Rogue 5e: DnD 5th Edition Class Guide – RPGBOT (2024)

Introduction

Rogues are the quintessential scoundrel character: cunning, capable, andeffective in a variety of situations. Sneak Attack allows them to do a hugepile of damage in a single attack, and their pile of skills allows them toeasily handle locks, traps, guards, and many other challenges. While a partycan function just fine without a Rogue, it’s hard to compete with the sheernumber of important skill and tool proficiencies offered by the Rogue. In aparty they serve as some combination of Face, Scout, and Striker.

Rogues typically split into melee or ranged builds, though the universalefficacy of Dexterity makes it easy for many rogues to switch between the two.Melee Rogues frequently go for two-weapon fighting because it provides asecond chance to score Sneak Attack, and hit-and-run tactics enabled byCunning Action are great way to get into melee to attack before retreating outof reach.

Ranged rogues typically rely on sniping, which is also enabled by CunningAction due to the ability to hide as a Bonus Action. Hiding after each attackusing Cunning Action is reliable and effective, though it can be very staticand repetitive. Rogue subclasses expand upon those tactical options, but inmany cases these staple tactics remain crucial to the class’s function.

After reading this handbook, consider our other supporting material for the Rogue:

• Rogue Races Breakdown
• Rogue Subclass Breakdown
• Arcane Trickster Rogue Spells Breakdown (if you plan to play an Arcane Trickster)
• RPGBOT.Podcast: 5e Rogue Optimization (Part 1)
• RPGBOT.Podcast: 5e Rogue Optimization (Part 2)

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Rogue Class Features
  • Optional Class Features
• Rogue Ability Scores
• Rogue Races
• Rogue Skills
• Rogue Backgrounds
• Rogue Feats
• Rogue Weapons
• Rogue Armor
• Multiclassing
• Rogue Magic Items
  • Common Magic Items
  • Uncommon Magic Items
  • Rare Magic Items
  • Very Rare Magic Items
  • Legendary Magic Items
• Example Rogue Build – Lightfoot Halfling Rogue (Thief)
  • Abilities
  • Race
  • Skills and Tools
  • Background
  • Feats
  • Levels

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

Rogue Class Features

Optional Class Features are detailed below under Optional Class Features.

Hit Points: 1d8 hit points is dangerous ifyou go into melee alone, so be sure to have a nice tanky ally nearby and ahealer waiting in the wings.

Saves: Dexterity saves will protect youfrom things like fireballs, and Intelligence saves also exist I suppose.Evasion further improves your Dexterity saves.

Proficiencies: Rogues get all of the weaponsthey need to get by, plus thieves’ tools, and a fantasticfour skills.

Expertise: Rogues are truly the master ofskills. Pick skills which fit the theme and style of your campaign and yourcharacter well.

Sneak Attack: Sneak Attack is the source ofmost of the Rogue’s damage, and should define your combat tactics. You canonly use it once per turn, which is disappointing for two-weapon fightingbuilds, but once per turn is plenty. Also note that it’s per turn,not per round, so you can potentially use your reaction to Sneak Attack asecond time in a round.

Thieves’ Cant: Really only matters forflavor.

Cunning Action: This is a fantastic optionfor bringing your Sneak Attack into play. Archers can use Hide to stay hiddenbetween attacks, and melee Rogues can use Dash and Disengage to move aroundthe battlefield safely and quickly.

Roguish Archetype: Rogue subclasses are briefly summarizedbelow. See myRogue Subclasses Breakdownfor help selecting your subclass.

• Arcane Trickster: Use illusions and enchantments to confuse and outsmart your foes.
• Assassin: Masters of infiltration, disguise, and dealing high-damage sneak attacksat the beginning of combat.
• Inquisitive: Masters of Insight and Investigation, the Inquisitive is hard to surpriseor fool, and they can use their keen insight to allow them to Sneak Attackfoes more easily than most rogues.
• Phantom: Speak to the spirits of the dead and use their knowledge to empower yourattacks and your skills.
• Mastermind: Masters of planning and tactics, the Mastermind can use the Help actionto great effect in combat, and can gain insights about other creaturesoutside of combat by studying them at length.
• Scout: Adept skirmishers and ambushers, scouts are fast and difficult to pindown in combat, and move about quickly on the battlefield.
• Soulknife: Use psionic power to create deadly psychic blades in combat.
• Swashbuckler: Charismatic master duelists, swashbucklers use their Charisma in uniqueways both in and out of combat, and are masters at engaging foesone-on-one.
• Thief: The iconic rogue, the Thief is a master of using tools and items(including magic items) to overcome challenges quickly.

Uncanny Dodge: If you only draw a handful ofattacks this can prevent a huge amount of damage.

Evasion: Between this and uncanny dodge youare very durable.

Reliable Talent: This is especially nice foryour Expertise skills, and it’s great motivation to pick up the Skilledfeat.

Blindsense: Locating invisible creatures canbe very hard, and even if you can’t hit them easily it goes a long way to knowwhere they are standing.

Slippery Mind: Your Wisdom probably isn ‘tgreat, but at this level your Proficiency Bonus is big enough that this goes along way.

Elusive: Between this, Uncanny Dodge, andEvasion you are very difficult to kill.

Stroke of Luck: Essential when the chips aredown and you can’t afford to fail.

Optional Class Features

Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Optional Class Features offer ways to add additional features or replace existing ones. These rules are optional, and you should not assume that your DM will allow these features without consulting them first.

Assessments and suggestions for specific Optional Class Features are presented here, but for more information on handling Optional Class Features in general, see my Practical Guide to Optional Class Features.

Steady Aim (Addition): Nowhere to hide?Nowhere to run? No shenanigans to get easy access to Sneak Attack? Steady Aimis your answer. It’s not especially exciting, but it’s incredibly effective,and provides a way for rogues to achieve Sneak Attack in situations where theymight otherwise struggle to do so.

