Bounty Hunter is a kit for the Thief class, characterized as a hunter of men, skilled in tracking quarry and bringing them back alive.
The bounty hunter's special ability is Set Special Snare, which they get in addition to the standard thief traps. These traps are effective for crowd control in addition to damage, slowing enemies at the early levels and eventually graduating to holding and even mazing enemies.
These traps come at the cost of 5 fewer skill points than the standard thief per level, which by itself isn't nearly as steep a price as the Assassin pays for their abilities. However, the special snares, like all other thief traps, are reliant on the bounty hunter's Set Traps score to set them successfully. Which means bounty hunters will need to invest points in that skill sooner than all other thieves would, if they intend to use their unique abilities to their fullest from the start. So much like assassins, bounty hunters will likely have to rely on thief stat-boosting equipment and potions (such as Shadow Armor and Potion of Perception) in the early-going.
Companion Yoshimo in Baldur's Gate II is a bounty hunter.
Advantages[]
- +15 bonus to Set Traps.
- May use the Set Special Snare ability once per day in addition to the normal Thief's Set Snare. Gains one use at level 1 and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter. Set a trap in the chosen location when no hostile creatures are in sight. Traps grow more powerful with the Bounty Hunter's level and can only be triggered by enemies.
- 1st level: Deals 3d8+5 missile damage and slows targets for 5 rounds if a Save vs. Spell with a -4 penalty is failed.
11th level: Deals 4d8+5 missile damage and holds humanoid targets for 5 rounds if a Save vs. Spell with a -1 penalty is failed.
16th level: Erects an Otiluke's Resilient Sphere around the targets for 7 rounds if a Save vs. Spell is failed.
21st level: Mazes the targets, no save, ignores magic resistance.
- 1st level: Deals 3d8+5 missile damage and slows targets for 5 rounds if a Save vs. Spell with a -4 penalty is failed.
Disadvantages[]
- May only distribute 20 skill points per level among thieving skills.
Special Snares gameplay[]
- The success of laying a Special Snare is governed by the bounty hunter's Set Traps score, just as the standard thief traps are.
- Special Snares are area of effect traps and target multiple enemies in their radius when triggered.
- Special Snares are "thrown" when the bounty hunter sets them. Meaning, instead of walking over to the location to set the trap, as what happens with standard thief traps and even the high-level ability traps, bounty hunters stay in place and fling their Special Snares to wherever they want them to be set. This works as long as enemies are not within the bounty hunter's eyesight.
- Because Special Snares are "thrown," bounty hunters can enact the Fog of War Trick by scouting ahead to a group of enemies, backing away until the enemies are just out of sight, then throwing their snare just inside the edge of vision, triggering the trap. This is arguably the bounty hunter's greatest asset and allows them to be effective even as a single-class thief in high-level play.
- The slow and hold snares' damage cannot be blocked by magic resistance, but their control effects can be.
- The missile immunity of certain enemies (eg Battle Horror) also applies to the damage from traps
- The hold trap will only hold humanoid enemies, the same as the Hold Person spell.
- The Otiluke's snare, which does no damage, can be entirely nullified by magic resistance.
- The maze snare, however, ignores magic resistance, making it very effective for high-level play.
- New Special Snare properties gained when bounty hunters reach a certain level replace the previous snares entirely. This can be an issue for some players and encourages dual-classing in some cases, as described below.
Dual-classing and locking Special Snares[]
The information in this section does not apply to the latest Enhanced Edition, as (unlike regular traps) the Set Special Snare ability scales with the average of both classes' (the inactive and active class) levels rounded up, making it so even a Bounty Hunter dualed at level 2 might still eventually get access to the Maze trap.
The upgrades Special Snares get when the bounty hunter reaches certain levels are not necessarily strict improvements over their early-level counterparts, especially when it pertains to the saving throw penalties.
For example, at 11th-level, while the hold effect gained at this level is stronger than slow in itself, the hold trap comes with a much smaller saving throw penalty than the slow trap did (-1 vs. -4). The hold effect also only works on humanoid enemies, as the spell Hold Person does. Some players may feel the higher success rate for inflicting slow outweighs the stronger effect of hold that will be inflicted at a lower success rate and on fewer enemy types.
However, since the new snares gained at certain levels always outright replace the previous ones, the only way to lock the bounty hunter's Special Snare into the player's preferred option is to dual-class (valid options are to Fighter, Mage, and Cleric).
Dualing at level 10 or earlier locks the Special Snare at the slow with -4 save penalty version.
Dualing from level 11 to 15 locks the Special Snare at the hold with -1 save penalty version.
The Otiluke's snare from level 16 to 20 makes for perhaps the worst stretch of the bounty hunter's career. Because the trap does no damage, and there is no save penalty at all against the Otiluke's sphere, and on top of that, the enemy cannot be harmed when caught in it, it is generally considered a downgrade from the previous hold and slow snares.
So basically the options are to dual-class to lock the slow or hold snare in place, or bear with the 16-20 level range while waiting to upgrade to the maze snare.
