Snipers: "ONE shot. ONE kill." Colby: "Hold my spreadsheet."

Tip for players trying to convince DM's to let you start with a musket: I've seen some success in asking "can I start with a short bow, flavored as a semi broken musket, it uses bullets, is still loud, but uses the damage and range of a short bow, then when I get the gold, 'fix it' to upgrade it to a normal musket"

Shooting a fleeing dragon out of the sky with a gun is peak fantasy.

Colby: "We're gonna take a Cleric dip for accuracy improvement" Me: Of course. The inevitable Peace Cleric dip here we go Colby: "Forge Domain" Me: *surprised Pikachu face*

The fact that mirror image AC is built directly on your DeX makes it feel like that spell was *made* for the arcane trickster.

Build challenge: Build a better Rogue without taking Rogue levels. Maybe a double build, where you build a Rogue baseline, and then do the actual build.

In regards to the rogue damage output conversation, I think that what we must remember is that Colby runs a d&d build channel, dedicated to making playable characters that are fun, that run smoothly, but at the end of the day, he's going to have to put them on a chart, and what do you compare them to if you're going to put them on a chart? Well, mostly, tankiness, and damage output. Doesn't mean that tier 1 are more fun than tier 3, but you gotta rank 'em one way or another. So if you're a slave to the spreadsheet as he likes to say, of course that's going to be a main concern of his. As an example, I'm pretty sure that's why he doesn't like brutal critical, even though it feels super good when you land a critical hit as a level 9 barb. As for the rogue, sneak attack is good, but it can easily be outdamaged by other classes at higher level, and that's when being able to land it twice in the same round is huge. This is a wall of text that nobody's going to read, but I felt like saying it

Excellent work as always Colby! You should do a one shot with your Leader, Medic, Sniper, and Demolition expert builds. All you need now is a communications expert and you have a full Special Forces team!

Little late, but something worth mentioning: snipers in the military will often have a "Spotter" to do two things. One, help them aim over long distances (namely with math) and two, watch their backs and keep them company. Being alone for days or weeks on end with Zero social contact is bad for your health. An animal companion may not be a one to one for a Spotter, but it can certainly watch the character''s back and be a friend.

About goodberry, in my first campaign (which is still going on over a year now) I went to scout a dangerous area but was on 3hp so I hate like 40 good berries and after failing my con save... Soiled myself. Despite my best efforts it has become one of my characters defining moments

The Sniper: d4 #122 Level 1:(see above) [rogue 1, race+feat & expertise] Level 2:(see above) [ranger 1 & deft explorer] Level 3:(@19:36) [ranger 2] Level 4:(@22:27) [ranger 3 & sub-class] Level 5:(@24:15) [ranger 4 & ASI] Level 6:(@26:31) [ranger 5] Level 7:(see above) [rogue 2] Level 8:(@32:14) [rogue 3 & sub-class] (@35:43) [Silvery Barbarian mob] Level 9:(@36:58) [cleric 1 & sub-class] Level 10:(see above) [rogue 4 & ASI] Level 11:(@42:28) [rogue 5] Level 12:(@43:25) [rogue 6 & expertise] Level 13:(@43:53) [rogie 7] Level 14:(see above) [rogue 8 & ASI] Level 15:(@46:43) [rogue 9] Level 16:(@47:43) [rogue 10 & ASI] Level 17:(@47:59) [rogue 11]

Fun fact about muskets and snipers (and one of few things I remember from US history class). There were riflemen in the US Revolutionary War that could hit targets up to 300 yards away. I believe their muskets had grooves in the barrel that put a spin on the musket ball to increase range and accuracy. So there is historical precedent for such a character!

I was recently in a pirate-like one-shot where my warlock was scouting from the crows nest 99% of the time. I gave him eldritch Spear and spell sniper and was wailing on the enemy ship and it's crew from LONG before they could even attempt to fire back. That was fun.

You need to make a build that leans on the Lorehold background. Adding spirit guardians to any class spell list opens up some crazy builds.

My favorite content creator of the week :)

I have to express my full appreciation for your min-max nova approaches for educating me well enough to win a pit battle fight of various levels. The most absurd moment was my level 3 Grave Cleric 2/Sorcerer 1 that was able to Sleep my opponent into Hex, Path to the Grave, critical melee in 5 feet Inflict Wounds for 124 damage.

