Baldur’s Gate 3 is a sophisticated and powerful project, made with great love. In the turn-based role-playing game, you will find freedom of choice, a non-linear plot and a variety of classes and races. Let’s take a closer look at Rogue. In this guide, we have written an overview of the class and learned all the features of its gameplay: from skills and subclasses to creating a build.

Rogue Class Overview

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Rogues are experts in stealth and deception, they trust only themselves. You will not find anyone who can pick a lock or disarm a trap faster than a rogue. Enemies always have to be on their guard, checking every dark corner, otherwise a dagger in the liver — no one is eternal. 

Rogue has two class features that allow him to defeat enemies with one strike, with proper pumping: shadow attacks from close and long range. 

Sneak Attack lets you deal extra damage if the enemy is unaware, distracted, or you attack from the shadows. With the main action of a dagger or crossbow, rogue inflicts critical damage on the enemy and can even return to the shadows with the help of a bonus action. This is the perfect option for those who prefer cold calculation and lightning-fast attacks in the back to open confrontations.

Rogue Class Playstyle

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Rogue in BG3 is a master of escapes and attacks from the shadows. The main strategy and gameplay of the character is to avoid direct confrontations, using stealth and maneuverability skills, attack at the most unexpected moment. This class loves clear planning of each move for the whole team, rather than direct aggression and sudden clashes without an ambush. 

The main characteristic of rogue is dexterity, which affects the probability of hitting the target, evasion and initiative.

The rogue class, like many others in BG3, has different subclasses: Thief, Assassin and Arcane Trickster. Each of them implies a unique style of play. Thief enhances stealth and maneuverability skills, Assassin is ideal for attacks from behind, and Arcane Trickster adds a bit of magic to the gameplay.

The choice of subclass and skills influences how your rogue will interact with the game world and its inhabitants. And of course, a skillful combination of cunning, flattery and rights is a key to the hearts of all creatures in BG3.

Rogue Class Features

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Main characteristic: Dexterity. 

Saving throws: Dexterity, Intelligence. 

Dexterity for rogue is like a red hat for a fly agaric, without it there will not be that image. The higher the level of dexterity — the better, because the characteristic determines the strength of the attack and the armor class. 

With a high level of intelligence, you will solve crosswords and quickly analyze the environment for the presence of traps and caches. Knowledge is power, and in the case of rogue, it is also gold and a mine defused in time. 

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Skills with ability: Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, Stealth. 

Weapons: simple, crossbows, long and short swords, rapiers. But rogue prefers daggers or short swords. Why? Because such a blade is easy to hide in the sleeve and no one will notice the lightning strike between the eyes. 

Armor: light. Rogue does not like medium and heavy armor, because it sounds like a herd of cows running across a quiet field. Still, it is better to elegantly and quietly pick locks while sneaking to the treasures. 

Health calculation formula: 5 + constitution modifier for each level. 

Yes, rogue is not as strong as a barbarian, but who said that getting hit in the face is necessary, if you can dodge?

Rogue Class Progression

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This section illustrates how the rogue evolves with each level, enhancing their abilities and attack damage, while gaining access to new unique skills and features.

Level 1

  • Sneak Attack (Melee & Ranged): Deals extra physical damage of 1d6. This is the unique attack that will turn you into a killing machine by level 4-5.
  • Expertise in 2 Skills: Choose 2 skills that will receive a +2 proficiency bonus.

Level 2

  • Cunning Action appears. This is a special bonus action that allows you to: retreat, dash and hide.

Level 3

You can choose a rogue subclass only at level 3, not at level 1 in character creation mode, as is usually the case. 

  • Choose a Rogue Subclass: Thief, Arcane Trickster or Assassin. We have described each one in more detail in the next section of this guide. 
  • Sneak Attack: Increases to 2d6.

Level 4

  • Feat: Choose one ability from the Feats list.
  • For Arcane Trickster, a new spell is available.

Level 5

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  • Uncanny Dodge: A unique passive class ability; when you are hit, your character only takes half of the normal damage.
  • Sneak Attack: Increases to 3d6.

Level 6

  • Expertise in 2 Skills: Increase the level of 2 additional skills.

