Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Class Guide – In this Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Class Guide, I’m going to be covering the Rogue Class, including all 3 Subclasses, and providing you some useful information. I’ll be doing more Build Guides for Baldur’s Gate 3, but for now, let’s just look at how a Rogue functions and its basics.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Class Guide

Rogues are savvy individuals that use hit and run tactics to exploit enemy weak spots, increasing their damage when their opponent is most vulnerable, using their Sneak Attack Class Feature. And although Rogues don’t gain an Extra Attack, like many martial Classes, they can still crank out quite a bit of damage because of this.

Rogues excel outside of combat though, and gain more Skills than just about any other Class, except for Bards. They also gain Expertise in many of them, allowing them to master many Skill Checks in the game. You’ll usually find Rogues handling the Lockpicking, Trap Disarming, and Pickpocketing for a party, but they can also excel at dialogue with a little Charisma.

Stealth is also a huge part of playing a Rogue, since Sneak Attack can be easily triggered when hidden, and Arcane Tricksters cast their spells more effectively when hidden at later levels.

BG3 Rogue Character Creation

In this section, we’ll take a look at how to set up your Rogue during Character Creation for the best results. We’ll begin with Abilities first, since this is arguably the most important part, aside from choosing your Subclass.

Abilities

Your primary Ability as a Rogue is Dexterity, with other Abilities taking a back seat, and depending on what you really want to do with your Rogue. You could take Charisma for dialogue, or Intelligence if you plan to become an Arcane Trickster or just want to be good at Intelligence Skill Checks. Wisdom is also not bad for Perception checks, since Rogues typically check for traps, but you’ll absolutely want some Constitution regardless to increase your HP.

• Dexterity increases your Attack Rolls, Damage Rolls, boosts Armour Class, Initiative, and improves Sleight of Hand, Acrobatics and Stealth Checks, as well as improves Dexterity Saving Throws. It’s incredibly good for a Rogue.
• Constitution is there to help keep you alive via HP, since Rogues don’t have a huge health pool, and can help prevent you from getting downed quickly.

For this reason, I strongly recommend that you invest 16 in DEX and 14 in CON during Character Creation. What you do after that depends on what you’re going for as I mentioned, but I’ll give you some examples of what you could do below:

Note I’ve changed this from the recommendations as it more optimizes your Character during the early goings of the game.

Race

Githyanki provides the Rogue with Medium Armour Proficiency they wouldn’t otherwise get, as well as Astral Knowledge, allowing them to gain Proficiency in one Ability each Long Rest, which is great if you want to have nearly ALL Skills covered. They will also gain Misty Step at Level 5, which can help with Rogue positioning.

Elf is good for Longbow Proficiency, as well as Fey Ancestry. They also gain Darkvision, which can help land your attacks in dark places. High Elves also have Perception Proficiency, while Wood Elves have Stealth Proficiency and can move further. Either are a good choice, granting one Skill Proficiency you would likely take anyway.

Deep Gnome is also fantastic for Advantage on Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma Saving Throws, as well as Superior Darkvision, and they also have Advantage on Stealth Checks. Great if you want to be a really sneaky Rogue!

Lightfoot Halflings are another solid choice, because they reroll if they roll a 1 on any Attack Roll, Ability Check or Saving Throw, all but preventing them from ever Critically Missing. They also cannot be Frightened easily and they too have Advantage on on Stealth Checks.

Skills

For Skills what you select will largely depend on the needs of your group, and whether or not you’re handling dialogue. However, all Rogues should probably at least have Sleight of Hand, Stealth and Perception if possible. This will allow them Lockpick, spot and Disarm Traps, and spot hidden objects and doors.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 1

Sneak Attack

At level 1, all Rogues gain the Sneak Attack Class Feature, which allows them to add 1D6 damage to their melee or ranged attacks per odd level of Rogue taken. This means at level 3 Rogue this will become 2D6, and at level 5 Rogue it will become 3D6 and so on.

However, there are some stipulations to trigger Sneak Attack, and the first is that if you want to Sneak Attack with a melee weapon, you must use a Finesse Weapon. Finesse Weapons are melee Weapons that can use Dexterity for their Attack and Damage Rolls, instead of the default Strength, and are usually Rapiers, Shortswords, Scimitars and Daggers.