I recommend allowing Steady Aim on all single-class rogues who takesubclasses that I rate orange orred, but you might also allow it for newplayers who are acclimating to 5e’s rules, especially if they struggle to keeptrack of the conditions which allow them to deliver sneak attacks. DeliveringSneak Attack is 5th edition is really easy in most situations, andhaving situations where the rogue can’t manage sneak attack is part of whatbalances the Rogue’s consistently high damage output. For a new player (orplayers who struggle with game mechanics) this can be a helpful crutch, butfor experienced players who are comfortable with the rules, this is basicallyan on-switch for easy mode.

You do give up the ability to move under your own power for the turn in whichyou use Steady Aim, but that conveniently doesn’t apply to mounts or to abroom of flying, so abuse cases are both abundant and easy to access. Ifyou’re asking yourself if you or someone in your game is experienced enoughwith the game that you don’t need Steady Aim, I recommend this as a barometer:If the player in question knows the game well enough to think of a horse as anabuse case, that player probably doesn’t need Steady Aim.

Rogue Ability Scores

Dexterity is key for any Rogue, and Intelligence is important for ArcaneTricksters, but your need for Wisdom and Charisma depend largely on yourchoice of skills and role in the party.

Str: Typically your dump stat. Nothing that atypical Rogue does uses Strength. However, you’re not forced to use Dexterityto make Sneak Attacks so long as you use a suitable weapon, so Strength-basedrogues are technically possible. It’s usually a bad idea, but it is absolutelypossible.

Dex: Rogues run on Dexterity. They add toyou skills, your tools, your attacks, your damage, your AC, and your bestsave.

Con: Hit points are always important,especially for melee Rogues.

Int:Arcane Tricksters need Intelligence for their spells, but other Rogues onlyneed it for Investigation.

Wis: Helpful for Insight, Perception,and saves. Inquisitives will want a bit more to power UnerringEye, but Expertise will outweigh your ability modifier anyway so you don’tneed much.

Cha: Rogues make a great Face, and youcan’t be a Face without Charisma.

Rogue Races

Dexterity bonuses are critical, and Darkvision is fantastic for sneakingaround in the dark. Size doesn’t matter since Rogues don’t use heavy weapons.That sets a very low bar for races that work for the Rogue, so there’s a lotof room to look for other benefits. Access to better weapons like heavycrossbows, racial traits like flight, innate spellcasting, and damageresistances can all be excellent assets and with such simple requirements youhave lots of room to explore racial traits which go beyond ability scoreincreases.

For more, see ourRogue Races Breakdown.

For a classic rogue feel, consider the Lightfoot Halfling. For ahighly-skilled rogue, consider the Half-Elf or the Kenku. For a high-damagemelee rogue, consider the High Elf. For a ranged rogue, consider the Fairy orthe Owlin.

Rogue Skills

• Acrobatics (Dex): Very situational.
• Athletics (Str): Rogues don’t really doanything that requires Athletics. Thieves might want it for climbing, buteven that is very infrequent.
• Deception (Cha): Important for aFace.
• Insight (Wis): Important for a Face.
• Intimidation (Cha): Important for aFace.
• Investigation (Int): Very helpful, butnot as important as Perception.
• Perception (Wis): Perception is by far themost important skill in the game, and it’s important that several charactersin the party have it.
• Performance (Cha): Performance is forBards.
• Persuasion (Cha): Essential for aFace.
• Sleight of Hand (Dex): Sleight of Handis very thematic for many Rogues, but it’s not very useful.
• Stealth (Dex): A Rogue without Stealth isa very strange Rogue.

Rogue Backgrounds

This section does not address every published background, as doing so would result in an ever-growing list of options which don’t cater to the class. Instead, this section will cover the options which I think work especially well for the class, or which might be tempting but poor choices. Racial feats are discussed in the Races section, above.

Rogues can do a lot, but they also need a lot of skills to do it all. Lookfor backgrounds which fill in proficiencies which are already on the Rogueskill list but which you couldn’t get with yoour choice of two skills.

If you’re having trouble deciding, here are some suggestions:

• Acolyte^PHB: Insight and Religion can be decent options for a Rogue with the rightabilities, and extra languages are helpful for a Face.
• Charlatan^PHB: Two Rogue skills and two tool kits.
• City Watch^SCAG: Athletics doesn’t do much for Rogues, but Insight and free languages aregreat for a Face.
• Cloistered Scholar^SCAG: Two knowledge skills and two language can be excellent additions to aFace with decent Intelligence.
• Courtier^SCAG: Perfect for a Face.
• Criminal^PHB: Two important Rogue skills, and two tool kits. You already get Thieves’Tools proficiency as a Rogue, so you can replace Thieves’ Tools with anotherproficiency of the same type. I recommend Poisoner’s Kit.
• Entertainer^PHB: Disguise Kit proficiency is really the only interesting piece.
• Faction Agent^SCAG: Fantastic for a Face, and it allows you to fill in a social skill whichyou couldn’t get elsewhere.
• Far Traveler^SCAG: Two excellent skills for a Rogue, a bonus language, and proficiency withan item that you’ll probably never use.
• Guild Artisan^PHB: Two important skills for any Face, but the tool proficiency isn’t veryhelpful.
• Inheritor^SCAG: You can’t really use Survival, but the rest is decent. Far Travelerprovides similar options with better skills.
• Mercenary Veteran^SCAG: Athletics is occasionally useful for Rogues, and any face needsPersuasion.
• Noble^PHB: A good choice for a Face. History is decent if you have a bit ofIntelligence to back it up.
• Sage^PHB: An Arcane Trickster might have enough Intelligence to justify twoknowledge skills, and the extra languages are nice for a Face.
• Urban Bounty Hunter^SCAG: Basically two additional skill choices from the Rogue class skills, plussome tool proficiencies, including the ever-important Thieve’s Tools.
• Urchin^PHB: Two important Rogue skills, and two tool kits. You already get Thieves’Tools proficiency as a Rogue, so you can replace Thieves’ Tools with anotherproficiency of the same type. I recommend Poisoner’s Kit.
• Waterdavian Noble^SCAG: Potentially good for a Face with decent Intelligence.

