Sniper Rogue Advice

[sphar]

Okay,so for Pathfinder Society I'm wanting to play a sniper-style rogue.

So far,I'm thinking a crossbow,using the sniper archetype(a really distant Sneak Attack),and a pumped Stealth.Basically,I wanna blow something up before it knows whats happening.I don't know what race to choose,but I'm thinking either Elf,Halfling,or Human.

Since I'm starting at level 1,I can't really do alot at the moment,but once I start to level up what feats/rogue talents should I use?So far I'm thinking....

FEATS
L1:Point-Blank Shot
L2:Precise Shot
L2(Rogue Talent):Weapon Focus(Light Crossbow)

ROGUE TALENTS
L2:Combat Trick
L4:Fast Stealth
L6:Snap Shot
L8:Sniper's Eye

Any ideas?

[Merck]

Im not 100% sure on the society rules and I know it has nothing to do with your original idea but i would recommend mighty composite bow build rogue / wizard going for arcane trickster with improved invisibility.

Or

Wisdom optimized zen archer monk with flaming+frost+shock+acid dmg enchantment on bow later on. Its as overpowered as you can get with a bow.

Sneak attack ranged builds are very dificult to pull off.

[calagnar]

If your trying to make it work you will need. Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Shot on the Run. This will let you move from cover shoot move back to cover. This how ever limites you to one attack per round. Nice if your fighting solo at range. How ever if your fighting any thing else you are not doing enough front end damage. A short bow will work better even if you start with a 14 Str you can have a MW composet short bow (Str2) and get a +2 damage on every hit. Powerfull Sneak/Deadly Sneak transform the damage curve of sneak attack in a very good way. Powerfull Sneak moves min damage on 5D6 to 10. Deadly sneak move min damage on 5D6 to 15.

Feats:
Human Bonus: Dodge
1: Mobility
3: Point Blank Shot
5: Presise Shot
7: Shot on the Run
9: Weapon Focus
11: Improved Critical
Rogue Talents:
2: Suprise Attack
4: Fast Stealth
6: Sniper's Eye
8: Powerfull Sneak (5D6avarge17.5 with PS 5D6avarage18.3)
10: Deadly Sneak (5D6avarage17.5 with DS 5D6avarage20)

[Retech]

1. Play a goblin
2. Reduce person spell
3. Young-Simple Template

Good game, that's +18 to stealth right there.

[Shifty]

Loving that size Tiny damage... :(

[Retech]

The main damage would be to pump out stealth damage repeatedly. :P

[Shifty]

Retech wrote:

The main damage would be to pump out stealth damage repeatedly. :P

Yeah not as good as it sounds though.

You get one shot off, the restealth at -20.

By the second shot (nextround) your cover is going to be pretty much blown... -40 cumulative penalty is going to add up.

My theory behind a sniper is to get all the distance you can, then sneak attack with bleed. Then run off and let them bleed out and die. Or Bleed+Poison.

[Retech]

I thought it's just that one off -20 for that one roll? Also, there is a rogue talent that reduces it to -10.

[Shifty]

Retech wrote:

I thought it's just that one off -20 for that one roll? Also, there is a rogue talent that reduces it to -10.

Oh yeah I guess you still get a full roll, just at -20.

You are just going to be limited to one shot a round, and then have to hide...

As long as you roll well each round I guess you could notionally hide for ages (as long as you dont roll poorly!) but the baddies will probably move out of range after the first few shots.

I still think hit and run is the way forward :p

[calagnar]

Note thats why you need shot on the run with any rogue sniper build. You can move from 100% cover shoot move to 100% cover and restealth. With out the -20 becous they lost line of sight with you every time.