So, we just hit 7th level in Rise of the Runelords (Anniversary Edition, if it matters, which I don't think it does), and my Bolt Ace Gunslinger 5/Sniper Slayer 2 is having difficulty hitting enemies with 20 AC or higher, which is now becoming commonplace, since Full Plate is a thing.
Our money hasn't exactly been the best. We've only been able to shop for anything one time, and that was about halfway through our adventuring career. The other time we could have, we didn't get a lot of money because we had a PC death due to so many Save/Suck effects (seriously, every encounter has had them so far), and the occasional bad rolling (which everyone does from time to time), meaning our second time of shopping was spent bringing back a dead guy. Not exactly eventful or productive...
Even with a 19 Dexterity and a +1 Heavy Crossbow, I'm only having a +12 to hit, and with Rapid Shot and Deadly Aim, it's a mere +8. Granted, I could stand not to use them, but lacking a full BAB attack and cutting my bonus damage down to punitive levels just doesn't cut it.
Studied Target gives an extra +1 (attack and damage), but I'm lacking the time and action economy to reliably make use of it, which won't be a guaranteed thing until I hit character level 12, meaning I can't count on it. And I'd rather not have to burn all 4 of my Grit Points to target Touch AC just to be able to contribute to a single combat. (I'd prefer to save them for the Boss, so I can just burn him down very fast.)
The only means I can come up with to improve my to-hit is to either enhance my Crossbow further, or to save up and purchase a Dexterity belt. The former has to be done, because nobody uses crossbows (and therefore I can expect to not find one), and the latter I shouldn't do because it's a Big 6 item, and I can (hopefully) expect to find it as loot, which means spending money on it becomes a fruitless endeavor.
Clearly, there are more ways to improve my to-hit (or reduce my penalties), but they just aren't making themselves apparent to me. Does anyone have any other ideas as to how I can accomplish this?
Improved Critical will help you regain some grit points, though you can't get it until 9th. I don't know what sort of penalties exactly you're facing - a silver nocking point (3150 gp) helps with wind, when you can get seeking (+6000 assuming +1 already) on your crossbow that helps with concealment.
Depending on whether there's a bard in the party, a pale green prism (4000 gp) or dusty rose prism (5000 gp) ioun stone is another +1.
BTW, with gunslinger and slayer your BAB should be full. Am I misunderstanding you?
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Reduce person is good for an easy +2 to hit. The damage die decrease is offset by the extra +1 damage from the dexterity increase.
Part of the problem is that slayer is a poor choice for a follow up class to Gunslinger. Weapon master fighter or urban barbarian would have given you a bit more than slayer.
Improved Critical will help you regain some grit points, though you can't get it until 9th. I don't know what sort of penalties exactly you're facing - a silver nocking point (3150 gp) helps with wind, when you can get seeking (+6000 assuming +1 already) on your crossbow that helps with concealment.
Depending on whether there's a bard in the party, a pale green prism (4000 gp) or dusty rose prism (5000 gp) ioun stone is another +1.
BTW, with gunslinger and slayer your BAB should be full. Am I misunderstanding you?
My base +12 is from 7 BAB, 4 Dexterity, and 1 Enhancement. That's really all I get for bonuses.
No bard in the party. We have a Wizard, a Paladin, a Warpriest, and an Inquisitor. The Paladin doesn't get much spells, so relying on him to buff isn't exactly a good idea. Warpriest is too afraid to buff because he worries about his spell slots waaay too much. (We've completed bossfights and he hasn't burned a single spell slot; not sure if I should commend him or be appalled.) And the Inquisitor usually has to buff himself with stuff like Expeditious Retreat in order to complete encounters properly (too many bad guys running off). If the Inquisitor used spells like Divine Favor, he'd be a force of reckoning, especially since he's Destruction Domain (Ragathiel deity with Bastard Sword) with a custom magic item that allows him to super-charge his Smite ability 1/day (grants the effect to allies within 30 feet, increases his effect by 50%).
Wizard is an Illusionist, and Illusionists have little to no buff spells, sans things like Blur (which doesn't help my to-hit problem). He otherwise really only buffs himself with things like Mage Armor, Shield, False Life, Mirror Images, etc.
@ GM Rednal: Why not? I thought the reason they're called the Big 6 is because humanoids (usually) need them in order to properly scale up against things that don't? I may have to cave in and buy one, but I'm hoping I don't have to, simply because spending money on an item that will get replaced is a huge waste of the limited resources that you're given from the adventure.
@ Imbicatus: Reduce Person is a Transmutation effect. The Illusionist has Transmutation as his opposed school. (Of course, the last Wizard player we had prior to that also had it opposed, ironically enough. Apparently my group just hates Transmutation spells.) So, I can't reliably expect that buff.
I considered the Fighter archetype, but I declined it due to poor Reflex Saves and lack of skill points. Advanced Weapon Training can't shore up the factor that I'm our group's only skill monkey, per se, having 9+ ranks to spend. Urban Barbarian ran into similar issues, but the most significant of them was the factor that I'd be using Unchained Raging rules, which means I don't get all of the Dexterity goodies I'd normally get.
Haste is transmutation too, the illusionist with it as an opposition school may not want to devote 2 3rd level slots to each casting. They might be more willing to cast greater invisibility on you for a boss fight, possibly? Being invisible is +2 attack for you & no dex bonus for the enemy. Mass dazzling blade or glitterdust to blind the enemy would have a similar if less reliable effect.
We only just hit 7th level, and the spells he chose were Phantasmal Killer and Dimension Door. Not bad picks, but they aren't Greater Invisibility. (He doesn't have regular Invisibility either, so...ironic, huh?)
Also, Haste was banned at our table for it being too common/overpowered of a 3rd level spell. Slow was banned as counter-balance.