Rogue Feats

Thissectiondoesnotaddresseverypublishedfeat,asdoingsowouldresultinanever-growinglistofoptionswhichdon’tcatertotheclass.Instead,thissectionwillcoverfeatswhichIthinkworkespeciallywellfortheclassorwhichmightbetemptingbutpoorchoices.

• Alert^PHB: Going first is great for Rogues, especially Assassins.
• Actor^PHB: Complements the Assassin’s disguise and infiltration abilities verynicely.
• Crossbow Expert^PHB: If you’re built to fight at range, Crossbow Expert is excellent. Allowingan additional crossbow attack as a bonus action gives you a backup option ifyou fail to deliver a Sneak Attack on your first attack, and unliketwo-weapon fighting, you get to apply your ability modifier to damage withthe additional attack. You can accomplish the same thing by throwingdaggers, though your range is considerably reduced, you’ll struggle to“reload” due to the limitation on item interactions, and losing your abilitymodifier to the Bonus Action attack does cut into your damage output quite abit compared to another hand crossbow attack. The ability to use rangedweapons while adjacent to enemies is also tempting, but that’s what CunningAction is for.
• Defensive Duelist^PHB: Very tempting for melee Rogues, but Uncanny Dodge also uses yourreaction, and fills roughly the same function.
• Dual Wielder^PHB: The best case scenario for this feat is upgrading from two short swordsto two rapiers, and the tiny bit of extra damage is hardly worth a feat. The+1 AC is nice too, but raising your Dexterity will get you the same AC anddamage boosts, plus it will improve your other crucial stats. Two-weaponfighting should be primarily considered a way to get an extra sneak attackrather than a go-to source of damage output
• Dungeon Delver^PHB: Handling traps and secret doors frequently falls to the Rogue, and withthe Rogue’s skills this can make you extremely effective in a dungeon-heavycampaign.
• Durable^PHB: Leave this for your party’s front line.
• Eldritch Adept^TCoE: If you don’t have Darkvision from your racial traits, the Devil’s Sightinvocation is a great way to get it. Unfortunately you do need somespellcasting to qualify, so this is only available to the Arcane Trickster.If you want to consider other invocations, see myWarlock Eldritch Invocation Breakdown.
• Elemental Adept^PHB: Offensive spells (with the exception of Green-Flame Blade) aren’t a goodoption for Arcane Tricksters because you can’t apply Sneak Attack, and ifyou’re worried about damage resistance you can use Booming Blade insteadsince almost nothing resists sonic damage.
• Fey Touched^TCoE: Tempting for many rogues, especially arcane tricksters. Misty Step isextremely useful in a variety of situations, and the leveled spells can addsome utility options which are hard to replicate without magic. Avoid Hexand Hunter’s Mark since the Rogue makes so few attacks, but consider Blessand Gift of Alacrity.

  For more advice on Fey Touched, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Fighting Initiate^TCoE: If you’re relying on bows, Fighting Style (Archery) can be a hugeimprovement to your damage output. Blind Fighting may be helpful since theRogue doesn’t have a built-in way to handle invisible foes, and blindsightconveniently allows you to fight within the area of magical darkness or anEversmoking Bottle so combining the two is an easy way to get the upper handin combat. Superior Technique gets you a Battle Master maneuver and aSuperiority Die, but it’s one die per short rest, which isn’t worth a featno matter how good the Riposte maneuver is for the Rogue.
• Gunner^TCoE: Upgrading from a hand crossbow to a musket can be a minor damage boost,but getting proficiency with longbows from your race is less costly andarguably more effective since you’re not giving away your position byshooting a gun. Bows aren’t totally silent, but they’re nowhere near as loudas a firearm.
• Healer^PHB: The best use case for this feat is the Thief. Thanks to Fast Hands, youcan use a Healer’s Kit as a Bonus Action, allowing you to revive dyingallies and retore a small amount of hit points. Of course, you can do thesame thing with a Potion of Healing as an Action, so it’s a question of howoften you need to come to the rescue in a game where Healing Word exists. Infact, you might just take Magic Initiate with Bard, Cleric, or Druid to getHealing Word for the rare times where your party’s spellcasters can’t do thejob because you’ll also get two cantrips and because Healing Word works atrange.
• Inspiring Leader^PHB: A Rogue with good enough Charisma to use this feat is an excellentchoice. Temporary hit points hugely reduce your need for magical healing,and there is little reason not to use this before every fight.
• Magic Initiate^PHB: The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide introduced Booming Blade andGreen-Flame Blade, both of which are an Action and allow you to make a meleeattack with a weapon, thereby allowing you to use them in conjunction withSneak Attack. Since Rogues never get Extra Attack, these cantrips can be asignificant boost to both damage and utility. Booming Blade is a great wayto discourage enemies from following you after you hit them and usingCunning Action to Disengage, and Green-Flame Blade grants some easy bonusdamage, plus it allows you to damage a second target, which is particularlynice since Rogues are so bad at handling crowds of enemies. You may alsoconsider options like True Strike to get easy advantage (it only has somaticcomponents, so you can easily use it while hiding) if you’re not using theSteady Aim Optional Class Feature.

  Unless you’re an Arcane Trickster, the 1st-level spell should probably bea long-duration buff like Mage Armor (don’t do it; real armor is better)or a reliable utility option. Find Familiar is tempting so that you canget an owl to fly in and out of combat taking the Help action, but you getto cast the spell daily so you may want something that you’ll definitelyuse on a daily basis so you don’t feel like your under-using the feat.