As Colby introduced the caracter striking fear into enemies, I was already imagining a BattleMaster Sharpshooter with a longbow, using Menacing Strike from 600ft away. This is so cinematic, and nasty, gameplay-wise.

You can't just mention a Mongolian Archer and not give us a build for it! My minmaxing brain started to theorize as soon as the photo came up, they're so cool

Not me actively building a parasocial relationship with colby where we're friends because of these fantastic thoughtful outtros

I've created/played similar builds to this one a couple of times. For a new player, I built a simple Champion 5/Rogue X build using the Longbow and Sharpshooter. Expanded Crit Range + Sneak Attack + Stealth + Assassin= Half the enemies dead before they knew what hit them. To make things even better, the party included an Order Cleric for off turn shenaniganery. To your comment about not needing 600ft of shooting range: This utter newbie rendered an approaching adult red dragon into Swiss cheese by simply rolling high enough perception to notice it coming. DM did tend to put us in caverns after that, but especially at higher levels (where characters are taking part in bigger conflicts, on the scale of armies) the extra range can matter A LOT. Love the theme and flavor. The Forge Cleric dip is incredible for all the reasons you list and is just so on point. I really don't get the Arcane Trickster subclass though. Scout seems more on theme. For example, if you are by-default-invisible and have access to on demand Advantage from Steady Aim, do you need another option? With the range at which you're shooting, not a lot is going to make you move. And, if you were really worried about it, why not go Scout Rogue and pick up their reaction-to-retreat feature, since Steady Aim just says you can't move on your OWN turn. I guess I'm just wondering why you felt that was a better option? Thanks for putting in the work! As an inveterate character creator, I appreciate spring boarding off of your builds week by week. Great to hear your thoughts on the mechanics of rogues as well.

I am so happy to have found this channel 2 weeks ago. I was tired of all the amazing at lvl 20 builds, and while I love Tulock's videos, I'm not 1 for role-playing my favorite fictional character.

I was running the Tyranny of Dragons and had a Gloomstalker ranger with a long bow and sharpshooter. She stayed at the far end of the arean vs Tiamat and focused on her. The rest of the party focused on the mages. She was out of the range of everything that pretty much anyone could do. By the time the rest of the group had the cultist all under control she single handedly took out Tiamat.

Colby, Chris, Monty and Kelly, the 3 Canadians and 1 US youtubers who are the top D&D content creators out there (added the countries of origin to shout out my fellow Canadians lol)

Just made a similar build! I used a fighter base and shadow monk multiclass. It's actually really great since you get better AC, con save prof for spells, pass without a trace, better reliability via ki, faster move speed to run away, can jump off high ground, and deflect missiles for sniper battles >:)

Here's a build challenge that I think most people would shy away from, a mute full caster. No spells with a verbal component unless you have a way to bypass it like with subtle spell.

Love it! I'd be curious to see a "Spell Sniper" take on this. Use the generally useless warlock invocation for EB range and perhaps sorcery points for extending the range of applicable spells and such.

Go warlock, choose the staff as a spell focus and flavor it as an arcane firearm, attach a spyglass to it, then snipe with EB. Get Spell Sniper, Eldritch Spear, and some levels in Sorc for Distant Spell and enjoy terrorizing your enemies from far away. Play a flying race or go Genie for additional flying fun. Go Hexblade and use Haste from Sorc to use a weapon to shoot doing Eldritch Smite for that headshot/sniping feel, then you have your action & bonus action (Quicken) for the EB gatling gun. Add in 2 levels of Fighter for more gatling gun fun.

Loving this build! It’s not too dissimilar to one of my player’s rogue Something I’ve always wondered: would you ever be interested in an encounter building video? Similar to helping players build characters, but helping DMs build encounters. The goal is not to overpower parties, because that’s easy by dropping several high CR enemies. More so if you have building tips/generalizations that could help the other side of the DM screen. Thanks for your consideration! Hope you and your family have safe and enjoyable holidays!

