Stealth Archer (Honour Mode)
Final composition: Gloom Stalker Ranger 5 / Assassin Rogue 5 / Fighter 2 Previous iteration: Gloom Stalker 5 / Assassin 4 / Fighter 2 / War Cleric 1 — the bonus-action attack (War Priest) is “extremely inconsistent”, so the author now only uses it occasionally. Either variation works.
Why this split
Online from level 3 with two attacks and +3 Initiative — no other class has such a start. Initiative is king in Honour Mode: +3 saves you when a failed dialogue check or a bad roll drops you into combat. Assassin’s Assassinate turns surprise into guaranteed crits (2,000+ damage turn one), while Stealth + Greater Invisibility lets you attack without being seen, and Darkness arrows provide near-invulnerability even without Greater Invisibility.
Character Creation
| Field | Pick |
|---|---|
| Origin | Dark Urge (recommended) |
| Race | Any |
| Background | Player’s choice |
| Class | Ranger |
| Skills | Sleight of Hand, Stealth |
L1 also picks: Favoured Enemy (Ranger Knight or Keeper of the Veil), Natural Explorer (Urban or Tracker), Wasteland Wanderer (Fire).
How the Surprise Engine Works (read once)
- Assassinate: attacks against a surprised creature are automatic critical hits. With the right gear, 3-digit damage per attack (record ~2,000+ turn one).
- Triggering surprise reliably: go invisible, then attack from within the target’s 5 m radius — very consistent. Weapon attacks from further away are unreliable.
- ⚠️ Many ‘bosses’ — especially on Honour Mode — have Alert and cannot be surprised. Check targets before planning a surprise round.
- Dread Ambusher: Hide (L3) breaks the enemy AI: out of line of sight, enemies either skip their turn or investigate your last known position. This is why you don’t often use Hunter’s Mark — Hide already takes your bonus action.
- Greater Invisibility stealth checks (Patch 8, Honour): the DC scales quadratically:
15 + (previous successful checks)².Turn DC 1 15 2 16 3 19 4 24 5 31 6 40 7 51 Passing more than 4 checks is incredibly difficult — plan your turn-one budget accordingly. (Tactician and below scale linearly.) - Darkness usage: equip the Eversight Ring, generate Darkness, and use your bonus action to hide inside it — enemies cannot find you without see-in-magical-darkness. Darkness arrows last 3 turns (hover + press T to inspect the patch’s remaining duration); Darkness scrolls last 10 turns but are concentration.
Level-by-Level
L1 — Ranger 1
- Favoured Enemy (Ranger Knight or Keeper of the Veil), Natural Explorer (Urban or Tracker), Wasteland Wanderer (Fire).
L2 — Ranger 2
- Fighting Style: Archery (+2 to range attacks — big consistency boost).
- Spells: Enhance Leap, Longstrider (ritual — no slot outside combat).
L3 — Ranger 3 — Gloom Stalker — power spike
- Subclass: Dread Ambusher (+initiative, +movement, extra attack, +1d8 damage) + Dread Ambusher: Hide.
- This is the build coming online.
L4 — Rogue 4 — first feat
- Feat: Sharpshooter (+10 damage / −5 to hit; mitigate with Advantage, Bless, high ground, prone attacks, or the Risky Ring).
L5 — Rogue 5
- Spells: Misty Step, Pass Without Trace (large Stealth bonus until your next long rest).
L6 — Rogue 6
- Sneak Attack 1d6. Skills: Athletics + Stealth.
L7 — Rogue 7
- Cunning Action: Dash / Disengage / Hide.
L8 — Rogue 8 — Assassin — power spike
- Sneak Attack 2d6, Assassin’s Alacrity, Assassinate: Ambush + Initiative.
L9 — Rogue 9
- Feat: Ability Improvement +2 DEX.
L10 — Fighter 10 (Fighter 1)
- Fighting Style: Defence (+1 AC).
L11 — Fighter 11 (Fighter 2)
- Action Surge — huge for the turn-one nova.
L12 — Rogue 12
- Sneak Attack 3d6, Uncanny Dodge. (Previous-iteration variant: L12 is War Cleric 1 instead — bonus-action attack via War Priest.)
