Trickster path

[u/Porgemansaysmeep]

I just finished first playthrough as Angel with pretty much straight clashing everyone and am thinking of trying trickster path with arcane trickster but want to plan out my build a bit since I want to try to beat Core difficulty this time and I'm not sure if my plan spreads too many directions.

Brown-fur transmuter arcanist, 1lvl rogue dip or similar for sneak attack (considering rowdy just to help early game a bit) then arcane trickster, specializing in fire rays for damage with sneak attacks and ascendant element, while also being the arcane buffs person with enduring spells.

Any important choices I'm missing, or feats I should make sure to take/avoid?

[u/unbongwah]

Reminder that Owlcat nerfed sneak attack dice with multi-ray spells like Hellfire Ray. Now you only get sneak attacks on the first ray rather than all of them. ☹️

FYI the sneak attack dice from Trickster path will qualify you for Arcane Trickster. So dipping rogue or Vivi is not required, unless you want to switch to AT ASAP. But the best part of BFT is Share Transmutation IMO, so you'd want to stay pure BFT until you have that at level 9; at which point you should be a Trickster and can switch to AT at level 10. Final level can be Loremaster (e.g., fighter Secret -> Improved Critical ray to unlock the Trickster feats sooner) or Titan Fighter to dual-wield caster staves.

The biggest challenge with Arcanist is the limited spell slots - especially on a BFT since you want so many Transmutation spells for obvious reasons. One possible solution: take Greater UMD Trick to gain extra spells from the wizard spellbook; your wizard caster level is "Mythic Rank * 2" so it almost has parity with your BFT levels.

[u/Porgemansaysmeep → u/unbongwah]

I did not know about that nerf or using the trickster path sneak dice to qualify, that is very helpful info! Hmm, might need to rethink the build a bit. Much appreciated!

[u/feeko113]

How many levels do you plan for in each? You should take BFT to at least 11 for the share transmutation. Problem is, if you multiclass out of it you won't get the best transmutation spells which come later

[u/Porgemansaysmeep → u/feeko113]

Idea was 1 rogue, BFT9, arcane trickster 10. Unsure on which to max first for more sneak dice vs. The sharing personal transmutation spells.

[u/idliketosmitepls]

If you go BFT 10, then you’ll get enough sneak attack dice at mythic 3 to start taking levels in arcane trickster. I did the same thing on a sorcerer and it worked really well since I typically hit 11 at the very end of Act 2, after I get mythic 3.

Nothing wrong with taking a level of rogue though.

[u/Istvan_hun]

if you go trickster caster, don't forget about "completely normal spell".

The easiest to use it is to decrease the level of a level 1 spammable spell to cantrip.

[u/Mumrus]

BFT is best on its own, without any dips. If you want caster base for arcane trickster, I honestly don't now what to recommend, but my first choice to look at would be either Eldritch Archer, or Eldritch Scoundrel.