Ooh, snazzy new badge! Bout time I started supporting one of my fav creators more directly 😁

NGL that forge domain took me by surprise! I really like the spirit of the build and where it ends up. Also ❤️

I'd made basically a similar character for myself back before Tasha's and Gunner feat were released. I went with Gunslinger Fighter for the firearm proficiency, trick shots, and fighting style; and Thief Rogue, for Fast Hands to let me reload as a bonus action instead of an action (without gunner, there wasn't an option to ignore reloading) and Second Story Work for better climbing and jumping to get to the crow's nest. He was a Tiefling Drow, so I did end up with Elven Accuracy as well as Sharpshooter, and he fit really well into the Forgotten Realms lore as a member of the Bregan D'aerthe, a city gang of criminal Drow with guns, where he operated as a lookout/rooftop sniper.

A point which might be relevant for a sniper build. Favored Foe has no maximum range (as opposed with Hunter's Mark). So if you are further than 90 feet from your target, it's a viable option. Also, and this is a little weird, you can mark an enemy with Favored Foe that you hit but you can't see.

Look at my surprise as I'm finishing my homebrew adaptation of the 3.5e Deep Dood Sniper. Auspicious.

The thing that people always overlook with rogue DPR is Poison. Getting your hands on some solid poison or even magic ammunition you can significantly ramp up damage and combat control.

Thanks Colby, I look forward to your builds every week! Happy holidays to you and your family 🎉

Sniper muskets did exist. They were extremely expensive to make and were used during the Civil War. Had hexagonal twisted barrels.

I've been working on a Giff sniper, I love the idea of this huge bulky dude spider-climbing up somewhere and melting into the background.

I will always remember the character a friend of mine played that was like this. We were playing Phandelver and my friend joined the campaign, he and the DM talked about how to introduce him. So his introduction happened when the party was confronted in the town square by the redbrands, they had taken one of the party’s friends at sword point and were trying to get the party to surrender (not exactly how it was in the book, but it was a cool change) and in the middle of the encounter as the party is talking to the bad guys and realizing they are gonna have to fight, there’s no talking the enemies down our like 25 pp cleric sees the glint of sunlight on glass (the scope of a gun) from atop a building a hundred or so feet away then there is a bang and the redbrand with the sword to our friend’s throat has his hand shot and mangled and drops his weapon as the player rolled a Nat 20 and used a disarming shot. The enemies immediately panicked and we wiped the floor with them and met our new artificer/gunslinger teammate. It was an awesome moment and the description at the beginning of this video really reminded me of it.

When the rifled musket came out around the time of the American Revolution, General Washington made use of it by equipping and deploying sharpshooter units. The Union did so again in the Civil War. "Sniper Muskets" were absolutely a thing.

Snipers have spotters IRL so a hawk companion that can point out enemies would be some excellent flavor and utility

Sniper: It's all about perspective, from across the map is just one of many.

I think for this concept, I would go the Artificer way for the flavor of my spells: my "spells" are not magic, but gadgets I built or trinkets and tools I bought or collected.

I played a sniper type character a while back, it was a blast. Ultimately it was just a pure rogue ranged assassin build with Elven Accuracy, Sharpshooter, and some other choice feats. You can one shot a lot of stuff.

Thanks for the build! As Christmas is around the corner: hopefully we will get a wonderful Christmas song 😊 Merry Christmas!

Support/Damage concept I've been working on that could make a good video: Character with the best odds for the Putrid Undead's Paralyze to go off. Essentially, find multiple ways to poison a creature sustainably: Grung and Chain Pact Sprite with investment of the chain master are a good starting point.

For the level 14 ASI (45:55) you might consider Telekinetic. A half feat which doubles the range of your Mage Hand Legerdemain. Invisibly disarm traps, pick pockets etc at 60 feet range? Check!

Ok, so ranking aside, I like the sniper build with the versatility. Makes a lot of sense to me and the forge dip was awesome. I will say the arcane trickster was a surprise, still on the fence with that one. But overall, the class does all those snipy things us marksmen would love, so I love it. Well done Colby!

My first multi class ever was a hunter ranger arcane trickster rogue, it was very fun and felt super powerful, I nearly did all the stuff you did except I started as a ranger and saw the defensive abilities I had to choose from with my subclass and saw I could get both from base rogue. That was what convinced me to dip out of ranger.

Fun thing you could do along the lines of an animal companion is some form of flying familiar. Scouting and getting an eye on a target. Very handy.

