This guide focuses on the Best Rogue class build in Baldur’s Gate 3, the Thief Subclass, and includes all components to build a powerful character.
This build page has been updated for thePatch 8 versionof Baldur’s Gate 3.
Everything About the Thief Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3
The Thief Rogue is a master ofstealth, able to move unseen and unheard. This makes them ideal for scouting ahead, sneaking past enemies, disarming traps,or picking locks. The Rogue class usessneak attacksin melee or range for their burst damage before getting back into stealth. Moreover, this build also excels at outside-of-combat utility and can pick locks, disarm traps, and steal from others. This makes them invaluable for acquiring loot and information.
This build will use the Thiefsubclassbecause it gets a bonus action and extra skill proficiency. This allows you to have great damage and utility outside of combat. Having a character in your party who can scout ahead, disarm traps and lockpick is essential. The Rogue Thief does it better than any other build in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Rogues may not be a front-line tank, but they can dish out a ton of damage in a single turn. This is your prototypical stealth damage dealer and a strong one in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Patch 8 Changes to the Thief Rogue Build for BG3
Patch 8 brings a major evolution to Rogue builds in Baldur’s Gate 3, thanks to the addition of the Swashbuckler subclass and theBooming Bladecantrip. These new tools expand the assassin archetype, offering distinct paths depending on your preferred combat style. Swashbuckler leans into agility and flair, enhancing mobility and making it easier to slip in and out of stealth with fluid precision. Alternatively, choosingArcane Tricksteror multiclassing into Fighter (Eldritch Knight) grants access to Booming Blade, opening the door to a more magical, melee-oriented approach.
Opting for the Booming Blade path marks a shift from the Rogue’s classic stealth-heavy tactics to a build that thrives in sustained melee combat. you’re able to still open with a devastating sneak attack from the shadows, but once combat is underway, this build encourages you to hold your ground and fight up close. It’s a more proactive, front-line playstyle that won’t suit everyone, but for players seeking a bold and unconventional Rogue experience, it’s a powerful and viable option. We’ll explore this alternative build in more detail below.
Thief Rogue Class Features and Mechanics
The following list presents all essential Rogue class mechanics in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Thief Rogue Sneak Attack Explained
In Baldur’s Gate 3, the Rogue’s Sneak Attack ability is vital to do the most damage per turn. The Sneak Attack action allows a Rogue to deal extra damage under certain conditions, representing the character’s ability to exploit an opponent’s vulnerabilities duringcombat.
Here’s how the Sneak Attack works in Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Thief Build:
Sneak Attack is a core feature of the Rogue class in D&D 5e and plays a significant role in enhancing the Rogue’s damage output. It encourages tactical positioning and teamwork, as the Rogue benefits from having allies engaged in close combat with the enemy to trigger the Sneak Attack conditions.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Advantage Explained
Advantagein Baldur’s Gate 3 is a mechanic that gives you a bonus to your chances of success on an attack roll, ability check or saving throw. To have advantage, you must meet one of the following conditions:
If you have advantage, you roll yourd20twice and take the higher result. This means that you have a 50% greater chance of success in your roll. Disadvantage is the opposite of advantage. If you have disadvantage, you roll your d20 twice and take the lower result. This means that you have a 50% lower chance of success in your roll.
Here are some additional tips for gaining advantage:
With a little planning and effort, you’re able to gain an advantage on your rolls and increase your chances of success in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Rogue Class and Best Subclasses
The Best Subclass for the Rogue is Thief, because it provides additional bonus actions, can pick locks, disarm traps and has high movement. The Thief subclass can be unlocked at level 3 and is great in combat and out to provide your team with high damage and great group utility.
Here are all the Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Subclasses:
Baldur’s Gate 3 Thief Rogue Features & Progression
The Rogue Thief subclass unlocks the following features and spells:
Character Creation for Rogue Thief Build
Recommended Backgrounds
Criminalis the bestBackgroundfor a Rogue Thief Build in Baldur’s Gate 3 because it gives you Deception and Stealth Proficiency. This choice mostly influences roleplaying and dialogue options aspects and allows you to create unique characters. Additional choices are:
Best Race Choice for Thief Rogue Build
WoodElfis the bestracechoice for the Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Thief Build Guide because you gain Longbow proficiency, highest movement, stealth proficiency,Fey Ancestry,and Darkvision.However, the second best racial choice isGithyankidue to increased movement abilities, skill proficiency, and free Misty Step spell at level 5.