  For more advice on Magic Initiate, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Martial Adept^PHB: One maneuver per short rest isn’t enough to justify this for theRogue.
• Metamagic Adept^TCoE: Powerful, but the Arcane Trickster doesn’t get enough spellcasting tomake this an easy choice. For advice on Metamagic Adept, see mySorcerer Metamagic Breakdown.
• Mobile^PHB: Hit-and-run tactics are great for melee Rogues, but moving out of acreatures threatened area is normally dangerous. This allows you to run in,attack, then run away safely. You can use Cunning Action to Dash, allowingyou to move considerably further in one round, and possibly to hide behinddifficult terrain.
• Moderately Armored^PHB: You need to be improving your Dexterity enough that medium armorshouldn’t be a good option.
• Observant^PHB: Potentially helpful if no one else in your party has Investigation orPerception, but probably overkill. If you really need this, use Expertise toimprove your skills.
• Piercer^TCoE: Easy to fit into your build, and with Sneak Attack you’ll have a diewhich rolls low almost every turn so you’ll benefit from the reroll mechanicconstantly. The critical hit mechanic doesn’t matter much since rogues getby on small damage dice, and with so few attacks critical hits will beinfrequent for most rogues (assassins are an exception).
• Poisoner^TCoE: If you have a ton of money and nothing to spend it on, this is a greatway to turn it into damage output. The poison provided by the feat is bothinexpensive compared to other poisons (which are prohibitively expensive)and deals a reasonable amount of damage plus the Poisoned condition.Unfortunately, the DC 14 Constitution save will be unreliable against manyenemies, so you’ll need to be picky about when to use poisons rather thanusing them in every encounter. Because applying a poison requires your BonusAction, you’ll need to juggle poisoning your weapons with your other BonusAction options like Cunning Action. Fighting at range will make this actionmanagement simpler, but missing with an arrow or a crossbow bolt likelywastes the dose of poison, so you’re trading one problem for another.
• Resilient^PHB: Constitution saves might be helpful, but other saves aren’t common enoughto justify taking this over Lucky.
• Ritual Caster^PHB: A great way for Arcane Tricksters to improve their utility options ifyour party lacks dedicated spellcasters. Find Familiar is a fantastic optionbecause your familiar can take the Help action to grant you Advantage onyour attacks.
• Savage Attacker^PHB: This is a bad feat. The largest damage die (d12), yields an average of 2extra damage per turn, and generally the Rogue’s biggest damage die is only1d8.
• Sentinel^PHB: Sentinel can be a great way to get opportunity attacks, thereby givingyou more opportunities to apply Sneak Attack. However, you may find itdifficult to apply Sneak Attack because you can’t guarantee positioning orAdvantage on other creatures’ turns. An enemy could easily move around withinyour reach until it is no longer adjacent to one of your allies beforeleaving your threatened area, thereby avoiding the bonus damage from SneakAttack. Swashbucklers will be able to make best use of this part of the featsince their positioning requirements are so easily met. It’s also unlikelythat enemies will attack your allies while you’re in reach because roguesare relatively soft targets. With light armor and 1d8 hit points, you’reamong the most frail melee characters. However, if you have a paladin in theparty you can capitalize on options like Compelled Duel.
• Shadow Touched^TCoE: An Arcane Trickster can already replicate the interesting parts of ShadowTouched.

  For more advice on Shadow Touched, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Sharpshooter^PHB: Combined with Sneak Attack, you can do some truly crazy damage, providedthat you can hit. Just be sure that you have Advantage, or you’re going tomiss frequently, and hitting so that you can deliver Sneak Attack is moreimportant than the damage boost from Sharpshooter. If the Steady AimOptional Class Feature is an option, combining it with Sharpshooter is veryeffective. Otherwise, rely on Cunning Action to Hide so that you can attackwith Advantage before re-hiding.
• Skill Expert^TCoE: Another skill, another Expertise, and an ability score increase. Easy tofit into any build, and a great way to expand your capabilities.
• Skilled^PHB: With Reliable Talent you can reliably use any skill in which you’reproficient, even with a mediocre ability score. However, the vast majorityof rogues will get more out of specializing in a few skills via Skill Expertthan they will from diversifying into a bunch of skills that the rest of theparty can cover.
• Skulker^PHB: Very helpful for archer Rogues who like to rely on sniping.
• Spell Sniper^PHB: You can’t use Sneak Attack with spell attacks.
• Telekinetic^TCoE: It may be difficult to juggle your Bonus Action between this and thingslike Cunning Action, but it offers and easy way to get out of grappleswithout spending your Action to try to escape. Telekinetic is especiallyworthwhile for the Arcane Trickster since it removes the spellcastingcomponents, allowing you to use it totally undetected.
• Telepathic^TCoE: Unlike many sources of telepathy, including those offered by some races,this telepathy still uses languages, so the benefits are minimally appealingeven for a Face. You do get to increase a mental ability score, whichreduces the cost of the feat, but the benefits are primarily the ability tocommunicate while being stealthy.
• War Caster^PHB: Tempting for Arcane Tricksters thanks to Green-Flame Blade and BoomingBlade, but definitely not necessary.

Rogue Weapons

• Crossbow, Hand: A decent ranged weapon,but it doesn’t do anything that you can’t do with a light crossbow.
• Crossbow, Light: The go-to ranged weapon.The same range as a short bow with a better damage die. The reload propertydoesn’t matter since rogues don’t get Extra Attack.
• Dagger: Great for Two-weapon fighting, andyou can throw them if you need to, but the Short Sword has a slightly largerdamage die.
• Longsword: I’m not sure why Rogues getproficiency with long swords.
• Rapier: Your best bet for single-weaponmelee.
• Shortsword: Ideal for Two-weapon fighting.Comparable to daggers, but you can’t throw them
• Short bow: Light crossbow is strictlybetter.

