The Lancer: Pathfinder Rogue Build

I had a lot of trouble finding an interesting Rogue build for Pathfinder, so I decided to put one together by myself. I’m not an expert Pathfinder player by any means, so I simply borrowed some elements from Rogue Eidolon’s guide and combined them with some personal touches. My goal wasn’t necessarily to make an optimized build, but a strong one that had some interesting play strategies. The focus of this build? To create a Rogue that excels in hit-and-run combat, especially at landing a massive single blow then retreating to a safe distance. From a lore perspective, I envision a Cú Chulainn or Dragoon type character. A mighty warrior who specializes in extremely mobile combat, using a polearm or spear to keep some distance between himself and his enemies.

The basic strategy with this build is to attack opponents with which, provoke as many AoOs as possible, and use Spring Attack as much as possible once it is acquired at level 5. Although you won’t get multiple attacks, your single attacks will almost allows do Sneak Attack damage and you will be incredibly hard to hit on the battlefield.

A few major points of interest:

• Weapon of choice = lucerne hammer. The reach is invaluable, the damage respectable, and the B/P damage type versatile.
• Spring Attack is the definitive ability for this build, as it allows the Rogue to jump in and out of combat without provoking AoO.
• The single level of Barbarian grants martial weapon proficiency and medium armour training. This is important as it allows the use of armour spikes (allows AoO to adjacent enemies) and mithral medium armour (which still counts as light for evasion). Fast Movement is invaluable as well.
• This build uses two archetypes. The Swashbuckler is mainly used for the extra combat feat, while the Scout’s “Skirmisher” ability allows full sneak attack damage every time you move more than 10 feet in a round. This will be every time you Spring Attack!
• Power Attack is one of the few combat feats that stacks with Spring Attack, so we power it up with Furious Focus and use it all the time.

“Lancer” Rogue Build: Rogue (11) Barbarian (1) | Rogue Archetypes: Scout & Swashbuckler | Race: Human Stats: Str 19 (+4) Dex 16 (+3) Con 13 (+1) Int 8 (-1) Wis 10 (0) Cha 7 (-2) Talents: Armour Expert (-1 armor check penalty) | Adopted; Warrior of Old (+2 Initiative)

 

Level	Class Level	BAB	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	Barbarian (1)	+1	+2	+0	+0	• Feat (Human): Power Attack • Feat: Furious Focus • EX: Rage (4 rounds/day, +2 Str/+2 Con) • EX: Fast Movement (40 ft) • Medium Armour Training • Martial Weapon Training
2	Rogue (1) Barbarian (1)	+1	+2	+2	+0	• EX: Sneak Attack (+1d6) • EX: Martial Training (Lucerne Hammer)
3	Rogue (2) Barbarian (1)	+2	+2	+3	+0	• EX: Evasion • Rogue Talent: Weapon Training (Lucerne Hammer) • Feat: Dodge
4	Rogue (3) Barbarian (1)	+3	+3	+3	+1	• EX: Sneak Attack (+2d6) • Stat Boost: Strength • EX: Daring
5	Rogue (4) Barbarian (1)	+4	+3	+4	+1	• Feat: Mobility • Rogue Talent: Feat: Spring Attack • EX: Scout’s Charge
6	Rogue (5) Barbarian (1)	+4	+3	+4	+1	• EX: Sneak Attack (+3d6)
7	Rogue (6) Barbarian (1)	+5	+4	+5	+2	• Feat: Extra Rage (10 rounds/day) • Rogue Talent: Feat: Combat Reflexes
8	Rogue (7) Barbarian (1)	+6/+1	+4	+5	+2	• EX: Sneak Attack (+4d6) • Stat Boost: Constitution (+2 rages)
9	Rogue (8) Barbarian (1)	+7/+2	+4	+6	+2	• Feat: Fleet • Rogue Talent: Resiliency • EX: Skirmisher
10	Rogue (9) Barbarian (1)	+7/+2	+5	+6	+3	• EX: Sneak Attack (+5d6)
11	Rogue (10) Barbarian (1)	+8/+3	+5	+7	+3	• Feat: Extra Talent: Improved Evasion • Feat: Entanglement of Blades
12	Rogue (11) Barbarian (1)	+9/+4	+5	+7	+3	• EX: Sneak Attack (+6d6) • Stat Boost: Charisma

Hope you enjoyed this build! Keep checkin’ the blog this week for an Unearthed progress update!