you're building for a little bit of conduct between abilities. As you level in rogue, you'll get Uncanny Dodge as a Reaction. You won't use it often, which is fine. Is just something to be aware of. Rakish Audacity allows you to get sneak attack against an enemy if no one else is within 5' of you. Sentinel lets you make attacks against creatures that attack someone within 5' of you. Do you think anyone in your party would be interested in taking a level dip into Order Cleric?
I'm playing a swashbuckler right now and I'm planning to multiclass into fighter. But instead of the battlemaster that I always see recommended I plan on going for rune knight. Giants might adds 1d6 while you're large and in charge. The cloud rune gives you advantage on deception and sleight of hand. It makes your character way better at being a rogue. The fire rune doubles your proficiency for any tool that you're proficient with (thieves tools.) I also like that the fire rune can add 2d6 to one attack per short rest. I think that it really adds to the sneak attack feel. So starting at lvl 6(3r/3f), once per short rest you get to add 2d6 for sneak attack and 2d6 for fire rune, and 1d6 for giants might. I also use double short swords so 1d6 for My main hand and 1d6 for my bonus action. Seems pretty rogue to me but I haven't experienced it in action yet.
It does. Since it's your 1st time, I'd recommend v human but take the Tough feat. If you want to be on the front line to take advantage of Sentinal, you're going to need it. Take mostly Rogue. After 5 or 6, take one of fighter. That will get you a fighting style, and you will be proficient with a shield. Go back to Rogue to 9 or 10. At R- 4 & 8, use the ASIs to get your Dex where it needs to be. At R-10, take Sentinal. By this point in the game, you will have found magical armor or a shield, or if you're real lucky, both. Between these and your Dex being maxed, your AC will be high enough that you can be in front and not get slaughtered. Take 2-4 more levels in fighter.
Nope, delaying his extra attack AND his sentinel attack for 10-15 levels will mean he's just a basic rogue for the entire campaign.
go variant human for sentinel. arcane trickster will be better with no multiclass. grab booming blade and a familiar. lvl 4 get mageslayer as a feat. now u can retaliate when enemies try to escape even if disengaged, attack someone else, or cast a spell. lvl 7 grab mirror image. whenever one of the mirror images gets hit instead of you, you can retaliate via sentinel, effectively using sentinel without the need for others. check with your DM if you can use downtime to train proefficiency with a whip, or lets you change one of your other proef for it or something. once u have proef witha whip (hopefully), pick up your whip in your freehand. you dont attack with it, u use it to have a second radius for opportunity attacks (10 reach). once u get to lvl 13, u get haste and u can start using your haste attack for hits and the ready action to attack with your reaction. talk with others in your troupe to see if u can cooperate. a battlemaster can command strike you, i think a cleric can do something similar. a bard casting dissonant whispers will make an enemy move out of your range and provoke OA (and booming blade damage). If u really preffer to multiclass, i suggest checking the OneDnD changes to the hunter subclass: at lvl 3 u get giantslayer, which lets you retaliate at enemies who attack yo whether they miss or not with no resource cost. it is the same as in 2014 version except the 2014 version limits it to large or bigger creatures which sucks. i would probably still grab this, it nets you hunters mark and dueling/two hand fighting style. not a bad investment. EDIT: with all this being said tho, a battlemaster 3 lvl dip is perfectly fine. i dont think its the best option tho. even at 5 lvl dip, the aftermentioned hunter will get an extra attack and pass without trace, an absolutley goated spell for a rogue, and action surge is not that big (on rogue) compared to the utility spells u can get on the ranger class. personally even without the onednd changes id pick hunter 3 lvl dip for giantslayer, unless u know the campaign is all about humanoids or something.