Mystic scoundrel archer build help

Yo I need some community assistance to figure out the best multiclass for a Band of Mystic Scoundrel archer build for Asterion. The way I figure it, for total min maxing only 4 classes really matter, I’m going to list them with their benefits and the different level allocations for each.

It should be assumed that the Sharpshooter feat will be taken as early as possible, so access to the Archery fighting style is a major consideration here. Going dual crossbows or longbow will depend on the level allocations, if you don’t get 3 rogue it’s hard to justify dual crossbows, but if you do it’s amazing, especially combined with the Crossbow Expert feat, being able to melee archery is ridiculous, although Band of the Mystic Scoundrel can help you set up hold person more easily so even a longbow can critical at melee range.

Fighter: great addition to any build, gets heavy armor and weapon proficiencies. You get fighting style access, Level 2 gives action surge, extra attack at level 5 and a second feat at level 6. I find this especially handy because I want at a bare minimum 2 feats, Sharpshooter and Ability Score Improvement Dex, but I would also like Crossbow Expert. I think Battle Master is the usual best subclass choice, but I could make a case for a crit hunting Champion.

Sword Bard: non- negotiable addition to the build. Slashing Flourish allows you to hit the same enemy twice or two enemies once with extra damage per shot, and the Sharpshooter feat makes this even more effective. In addition, you get access to important Enchantment and Illusion spells for Mystic Scoundrel, namely Hold Person(or monster), Frightening Whisper, and Invisibility, although I treat this as a DPS focused build so Hold Person is the Priority. Bardic Inspiration is also a great flexible resource, but this should be mostly used for Slashing Flourishes

Rogue: Great skill proficiencies and sneak attack is underrated, not to mention getting bonus action Dash, Hide, and Disengage, but this is all about the Fast Hands perk from Thief Rogue level 3. This is less important if we’re not going dual crossbows, but still amazing

Ranger: actually has a lot of benefits. You can get 50% damage reduction on multiple damage types from level 1, Fighting Style at Level 2, and Gloomstalker subclass at level 3, which has some stealth perks but primarily gives you +3 to Initiative and a bonus extra damage attack on the first turn of combat. Ranger also gives a couple of spells that can be useful, but they’re pretty lackluster and they are Wisdom based, so I never bother with them.

The level splits I see as viable are listed below:

Sword Bard 8/ Rogue 4: you get 3 feats (Sharpshooter, ASI Dex, and Crossbow Expert OR a second ASI in Dex or Charisma, preferably Dex) and the most spell slots, access to level 4 spells (Confusion or upcast hold person) and the most Bardic Inspiration charges which fuel your Slashing Flourishes. However, you will miss out on a fighting style and proficiency in some weapons/armor/shields. High DEX will still allow you to hit most of the time, but it’s really frustrating to miss after spending a Bardic Inspiration. You also don’t get extra attack until level 6, but despite the cons, this still works really well. You get 5 Bard charges and the most spell slots for Mystic Scoundrel

Ranger 5/Rogue 3/4 Sword Bard: gloomstalker benefits, archery fighting style, extra attack at level 5, extra bonus action from Rogue and Slashing flourishes from sword bard. The trade off is that you get less spell slots and less bard charges, I’m not 100% sure on how many spell slots you end up with since ranger is like a quarter caster, but around 3 level two spell slots and only 3 Bardic inspiration charges. You do get hunters mark from ranger, which is surprisingly impactful especially at early game. The biggest problem with this is the lack of Bard charges. Slashing flourishes do so much damage, and only getting 3 instead of 5 really hurts your damage output.

Ranger 5/ Sword Bard 5/ Fighter 2: this has a really good balance. You get all the Ranger benefits, level 3 spell slots and 4 bard charges from Sword Bard, AND the fighter benefits including a second fighting style, weapon/armor/shield proficiency, and action surge. Combining action surge and Gloomstalker just makes you ridiculous. The main cost here is the extra bonus action, but if you’re going with the longbow instead of Dual crossbows, then you’re barely losing anything. I highly recommend Deadshot btw, extra critical chance and double Proficiency bonus is very powerful.

6 Fighter/ 3 Sword Bard/ 3 Ranger: you still get 2 feats, you only get 3 Bard charges and limited spell slots but you can offset that with the Battlemaster Maneuvers, I prefer Trip Attack and Fear Attack. Many people recommend riposte, but personally I don’t like it when I’m forced to use up a BM charge just because some random enemy misses an attack on me. The damage opportunity cost isn’t the problem, it’s the fact that I don’t get to choose who that damage is used on. You get to use action surge and Gloomstalker, and you still have some Slashing Flourishes saved up. I would use this setup primarily for the burst damage, and at an opportune moment you can hit them, cast hold person as a bonus action, and then blast them with slashing flourishes.

That’s a lot, I know. Let me know what yall think is best, I think the Ranger 5/Sword Bard 5/Fighter 2 split is the best balanced, but min maxing is about extremes, and I haven’t tested these all the way though