"One shot one kill" 2024 sniper
Here it is a blueprint for a critfishing ranged damage dealer with the 2024 handbook rules, that tries to go for one big attack which both (almost) never misses and deals a lot of damage.
Ofc I hope that you guys can both tell me whether I accounted correctly for everything and if there are other improvements doable RAW.
NOTES: -I assumed that the DM allows for elven accuracy, even though it's not 100% safe to do so.
-I made some extra damage calculations for a level 9 damage table assuming the DM would allow for the hexblade warlock subclass to be available, accounting for crits on a 19 or higher. Account for that as you please, but note that going for critical hits likely proves the best strat for trying to maximise the damage output.
Character level 1:
Stats: 12 str (optional, intended for heavy crossbow and GWM at levels 13+)
Dex 15 (+1)
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 8
Cha 15 (+2)
-High half elf (True Strike as the origin cantrip) -Background | Any one that lets us increase Charisma and dexterity are the priority, if possible ask the DM for custom backgrounds for both these stats and the alert feat.
-Rogue on levels 1 through 4. Assassin subclass for both better initiative and extra damage on the first sneak attack of each encounter. (Important for sneak attack, steady aim and a way to get masteries)
-Warlock on levels 5 through 9 (5 levels taken) From here we get pact of the blade, agonizing blast, eldritch smite, potentially thirsting blade and perhaps hexblade's curse.
Pact of the blade is important for us to upgrade our weapon. Up until level 4 rogues don't get proficiency with most martial ranged weapons, now (as long as it's a magical one) we can use as a magical weapon a musket. This gives us proficiency with it and lets us take mastery on it at the end of a long rest (due to how mastery rules work on the rogue. Plus getting to use charisma by default on our weapon of choice is always a plus.
Agonizing blast on true strike is a must on this build, as it lets us double our charisma modifier on every damage roll made with it. I've seen people argue that agonizing blast should be appliable on Magic Stone as well, allowing us to triple our charisma mod on our attack if we use a sling (note that here the base damage die would become a d6 rather than the musket's d12). I didn't account for this option, but talk to your DM.
At level 8 I would just cap charisma to 20, both for hit chance and 2 (or 3) extra damage on a hit. GWM really doesn't outweight yet this increase, unless you will have changed your mind about extra attack by this level, as I'll disclose in a bit.
Eldritch Smite is another must-have, as it is optimal on critical hits and increases our one-shot damage by quite a bit, together with knocking prone enemies.
Finally I wanted to talk about thinking Thirsting Blade (extra attack). Despite the entire build revolving around this "one shot" idea, on the first round of combat as an assassin we have advantage on all attack rolls made against a creature that didn't act this round yet. On subsequent turns, if we rely on Steady aim or Hide it's a bad idea, but as long as we have elven accuracy going it's likely better to try to hold our sneak attack and smite for a critical hit on a second roll. If we have crits on a 19 (as per the hexblade's curse or a 3 level dip into champion fighter), dropping the extra 1d6+5 damage from using true strike really doesn't even remotely compete with going for 2 attacks.
Feel free to do what you like, at this point I would likely bend my rp for some better numbers.
I didn't bother to write down every reasonable path past level 9 because it really comes down to personal preference. More rogue levels give better sneak attack, some fighter levels secure the archery fighting style, action surge and perhaps constant crits on a 19... Pyf and let me know if something of note comes to mind!
Following some pics of first round damage tables. I assumed a +1 musket for both. Respectively:
Lvl 6 output
Lvl 9 (True Strike)
Lvl 9 (Multiattack, Assumed Crit on a 19)
Enjoy!