Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Rogue Class Build

Baldur’s Gate 3 features a huge number of classic Dungeons and Dragons classes pulled right from the Fifth Edition of the tabletop RPG. Because it draws such heavy inspiration from D&D, some of the best builds in BG3 happen to also be the best builds players are already familiar with, including the Thief Rogue.

The Thief Rogue build is based on the Thief subclass that grants an additional Bonus Action in combat, which is ridiculously useful for getting into and out of stealth. Considering how completely busted Stealth is in Baldur’s Gate 3, even with the chances from Early Access, Thief Rogues are sure to dominate damage-wise.

Updated January 27, 2024 by Erik Petrovich: Spending time optimizing the vast array of choices you must make in character creation might seem unnecessary, but these choices can have long-term effects on your character’s effectiveness in and out of combat. In addition to selecting the best Rogue subclass, race, and abilities, players have to make choices regarding their character’s skills and backstory. The best Rogue backgrounds are those that work seamlessly with typical Rogue gameplay, or offer the Rogue proficiency in useful skills for the class. After selecting a background, players then get to select from a list of starting skill proficiencies, some of which can be much better for the BG3 Best Rogue build than others. This guide has been updated to give more details and information on the best Rogue skills and background choices, as well as some other changes throughout to enhance readability.

As a guide-in-progress, this BG3 best Rogue build walkthrough will be continually updated with new information on what makes the Thief the best Rogue build BG3 offers to players.

Rogue Class Introduction & Overview

Rogue Playstyle & Signature Abilities

“With stealth, skill and uncanny reflexes, a rogue’s versatility let’s them get the upper hand in almost any situation.”

Rogues are masters of Stealth and are easily able to slink in and out of dangerous situations while masterfully gaining Advantage whenever possible. They aren’t too bad at Lockpicking and Disarming traps, and can dual-wield with ease, making them a good addition to a team that needs a dextrous melee member to do some dirty work. They aren’t restricted to melee combat, and can be just as powerful when out of sight at a range thanks to the class’ unique Sneak Attacks.

Rogues’ unique class feature is the Sneak Attack, which deals massive damage with a higher chance to hit, but can only be initiated if players have Advantage over a target. There is a melee and a ranged option, both of which will break Stealth when used. Because of the Rogue’s other unique class feature Cunning Actions, they are able to use a Bonus Action to re-enter Hiding, Disengage, or make some distance with Dash. Play the Rogue for a fast-paced, Stealth-oriented playstyle, and to have an easier time accessing Locked containers and Disarming traps.

Rogue Subclasses

• Arcane Trickster: Grants Spellcasting abilities to Rogues, greatly expanding options in combat for movement & controlling enemies.
• Assassin: Focuses on ambushing enemies and entering Combat through Stealth. Refunds Action Points upon entering Combat, among other benefits.
• Thief: Standard Stealth and subterfuge-oriented Rogue that gets improved Sneak at later levels and an extra Bonus Action early on.

Rogue Class Proficiencies

• Rogue Armor Proficiencies: Light Armor
• Rogue Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbows, Longswords, Shortswords, & Rapiers
• Rogue Saving Throws: Dexterity & Intelligence
• Rogue Skill Proficiency Choices: Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, & Stealth

Rogue Class Features – Level By Level

Best BG3 Rogue Build: Thief Overview

What Makes Thief the Best BG3 Rogue Subclass?

“Thieves use their skills in stealth and larceny to acquire whatever they wish, whether from a third story window or the depths of long-forgotten ruins.”

The Thief Rogue subclass offers one simple, but powerful, benefit over the Arcane Trickster: an extra bonus action. With this extra Bonus Action, the Thief Rogue is able to move further away from enemies, disengage from Opportunity Attacks, attempt a second Hide action if a first fails, and much more. Arcane Tricksters gain access to a repertoire of useful spells and cantrips, but when focusing entirely on Stealth, the Thief Rogue’s extra Bonus Action becomes incredibly powerful.

Thief Rogues, therefore, are able to set up Sneak Attacks more often, and the boost Rogues get to Sneak Attack damage at Level 5 makes it all the more powerful. The most broken way to play a Thief Rogue is to keep them separate from the rest of the party before combat, then sneak to a vantage point, and fire off a Sneak Attack for free before entering the fray. Oftentimes, this one-shots weak to medium-strength enemies.

Because of the extra Bonus Action, Thief Rogues can virtually always remain Stealthed, or Dash/Disengage to get away with their Cunning Action. Thief Rogues also gain resistance to Fall damage, which comes in handy more often than one might think.

Thief Subclass Features – Level By Level

Best BG3 Rogue Build: Roleplay & Character Creation Choices

Best BG3 Rogue Race: Duergar

The Duergar are a great choice for classes that need to remain defensive while staying mobile in combat. Though the Rogue gains the ability to go invisible at Level 9 with Supreme Sneak, the Duergar gain the ability to turn invisible from Level 5 once per long rest, granting Rogues this powerful skill far earlier than most will normally get it.