Level 7

  • Evasion: A unique ability of the class. Rogue’s dexterity is almost perfect, you can dodge some spells. 
  • Sneak Attack: Increases to 4d6.

Level 8

  • Feat: Again, choose one ability from the Feats list.

Level 9

  • Sneak Attack: Increases to 5d6. 
  • Subclass Feature: A feature of your subclass.

Level 10

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  • Feat: Once again, choose one ability from the Feats list.

Level 11

  • Reliable Talent: A unique ability of the class that "tweaks" the results of the dice on skill checks that you own. For example, you roll a check for acrobatics, with this ability the lowest result of the roll is equal to 10. 
  • Sneak Attack: Increases to 6d6.

Level 12

  • Feat: For the last time, choose one ability from the Feat list. 

For rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3, it is recommended to choose the following Feats:

  • Sharpshooter: improves ranged attacks, more damage and less penalties when attacking from height.
  • Alert: increases initiative by +5 and makes your character immune to unexpected attacks, which is especially useful for a class with a small armor class.
  • Lucky: Gives 3 "luck points", which are spent to reroll dice to increase the chances of success in attack or defense, as well as to force the enemy to reroll the dice on the attack on you.
  • Crossbow Expert: allows you to shoot in close combat without penalty and increases the duration of debuff effects on the enemy.
  • Dungeon Delver: you better look for and disarm traps, and also get an advantage on saving throws from their damage.

BG3 Rogue Subclasses

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In Baldur’s Gate 3, rogue has 3 subclasses, each with unique features and style.

Thief

This is a classic image of a rogue, who specializes in stealth, lockpicking and stealing. You get an extra bonus action Fast Hands, resistance to damage from falling and the level 9 ability Supreme Sneak for perfect blending with the environment, you become invisible.

Arcane Trickster

Rogue gains access to spells from the Wizard list. Can be built as a support or even a main damage dealer. In the case of Arcane Trickster, it is important to pump intelligence, the level of this characteristic determines the strength of spells. 

Magical abilities: you get 6 spell slots of level 1, 2 slots for level 2 spells, Mage Hand focus, Magical Ambush ability.

Assassin

Masters of single targets, they can easily deal critical lethal damage. 

They often demonstrate most of their usefulness at the beginning of the battle, especially if they managed to catch the victim off guard. 

Starting from level 3, they get the Assassin’s Alacrity ability and at the beginning of the battle they restore the main and bonus actions. Another level 3 ability Assassinate: Ambush, makes automatic critical hits on targets with the surprised status. 

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The passive ability Assassinate: Initiative gives an advantage in attack against creatures that have not yet moved in the first round. At level 9, there will be an opportunity for transformation Infiltration Expertise, it is considered an action, lasts until a long rest or until you cancel the spell yourself.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Build

Let's assemble the perfect rogue, the most enigmatic figure on the chessboard of BG3.

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Best Races for Rogue:

  • Elf: A race with night vision and bonuses of +2 to dexterity and +1 to intelligence (High Elves). The irony is that elves make excellent rogues!
  • Halfling: +2 to dexterity and the ability to hide behind larger creatures.
  • Human: "Unlocks potential" when choosing abilities and bonuses to characteristics.

Reminder: Dexterity is a key characteristic for a rogue, influencing attack accuracy and armor class.

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Choosing a Subclass:

  • Thief: For a classic rogue playstyle with an emphasis on stealth and theft.
  • Arcane Trickster: For those who want to use simple spells. 
  • Assassin: To maximize damage in the first round of combat and execute assassinations from ambush. 

Best Skills: Stealth and Sleight of Hand.

Background: Charlatan or Criminal.

Conclusion

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Take your dagger and hide in the shadows because now you know everything about rogues and are ready for any traps! Don't hesitate to experiment with different strategies, skills, and subclasses. A rogue, more than anyone else, knows that the best battle is the one you won without even drawing your dagger. Mental flexibility surpasses brute force for them. 

We hope you enjoyed this character class guide, and we're confident that your rogue will indeed become a legend in the world of BG3. Tell us in the comments which class you'll be playing!

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