Next, is that your target must be standing near a friendly character, OR, you must have Advantage on your Attack against them. There are different ways to gain Advantage as a Rogue in BG3 and they are as follows:

• Cunning Action: Hide – This allows the Rogue to Hide using their Bonus Action, and gain Sneak Attack damage with their Action, since you will always have Advantage against targets that cannot see you. This is more useful for Ranged Sneak Attacks, since it is harder to make into melee range and remain Hidden while in combat.
• Assassinate Initiative – Assassins automatically gain Advantage when attacking enemies who have not taken 1 turn in combat yet. This is useful for gaining Sneak Attack on the first turn only.
• Flourish – This Weapon Action does minimal damage but sets the target Off Balance as a Bonus Action. ANY Attack made against an Off Balance character has Advantage. This allows you to then use your regular Attack with Advantage, triggering Sneak Attack. This is only a once per Short Rest Bonus Action though, so you can’t use it every turn.
• Prone – Attacking enemies that are Prone with a melee attack provides the attacker Advantage, allowing Rogues to gain Sneak Attack damage with their melee attacks.
• Hold – Some spells in BG3, like Hold Person, Hold a character in place and melee attacks made against these targets always Critical Hit, as well as deal Sneak Attack Damage. Make sure your mage has this if you’re playing a Rogue.
• Sleep – Attacking enemies that are Asleep provides Advantage and guarantees a Critical Hit.
• Web – This spell roots an enemy in place, and attacks against them have Advantage.
• Ensnared – Attacking enemies that are Ensnared also provides Advantage.
• Lucky Feat – Can be used to grant Advantage on Attack Rolls.
• Guiding Bolt – If your Cleric hits a target with Guiding Bolt the next attack made against them will have Advantage.
• Blinded – Attacking Blinded enemies also provides Advantage on attacks against them.

The two easiest ways are of course attacking an enemy near your melee character, or using Cunning Action: Hide to go Hidden and then attack from Ranged, but you can use this information to help plan your attacks.

Make sure that you setup Sneak Attack to “Ask” under your Reactions, so that you can attack with any ranged or melee attack action and are still prompted for Sneak Attack damage when it applies. This can prevent you from missing Sneak Attack damage, or prevent you from applying it when it would be overkill, since you can only gain Sneak Attack damage once per round.

Another tip is that you should get in the habit of pressing the “Shift” key before using Cunning Action: Hide, while in combat, so you can moveout of an enemy’s cone of vision before hiding (if you can), saving you from having to pass a Stealth Check to become Hidden.

Expertise

Rogues will also gain Expertise at this level, doubling their Proficiency Bonus in two Skills they are Proficient in. Stealth, Sleight of Hand or Perception are all good choices, but Persuasion, or Deception are also not bad if you went the dialogue route.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 2

Cunning Action

At level 2, Rogues gain Cunning Action, allowing them to use Disengage, Dash and Hide as Bonus Actions instead of Actions, which means they can use one of these and still Attack on the same turn. Do not underestimate how powerful this is, and taking advantage of this Feature is a big part of playing a Rogue.

Note that these have separate icons from the original Disengage, Dash and Hide, so make sure you are using the correct ones.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 3

Rogue Subclass

At level 3 Rogues will get to choose a Subclass from Thief, Assassin and Arcane Trickster and immediately gain a Subclass Feature from their choice, and we’ll go into these more in the Subclass section.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 4

Feat

At level 4, Rogues will gain their first Feat. Ability Improvement is good here for more Dexterity which will further improve Attack Rolls, Damage Rolls, Armour Class, Initiative, Sleight of Hand, Acrobatics and Stealth Checks, as well as improves Dexterity Saving Throws.

However, there are some other good picks as well, such as Dual Wielder if you want to use two Rapiers and gain +1 Armour Class. Lucky is great for picking up some uses of Advantage and controlling outcomes. And Sharpshooter is great for boosting Ranged Damage.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 5

Uncanny Dodge

At level 5, Rogues can use their Reaction to reduce the damage they take from an attack by half, once per round.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 6

Expertise

At level 6, Rogues gain Expertise in two more Skills they are Proficient with, doubling their Proficiency bonus in those Skills.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 7

Evasion

At level 7, Rogues that Save against spells or effects that target their Dexterity take no damage, even if the spell or effect would normally deal half should they Save. And they only take half damage if they fail, drastically reducing the average damage they take from these effects.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 8

Feat

At level 8, Rogues will gain their second Feat. Ability Improvement is still good here for Dexterity, or you can pick up any of the other ones like Dual Wielder, Lucky or Sharpshooter.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 9

Subclass Feature

At level 9, Rogues gain their final Subclass Feature, and as mentioned before, we’ll get into those in the Subclasses section in just a minute.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 10

Extra Feat

At level 10, Rogues will gain their third Feat, and this is an extra Feat that no other Class besides Fighter gets. Ability Improvement is still good here for Dexterity if it’s not 20 yet, or you can pick up any of the other ones like Dual Wielder, Lucky or Sharpshooter.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 11