This helped me get insight on another character i want to do. Saw a picture of a gunslinging nun and thought that be cool concept of a character. She can be sent as a spy, and while on the mission working at the temple, it was attacked and destroyed. Upon waking up hearing about what was left she seeks to hunt and kill who attacked. Whether the DM allows guns or not doesn't change since any bow will work just as well. Then got me to create another character as well along side it. Best for of dnd is character creation stories. Don't even need to play them just thinking of them is the fun for me. A goblin or halfing rogue who is somewhat bad at his craft (rogue being sneaky) dabbles in tinkering.

Rifles existed since the late 1500s. They just werent used on the battlefield due to how much harder they were to load and they prefered volume of fire rather than slow but precise shots. The reason why its harder is because the ball used in a musket would grip onto the rifling for the spin. For this it had to be the same size as the bore but that also meant the ball had trouble going down. Even harder than smooth bore. The solution would be a smaller ball but that wont grip the rifling. Thus the minié ball, which expands during travel, was what made them practical. Another solution would be to use a breech loader.

As a Spellsniper Warlock who can shoot 6 EB with genie Dao damage bonus I can tell you: in a theater of the mind game it might work, otherwise TTRPG maps typically are big enough that if I were at the opposite side of an open map I would snipe enemies out anyway. If we play with miniatures the distance of my shots go up to 4 real life feet. A typical game has 2 real life feet per side of space or 3 at max. So before taking the long distance hero make sure to tell the DM in session 0 that you would like to build the character this way and make sure it's at least a renaissance style of game. You will need not only firearms but optics too. Otherwise you might not be able to spot them even if you got Legolas' elven eyes.

LOVE IT! I literally just built this character to join my buddy live game, but I started as a fighter and took 4 levels, then was going gloom stalker. Keep up the great content!

Just some technical stuff in case anyone cares to know so it can be taken to your table. A "Sniper" is a job, a "sniper rifle" is a rifle that a sniper would use, usually but not necessarily with a mounted scope, and a rifle is a long barreled gun that has rifling which is a set of spiral paterns inside the barrel that twist the round while inside the barrel, making said round more accurate at longer ranges. Rifled barrels were invented in the 15th century and for further reference, the Colonial Revolutionary Army used formations containing both rifles and muskets as muskets could be reloaded faster but rifles were more accurate and the revolutionaries were in fact trying to kill enemy officers as quickly as possible to send the enemy force into disarray.

Been watching for a while and wanted to say I appreciate your content. Thank you Colby!

A level of Twilight Cleric would be an amazing level pick up for a Cleric dip. Advantage on initiative, and 300 ft of dark vision.

D&D ASMR, wasn't expecting to run into that, but I am all for it :D

Forge Cleric is really good for firearms in campaigns where they're very rare (so you're not likely to find magical ones) or low magic campaigns. As far as "Africa", I think they're about equal, but I think I ❤ the Weezer one just a tiny bit better...also like they're "Take On Me". Dave Winnel has a pretty cool "Africa" cover for Like a Version...which I highly recommend for great cover songs.

Built a sniper concept myself using a Hexblood (goblin) warlock. With the right invocation and spell sniper you can be popping off shots from 600ft lol my frustration was anything I could find to help the damage needed me to be MUCH closer lol. Thought about the invisible familiar helping for advantage on a shot but thought that might be a pain to keep track of. Some of the mechanics I'm struggling with aside though I absolutely love the flavor I've given her.She's an undieing warlock cause she knows how short lived goblins are and decided she wanted something different after losing her right arm (which she uses mage hand to compensate). Tried getting power by joining a coven of hags and became a Hexblood but realized that this path wasn't much different so she wound up in league with a lich who became her patron. She agreed to give up an eye to serve him and in return he gave her a prosthetic eye which is the conduit for their connection and it's her spellcasting focus so when she snipes people from her mini trench she makes with mold earth it's just a lazor blast from her glowing eye. I toyed around with her focus maybe being a staff that she held like a gun but when I stumbled across the concept I'm using it was no contest.

I have a home rule for rogues to promote sticking with straight rogue to higher levels: “you can apply your sneak attack damage to a number of attacks per turn equal to 1/8 your rogue level rounded up”. This gives a nice damage bump at levels 9 & 17, which feels about right for the extra mileage you get out of it

Rifled Musket. More accurate as it is rifled therefore imparting the rotation on the projectile but required more force to load due to needing to impart the groves on the ball as you ram it down the barrel. Therefore slower to reload.

