With your two highest ability scores boosting your initiative youre practically guaranteed to get the jump on anyone and everyone. Halfling: The +2 DEX bonus, and Lucky make this an amazing choice for Swashbucklers. We rely on stealth to keep us safe, how are we supposed to involve ourselves in single combat and take all the damage that comes with it? Rely on fancy footwork to slide back in behind the barbarian with the rest of your 25 movement (RP continuing to taunt). The Swashbuckler is a class that you can find in both the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide and Xanathar's Guide to Everything; nothing really changes. 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. Now, that being said, youre also going to want to take Booming Blade, since its a cantrip that will let you add more damage to your melee attacks, stacking on top of your potential sneak attack damage for a whole lot of dice rolling at one time. To really milk this multiclass, a player should focus on high Dexterity and Charisma, even though Artificers shine with Intelligence. Instead, we have it built in! 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. Multiclassing . Alternatively, if you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20. I've spoiler-blocked it for the benefit of those that want to skip it. 10. Check out the full Mystic 5e guide here: https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/blogs/dnd/mystic-5e-guideParry, thrust, now for witty banter! Ability Scores: STR 8, DEX 15, CON 15, INT 8, WIS 8, CHA 15, Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Stealth, Persuasion, Deception, Equipment: Shortsword, short bow, burglars pack, leather armor, two daggers, and thieves tools, Cantrips: Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade. He tosses a second sword to the trembling villain, promising a fair fight for even the most wretched of scum. I dipped 3 levels into Swashbuckler from my dual wielding dex Battlemaster Fighter. At our 3rd level in warlock well definitely want to take the pact of the blade. Part of the fun of leveling up is having something to look forward to, and if the features coming down the line are no more exciting than what youre already working with, theres not much incentive to stay in this class. After that we want anything that will complement our playstyle. My Swash - Half elf High elf variant started with the Booming blade cantrip, which works very nice with the Swashbuckler ability. That never really jived with me, so I decided to make a living out of games, stories, and all sorts of fantastical works. Both attacks missing is 40%*40%= 16%. With most other characters, it can be a hard sell to include roleplaying in the midst of combat. Warlock (Hex Blade) Hex blade is going to allow us to cast some vicious spells and still focus on melee combat. It doesnt have to be, but it can become pretty annoying. Tiefling (Dispater, Glasya) +2 CHA, +1 DEX. Think Setsuka from Soul Calibur. To clarify, this ability works on ability checks, not attack rolls or saving throws. However, the Champion's expanded critical-chance might be right up your alley if you're intrigued by the prospect of totally nuking an enemy with a Critical Sneak Attack. This race has a lot to offer. Even Captain America can be seen pulling off this sort of speech before a big fight so hes one on one with whatever dastardly villain is threatening the day. Overcoming Fears and Character Growth. DPR excluding sneak attack is 15.98. Brawling goes very well with Rouge swashbuckling and sailor. Out of combat, as noted, it rocks. Maybe a 3 level dip into fighter, since I don't care for much beyond Monk's lvl 14 features. Okay that last part is just cool, but still. Swashlock!!! This gives a total DPR of23.07. Swashbuckler. Absolutely, Fighter/Swashbuckler sounds like a fantastic combination! This means that they are quite likely to have a solid CHA modifier to help be the face for the party. 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). From it, I see that my feats are going to tied up until at least 12 level. Multiclassing effectively in 5e . Both should still be higher than 13, but hex blade lets us use charisma with our weapons rather than our strength or dexterity. Absolutely, Fighter/Swashbuckler sounds like a . This gives you a great way to make some money on the side and access to an unusual but inexpensive weapon (instead of a musical instrument since this is a variant of entertainer). The DPR from sneak attack is therefore 77% * 4d6 (14) + 7% * 8d6 (28) + 0 = 12.74. 