Reliable Talent

At level 11, Rogues cannot roll below a 10 when making an Ability Check with a Skill they are Proficient with. This nearly guarantees they will pass any Ability Checks they make, since they will have +8 from Expertise in 4 Skills, and that doesn’t include their Ability Modifiers or other bonuses. This is also exceptionally good for Stealthy gameplay, as it is much easier to stay Hidden.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Level 12

Feat

At level 12, Rogues will gain their final Feat. You should have 20 Dexterity by this point, so choose any of the other Feats I suggested.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Equipment

Rogues in BG3 have Light Armour Proficiency by default, which works well since they have high Dexterity that will then be applied to their AC. Medium Armour is also fine if you gained Proficiency from a Race or Multiclass, but make sure it doesn’t have Disadvantage on Stealth Checks on it.

Weapon wise, the Rogue could really benefit from a few ranged Weapon Proficiencies like Heavy Crossbow or Longbow, but otherwise they’ve pretty much got what they need covered. They have Rapier and Shortsword Proficiency, as well as Simple Weapons, so they’ll likely use a Shortbow and Rapier/Shortsword or pair of Shortswords if no other Proficiencies are acquired via Race or Multiclass. They need to use a Finesse melee weapon for Sneak Attack, so their options are somewhat limited anyway.

Accessory-wise, look for things that boost their AC to help them stay alive, or Stealth, since the easier it is to Hide, the easier it is to Sneak Attack.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Subclasses

Choosing a Rogue Subclass in BG3 comes down to a few factors. Do you plan to ambush enemies outside of combat regularly from stealth? Do you want to be able to cast some spells that might come in handy both inside and outside of combat? And, do you want to have more capability once combat has been triggered?

If you plan to ambush enemies outside of combat often, Assassin is the way to go. You gain guaranteed Critical Hits when hitting Surprised enemies, and you will regain both your Action and Bonus Action, even if you just used them before combat triggered. Normally, if you use an Action to begin combat you won’t gain another one before your next turn, but Assassins do.

If you want some Spellcasting, Arcane Trickster is the way to go, and they can use their spells to help sneak through areas effectively, as well as put enemies to Sleep for devastating Criticals. Thief is fantastic once combat has begun, since they gain an extra Bonus Action which they can use for a variety of things, and you’ll often find many other Classes will dip 3 levels into Thief just to pick this up.

Subclass	Level 3 Subclass Feature	Level 9 Subclass Feature
Assassin	Assassinate Assassin’s Alacrity	Infiltration Expertise
Thief	Fast Hands Second- Story Work	Supreme Sneak
Arcane Trickster	Spellcasting Mage Hand Legerdemain	Magical Ambush

All Rogues gain their first Subclass Feature at level 3 when they select their Subclass, and then once again at level 9. These Features are not the only thing that separates these Subclasses, however, since Arcane Tricksters also gain Spellcasting, while Thief and Assassin do not.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Assassin

Assassinate: Initiative

At level 3, Assassin’s gain Assassinate: Initiative, which allows then to have Advantage in combat against enemies that haven’t yet taken their turn yet. This means they are almost always going to land their first attack in combat, and this attack will be able to deal Sneak Attack damage without having to do anything.

Assassinate: Ambush

They also deal Critical Damage when successfully attacking Surprised enemies. Surprised enemies are usually enemies you’ve attacked from out of combat, that had no idea they were about to be attacked, are not already in combat, and they could not see you. This is relatively easy to pull off, if you know where they enemies are going to be.

Assassin’s Alacrity

Also at level 3, Assassins will always have their Action and Bonus Action when combat begins. This is very useful, because usually if you perform an Action or Bonus Action just before triggering combat, you will not have this when combat starts. This allows them to get the jump on enemies outside of combat, and then attack once again, usually immediately, effectively giving them 2 attacks if they do their first before triggering combat.

Infiltration Expertise

At level 9, Assassin’s can adopt a new appearance that lets them change their Race and Gender until Long Rest or until they cancel it. This is a Ritual Action, that can be used as many times per day as you want outside of combat. As far as I can tell it doesn’t operate much differently than Disguise Self.

It causes the game and the characters inside it to view you as a different character, which allows you to rob, cheat, steal, and then end your Disguise with your Reputation intact.

Secondly, if you do murder someone, you can end your Infiltration Expertise and use Speak with the Dead on them successfully. Usually, people don’t want to speak with their killers, who would have thought? So when you speak to them as yourself after you end your Disguise then you’ll be able to.

Thirdly, it can change dialogue encounters completely, though I don’t have a complete list of all the possible changes.