Build Variants
| Variant | Stats (S/D/C/I/W/C) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Archer | 8/17/14/8/16/10 | Same core; Coldbrim Hat, Winter’s Clutches, Snowburst Ring, Drakethroat Glaive (Ice). Encrusted with Frost stacks in 2 attacks → Frozen target + slippery area. Free CC. |
| Eldritch Knight Archer | 8/16/14/16/10/10, EK Fighter 12 | Feats: Sharpshooter, Alert, ASI DEX ×2. Used for the Impossible Challenge (500% enemy HP). Loop: Arrow of Many Targets to build arcane acuity + eldritch inertia → bonus-action Hold Person/Monster → autocrit the field with Arrows of Many Targets. Band of the Mystic Scoundrel synergises with Eldritch Strike. |
| OTK Assassin by Stealth | 8/17/14/8/10/16, Swords Bard 6 / Assassin 3 / Gloom Stalker 3 | Feat: Sharpshooter. Not recommended personally: weak Act 1 initiative (no Alert yet), no longbow proficiency for the Titanstring, second martial attack only at level 6, only 1 feat with Swift Quiver. |
Key Items
| Item | Act | Why | ⭐ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titanstring | 1 | Core Act 1 bow — 2,148 avg nova | ⭐ |
| Vicious Shortbow | 2 | 2,347 avg nova | ⭐ |
| Dead Shot | 3 | 2,058 avg nova, no bloodlust needed | ⭐ |
| Eversight Ring | 1-2 | Darkness invisibility | ⭐ |
| Shadow-Cloaked Ring | 1-2 | Stealth gear | |
| Helmet of Arcane Acuity | 1-2 | Bosses: Hold + Arrow of Many Targets combo | |
| Adamantine Shield | 1-2 | AC | |
| Drakethroat Glaive | 3 | Setup: Thunder on Titanstring, Ice for Snowburst Ring, Acid for Ichorous Gloves | ⭐ |
| Shadeclinger Armour | 3 | Equip/remove to offset the Risky Ring’s Disadvantage | |
| Silver Pendant / Amulet of Greater Health / Broodmother’s Revenge | 2-3 | Neck: utility / survivability / damage | |
| Cloak of Protection / Wavemother’s Cloak | 1-2 | Cloak slot options | |
| Gloves of Archery / Winter’s Gloves | 1-2 | Damage / Ice Archer | |
| Strange Conduit Ring / Snowburst Ring | 1-2 | Ring slot options | |
| Elixir of Bloodlust, Hill Giant Strength | general | Consumables | ⭐ |
| Potion of Speed / Invisibility | general | Consumables |
Damage math (average turn-one nova: Dread Ambusher + Action (2 attacks) + Action Surge (2) + War Priest + Haste — War Priest is from the War Cleric variant):
| Bow | Piercing | Poison | Psychic | Force | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titanstring | 1,458 | 105 | 150 | 435 | 2,148 |
| Vicious Shortbow | 1,582 | 119 | 170 | 476 | 2,347 |
| Dead Shot | 1,412 | 119 | 170 | 357 | 2,058 |
| vs. Gontr Mael | 1,446 | 119 | 170 | 357 | 2,092 |
The last row is the PDF’s “Gontr Mael damage” block — the same nova recalculated for that Honour encounter (higher STR term in the formula). Gontr Mael is a boss, not gear.
Combat Pattern
- Initiative: +3 from Gloom Stalker — you almost always go first.
- Turn one: invisible (Greater Invisibility or Darkness) → surprise attack within 5 m → guaranteed crits; spend Action Surge + Haste (+ War Priest charge on the War Cleric variant) for the full nova.
- Standard turn: Hide (bonus action) to skip enemy attention, reposition, repeat. Track your stealth-check budget (see table above).
- Sustained fights: Darkness arrows for re-invisibility windows; save Action Surge for boss round ones.
Act-by-Act Priority
| Act | Priority | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Titanstring, Archery style, Adamantine Shield | Strongest possible start — this is the whole point |
| 2 | Vicious Shortbow, Sharpshooter mitigation (Advantage/high ground/prone), Eversight Ring | 100+ damage turn one becomes routine |
| 3 | Dead Shot, Drakethroat setup, four-digit novas | Gear abundance makes the build trivially broken |
Honour Mode Reminders
- ⚠️ Check for Alert before every surprise plan — many Honour bosses can’t be surprised.
- The +3 initiative is your safety net for the run: it recovers you from a botched dialogue check.
- Stealth DCs get quadratic — stop hiding after ~4 successful checks and reposition instead.
- Terazul is the Honour boss the nova math is calculated against; Bloodlust is the difference between 2k and 2.3k+ novas.
- Infinite First Turns tech (see Tips) is most compatible with this build — thin the herd before committing to turn order.
- Works in a party too: your nova leaves only stragglers for the cleanup crew.
Source
- Build PDF (canonical, updated 2026-07-18): Party Build Template — Google Drive
- Video: TOP 4 BUILDS TO WIN YOUR HONOUR RUN (section at 17:26) · dedicated Stealth Archer guide
- Community pathing guide by Peaches (last updated Patch 6 — check against current patch).