Maze Snare tactics[]
The 21st-level Special Snare is a maze trap that allows no save and ignores magic resistance. Using Fog of War tactics, a bounty hunter can maze an entire group of enemies unfailingly.
While all enemies are mazed, the bounty hunter can hide and wait to backstab the first enemy that reappears. Just like with the Maze spell, enemies with higher intelligence return sooner. If the enemy group has a mage, that mage will typically be the first one out of the maze, with their allies no longer around and making them an easy target for a backstab.
The maze trap also combines remarkably well with the standard thief traps and the HLA traps, especially spike traps and time traps. While all enemies are mazed, the bounty hunter can lay a few welcome-back spike or time traps and potentially eliminate the whole enemy group with ease.
This synergy between the maze snare and HLA traps make bounty hunters arguably the most effective single-class thieves in high-level play.
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Installation of the Rogue Rebalancing mod makes a number of gameplay revisions and changes to all Rogues, including their kits. It is a comprehensive modification to nearly all aspects of the Rogues (Bards and Thieves) abilities and strives to bring them closer to their Pen and Paper AD&D counterparts. New and revised abilities are included, as well as new equipment and rogue specific items. Separate user installed components are available to customize selection of content and changes. Go to the link for further information.
The Mod addresses Bounty Hunters in many different aspects, including:
Bounty Hunter
Through this revision, the Bounty Hunter relies on mechanical devices and alchemical substances for incapacitating his prey, rather than imbuing his snares with magical effects as was the case in the unmodded game. In summary, the Bounty Hunter's special snares have been replaced with Alchemical Traps, he can now coat his weapons in Paralytic Toxin and his Alchemical Expertise improves as he gains more experience. Finally, a Bounty Hunter can now also choose the Tracking HLA at higher levels. The updated kit description reads as follows:
BOUNTY HUNTER: This is a hunter of men, skilled in tracking and capturing quarry, whether for lawful authorities or underworld masters. Due to the frequent need to bring his prey back alive, a Bounty Hunter often relies on alchemical substances that can incapacitate or weaken his victims. A Bounty Hunter's trap making abilities are also well beyond those of the average thief.
Advantages: - Gains a +15% bonus to the Set Traps skill at 1st level - May use Paralytic Toxin once per day at 1st level and every 10 levels thereafter - Can lay Alchemical Traps in addition to regular snares - Acquires Alchemical Expertise at 10th level. This ability further improves every 10 levels thereafter - Can acquire the Tracking ability at higher levels
Disadvantages: - Gets only 20% to distribute between thief abilities at each level
Paralytic Toxin: The Bounty Hunter's intricate understanding of alchemy and herbalism allows him to create a substance that causes severe loss of muscle function when injected into the bloodstream. This paralytic toxin is a transparent, odorless liquid which can be easily applied to weapons without fear of detection. A hit from any weapon coated in this substance causes the target to make a saving throw vs. paralyzation or become paralyzed for one round per every ten levels of the Bounty Hunter. However, the toxin evaporates quickly when exposed to air making the coating last only a single round. Constructs, Elementals, Slimes and Undead creatures are unaffected by the Paralytic Toxin.
Alchemical Traps: Combining his superior trap setting skills with alchemical knowledge, a Bounty Hunter can create traps that are primarily designed for incapacitating his opponents, rather than killing them outright. The effects of the traps vary according to the Bounty Hunter's level, but always last for five rounds and can be negated by a successful saving throw vs. breath:
1st: trap deals 2d4 points of subdual damage and dazzles the target 6th: trap deals 4d4 points of subdual damage and slows the target 11th: trap deals 6d4 points of subdual damage and entangles the target 16th: trap deals 8d4 points of subdual damage and blinds the target 21st: trap deals 10d4 points of subdual damage and renders the target unconscious
Note: subdual damage is non-lethal and will render the target unconscious if its hit points drop below 0 instead of killing it. Constructs, Elementals, Slimes and Undead creatures are immune to subdual damage.
Alchemical Expertise Through training and experience, a Bounty Hunter gradually learns to utilize alchemical substances more effectively. Each time this ability is acquired, the saving throw difficulty class of the Bounty Hunter's Paralytic Toxin and Alchemical Traps improves by 1.
Note: The setting range of the Alchemical Traps has been reduced to normal (i.e. they cannot be "thrown" as in the unmodded game). Furthermore, the traps no longer have the spell-like Maze/Otiluke's Resilient Sphere effects and the physical damage component (which was missing from level 16 onward) has been restored. Their new secondary effects are alchemical (rather than magical) in nature and therefore completely ignore any magic resistance of their targets. However, specific creatures may be innately immune to certain effects. For example, Constructs, Slimes, Elementals and Undead creatures cannot be dazzled or rendered unconscious, flying and incorporeal creatures like Wyverns, Beholders, Shadows, Mists, Air and Fire Elementals cannot be slowed by the grease effect, while exceptionally large creatures (Dragons, Giants, Iron Golems) and incorporeal creatures (Shadows, Mists, Air and Fire Elementals) cannot be entangled. It should also be noted that slowed, entangled and blinded creatures temporarily lose any dexterity bonus to their armor class since they cannot dodge attacks effectively while they are incapacitated.