4. been thinking of making this combo. Zoltan Boros - Wizards of the Coast - Dire Fleet Daredevil. So lets talk about how your charisma turns you into a better rogue. Ultimately though, it depends on what you are trying to get out of the character. Thanks for reply. Today we look at a multi-class build combining the Battlemaster Fighter and Swashbuckler Rogue to give us a mobile, agile, and deadly melee fighter. Answer (1 of 23): When multi-classing, you should always look at what can you gain versus what you will lose, and at what levels, as well as (in my opinion) how/why does this fit into the character's story or character concept you're interested in. Hunter Ranger (3) / Swashbuckler Ranger (17) The Swashbuckler excels at one-on-one combat, and the Hunter has the tools to enhance this specialty. Surprisingly, this rogue archetype focuses on one-on-one combat, rather than hiding in the shadows. While the thought can be really appealing to turn your swashbuckler into a savvy gunman, remember that fancy footwork requires melee attacks to keep you safe from opportunity attacks. DEX: Swashbucklers, like every rogue subclass, love DEX. Touch 6: The Knowledge from Without. They use their masterful skill with a sword, or any weapon for that matter, to save the day and emerge victorious from any fight. Speed, Elegance, and Charm. Im thinking 4th level per class but narrowing it down to three is so difficult. I sing to life and to its tragic beautyTo pain and to strife, but all that dances through meThe rise and the fall, I've lived through it all! Play your cards right and youll never have to miss out on your bonus d6s. Warlocks are well known for giving Eldritch Blast to anyone who takes a level, but choosing to stick out longer and yield all the benefits that hex blade offers is the way to go. Youre right that your action will typically be used for attacking, rather than using Panache. Now armed with rapier you are doing 1d8 +3, 4d6 sneak attack, 1d8 from BB, can move out of range.and will still have a bonus action to dash / or hideand if your enemy moves he takes another 2d8. That's why we live and die by the sword, or swords if you so choose to go a more dual-wielding build. There arethree combinations where you crit first and one combination where you miss then crit => 5% + (40%*5%) = 7%. Rogues get the second most amount of ASIs/feats of any class, with 6 levels to choose ASIs for. Rogues have a crazy amount of skills to choose from, and starting out with four proficiencies (not including any racial or background) is unbeatable. For a full overview of the rogue class, check out our rogue 5e Guide. This is especially useful when used with Dash in your Cunning Action. At 9th level, we see the big ability that puts our charisma in the foreground. I think the fighter multiclass also fits the theme well. I'm thinking I want to bring em' up to level 9, but what sort of multiclasses would be good on a swashbuckler? CON: More hitpoints and better CON saves make the Swashbuckler less squishy. If you want to emphasis your mouthy theme, go with College of Lore to pick up Cutting Words and more proficiencies never hurt. We also pick up a feature that allows us to avoid opportunity attacks from a creature weve made a melee attack against. Additionally, you gain a new condition that you can make sneak attacks under. This character is an intelligent fencer or noble, a class born of elves. Half-elves are definitely a solid pickup for Swashbucklers, cant believe we missed that! Sneak Attack: Refer to the 5e Rogue Guide, Thieves Cant: Refer to the 5e Rogue Guide, Cunning Action: Refer to the 5e Rogue Guide. Alternatively, you can choose a feature, if you already have great stats this is a great choice. . Courses 162 View detail Preview site This feature also buffs the Rogues Sneak Attack ability. Regarding Alignment. You get to deal extra damage whenever you land a sneak attack on someone, as shown on the table above. Rakish Audacity: Their Rakish Audacity allows Swashbucklers to add their CHA modifier to their Initiative roll. Canto alla vitaalla sua bellezzaad ogni sua feritaogni sua carezza! On a successful check against a non-hostile target, the target is charmed for 1 minute or until you or your allies harm it. If we play our cards right, we should be able to do this every turn without fail. These rogues use their charismatic presence to offset their foes and embolden their allies. Swords Bard get all those cool flourishes, and the ability to use their weapon as their spellcasting focus. You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. For the following example build weve used the standard set of scores provided in the PHB (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) when deciding ability scores. RELATED: The 10 Best Warlock Multiclass Combos In D&D. In particular, the combination of Hexblade warlock and Swashbuckler rogue can be lethal. A well-armed pirate leaps from the crows nest to confront his enemy. 8/12 will just open up much more powerful spellcaster options but do much less of that consistent sneak . 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. Building a Better Swashbuckler. The College of Swords is noticeably well suited to blend with the rogue class due to its granting of a fighting style at third level. Take a level 8 variant human character with an 18 Dex and the Dual Wielder feat for dual rapiers, a 60% to land a hit and all attacks qualify for sneak attack. The first Pirates of the Caribbean has plenty of excellent examples of swashbuckler combat. Influence on Social Situations. Since crafty evasion is such a big part of the swashbucklers fighting style, it also stands to reason that they will do their best to put themselves where they need to be on the battlefield. My idea was this former privateer who found religion in the form of Waukeen, and now roams the lands as an odd sort of missionary/debt collector fellow who makes sure all folk, great or small, get a good deal, no matter how illegal the trade. (C) A Rogue(Swashbuckler) 5/Fighter(Battlemaster) 3. Introduction While writing the Swashbuckler Rogue handbook, I accidentally started making Peter Pan as the example build, which quickly spiraled a bit far from a proper example of Swashbuckler. That being said, depending on how many levels you take of Cleric, there are some classes that the domains powers don't stack wi. I really like to pick up a single level of Fighter at 4th level also. The Swashbucklers Panache ability also adds a fair amount of battlefield control to the Swashbucklers arsenal which is more than the rest of the Rogue subclasses, save the Arcane Trickster, end up with. Color and Tier ranking is very helpful when youre trying to digest a lot of information. (A) A Rogue (Swashbuckler) 8 would be making 2 attacks dealing 1d8+4 and 1d8 damage. 