Try the Stalker; pick up the Deadly Ambush and maybe the Obfuscation arts and pick Solar Wind & Veiled Moon maneuvers. Between Deadly Ambush and the maneuvers you'll be doing about as much damage as a rogue, with no range limit like that on sneak attack.
Unchained Rogue with the Sniper archetype is really the best option due to Rogue's Edge and Skill Unlocks. Select Stealth as your first unlock, this reduces the penalty for sniping by 10. Select halfling as your race and take Swift as Shadows alternate racial trait, this also reduces the penalty for sniping by 10. You now have no penalty to your stealth check to hide again after your first shot. Also halfling grants you a nice +4 bonus to stealth for being small.
Rogue talents to look at; Camouflage, Favored Terrain/Terrain Mastery, Fast Stealth, Hide in Plain Sight.
Pick up light crossbow and Rapid Reload, slap Improved Sniping enchantment onto said crossbow. I like crossbow because they can used while Prone, which doesn't necessarily provide any bonuses to stealth, I can provide a +4 bonus to AC against ranged attacks if you are spotted. Pick up Sniper Goggles as soon as you can. Cloak of Elvenkind. Shadowed Armor, etc.
These are just some basics I've found. You want to reduce your Sniping penalty as quickly as possible. Then work maximizing your Stealth bonuses to ensure your enemies cannot spot you after your attacks.
The biggest problem with sniping is being able to put enough damage into a single shot for it to be meaningful.
Doing 1d8+5 each round while remaining hidden isn't impressive. It's just annoying. You're going to need to find ways to really stack damage bonuses onto singular attacks for it to ever be effective.
The biggest problem with sniping is being able to put enough damage into a single shot for it to be meaningful.
Doing 1d8+5 each round while remaining hidden isn't impressive. It's just annoying. You're going to need to find ways to really stack damage bonuses onto singular attacks for it to ever be effective.
Hence the suggestion for rogue, Sneak Attack. It's the only reason to ever focus on sniping. Sniper Goggles are great for this as they add an extra 2 damage per die of SA. Also, by taking Deadly Sneak (?), you can raise the average damage of each SA die. It takes a lot of focusing and preplanning, but if you can pull it off it's pretty awesome.
Powerful Sneak and Deadly Sneak usually result in an overall net loss of DPR due to the attack penalty and the fact that average damage only increase by 1 (from 3.5 to 4.5) per sneak attack die. However, in a sniping build this may work out since the -2 to your first attack may not be that big of a deal to you.
However, for all the effort put it isn't effective as simply using greater invisibility (provided by a caster) to full attack with sneak attacks. You have to deliberately try to make it better by focusing on it, when with no focus your full attack will still deal much more damage. It's frustrating to say the least.
The Slayer has assassinate for this, which while not perfect is more likely to outright kill the target than most options.
Assassinate (Ex): A slayer with this advanced talent can kill foes that are unable to defend themselves. To attempt to assassinate a target, the slayer must first study his target for 1 round as a standard action. On the following round, if the slayer makes a sneak attack against the target and that target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly killing the target. This attempt automatically fails if the target recognizes the slayer as an enemy. If the sneak attack is successful, the target must attempt a Fortitude saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 the slayer’s level + the slayer’s Intelligence modifier. If the target fails this save, it dies; otherwise, the target takes the sneak attack damage as normal and is then immune to that slayer’s assassinate ability for 24 hours.
Keep in mind that assassinate is not an action, so you can full attack from stealth if your first arrow misses and you really want to force them to make that fort save. You will want the Sniper Goggles unless you use the Sniper archetype for Deadly Range:
Deadly Range (Ex)
At 2nd level, when the sniper makes an attack against a target who is within his weapon's first range increment and completely unaware of his presence, that attack ignores the 30 foot range limit on ranged sneak attacks, and if it is a sneak attack, he adds his sniper level as a bonus on his sneak attack damage roll. After this first attack, the target is aware of the sniper's presence.
I like all the suggestions, thanks guys! I also found a talent that would unlock full attack sneak attacks while stealthed:
Master Sniper.
"As a full-round action, a rogue with this talent may double the sniping penalty to her Stealth check to make a full attack and hide afterward, instead of only making a single attack. All her attacks gain the benefits of being hidden, not just the first."
That's a grey find for snipers; granted its 3PP, but still. If you keep Stealth maxed with Skill Unlock (which every sniper should!) then you can full attack snipe with only a -5 penalty!
For sniping, I prefer rogue due to the extra damage that get over slayers. Also, the slayer sniper archetype specifically states the target is aware of the slayer's presence. Depending on the type of GM you have that could mean you're screwed for trying to hide again. Common sense rules make the intent apparent, but we all know how well that works... But that extra damage is really sick...
Be a kobold and take the snipe feat then take the swipe rogue talent to take no penalty on sniping. Stealth rolls.
this + use vital strike and possibly use the bushwacker archetype, but your range goes down considerably.
The sad part is that we gave feedback of how awkward the new Deadly Range is a long time ago, when it was previewed.
Your sniping slayer is probably better off with sniper goggles, which means you may want to abandon the sniper archetype altogether. The stygian slayer is probably the best at getting the kill and then getting away.
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Remember to pick up Quick Shot as your first Advanced Talent -- it allows you to get a free shot when *initiative is rolled* -- ie you catch them flat-footed no matter what.
I'm also quite fond of picking up Acid Splash or Ray of Frost with Minor Magic -- this gives you the ability to get sneak attack elemental damage on an attack vs touch AC. Then take Vanish with Major Magic and you don't even need to worry about Hide in Plain Sight most of the time. (Those also open Dispelling Strike -- which can be a great leadoff with Quick Shot.)
The Unchained rogue can take any rogue talent, not just the ones in the Unchained book. They are also compatible with any rogue archetype. If an ability for the UnC rogue has a different name, but identical feature as the Core rogue it can be replaced by an archetype.
I believe it was Mark who posted that somewhere on the boards. I'm posting on my phone so I currently cannot find the post to link it.
Also, if you do go slayer, the sniper archetype is absolutely worth it! Extra damage based on your full level in addition to that provided by the goggles. My personal take on the slayer sniper ability as a GM is this; 1st attack the target is unaware anyone is around. 1st attack is successful, SA applies and stealth is remade. The target fails their perception check to locate the sniper. The target is aware someone attacked, but does not automatically locate the sniper. 2nd attack hits, SA applies because the sniper is essentially invisible and thus is denied Dex against that attack. Stealth check vs. perception again. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Ph, that's a good suggestion with Vanish. A very good way to keep gaining ranged SA when you cannot gain the best sniping conditions.
I am unaware of any good sniping style PrCs.
I don't think you can take Combat Trick more than once.
If you're going with the unchained rogue and using a crossbow, then camouflage, surprise attack and either rogue crawl or stand up seem like they'd be useful talents. Note that you can use a crossbow while prone just fine (& it might be easier to hide while prone) hence mentioning the last two talents.
By level 19 you're going to be far behind on will saves as a rogue/slayer; it's boring but Iron Will might not be the worst choice.
The stalker I suggested isn't a rogue archetype though, it's a separate class. Just in case you missed it.