Rogue Armor

• Leather: Free starting armor for lightarmor users. Upgrade as soon as you can afford it.
• Studded Leather: Your permanent armor.

Multiclassing

This section briefly details some obvious and enticing multiclass options, but doesn’t fully explore the broad range of multiclassing combinations. For more on multiclassing, see our Practical Guide to Multiclassing.

• Artificer: The Artificer is aninteresting option for many rogues. The Artificer’s cantrips include meleecantrips like Booming Blade, and their spellcasting includes a combinationof buffs and healing options which can add a lot of utility. Two levels getsyou access to Infusions, including powerful options like Enhanced Defenseand replicate Magic Item so that you can get Goggles of Night if your racedoesn’t have Darkvision. Three levels gets you a subclass, and the Armorersubclass’s Infiltrator Armor offers perpetual advantage on Stealth checks aswell as a powerful ranged attack option which you can choose to use withDexterity and which works with Sneak Attack since it’s a weapon attack. Ifmagic items like a Cloak of Elvenkind are available in your game this isless appealing, but in games where that’s not an option the Artificer isvery tempting.
• Barbarian: Reckless Attack is verytempting because it provides a guaranteed means of gaining Advantage anddramatically improves your probability of applying Sneak Attack. However, ona class as frail as the Rogue it can be dangerous to grant Advantage againstyourself and there are plenty of other ways to gain reliable access toAdvantage and Sneak Attack. You gain proficiency in shields and UnarmoredDefense, which can both potentially raise your AC to help offset RecklessAttack, but then you need high scores in all of Str/Dex/Don.

  You need to make reckless attacks using Strength rather than Dexterity,which is a hard way to build a rogue most of the time. At level 18 Elusivenegates the downside of Reckless Attack, but building a character aroundone trick which won’t work until level 20 almost never pays off since sofew campaigns reach high levels.

• Bard: Want more Expertise? ConsiderCollege of Eloquence, and three levels gets you Expertise in two more skillsand a floor on your d20 rolls for Deception and Persuasion checks. Perfectfor a Face build.
• Fighter: Fighting Style goes a very longway for the Rogue if you go for Archery, but Two-Weapon Fighting is a trap.Adding 2-5 damage (depending on your Dexterity) really won’t matter comparedto your Sneak Attack damage, so stick to Rogue for Two-Weapon Fightingbuilds. Swashbucklers might consider the Fencing style and pick up a shield(and possibly even medium armor) so that they can make good use of Panache.The +2 damage outpaces the 1.75 average Sneak Attack damage you get perRogue level, so a single level won’t cut into your damage output.

  If you can suffer three levels of Fighter, the Battle Master offer someuseful options. Riposte allows you a reliable way to get an extra SneakAttack per round (remember that Sneak Attack is once per turn),especially for swashbucklers who can apply Sneak Attack easily in meleeunassisted. Feinting Attack also provides Advantage, allowing for easySneak Attack during your turn. However, those options depend onSuperiority dice, so your usage is severely limited and you’ll need tomanage your pool of dice carefully.

  If you’re going for a Strength-based build, starting with 1 level inFighter gets you heavy armor in exchange for the Rogue’s additional skilland tool proficiencies. If you don’t need the extra proficiencies, thatmight be a fine trade.

• Monk: Way of the Shadow is a massivelytempting option for Rogues, but the 3rd-level benefit isn’t worth threelevels, and the 6th-level benefit costs you too much to obtain.
• Ranger: 2 levels gets you a FightingStyle and access to Hunter’s Mark, which makes Two-Weapon Fighting moreviable (though still not necessarily great). Three levels gets you a asubclass, and the Hunter can select Giant Killer as their 3rd-level ability.Giant Killer allows you an attack as a Reaction, offering a way to get anextra Sneak Attack per round every round without a usagelimitation. If they hit you, use Uncanny Dodge. If they miss you, use GiantKiller. That extra attack will easily make up for the lost Sneak Attackdamage progression.
• Sorcerer: 1 level of Draconic Bloodlinegets you 13+Dex AC (beating any non-magical light armor by at least 1), anda bit of spellcasting. If you stick to spells which don’t require spellattacks or saving throws (utility options and options like Booming Blade),you could benefit from this class dip without more than the 13 Charismarequired to multiclass into Sorcerer. For your leveled spells options likeAbsorb Elements and Shield are tempting, but don’t feel locked into thoseoptions since the Rogue gets Uncanny Dodge and Evasion which provide much ofthe same functions.
• Warlock: Sadly your can’t deliver SneakAttack with Eldritch Blast, but there’s still plenty here to make aRogue+Warlock enticing. For a high-Charisma build, a single level ofHexblade will allow you to use Charisma for attacks, allowing you to improveyour social skills and your combat abilities at the same time. 3rd levelgets you Pact Boon, and if you select Pact of the Blade you can retrain yourEldritch Invocation gained at 2nd level to get Improved Pact Weapon (+1 toattacks and damage!).
• Wizard: One level gets you somespellcasting, including ritual casting and access to great options likeBooming Blade and Find Familiar. Two levels to pick up the Bladesingingtradition offers some excellent options for melee Rogues, includingproficiency in a one-handed melee weapon like the Whip. Bladesong grants anice AC boost (especially for Arcane Tricksters) and some other greatbenefits, and access to Wizard spells removes the need for the MagicInitiate feat. Since you have more spell options than Magic Initiateprovides, pick up Find Familiar and have your familiar use the Help actionto grant you Advantage (and therefore Sneak Attack) on your attacks.