Hi Colby, great work as usual! I went a slightly different route on the same theme but with an archer build - my custom lineage was Elf/Orc, an Exandrian inspired combination I particularly like! I chose wood elf, so gave myself Fleet of Foot for extra movement, and from my orcish heritage I gave myself Adrenaline Rush, allowing a Bonus action dash from 1st level. I gave myself the Criminal background as a hired killer, but as my inspiration was partly the devoutly Christian sniper from Saving Private Ryan, perhaps I should take the Acolyte background for flavour, as well as take your Cleric dip. As I am fundamentally an archer build (buying or obtaining a firearm might not be possible until 4th or 5th level depending on the generosity of your DM) my 1st level feat was Sharpshooter. Once I got to 4th level in ranger, I took Elven Accuracy, taking advantage of my partly Elven heritage and ensuring super advantage to maximise my crit potential. After 5 levels of ranger, I returned to rogue levels and at 4th level in Rogue, I got the Piercer feat. This got my dexterity up to 20 by 9th level, and with expertise giving me +13 in Stealth and Acrobatics, and a +10 in Perception. At this level, I was an Assassin Rogue 4 / Hunter Ranger 5 and very pleased how it was going! With Assassinate and Steady Aim, the chances of gaining advantage are huge and we can maximise our chances of critting by Elven Accuracy

Hey Colby. I am not that interested in a sniper, but I do like you with your humble expertise and kindness.

Another 80's reference for you: Disturbed's version of Tears for Fear's Shout, called Shout 2000, is another out-of-this-world cover

I put in a request for a forge cleric gun user a long time ago. You made it better than I could have imagined. I'm sure it was just an idea on a rather long spreadsheet, but I'm so happy to see it!

Perception also has the added benefit of DMs probably using it to see if you can see your target if they're far away.

These get uploaded one day before my weekly irl session and i always get some nice inspiration :p

I use the Magical Ambush relatively effectively by using bonus action hide, then tossing in a fireball/hypnotic pattern. The disadvantage on the save makes up for a lower INT score (I have a 14). I didn't build around the feature but still find it helpful situationally.

Summon Beast is awesome for a Sniper. A great example is the sniper Mordecai in Borderlands 1. He has a hawk called Bloodwing.

Reminds me of a campaign I was in. DM did a "Army Rangers" style campaign where everyone had to have ranger levels and I was showing off that popping heads from the middle of no where was DEADLY AS FUCK. He was using some special homebrew rules and weapons. I used Find Familiar and the blindfighting fightingstyle to use "drone targeting"

The Whitworth Sniper rifle from 1860(ish) was a black powder rifle that fired hexagonal bullets, and it was capable of reliably making hits out beyond a kilometer (≈1100 yards/0.625 miles) Not a musket, but it was a muzzle loading firearm and I think it would fit the bill perfectly 😁

This is an Insta-Classic, Colby - Merry Christmas!!

History lesson: Rifled barrel muskets have existed, starting with the American Kentucky Flintlock Rifle and ending with the Minie Percussion Rifle Musket. In between, there’s also the famous Baker Rifle, used by the British 95th Regiment of Foot during the Napoleonic Wars to great effect. Often shooting up to 200 yds at hapless French generals with greased patched balls that conformed to the 7 rifled grooves on the inside of the firelock with the drawbacks being slower reload times and increased fouling in the barrel negatively impacting performance.

Thanks for your builds they are creative. I'm glad to see the thumbnails of the videos you point to because I don't see the "cards" you're talking about.

Currently rocking a halfling swarm keeper ranger (7) / scout rogue (3) in a side bar quest to our main campaign and am having a ball. Crazy cat lady for flavor. Utility, damage and just fun. Kicking up kitty litter web entanglements and gathered swarms of stray cats for extra damage , effects is super entertaining.

As far as having an owl familiar with this hunter/sniper character I think it fits the flavor really really well with just a little reflavoring into a hunting bird like a falcon or a hawk

I always start to smile when the "pun intended" clip shows up ♥

Nice, I am eager to see what you came for us in this week, since i am planning to play a sniper character in my next campaign. Maybe it is finallya Horizon Walker build? I almost can not imagine a more uncatcheable sniper by lvl 11.

