"can't have disadvantage against target" when doing sneak attacks

[Space Cowboy]

I get this message every time I try to pull off a sneak attack with Astarion. So, what am I missing?

[RhodosGuard]

Sneak attack has 2 conditions:
You need advantage (or a friendly creature within melee range of the enemy)
and you cant have disadvantage.

Disadvantage for ranged attacks usually comes from 2 sources:
being too close to your target
your target being obscured (in darker light)

But any source of disadvantage will show that. Like being poisoned.

[Malthar]

Originally posted by RhodosGuard:

Sneak attack has 2 conditions:
You need advantage (or a friendly creature within melee range of the enemy)
and you cant have disadvantage.

Disadvantage for ranged attacks usually comes from 2 sources:
being too close to your target
your target being obscured (in darker light)

But any source of disadvantage will show that. Like being poisoned.

this, pmuch cause the disadvantage cancels out the advantage

[Toffe]

for ranged, also your opponent having the high ground.

basically, you need an advantage to even pull off a sneak attack

[A Wispy Willy]

There's also shooting outside normal range.

[HarmfulCrayon]

I was having this happen when I accidentally gave him medium armor boots and a shield, which he has no proficiency for, aka can't get advantage at all. To add to above it can also happen from not sneaking successfully or from being outside the ranged weapon's range.

[RhodosGuard]

Originally posted by Toffe:

for ranged, also your opponent having the high ground.

basically, you need an advantage to even pull off a sneak attack

High Ground does not impose disadvantage iirc, it just reduces your "To Hit" by 2

And you do not need advantage if a friendly creature is within the enemies melee range.

[Space Cowboy]

Originally posted by Toffe:

for ranged, also your opponent having the high ground.

basically, you need an advantage to even pull off a sneak attack

Is there a way to reliably get an advantage? So far I wasn't able to pull it off even once. Granted I stopped trying after the first couple of failed attempts where I might just have been unlucky with positioning or other factors.

[Malthar]

Originally posted by Space Cowboy:

Originally posted by Toffe:

for ranged, also your opponent having the high ground.

basically, you need an advantage to even pull off a sneak attack

Is there a way to reliably get an advantage? So far I wasn't able to pull it off even once. Granted I stopped trying after the first couple of failed attempts where I might just have been unlucky with positioning or other factors.

hide

[myhv]

"Can't have disadvantage against target" literally means that you have disadvantage right now, so you cannot use sneak attack. You need advantage to do that. Two easiest ways to get advantage is to either be hidden (hence why rogues can hide as a bonus action), or to have an ally withing 1.5 meters from the target you're attacking, who can "assist"/distract.

So easy sneak attacks would be giving him a bow and attacking enemies that are engaged by your melee chars.

[Alpha Bat]

Originally posted by Space Cowboy:

Is there a way to reliably get an advantage? So far I wasn't able to pull it off even once. Granted I stopped trying after the first couple of failed attempts where I might just have been unlucky with positioning or other factors.

There's plenty of ways but the most accessible would be being in stealth before attack. Rogues get this handy ability right at the start where they can use their bonus action to hide. Turn a corner, use the bonus action hide, come back out and pop them with advantage.

You could also forego the advantage all together by just having a party member in melee range of the target.

The most important to make sure of is to not have any disadvantage, which people have already covered above. "Outside of normal range" is the one that usually gets me.

[RhodosGuard]

If you are mostly playing in melee with a Rapier/shortsword you can try using Flourish as a bonus action, which puts the enemy off balance and gives you advantage on the next attack on them, which you can immediatly use for a sneak attack.

[Toffe]

Originally posted by Space Cowboy:

Originally posted by Toffe:

for ranged, also your opponent having the high ground.

basically, you need an advantage to even pull off a sneak attack

Is there a way to reliably get an advantage? So far I wasn't able to pull it off even once. Granted I stopped trying after the first couple of failed attempts where I might just have been unlucky with positioning or other factors.

have Astarion bite a humanoid for "happy", have the high ground or be hidden / both
sometimes it's weird though. but I've put everything on ask (the reactions) and sometimes i'm forced to do a normal attack even though I should be able to do a sneak attack, then it simply asks me if i want to do it as a sneak attack. try that maybe

[RhodosGuard]

Originally posted by Toffe:

Originally posted by Space Cowboy:

Is there a way to reliably get an advantage? So far I wasn't able to pull it off even once. Granted I stopped trying after the first couple of failed attempts where I might just have been unlucky with positioning or other factors.

have Astarion bite a humanoid for "happy", have the high ground or be hidden / both
sometimes it's weird though. but I've put everything on ask (the reactions) and sometimes i'm forced to do a normal attack even though I should be able to do a sneak attack, then it simply asks me if i want to do it as a sneak attack. try that maybe

Again, High Ground and Happy are "fix" boni to your "To hit" they do not equate to having advantage.
As said, the easiest way to get advantage is to hide (while outside of the enemies line of sight/cone of vision) or to use an action that grants you advantage (have a melee character daze them or put them off balance) or to just have a melee character in range of the enemy, because that means you dont need advantage.

[Toffe]

Originally posted by RhodosGuard:

Originally posted by Toffe:

have Astarion bite a humanoid for "happy", have the high ground or be hidden / both
sometimes it's weird though. but I've put everything on ask (the reactions) and sometimes i'm forced to do a normal attack even though I should be able to do a sneak attack, then it simply asks me if i want to do it as a sneak attack. try that maybe

Again, High Ground and Happy are "fix" boni to your "To hit" they do not equate to having advantage.
As said, the easiest way to get advantage is to hide (while outside of the enemies line of sight/cone of vision) or to use an action that grants you advantage (have a melee character daze them or put them off balance) or to just have a melee character in range of the enemy, because that means you dont need advantage.

alright, my bad. it just shows up next to advantage or added in with that so thought it were connected somehow. but what about ranged attacks that are not possible through pressing sneak attack but are available the moment i hit?

[Bangudra]

For me, I was wearing medium boots, took em off and disadvantage was gone