Rogue Magic Items

Common Magic Items

• Clockwork Amulet^XGtE: Only works once per day, but in many encounters a guaranteed 10 on attackroll will guarantee a hit (Players will hit an average CR-appropriateenemy’s AC on an 8 or better. See my article onThe Fundamental Math of Character Optimization.) For high-value attacks (any Sneak Attack, basically), that can be greatinsurance. Even better: you don’t need to attune this, so you can rotatethrough a stack of them if your DM is somehow crazy enough to let you getaway with it.
• Horn of Silent Alarm^XGtE: A helpful tool for any Scout, the effect allows you to communicate withyour allies (albeit in very simple fashion) at a distance without givingaway your position and without relying on more complicated and expensiveoptions like telepathy. Use one blare to alert your party that you’re indanger, and establish a meaning for two or more blares before you go offscouting. Example: Two blares means come to me, but be cautious. Threeblares means come get me, but the way is safe.
• Masquerade Tattoo^TCoE: Disguise Self once per day. Basically a cheaper Hat of Disguises. Youwon’t be able to change your disguise, but it’s still fantastically usefulfor a Common item.
• Moon-Touched Sword^XGtE: This solves two problems for the martial characters. First, the swordglows almost as brightly as a torch, allowing you to see in dark placeswithout devoting a hand to a torch and without asking your allies to castlight or something. Second, and more important, it allows you to overcomedamage resistance to non-magic attacks. Resistances like this are common asyou gain levels, and the Moon-Touched Sword is an inexpensive way toovercome them until a better weapon comes along.
• Unbreakable Arrow^DMG: Great for archers to overcome resistance to damage from non-magicalattacks, but it’s only one arrow so you really want to get a magicbow. Since the arrow can’t be broken, it’s weirdly useful for wedging doorsand windows closed or open.
• Walloping Arrow^DMG: Great for archers to overcome resistance to damage from non-magicalattacks, but the DC of 10 won’t be reliable and knocking foes prone makes ithard to hit them with ranged attacks which may hamper you and yourallies.

Uncommon Magic Items

• Ammunition, +1^DMG: Single-use and expensive. Get a +X weapon instead, if you can.
• Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location^DMG: Permanent Nondetection, similar to the spell. Combine this withInvisibility, and you can’t be detected by common countermeasures like SeeInvisibility.
• Boomerang, +1^DMG: Helpful if you need a thrown weapon occasionally, but you can’t usetwo-weapon fighting with it like you can with daggers, and if you hit you nolonger have your magic weapon. Throwing mundane daggers is almost certainlymore effective.
• Boots of Elvenkind^DMG: Helpful on any stealthy character, though not effective as a Cloak ofElvenkind. Combine with a Cloak of Elvenkind for maximum effect.
• Bracers of Archery^DMG: With only one attack per turn (usually), this won’t be effective enoughto justify the item.
• Broom of Flying^DMG: Easily overlooked, but one of the best ways to get flight for anycharacter. It doesn’t require attunement, and has a fly speed of 50 feet,though many medium characters will exceed the 200 pound limit to reduce thespeed to 30 feet, but even then 30 feet fly speed with no duration cap andrequiring no action after speaking the command word is absolutelyincredible. The only drawback is that you’re using the item’s speed ratherthan giving yourself a fly speed, so things that improve your speed won’tmake the broom move faster, and you can’t Dash with the broom. Even so, Ihonestly can’t justify why this is only Uncommon considering howexceptionally good it is.
• Card Sharp’s Deck^DMG: You likely have ambitions of playing Gambit with this thing, but tragically it’s not going to work as you might hope. This allows you to make a spell attack, which means that you can’t trigger Sneak Attack. It’s vaguely useful for breaking objects, but that’s about it.
• Cloak of Elvenkind^DMG: Essential on any stealthy character. Creatures attempting to detect yousuffer Disadvantage, and you gain Advantage on Stealth checks to avoid beingseen, so you get two layers of protection against creatures detectingyou.
• Cloak of Protection^DMG: Good on any character, but it requires Attunement and it’s not veryinteresting.
• Eversmoking Bottle^DMG: A great way to escape, to hide, to create distractions, or any othernumber of things, the Eversmoking Bottle is a great tool for any rogue.
• Eyes of Minute Seeing^DMG: Excellent in dungeon crawls. Investigation is typically used for findingthings like traps.
• Eyes of the Eagle^DMG: Between this and possibly Expertise, it’s basically impossible foranything to sneak up on you without using magic.
• Gloves of Thievery^DMG: Easily replaced by the Enhance Ability spell, but still helpful forstealthy characters.
• Goggles of Night^DMG: Crucial for races which don’t get Darkvision, especially if your partycan’t cast the Darkvision spell for you.
• Hat of Disguise^DMG: Great for social situations, but usually you can get by with mundanedisguises or with a lower-rarity option like a Masquerade Tattoo.
• Pearl of Power^DMG: Tempting for the Arcane Trickster.
• Slippers of Spider Climbing^DMG: The next-best thing to flight. Walking up a wall has all the benefits offlying out of reach, making this an excellent option for ranged builds.
• Stone of Good Luck^DMG: Excellent on literally any character, but if you just want better defensea Cloak of Protection may be more effective. Stone of Good Luck shines ifyou’re heavily reliant on skills and ability checks, and note that abilitychecks include initiative rolls.
• Weapon of Warning^DMG: While it’s not as mathematically effective as a +1 weapon, being Attunedto a Weapon of Warning is still hugely beneficial for the Rogue even ifyou’re actually fighting with a different weapon. Assassins in particularwill enjoy Advantage on Initiative rolls so that they can more reliablybenefit from Assassinate.
• Weapon, +1^DMG: +1 to hit with your attacks improves the likelihood of delivering a SneakAttack.
• Winged Boots^DMG: Excellent on its own, but Winged Boots are more limited in use than abroom of flying, and they require Attunement.