Re: Magical Ambush (47:29). OK, hear me out. Take Catapult as your "any school" spell. It only has a Somatic component, so your DM may allow you to use it without breaking stealth (or maybe even in plain sight with Sleight of Hand). It has a Dexterity saving throw and can be up cast. So potentially, with an reasonable INT, you could use it to mess with an enemy without breaking stealth or them knowing it's even you messing with them. If you have a DM who puts interesting clutter in their settings, this could also be a bit of fun (I'm thinking chamber pots).

As a DM, I'd allow Blessing of the Forge to work on a magical weapon or armor as long as that item didn't already give a bonus.

I just did a sniper build the other day! Did drow half elf, champion fighter 3/war domain cleric 2/assassin rogue x. Really leant into the idea of the "I never miss" sniper. Took sharpshooter and skulker feat so I can bip targets from miles away and not be detected. The only thing letting it down is the lack of extra attack.

An interesting alternative to a firearm, if you're willing to build your character a bit weird, is the Oversized Longbow from Waterdeep Dragon Heist. Same range as a Longbow, but it does 2d6+STR for damage. The weird build part? You have to have 18 Strength just to wield it.

The Sharpshooter feat owes it's name to the Sharps rifle designed by Christian sharps in 1848 . During the civil war "Berdan's sharpshooters" named after Colonel Hiram Berdan firing Sharps breech loading rifles were famous snipers . If I was going to try and talk my DM into allowing me to start with a rifle in a campaign I would name my character Sharps and design my own rifle . I would take the level of Forge domain at 2nd level so I could start forging my own musket balls otherwise I know my DM at least would be telling me " You can't find any ammo " .

If you go with an animal summon, it definitely needs to be some kind of bird of prey, like an eagle or a hawk, a la Mordekai

Hello there! Last night i thought of a tank build that can potentially break your tank comparison methods. Psi warrior / artillerist. If built right i think it would break the fireball calculation (absorb elements halve dmg, then TH from cannon + psi warrior protective field would turn the damage to zero). It could also stretch the numbers on the martial encounters to ridiculous values since ac would be pretty high on this thing. And you can argue it is very good at protecting allies since TH apply to them as well (as does the PSI protective field). Plus you could give him a shield and protection fighting style for a half taunt... I hope i got you hooked Colby :) Keep up the good work. Love the channel.

I am a big fan of Percival from CR And the new pact of the trigger subclass is so cool. Nice video!

I have a build suggestion based on the spell Mind Spike and the Magic Item-Eversmoking Bottle and fight style-blind fighting. Essentially land a Mind Spike one round and keep concentration once landed then activate eversmoking bottle. The smoke is 60 foot radius of heavy obscured smoke(blinded with no save) that blindsense and tremor sense would be only options to see you. Then use various attacks that you you have advantage to hi due to you know where they are and they have disadvantage to attack to see you. If you have a flight speed cancels tremor sense and ancient Red Dragon has only 60 ft blind sight. add the blink spell should help also. problem is all your party members would be blinded also. Perhaps tabaxi with 2 levels fighter for action surge, 6 levels warlock (genie) for flight, eldritch blast etc. Have fun hope you like.

10 Bard: College of Valor (Magical Secrets: Swiftquiver) + Built in Extra Attack at level 6 + Full might of a Bard's spell list for support and inspiration. 2+X Fighter: Fighting Style + Action Surge, these can be taken anywhere really if only dipping for 2 levels. Either after 6 or 10. 3+X Rogue: Bonus Action usage, ideally Assassin to secure Crits. 3+X Ranger: Just to get the Gloomstalker to buff initiative if assassin + early covert buffs and vision or even the Hunter's. + all necessary feats (Sharpshooter, Alert if Assassin, so on and so forth) Mixmatching any of those brackets is where I thought you were headed with a video called "The Sniper". I feel like the embodiment of your choices for a sniper went a bit off when it was decided "support" was a major thing to consider. Atleast you'd get to tell the tales of how your victims had fallen :)