The Rogue’s racial choice will not influence the ability score, as everyone should get a +2 and +1 to spend regardless. The most important aspect you want to keep in mind is, that Elf can equip Longbows. This is our preferred loadout because of the range damage and ease. You can select another race, but it will come without equipping Longbow.
Recommended Skills for Thief Rogue Build
Insight,Stealth,Persuasion,Acrobatics, andSleight of Handare the best skills for theRogue Thiefin Baldur’s Gate 3 because they give you the Best Assassin Build for detecting traps, sneaking, stealing, and avoiding detection. In Baldur’s Gate 3, skills represent the abilities and proficiencies of your character that allow them to perform various actions and interact with the game world. Skills are associated with specific attributes and are used to determine the success or effectiveness of certain actions or abilities. They can be edited during character creation or with companions, during respec or reroll screen.
Here are the bestskillsfor Rogue Thief in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Best Thief Rogue Build Ability Scores
Below is the bestability scoreto unlock the full potential of the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Thief Build:
The best Rogue’s ability scores are 16 Dexterity, 14 Constitution, and 14 Wisdom. Dexterity is used for ranged weapon damage, Constitution for health, and Wisdom for skills. In Baldur’s Gate 3, ability scores are the six core stats that determine a character’s capabilities. You can adjust for the optimal setup in character creation orreroll with Withersin your Camp.
You can increase your ability score via a quest in Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3. verify to check out ourPermanent bonus guideon how you can boost your ability score through quests.
Best Companions for Thief Rogue Build
The bestcompanionfor a Rogue Build in Baldur’s Gate 3 is Lae’zeal because she’s a melee-focused damage dealer. She will engage enemies and take the pressure off your ranged-focused build, allowing you to free-cast spells and ranged attacks. Heavy focus on melee will keep you in the distance while applying pressure, snaring, and debuffing the opposition.
When putting your party together, consider companions for not only their combat prowess but also their outside abilities and skills that can influence storytelling, dialogue, and exploration. A balanced party will fit the traditional RPG ‘holy trinity’: Tank, Healer, and DPS. Ideally, in Baldur’s Gate 3, you are going to want one tank, one healer, one melee DPS, and one range DPS. Some classes/subclasses can cover both roles, so feel free to experiment and find out what works best for you.
Thief Rogue Illithid Powers
Illithid Powersare unlocked later in the game when you learn more about the Mind Flayers and Tadpoles. you may gain jars ofMind FlayerParasite Specimens, and consume them to gain one point. If you decide to advance this skill line, these are the choices we suggest.
Here are the best Illithid Powers for the Rogue Build:
Thief Rogue Level Progression
Alternative Thief Rogue Build
This alternative Thief Rogue build takes a more aggressive turn, prioritizing melee combat over the usual hit-and-run tactics. While ranged sneak attacks remain a great way to start an encounter with a burst of damage, the real strength of this build lies in closing the distance and staying in the fight.
By multiclassing into Fighter and eventually selecting the Eldritch Knight subclass, you’ll gain access to the Booming Blade cantrip by Level 7, perfect for enhancing your melee strikes with extra impact. Alongside that, core Fighter abilities likeAction Surge, Extra Attack, and three bonus Feats provide a powerful toolkit for sustained damage and tactical flexibility. The result is a fast, hard-hitting Rogue who can adapt to changing battle conditions and thrive in close-quarters combat.
At Level one follow our character creator to pick all correct background, race, skills, and ability distribution focusing on Dexterity, Consitution, and Wisdom. At level three we can pick our subclass. You want to find a longbow eventually and use light armor. Levels two and three will start getting more utility and damage so just level up from here.
Longbow Ranged Weapon
It is important to note that the Rogue doesn’t have Longbow proficiency built in. Thus, it’s optimal to pick a Wood Elf for this benefit. Moreover, theGloves of Archeryitem gives you Longbow proficiency as well as multiclassing this build to a Ranger at later levels. Keep this in mind if you are unable to effectively use a longbow early.
Class Feature and Mechanics
At level one, your main goal is to get into stealth, before a fight or during and use a sneak attack. The advantage mechanic can be tricky to understand. In essence, you need to attack targets engaged with others or use hide to get in stealth. You will have more options and easier use of this when you’re able to use a bonus action to hide. For now, engage with a bow or melee and seek high ground and targets with advantage. I suggest playing this build at range, it’s just much easier, and sneaking, and gaining advantage is much simpler.
