Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue build: Race, subclass, background, more

Taking the stealth route in Baldur’s Gate 3 means that you’ll have to be a Rogue. This is the ideal class for thieves, assassins, and other sneaky damage dealers. Here’s the best Rogue build for Baldur’s Gate 3 for all your stealth needs.

Rogues in Baldur’s Gate 3 get to move fast, be stealthy, and even hit multiple times on the same move. This means that they can get close to a target without them noticing, do some serious damage, and run back before they can do anything about it.

This is also one of the easiest classes in the game. You don’t need to pay too much attention to abilities or spells (if applicable) when leveling up, unlike with spellcasting classes like Wizard or Sorcerer. However, you definitely need some help on how to get the best out of your class.

That’s why we’ve prepared the steps to recreate the best Rogue build for Baldur’s Gate 3.

• Best race for Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best Rogue subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best background for Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3
• Best build for Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3

Best race for Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3

The best race for a Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3 is Drows. Drows are cunning and nimble, the very avatar of what a Rogue implies. And they also offer a lot of tools that are pretty useful for a Rogue build.

• Drow Weapon Training: Proficient with Rapiers, Shortswords, and Hand Crossbows.
• Fey Ancestry: Cannot be put to sleep. Advantage against Charmed effects.
• Superior Darkvision: Sees in the dark up to 24 m.
• Perception Proficiency: Adds Proficiency Bonus to Perception Checks.
• Drow Spellcasting:
  • Faerie Fire: At level 3 Drows learn this spell as an intrinsic Lvl 1 Spell. It turns enemies visible and allies have an advantage on their attack rolls over these targets.
  • Darkness: At level 5 Drows this spell as an intrinsic Lvl 2 Spell. It creates a cloud of magical darkness that blind creatures inside of it. Creatures inside the cloud cannot make or take ranged attacks.

Drow Weapon Training will allow you to excel at using the most common weapons for Rogues. Meanwhile, the Superior Darkvision gives Drows an advantage to infiltrate the most obscure of places and Perception Proficiency makes them the perfect scouts to detect traps and enemies. Then, the access to Faerie Fire and Darkness makes them even stronger ambushers.

Best Rogue subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3

The best subclass to play as a Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Assassin subclass. It grants the Rogue the maximum output damage be it ranged or melee for surprise attacks, with Critical Proficiency, more Stealth bonuses, and Advantage in Surprise Rounds.

Rogues unlock this subclass at level 3, and immediately learn Assassinate: Initiative, and Assassinate: Ambush as features. They also learn the Assassin’s Alacrity feature that allows Assassins to regain their Actions and Bonus actions once per combat, at the beginning of the combat.

When you use your rogue to initiate combat and spend all actions by surprising the enemy, it immediately gains a full extra turn with all actions and bonus actions recovered.

Best background for Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3

Backgrounds for Rogues in Baldur’s Gate 3 add more utility and skill capabilities to your characters, and the best Backgrounds for an Assassin Rogue would be Outlander and Criminal.

Outlander gives Proficiency in Athletics and Survival. These are two Skills that Rogues do not excel at, but that can be useful to avoid traps, climb ledges, and notice secret paths during exploration.

They are essential to make the Assassin Rogue, which has a lone wolf/death wish kind of playstyle, a more viable option when scouting ahead.

If you pick Criminal, you will have Proficiency bonuses at Deception and Stealth, meaning that you will be less likely to be detected, and will escape harsh dialogue options with ease.

Best build for Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3

This is the best build for a Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3. For starters, you need to maximize your DEX and CON ability scores. Dexterity is the main source of a Rogue’s damage output, as they use Finesse Weapons, like Hand-Crossbows, Daggers, and Rapiers, that scale up damage with Dex instead of Strength.

This is the ideal build for an Assassin Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Level	Feature
Level 1	Sneak Attack (Melee & Ranged)
Level 2	Cunning Action: Hide, Dash, Disengage
Level 3	Assassin Subclass: Assassinate (Initiative & Ambush), Assassin’s Alacrity
Level 4	Feat: Pick Two Weapon Expertise to maximize damage.
Level 5	Uncanny Dodge (Class Feature)
Level 6	Expertise 2 Skills: Stealth and Perception
Level 7	Evasion (Class Feature)
Level 8	Feat: Pick Crossbow Expert if you are going for Ranged, or +2 to DEX if melee.
Level 9	Infiltration Expertise (Action)
Level 10	Extra Feat: Pick + 2 to DEX. If its already maxed out, take CON or WIS.
Level 11	Reliable talent (Class Feature)
Level 12	Feat: Pick + 2 to DEX, CON or WIS.

Your weapon of choice should be Ranged Dual-wielding Hand Crossbows, as they allow the Assassin to maximize damage. Starting combat by shooting a deadly flurry of bolts, then repeating with the extra turn, can be a game changer. Bows are another great option, but they are not as fast as Hand Crossbows.

That’s the Best build for a Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3. Check out some of our other articles:

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