Colby! Love the channel, love following your builds. Some match up really close to some of mind which is always fun to see, and I always get some sweet new ideas as well! I have a similar build to this one, but my idea was to try to build a character that only took one attack a round. I would play it as a archer who becomes prideful to the point that if you ended up missing a shot in your later character levels it could be a character moment, because you just never miss. I'd start Wood Elf for the extra movement, and potential to get Elven Accuracy. I went Scout Rogue 5/Ranger 2/War Cleric 2/Rogue X. Scout Rogue because like you talked about, proficiencies are something we'd be bringing to the party and we get more this way. Plus, Skirmisher could be a life saver for us and I think is thematic for a trainer Sniper. Ranger only to 2, to get the Fighting Style and access to the spells. I actually think Zephyr Strike is the most important to pick up. Really good repositioning/disengage tool, plus gives us advantage when we're on the go and we can't use Steady Aim. War Cleric I think its great, and I would have used it in your build as well. With War Priest, we can cast Bless AND make a weapon attack on the first round of combat (I guess my build would be lacking Advantage on that attack, but with yours their a chance that your familiar could have gone first). Plus, getting the Channel Divinity could make something hit on that off chance we roll super poorly (maybe on the first round of combat when we don't have advantage) and more spell slots are nice. After that, Rogue the rest of the way. More Sneak Attack, more movement speed (which I think is great, again repositioning well is super important so that we can go back to using Steady Aim the next turn and aren't constantly on the move). And finally, at level 17 for me, Ambush Master is thematic and potentially really strong if we go early and attack an important target first. For ASI's, we'd get 4, and I'd take Elven Accuracy, SS, +2 Dex, then Wood Elf Magic. Wood Elf Magic could maybe be taken earlier than Dex if you really want to get mileage out of Pass Without Trace, but it's hard to not take everything you can for Accuracy as early as possible. I don't know how this would stack up with your damage numbers by comparison, losing extra attack is rough, but I think the roleplay of being that one-shot one-hit character would be super fun and rewarding, especially with all the mechanics to back it up. Lastly.. for yours, would you take Hunter over Swarmkeeper? Your swarm could be Crows or something, foreshadowing or interplaying with your Find Familiar. The damage is so close to being the same, and applies even if the target hasn't been damaged already. Then going to ranger 5, you'd get SO much more from the Swarmkeeper spell list and abilities than you would out of the Hunter subclass. Just a thought! Always a fan, thanks again for another great vid.

Always looking forward for a new video, outstanding as always

I like a special ops sniper character that is a Rogue/Artificer. Arcane Trickster/Armorer. The lightning launcher can add an extra d6 once a turn, can be used for sneak attack, and qualifies for sharpshooter. 90/300 range. Flavor it to look like a gun or bolt launcher that forms from the armor. Flavor Find Familiar to be like a spotter drone that comes from the armor. You will miss out on a little bit of damage but will make up for it with extra utility spells.

Love this :) definitely on my to do list

My first 5e character was a hunter 5 assassin 15 with a longbow. 1st character I have ever taken to level 20. I had an arcane trickster in my party and that was fun. This may be the best of both builds

Cool build Colby! 😄👍

Love all the work you do

Best use I've found for Magical Ambush is with Wands and Scrolls. Fixed DCs that don't care about your crappy Intellect, and a Wand of Fireball suddenly gives you effective AoE from hiding!

Just for the record, I have a growing Bromance with you, plurely platonic. One married, straight man to another. D&D, 23 created characters waiting and ready to play, hiking, Toto, Weezer, A-ha... you speak to my soul Sir! ❤️

I love expert class characters SO much. And this one would be pretty good for a new player, to get their hands on ways to contribute to a party in lots of ways as they learn the game.

When I imagine the sniper architype I immediately think about Simo Häyhä, who was so unbelievably lethal that in a generation or two you'd have trouble convincing people that he was real.

I made a build like this that was a DM Approved Coffee-lock! Elf (by raw they sleep for only 4 hours then will be able to chain 4 short rests) Warlock 2, Eldritch Spear (300’ range to Eldritch Blast) Sorcerer 2+, take utility spells Feat at Level 4 - Spell Sniper (doubles the range of spells) Feat at Level 8 - Elven Accuracy It uses spells to replicate rogue abilities and uses Eldritch Blast at 600’, with advantage, ignoring half cover, while behind cover yourself.