Fourthly, you can use Infiltration Expertise to meet the criteria for certain equipment that give benefits when a particular Race uses them. This comes in handy if you find an item you really like, but you are not the correct Race for the extra benefit.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Thief

Fast Hands

At level 3, Thieves gain Fast Hands, granting them a second Bonus Action in combat. This allows them to attack a 2nd time with their off-hand, use Cunning Action to Disengage, Hide or Dash twice, or they can Jump and still do one of these things and Attack in the same turn. There is a ton of application for this, especially when Multiclassed with other Classes that have strong Bonus Actions, but we’ll get into that in the Multiclass section.

Second-Story Work

Also at this level, Thieves gain Resistance to fall damage, cutting this in half. This is good for when they Jump down from high places, or when they get flung off a cliff by an effect or spell, and can often save their life.

Supreme Sneak

At level 9, Thieves can turn Invisible whenever they want as an Action, once every Short Rest. Invisibility ends early if you attack, cast another spell, take an action, or take damage. However, this is quite useful for getting past heavily guarded places, should you want to avoid combat.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Arcane Trickster

Spellcasting

At level 3, Arcane Tricksters will gain Spellcasting, and will be able to cast some spells from a limited spell list, as well as select some from the Wizard Spell Level 1 Spell List. They use Intelligence for their Spellcasting when using these Spells, but don’t have to Prepare them like Wizards.

Mage Hand Legerdemain

Also at this level, Arcane Tricksters gain Mage Hand Legerdemain. This lets them summon a Mage Hand that can interact with objects, taking or stowing items, and pick pocketing and disarming traps. Handy for thieving from safe distances. However, this is currently not working in BG3, severely limiting the usefulness of this Subclass Feature.

Magical Ambush

At level 9, enemies have Disadvantage against your hostile spells when casting them while you are Hidden. This almost ensures they connect, but the issue is that Arcane Tricksters only know up to level 2 spells, and only have two level 2 Spell Slots in BG3, meaning you won’t get much mileage out of this Subclass Feature.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Guide – Multiclassing

In this section of our Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Class Guide we’ll take a look at Multiclassing a Rogue in BG3, and what other Classes you might Multiclass with. Keep in mind this is not a complete list, but rather helpful suggestions to that make good pairings.

When To Multiclass

Rogues are heavily front loaded, meaning they gain Cunning Action at level 2, and they gain a lot from their Subclass Features at level 3. This means the first most likely place you would Multiclass a Rogue would be after this point.

From this point onward it’s a lot less cut and dry about when you should Multiclass, since it really depends on what you need out of Rogue. The level 9 Subclass features are underwhelming for the most part, so going to Level 9 is less important than it would be if these were stronger. You could probably make the best cases for Thief, if you really need the Invisibility, or Arcane Trickster if you plan to Multiclass with Wizard to pick up more Spell Slots, be able to learn Level 3 spells from Scrolls, and be able to Upcast lower level spells.

Multiclassing Assassin

I like 3 Assassin with 9 levels of Fighter. This allows you to gain a Fighting Style, and Extra Feat, Medium Armour Proficiency, as well as Extra Attack. Fighters also gain Indomitable at level 9, allowing them to reroll failed Saves once.

3 Assassin 9 Gloomstalker is also a great pairing, in order to deal increased damage on your first attack in combat, which is also a free attack, provides you Extra Attack, and grants a Fighting Style.

Mutliclassing Arcane Trickster

9 Arcane Trickster and 3 Wizard will give you access to level 3 Spell Slots, and provide you with many more Spell Slots then you’d normally have. Wizards can also learn spells from Scrolls, so you could still learn level 3 Spells this way as well, picking up Fireball and Lightning Bolt, among others. This would let you cast these with enemies having Disadvantage on Saving Throws if you do it while hidden.

Multiclassing Thief

3 Thief and 9 Sorcerer 2 Bonus Actions they can use to cast Quickened spells on top of the other spell they can cast with their regular Action. This also gives Sorcerers Light Armour Proficiency and some better Skills, along with Cunning Action, in case they need to Disengage from a bad situation.

3 Thief 9 Fighter or Ranger allows you to Dual Wield effectively with the Extra Attacks these Classes gain. This would allow the Thief to contribute another offhand attack on the Extra Attack, essentially gaining 4 hits per turn, and providing these classes with Cunning Action, boosting their mobility.

3 Thief and 9 War Domain, allows Clerics to make an Attack with their Action and twice with their Bonus Action in one turn, which can be huge damage if they are setup properly.

I hope you found these tips helpful, and we’ll have some more Builds out really soon that showoff more of these Multiclassing aspects!

---

That wraps up our Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Class Guide! Stay tuned for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content as we update the other Builds, and be sure to drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game. If you need something specific, check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 Wiki which is being worked on night and day, as well as our Baldur’s Gate 3 Guides.