Read More –Top 10 builds for Baldur’s Gate 3
Thief Rogue Gameplay & Priorities
At the beginning of BG3, the Rogue should equip a shortsword for melee, with a dagger in the offhand, and a bow for ranged combat. Additionally, your other primary goal is to find the Gloves of Archery at the start of the game, which will grant you bow proficiencies. Rogues have great mobility but not a lot of defense, so bows are vital until you reach higher levels and access movement-enhancing armor. Moreover, look to acquire Elixir of Bloodlust and Oil of Accuracy. You can combine these two for massive damage increases and your Rogue will feel very powerful immediately.
Your overall priority with the Thief Rogue build is the following:
Following these steps ensures a strong foundation for her especially if you plan on playingsoloor onHonour Modedifficulty.
At level two, you will unlock the Cunning Action class feature, more health, and one more level until subclass choice.
Rogue Class Features
This gives you the ability to use Dash, Hide, and Disengage as a bonus action. Bonus actions are the theme of the build, using attacks and Cunning Actions to free up your action for Sneak Attack. Dash is useful to create space or close the distance, while disengage allows you to flee a fight without an opportunity attack. Use these to either move in and out of fights and the hide bonus action at the end of the turn to go into stealth.
Gameplay you want to now use your bonus action hide to get in stealth gain an advantage and use sneak attack. That’s essentially the gameplay loop to open up for simple big damage. You also want to do your best to start encounters FROM stealth. You will not be able to dictate the terms of every fight. But even during dialogue, you can select the character to select the screen and move the non-talking party members to your ideal area. Buff up, get in stealth, and get ready to open for a big stealth attack.
At level three, you can pick your subclass and we recommend the Thief.
Here’s what you can expect from the Thief Subclass until max level 12 in Baldur’s Gate 3:
The double bonus action is very handy. You most likely use one bonus action to hide and get Advantage. The second one is usually for dash, potion, poison on the weapon, etc. Your goal, 100% of each turn is to get into stealth, and range sneak attack at least once. When I play this build, usually I use one bonus action to hide, use my action to do a sneak attack, and then use another bonus action to go back into stealth. That way, in the following turn I can use two bonus actions if I need to. And that’s the essence of the gameplay combat loop. We will get additional feats that amplify this effect and make it easier for us to do range damage and so forth.
Read More –Baldur’s Gate 3 Shadow Magic Sorcerer Build
At level four you get an important decision, between afeator ability improvement. We recommend forgoing the ability improvement to select the Sharpshoot feat.
Alternatively, you’re able to use Dual Wielder feat here and play a double Rapier dual-wield build. I personally played that until level 8, but found my damage was the same as a range build, and my survivability was significantly diminished. The premise behind the dual-wield build is using your off-hand attack with a bonus action for multiple attacks. And yes, in theory, this works. But in reality, your bonus action often goes for hiding to get a sneak attack, which you can do at range. It’s MUCH easier to hide behind a bush, bonus action hide, and snipe with a sneak attack at range than playing melee and trying to time it all. Your choice, but I saw drastic improvements in my survivability using a bow at range.
At level five, you gain access to Gain Uncanny Dodge when an attack hits you, you only take half the usual damage. This will help with your survival and sneak attack damage will be increased to 3d6. The gameplay remains unchanged at this point. Look for gear, potions, arrows, and poison to amplify damage.
Multiclass Options
The Rogue and Thief subclass is one of the weakest pure subclasses at later levels in terms of combat performance. Almost all of your power comes from levels 1-5, then diminishes substantially. If you’re playing on higher difficulty, consider multiclassing this build to Ranger. We have two versions,a simple multiclass Rogue/Rangerand anultra-high-performance version (complex) Rogue/Ranger/Fighter for Honour Mode difficulty.
If combat performance isn’t your build focus, and you don’t mind losing out on some benefits, continue below with relatively the same gear options at the end game.
Level 6 you get to add expertise into two skills. Deception and Acrobatics are good choices. This simply helps you in overland, dialogue, and exploration rather than combat generally. Soon, we will get another feat that will help with damage.
Ending Act 1 with the Thief Rogue
Once you reach Level 6, you should be close to finishing Act 1 content. Be sure to make a final visit to traders and stock up on camp and alchemy supplies. Additionally, be sure to check out thebest Act 1 items. There are alsopermanent bonusesyou don’t want to miss in Act 1. Lastly,Grymforgehas powerful armor and weapons (Adamantine) that can aid you well into Act 3. Consider taking the time to craft a couple of items there before transitioning to Act 2, where you won’t be able to return.
