Best Feats for Scout Rogue 5e
by Prince Phantom
I have never understood the people that claim this subclass is like a Ranger that focuses more on combat than exploration, because the Scout is much worse in both regards. Our 3rd level features mildly enhance a few skills and… let us move half our speed as a reaction if an enemy ends their turn within 5ft of us. Boy, that sure doesn’t directly compete with our main defensive feature, uncanny dodge!
The rest of the subclass isn’t any better, with a 10ft speed boost at level 9, a decent feature at 13, and finally something actually good at level 17. Yeah I’m not picking a subclass that makes me wait 17 levels for a feature I actually care about, but if this sounds like fun to you, allow me to recommend a few feats that should hopefully make your campaign a little less boring.
Best Feats for Scout Rogue 5e
Crossbow Expert/Sharpshooter (ASAP): But hey, aren’t we getting a bonus action attack from our subclass eventually? Yes, at level 17. I am not gimping myself for 16 levels just to save a feat selection. Crossbow Expert is still good for us even if your starting at level 17, as we can now fire a light crossbow instead of a hand crossbow, which is the most damaging option assuming you don’t have proficiency in martial weapons, in which case use the heavy crossbow. Of course we take Sharpshooter because we want our damage to actually be relevant.
Mobile (Lv 8): I’m really trying to eek out even the smallest levels of synergy between our feats and abilities, and an extra 10ft of movement does let us scamper a little bit further away when an enemy gets too close to us. Crossbow Expert is also letting us attack in melee without disadvantage, so we can hit an enemy and then not have to disengage with our bonus action and can instead make another attack. This isn’t exactly a glowing recommendation, but it’s one of the few ways to improve our lackluster subclass directly.
Ritual Caster (Lv 8): Do you want to actually be an effective scout? Get a familiar. I’m recommending this over Magic Initiate because we aren’t really desperate for any cantrips, we should easily be able to get a 13 Wisdom, and Ritual Caster has a much higher ceiling with the ability to gain more ritual spells as you find them. I really recommend it if you have a Wizard in your party whose homework you can copy.
Telepathic (Lv 10): While this doesn’t directly improve our abilities, it might make us better at something we want to be doing. Stealth and scouting missions are a ton easier when you can communicate silently, Detect Thoughts is a personal favorite spell of mine. In the right campaign this spell can completely break a social encounter, allowing you to know exactly what the other individual is thinking and wanting. Remember, you get to hear their surface thoughts for free, no save, and surface thoughts in my opinion offer a ton already. Your DM may run things differently, but I rule surface thoughts as whatever the creature is thinking about right now most prominently. In practice, I like to think of it as the creatures inner monologue. You know how we all talk to ourselves in our heads, sometimes even debating with ourself over a decision? Yeah that. Makes for really fun roleplay too.
Honorable Mentions: Gunner/Poisoner (Take at level 1 and 8, with Sharpshooter at 4): If you were hoping that this would play more like how scouts are typically portrayed in FPS video games (besides Team Fortress 2), then I have a solution for you, assuming your DM is cool with firearms in the first place. Gunner lets us actually use a hunting rifle effectively (or whatever the best gun your DM will let you have, maybe you can happen upon an antimatter rifle at high levels). Sharpshooter at level 4 keeps our damage good, and since we aren’t using our bonus action to attack, we can instead use Poisoner to apply a poison with that bonus action. There are tons of awesome poisons in the game besides what the feat allows you to create, so work with your DM to craft and come upon these poisons. Also, ask your DM if their campaign is going to have a bunch of poison immune enemies like a zombie apocalypse or nine hells centered campaign. Definitely pick a different build if that’s the case.
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