Duergar also gain the Dwarven Resilience passive alongside Duergar Resilience, granting Advantage on saving throws against Illusions, Charm, Paralysis, and Poison. The Darkvision can be nice, too, though the reduction in movement distance is a notable downside of the race. Most races can move at leas 9m on a turn, while Dwarves can only go 7.5m.

Best Rogue Backgrounds in BG3: Urchin… Or Charlatan… Or Guild Artisan

The best background for Rogues in BG3 in general is the Urchin background. It grants proficiency in Sleight of Hand and Stealth, two skills which Rogues regularly use, and will trigger moments of Inspiration when doing typical Rogue shenanigans, like unlocking heavily locked treasures, sneaking into areas, and performing stealthy maneuvers in and out of combat.

If one chooses a Wood Half-Elf for their Thief Rogue BG3 build, though, the Urchin’s proficiency in Stealth is wasted as the subrace already grants that. In the case that you don’t go with a Duergar and instead choose the Half Elf for the Mask of the Wild passive, choose the Charlatan background, which grants bonuses to Deception and Sleight of Hand, or the Guild Artisan background, which grants proficiency to Insight and Persuasion. Of the two, Charlatan is the best backup.

Best BG3 Rogue Skill Proficiency Choices: Persuasion, Perception, Deception, & Investigation

The Urchin background grants proficiency in Sleight of Hand and Stealth, so these two classic Rogue options are removed from their massive list of 11 possible skills. Charlatans lose Deception and Sleight of Hand, while Guild Artisans lose Persuasion and Insight. No matter what background you choose, two options will be removed, but that leaves players to choose four from a list of nine others.

No matter what, be sure to get the Stealth, Persuasion, Perception, and Deception proficiency. These checks naturally fall into Rogue playstyles, especially Stealth. If your Background covers any of these options, think about picking up Insight or Investigation, which can be useful for lots of dialogue checks.

Best BG3 Rogue Expertise Choices: Insight, Stealth, Persuasion, or Sleight of Hand

At the character creation screen and again at Level 6, Rogues get to choose two extra skills to gain Expertise in, for a total of four. Expertise is a little bit different than just being Proficient in a skill. When a Rogue has Expertise in a skill, their normal Proficiency bonus is doubled for that skill. So, as long as a Rogue is proficient in Stealth, that Proficiency bonus increases when they choose to gain Expertise in Stealth as well.

At Level 1, the best two Expertise choices are Stealth and Persuasion, as these play well into the Rogue’s strengths in sneaky combat and dialogue checks. Later down the line, players can pick up Insight and Sleight of Hand at Level 6, though players who don’t do much pickpocketing may find that Deception is a more useful skill to gain Expertise in here.

Best Rogue Ability Scores & Stat Distribution

Feats, Spells, & Leveling Choices For Thief Rogue Builds

Best Rogue Equipment: Armor & Accessories

This section covers the best equipment for Thief Rogues in BG3 across all three Acts. Some pieces from early Acts may still be powerful in later ones, though, and will remain equipped through several Acts.

• Items with bolded names are new options for the build in each Act, and may replace older pieces of equipment.
• Items with unbolded names must be acquired in earlier Acts, but are strong enough that they don’t need to be replaced in Acts 2 or 3.

Best Thief Rogue Items & Equipment: Act 1

Best Thief Rogue Items & Equipment: Act 2

Best Thief Rogue Items & Equipment: Act 3

Best Rogue Multiclass Choices & Builds

Players can choose to Multiclass beginning at Level 2. Look for the “Add Class” button on the top right of the level up overview menu – this will open up a new menu where players can choose one of any other class in Baldur’s Gate 3 when selected.

Ranger Multiclass – Ranger 3/Rogue 9

As a Rogue multiclassing options can be hard to nail down, because the class is so focused on stealth throughout all three of its subclasses. One powerful pairing for the Thief rogue in particular is the Gloomstalker Ranger, which requires players to put three points into the Ranger class to unlock.

Gloomstalker Rangers are, like Rogues, masters of stealth combat with a unique set of abilities and sneaky ways to maneuver the battlefield – but it doesn’t have access to Sneak Attack. By multiclasing into the Gloomstalker subclass as a Rogue, players are able to take advantage of Sneak Attack alongside the Gloomstalker’s powerful stealth abilities.

It’s not a bad idea to go down to Rogue 7 and also multiclass into Fighter for two levels – Action Surge can be extremely useful for this build.

Fighter Multiclass – Rogue 10/Fighter 2

Indeed, the Fighter multiclass is one of the most common options for players to pick in Baldur’s Gate 3 because it doesn’t require much investment to see great returns. By putting just two levels into Fighter, players unlock Action Surge, which grants an additional Action for a turn at the cost of a Bonus Action.

For Rogues, this means sacrificing some Sneak Attack damage for the ability to perform another Sneak Attack in the same turn. Getting to Rogue 10 keeps Sneak Attack’s bonus damage at a nice 5d6, and getting two of them off in one turn means a total of 10d6 damage on top of regular weapon damage – plus, the ability to wear heavier armor is a nice bonus, too.