At level 7 the Rogue gains access toEvasion: Your agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain spells. When a spell or effect would deal half damage on a successful Dexterity Saving Throw, it deals no damage if you succeed, and only half damage if you fail. This class feature helps with avoiding damage but gameplay remains unchanged.
At level 8, you get access to another feat. Since we took Sharpshooter at level 4, take the Ability Improvement here and put +2 into Dexterity. This should get you to 18, allowing for huge damage with sneak attacks at range. We will get a couple more feats and Lucky along with another Ability Improvement will give us even more damage and control over Advantage.
At level 9, the Rogue Thief gets a new subclass feature, Surpeme Sneak.
Gameplay: Remains unchanged at this level, use Invisibility after you use disengage and run away from attackers and heal up with bonus action.
At level 10 we get to choose an ability improvement or a feat. We will choose the Lucky feat.
You will need to long rest to replenish your Luck points, but use them in critical situations where you need an extra d20, which will take the higher of the two.
At level 11, not much happens with the Rogue Thief build. We are one level from anotherfeatwhich is helpful. You gain access to another non-combat related skill Reliable Talent.
Reliable Talent: When you make an Ability Check with a Skill you are Proficient with it, the lowest result you may roll on the die is 10.
Finally, after reaching Level 12 you may now reach level 20 in your primary ability Dexterity with another +2 via Ability Improvement. This build excels at simple ranged combat, and is amazing outside of combat utility.
BG3 Rogue Build Thief Equipment
In Games like Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll explore the world, loot chests and your enemies’ dead bodies, and complete quests and all those activities can reward you with useful items, potions, armor, weapons, scrolls, and much more. There are three Acts in BG3, and Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Thief Rogue Build Guide includes suggested sets and alternatives for Act 1 and Act 3.
Beginner: Act 1
Here’s the best beginner gear for Rogue Thief Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Below is the best Act 1 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for Thief Rogue in BG3:
Advanced: Acts 2 & 3
Here’s the best-advanced gear for Rogue Thief Build in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Below is the best Act 3 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for Thief Rogue in BG3:
Best Thief Rogue Consumable Items
Consumablesare items that can be used once and then destroyed. They are typically used to restore health or other resources. Some common types of consumables include potions, scrolls, food, drinks, and arrows.
The following list represents the best individual use consumable items that will aid in our Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Thief Build:
The strongest Ammunition for the Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Thief Build is listed below:
Permanent Bonuses for Rogue Thief Build BG3″
Throughout Baldur’s Gate 3, you will have the ability to gain permanent bonuses to your character. These can grant additional spells, ability scores, and other bonuses. Permanent Bonuses are not displayed throughout the campaign but are vital to increase overall combat performance. We have all permanent bonuses here in a guide, but the most important ones for you to collect are listed below.
Best Permanent Bonuses for Thief Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3
Thief Rogue Build Gameplay Tips and Tricks
The Rouge gameplay revolves around using stealth, sneak attack, and advantage for damage and survivability.
Here are the best Roge build gameplay tips.
Remember, this build guide serves as a foundation, and you can always adapt it to suit your preferences and the needs of your campaign. Enjoy playing as a formidable Thief Rogue!
Thief Rogue Changes in Patch 7 for BG3
Overall, combat and gameplay for the Thief Rogue did not see any changes with the release of Patch 7 for Baldur’s Gate 3.
Larian Studios’ main focus in this patch ismodsand some new cinematic scenes focusing on evil endings. The game now features amodding toolkitand anin-game mod manager, allowing players to create and install mods directly within the game. This update is intended to hand over creative control to the community, enabling players to produce unique content and continue the story in new ways. This best Rogue Thief Build Guide remains unchanged, mainly in Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 7.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Thief Rogue Build Summary Guide
Q1. What is the strongest Rogue subclass in BG3?
Ans. The strongest Rogue subclass in BG3 is considered to be Thief due to its insane action economy and synergy with almost every playstyle.
Q2. What is the best class to support Rogue in BG3?
Ans. The best overall class to support Rogue in BG3 are Gloomstalker Ranger and Fighter.
Q3. What’s the best multiclass for Rogue BG3?
Ans. The best multiclass for Rogue in BG3 is Assassin Rogue and Gloomstalker Ranger.
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