Early Entry Arcane Trickster

[Zinnath the Scary]

I know how to get the 2d6 sneak attack in 2 levels, no problem there.

I'm looking for possible routes for a pseudodragon sorcerer based character to get a second level spell early if possible.

Since 4 ranks of three skills are required, entry earlier than 5th level is impossible.

Any suggestions?

[QuidEst]

Sorcerers don't have a way to do this. If they did, everyone would be using it.

[Zinnath the Scary]

Yes, but I'm a dragon!

[Lanitril]

Well, since SLAs no longer get you entry into prestige classes, you'll just have to take the necessary Sorcerer levels.

[Scott Wilhelm]

You used to be able to have your Spell-like abilities count as Spells for the purpose of early entry, but then Paizo changed it back.

So you might have been a Teifling, letting your Darkness ability count as your level 2 spell.

Level 1: Snakebite Striker Brawler, Sneak Attack 1d6
2B1Ninja1: Sneak Attack 2d6
3B2N1Wizard1:
4B2N1W1Arcane Trickster1

Now, I think the best you can do is

Level 1: Snakebite Striker Brawler, Sneak Attack 1d6
2B1Ninja1: Sneak Attack 2d6
3B1N1Wizard1:
4B1N1W2:
5B1N1W3
6B1N1W3Arcane Trickster1

That's one level better than it used to be, when you had to take 3 levels in Ninja or Rogue then 3 in Wizard, and only then take your first level in AT.

I recommend Wizard over Sorcerer. Later access to the higher level spells = later access to Arcane Trickster. Anyway, when you take levels in Arcane Trickster, you don't get any further Class Abilities in Sorcerer, do you? And I think the reason to be a Sorcerer over being a Wizard is for those Class Abilities.

Personally, I really like the Ninja Vanishing Trick, so if I were going be Sneaky and Magic, I might do something more like this

1Brawler1: Snakebite Striker, Dirty Fighter, Sneak Attack 1d6, BAB+1
2B1Arcanist1: Dimensional Slide

So now, you have your tactical teleport to lock in your Sneak Attack.

3B1A1Ninja1: Poison, Sneak Attack + 1d6, Improved Dirty Trick
4B1A1N2: Ninja Vanishing Trick, Ki, BAB+2

Turn invisible as a Swift Action, locking in your Sneak Attack Damage another way. Dirty Tricks can make your opponents Blind--no Dex Bonus to AC--locking in your Sneak Attack a 3rd way.

5B1A1N2Monk1:

Levels in Monk stack with levels in Ninja for the purposes of gathering Ki points, and you can decide whether your Ki is modified by your Wisdom or Charisma.

6B1A1N2M2: BAB+3
7B1A1N2M3: Drunken Ki, BAB+4

You can replenish your Ki almost endlessly now by drinking. What I was thinking I would do is acquire a Robe of Needles or a Wand of Scorching Ray: Both make Range Touch Attacks vs. Flatfooted AC while you are Vanished, and both enjoy Sneak Attack Damage. Take the Feat Potion Glutton, and you can Drink as a Swift Action instead of as a Standard Action.

This character might become an Arcane Trickster. It would require 3 more levels in Arcanist or Wizard to do it. There are a lot of really sweet Arcane Exploits that would totally make it worth your while, things that give you a miss chance and things that enchant your weapons.

Or you might just keep taking levels in Ninja, inflicting more and more damage with your Sneak Attack Damage as you spam Scorching Ray and Needles.

You might develop this as a melee character, say by being a Tengu with Claws, augmenting your meager base damage with Sneak Attack Damage, getting more Natural Attacks with a level in White Haired Witch, and a Helm of the Mammoth Horn and maybe by throwing in some Unarmed Strikes. When your BAB gets high enough, you take Quick and Greater dirty tricks so you will be making your opponents Blind more cheaply and reliably. Perhaps you could work in a Grapple Feature, taking Hamatula Strike to get free Grapples off of all your Piercing attacks, Bite, Gore, and Hair--not a piercing attack, but still gets a Free Grapple, and wear Armor Spikes and do AS damage with every Grapple, which also will do Sneak Attack Damage.

If you take Feral Combat Training and Snake Style, your Claws can do Piercing Damage, too, and your Claws get the Free Grapple-Spike-Sneak Attack, too.

[Ryzoken]

It is possible to hit 2d6 SA off of only one level of a rogue class at the cost of a feat. Accomplished Sneak Attacker, I think the feat is called, from the Dirty Tactics Toolbox. This means the absolute earliest entry is Rog 1 Wiz 3. Feel free to substitute any SA granting class for Rog. The usual conundrum is Snakebite Striker Brawler for +1 BAB or Unchained Rogue for best sneak attack (concealment doesn't kill your SA) and free weapon finesse.