Rare Magic Items

• Ammunition, +2^DMG: Single-use and expensive. Get a +X weapon instead, if you can.
• Amulet of Health^DMG: Setting your Constitution to 19 means that you don’t need to put AbilityScore Increases into it unless you’re really certain that you want 20Constitution. Less ASI’s into Constitution means more room for feats.
• Armor of Resistance^DMG: Excellent, but unpredictable in most games since you can’t perfectlypredict what sort of damage you’ll face. Fire and poison are safechoices.
• Armor, +1^DMG: +1 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Cloak of Displacement^DMG: Among the best defensive items in the game. Taking damage from any source(spells, etc.) suppresses the effect temporarily, so make a point to killanything that can damage you without an attack roll.
• Cloak of the Bat^DMG: A Cloak of Elvenkind may be more effective for Stealth because it alsoimposes Disadvantage on Perception checks to detect you, but Cloak of theBat isn’t limited to vision-based checks so it may be more broadly effectiveif your enemies can also hear or smell you (yes, that’s a thing). You canalso use it to fly in dim light and darkness, though your hands are occupied(you need to hold the edges of the cloak) so flying in combat may bedifficult.
• Dagger of Venom^DMG: Basically just a +1 dagger with a once-per-day poison. The poison isdecent, but it’s not nearly enough to justify the difference in rarity. Geta +2 weapon instead.
• Delver’s Claws^GotG: The claws work with sneak attack, Blindsight, and a burrow speed. Perfectfor rogue stuff.
• Flametongue^DMG: Mathematically the +2 bonus to attack rolls from a +2 weapon will be amore consistent improvement to your damage output (especially with the damagebonus from Sneak Attack), but a Flametongue shortsword or rapier is stillreally fun. The 2d6 damage is multiplied on critical hits, too, so assassinrogues might find it appealing.
• Periapt of Proof Against Poison^DMG: Poison damage is very common across the full level range, so immunity toit is a significant improvement in your durability.
• Ring of Evasion^DMG: A great way to mitigate damage from AOE spells and things like breathweapons which can often be problems from front-line martial characters,especially if you’re not build around Dexterity.
• Ring of Protection^DMG: Cloak of Protection is lower rarity and has the same effect.
• Ring of Resistance^DMG: A fine item in a vacuum, but a Ring of Spell Storing full of AbsorbElements will be much more effective.
• Ring of Spell Storing^DMG: Fill it with Absorb Elements and Shield, and recharge it wheneverpossible and this is a spectacular defensive asset.
• Rogue’s Mantle^BoMT: This is the best parts of multiclassing into Way of Shadow Monk.
• Shadowfell Brand Tattoo^DMG: A Cloak of Elvenkind will technically be better at keeping you hiddenbecause it also imposes Disadvantage on Perception checks to notice you, andthe Shadowy Defense effect is partially redundant with Uncanny Dodge.
• Sun Blade^DMG: Basically a +2 rapier that deals radiant damage and does a bit moredamage to undead. It’s not significantly better than a +2 rapier in themajority of cases. Radiant damage is great, but most creatures withresistance to weapon damage types are affected normally by magic weapons sothe benefits of radiant damage compared to piercing or slashing damage froma magical weapon are minor. It works, but I’m not certain that it’s worthAttunement compared to a +2 weapon unless you can expect to face fiends andundead with some regularity.
• Sword of Wounding^DMG: Persistent damage that stacks with itself. It’s only 1d4 and only onceper turn, but it stacks with itself and “once per turn” means that if youcan attack again outside of your own turn (Opportunity Attacks, etc.) youcan get additional dice very quickly.
• Weapon, +2^DMG: Mathematically spectacular. It’s difficult to beat the math here.
• Wings of Flying^DMG: Broom of Flying is much better, lower rarity, and doesn’t requireattunement.

Very Rare Magic Items

• Absorbing Tattoo^TCoE: Good, but too high rarity to devote to a single damage type. Get a Ringof Spell Storing and fill it with Absorb Elements.
• Ammunition, +3^DMG: Single-use and expensive. Get a +X weapon instead, if you can.
• Animated Shield^DMG: Tempting for anyone not fighting with a one-handed weapon, but a Cloak ofProtection is two rarities lower, works persistently, and arguably providesa better numeric bonus.
• Armor, +2^DMG: +2 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Manual of Bodily Health^DMG: Permanent Constitution bonus and raises your cap by 2. Unless you’reusing a magic item that fixes your Constitution as a specific score, this isexcellent.
• Manual of Quickness of Action^DMG: It’s difficult to find an item more broadly effective for the Rogue.
• Mistral Mantle^GotG: Cold resistance and you can knock an enemy prone just my moving near them. The save DC isn’t especially high, but considering this doesn’t eat into your action economy, it’s still very good. In encounters with numerous enemies, consider using Cunning Action (Disengage) to quickly run past them all and trigger the effect without risking Opportunity Attacks.
• Oathbow^DMG: So cool, but so weak. Unless you’re attacking your sworn enemy, it’s justa magic bow with no benefit other than being chatty. Imagine using ActionSurge and Haste and making 9 attacks in one turn and having the bow struggleto whisper “Swift defeat to my enemies” 9 times in six seconds.
• Spellguard Shield^DMG: Basically only useful against spellcasters, but if you’re facing aspellcaster there are few better defenses.
• Weapon, +3^DMG: Mathematically spectacular. It’s difficult to beat the math here.