9. Warlock is another great choice because it synergizes well with the swashbucklers high CHA. This assumes Dex 16, two weapon fighting short swords with no feats8th lvl RogueExpertise x4, Cunning Action, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, ASI/Feat x21d6+3 Attack Action1d6 Bonus Action4d6 Sneak Attack. Before we start using our charisma left and right for Panache at 13th level, lets boost it by 2 so we have a +4 modifier. Thanks for the comments Cannae! Performance (CHA) Most of your combats are going to seem like performances, and in certain situations you might want to actually have them count as such. Stroke of Luck: Refer to the 5e Rogue Guide. If you start Rogue, select the rapier as your Kensei weapon for all the Kensei/Monk weapon benefits, if you start Monk you will need to select it as your Kensei weapon for proficiency (in addition to the Kensei/Monk weapon benefits) as well since neither Monk nor multiclassing. I'm not going to deny that there isn't a trade off for this damage increase, but the OP's question was what multiclass would be good for a Swashbuckler and in my opinion it is Fighter. You just attack like normal, but with a cool (although loud) bonus. Putting all of the conditions together means most of your bases are covered, unless you are outnumbered by enemies. We tend to choose these based on our highest stats, but choosing a different route based on how you want to roleplay isnt a bad idea, especially since adding your proficiency bonus might compensate for a not-so-good ability modifier. Touch 2: The Push from the Past. The species of animal you choose is called your companion's type. They can dive into combat, do massive damage on a target, then move away because of their Fancy Footwork ability. It's really helpful! STR: Leave the heavy lifting to your friends. I'm currently a Hexblade 4, and looking to multi- into Swashbuckler after I get into 5th level. Sticking with Swash allows for an additional ASI. Fight me! every time you want to use this feature. Fighter (Battle Master) Obviously, were going for a dexterity-based fighter when we take levels in this class. In D&D, this gives us a really exciting character to play. [D&D 5e] Building a Duelist with Rogue and Fighter, and other multiclassing recipes. Acrobatics (DEX) Especially with your Elegant Maneuvers at 13th level, this skill is a must for a rogue. College of Swords certainly has a good thematic fit, but its class features lack luster so Id rather go with one of the other Bard sub-classes. You get to pick up Booming Blade, Eldritch Blast, and Hex, all of which are great spells for the swashbuckler. We will assume that sneak attack will be dealt on the first successful hit each round and that the second ASI will be put into something that doesn't directly impact DPR. To me this feels like the classic hero move, getting the big bad to focus on you. Which means you should get 5d6 sneak attack. 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. Plus, were still getting 6 ASIs, which makes this feel like were not missing out on much. Duelists and pirates typically belong to this archetype. Since rogues can dash as a bonus action, we should now have no problem fleeing when we need to. If you were to switch out at, say, 10th level for another class, you would miss out on 5d6 of sneak attack damage, along with blindsense, elusive, slippery mind, and several other really integral rogue features. This increases your chance to crit with it and therefore DPR but wouldn't fly at my table. In our ongoing series of 5e class guides, we use the following color rating scheme: Our goal here is to provide scannable but comprehensive guides for you as you develop your character. Investigation (INT) Skip this, it;s for another type of rogue. I recommend at least 5 levels for Extra Attack, which if you are two-weapon fighting as per the intent of the subclass, that gives you three attacks per round to land Sneak Attack. Yeah but that happens with ANY multiclass in 5e. This can be great, even if youre not an evil character. Let's see what mastery implies within the Swashbuckler 5e Guide. Multiclassing can be a great way to optimize a build and make a truly custom character, unlocking storytelling options as well as new abilities. Shroud of Shadow, Repelling Blast, One with Shadows, Mask of Many faces, and more are all great to consider for a swashbuckler looking for more magic in their life. Deception (CHA) Of the charisma options, this is one of our least likely choices. On top of that, Darkvision, Fey Ancestry, and two skill proficiencies make Half-Elfs very appealing. 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