[Serisan]

Accomplished Sneak Attacker would be the name of that feat.

[Ryzoken]

Serisan wrote:

Accomplished Sneak Attacker would be the name of that feat.

heh. My ninja edit appears to not have been quite fast enough. Yes, Accomplished Sneak Attacker. Excellent feat for meeting SA prerequisites.

[UnArcaneElection]

Also, if you are allowed to do retraining and you go VMC Rogue, you get Sneak Attack +1d6 at 7th level and another +1d6 every 4 levels after that, so you can retrain out Accomplished Sneak Attacker and/or your Sneak Attack dip level class. The downside of this is that you can't use Rogue as your Sneak Attack dip level class.

Another recommendable choice of Sneak Attack dip level class is Vivisectionist Alchemist. This gives you some useful things: Alchemist Extracts, Brew Potion, Mutagen, and Throw Anything (Vivisectionist trades out Bombs but not this). You also get more useful stuff (including a Discovey) if you decide to go the traditional 3 level Sneak Attack dip with it. Since Alchemist is Intelligence-based, it synergizes well with any Intelligence-based caster (usually Wizard).

[Scott Wilhelm]

UnArcaneElection wrote:

Also, if you are allowed to do retraining and you go VMC Rogue, you get Sneak Attack +1d6 at 7th level and another +1d6 every 4 levels after that, so you can retrain out Accomplished Sneak Attacker and/or your Sneak Attack dip level class. The downside of this is that you can't use Rogue as your Sneak Attack dip level class.

Another recommendable choice of Sneak Attack dip level class is Vivisectionist Alchemist. This gives you some useful things: Alchemist Extracts, Brew Potion, Mutagen, and Throw Anything (Vivisectionist trades out Bombs but not this). You also get more useful stuff (including a Discovey) if you decide to go the traditional 3 level Sneak Attack dip with it. Since Alchemist is Intelligence-based, it synergizes well with any Intelligence-based caster (usually Wizard).

As a build for being Magic and Sneaky that combines arcane power with precision damage, you might just consider being a Vivisectionist Alchemist and forget about being an Arcane Trickster!

[Zinnath the Scary]

Silly humans, I'm a dragon though, is there a way to get the second level spell as a Pseudodragon?

The Accomplished Sneak Attacker feat though does help, so thanks for that advice!

[UnArcaneElection]

^Due to the SLA FAQ nerf, the only way that you can get the second level spell requirement is to actually be able to cast 2nd level spells as one of your normal classes (a few monsters actually cast spells off their monster hit dice, so this would work for them, but pseudodragons do not get this; even if you were a True Dragon and got spellcasting with monster hit dice, Dragon spellcasting advances VERY SLOWLY, which is not what you want for going into a prestige class that wasn't designed to accommodate this).

Scott Wilhelm wrote:

As a build for being Magic and Sneaky that combines arcane power with precision damage, you might just consider being a Vivisectionist Alchemist and forget about being an Arcane Trickster!

If you do this, you might want a trait to get Stealth in class, because pure Vivisectionist Alchemist doesn't get it (Arcane Trickster does, even if your base classes don't).

[Gisher]

Depending on your reasons for wanting Arcane Trickster, you might find the Eldritch Scoundrel Rogue archetype more to your liking. It is really nice when applied to the Unchained Rogue. It gives you a spellcasting Rogue from level 1. It is an Int-based prepared caster though, and you seem to want spontaneous and Cha-based.

[Gulthor]

Doesn't help with the pseudodragon part (and don't you mean faerie dragon?), but there's always Eclectic / Esoteric Training from being in a Spellcasting Guild (they really, really should be feats, though.)

Hitting 5 Fame is pretty effortless since the rules intend you to be able to take ~5 tests and guild sidequests per level.

So 3 levels of your sneak class of choice, 2 levels of wizard (or 3 levels of sorcerer) + eclectic training means your first level of Arcane Trickster at level 6 instead of 7.

Esoteric Training eventually takes care of the other two sneak attack class levels later (this should really only be available to Mystic Theurges, imo, and should still cost feats instead of gold, but there they are in Inner Sea Magic for you...)

[Zinnath the Scary]

Faerie dragons!? Those posers? I mean Pseudodragon!!

[Lanitril]

You know though. If you were a Faerie Dragon, I think you'd only need one level of sorcerer. Since they cast as a third level sorcerer, and it's not SLAs.

I guess what I'd do in your position is to take one level of either Unchained Rogue or Ninja(with accomplished sneak attacker), one level of sorcerer, and whatever else you needed to get in. With Faerie... I mean pseudo ;) dragon of course.