Legendary Magic Items

• Armor, +3^DMG: +3 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective. It feelsunderwhelming at this rarity, but the math is good.
• Blood Fury Tattoo^TCoE: The first ability provides a great damage boost which also heals you, andsince it’s “extra damage” the damage is multiplied on a critical hit. Thesecond ability provides a way to counterattack using your Reaction, and withAdvantage on that attack it’s an easy and reliable boost to your damageoutput, and since you make the attack with Advantage it’s an easy way to getSneak Attack outside of your turn. However, the attack uses your Reactionwhich means that you’re not using Uncanny Dodge so you need to weight thatrisk/reward calculation very carefully.
• Cloak of Invisibility^DMG: Invisibility is extremely powerful in 5e. Note that this is just theinvisible condition, not the spell Invisibility, so you can still attack orwhatever while invisible.
• Ioun Stone (Mastery)^DMG: Proficiency Bonuses apply to a lot of things and a +1 bonus goes a longway. Attacks, saves, skills, etc. all benefit. For many characters, a Stoneof Good Luck will be a better value, but rogues get more skill proficienciesthan other classes, and at high levels you’re proficient in three saves(assuming you didn’t get more from feats or something), so Ioun Stone(Mastery) applies to enough things that I think you can justify it over aStone of Good Luck.
• Luck Blade^DMG: Bonuses to attacks and saves, a once per day reroll, and it can cast Wisha few times (maybe. 1d4-1 could be zero).Green if it can’t cast Wish.
• Ring of Invisibility^DMG: Cloak of Invisibility and Ring of Invisibility are very similar, butthere is some important nuance to understand. Ring of Invisibility can makeyou indefinitely invisible, allowing you to do anything except attack andcast spells without breaking your invisibility. Use a breath weapon,activate items (as long as doing so doesn’t make you cast a spell), stealthings, use the Help action, pick locks, disarm traps, take long rests, etc.can all be done while totally invisible without limit. However, the secondyou roll initiative the Cloak of Invisibility becomes more powerful becauseits invisibility isn’t broken by you attacking or casting spells.
• Ring of Spell Turning^DMG: Given the choice, I would much rather haqve a Mantle of Spell Resistancesimply because the Ring of Spell Turning doesn’t provide any protectionagainst area effect spells. Otherwise, this is a really fun item, and if itprovided Advantage on saves against area of effect spells it would shootstraight up to blue.
• Ring of Three Wishes^DMG: Use this to do one of the things that risks permanently removing theability to cast Wish, such as granting 10 creatures permanent resistance toonce damage type. If you lose the ability to cast Wish, pass this off toanother ally who will never be able to cast Wish by any other means. Repeatuntil the last charge is used.

  For more help with Wish, see myPractical Guide to Wish.

• Scarab of Protection^DMG: An upgrade from the Mantle of Spell Resistance, the Scarab of Protectionadds a limited benefit against necromancy and undead creatures, and doesn’ttake up your cloak slot, leaving you free to take items like a Cloak ofProtection or Cloak of Invisibility instead.

Example Rogue Build – Lightfoot Halfling Rogue (Thief)

Corrie Edgecliff the Lightfoot Halfling Thief

Though her movements are lively and quick, the halfling’s green eyes giveyou a look that’s all business. Her leather armor, softened with some sortof oil to keep a free range of movement, has more than a few pouches builtinto it, the right size and shape to hold particulars such as a vial ofacid, a bag of ball bearings, or a handful of iron door spikes. Though youcannot see any weapons, you would wager a dragon’s hoard that she has atleast three daggers and a blowgun concealed on her person, if not more.

— Boxed text provided by dScryb^{(affiliate link)}

Thisisa“StapleBuild”.Thisbuildissimple,andreliesonoptionsfromtheSRDandtheBasicRuleswhereverpossible.Ifyouneedafunctionalbuildwithnothingfancyorcomplicated,thisisagreatplacetostart.

The Lightfoot Halfling Thief is, in my opinion, the most iconic example ofthe Rogue. My opinion may be biased by my 3rd-edition roots, in which Liddathe Halfling Rogue was the iconic example of the class, but the concept of ahalfling sneaking around stealing things dates all the way back to TheHobbit.

With the options available to us in the Basic Rules and the SRD, we’ll buildour rogue as a combination Face, Scout, and Striker. These are the Rogue’stypical roles, and this build can cover all the bases reasonably well at thesame time. Our Face and Scout emphasis will be a balance because each willconsume our limited choices of skill proficiencies and Expertise. I’ll presentsome suggested options, but I encourage you to customize your build to suityour tastes.

I’ll note two DPR entries below: One for a single attack, and one fortwo-weapon fighting. While the additional attack itself does a minisculeamount of additional damage, the additional opportunity to deal Sneak Attackdamage is a massive mathematical advantage that only grows as you gainlevels.

Abilities

We will use the ability scores below. They’re almost identical to thesuggested ability scores presented above for “most rogues”, but they’retweaked a little bit to take advantage of the Lightfoot Halfling’s abilityscore increases so that we can get as much out of our build as possible.

Race

Lightfoot Halfling. Dexterity and Charisma is likely the best ability scorespread we can get for a thief, and the Lightfoot Halfling’s other racialtraits offer a bunch of other useful tricks.

Skills and Tools

Rogues get more skills at first level than any other class, and they also getExpertise immediately. You also get Thieves’ Tools proficiency on top of therest.

• Perception
• Persuasion
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth

If you choose the Criminal background, you’ll get a redundant Stealthproficiency which you can trade for Insight or Intimidation. If you choose theNoble background you’ll get a redundant Persuasion proficiency which you cantrade for Deception.

For Expertise, I recommend Perception and Stealth. Other skills areappealing, but you’re more likely to die because of a failed Perception orStealth check than for failed Persuasion check. At 6th level you’ll getExpertise in two more skills, at which point you should consider skills whichfit your campaign. If you’re doing a lot of stealing, consider Sleight of Handand Thieves’ Tools. If you’re doing a lot socially acceptable things, considerDeception and Persuasion.

Background

Criminal is the obvious choice here, so we’ll pick Criminal. However, itmight not be the best choice among those available to use. Rogue grantsThieves’ Tools proficiency automatically, so Criminal’s tool proficiency isredundant. Under the rules for backgrounds, you can replace a redundantproficiency with one of the same type, but what other set of tools do youwant? If you want proficiency in something like Healer’s Kit or Herbalism Kit,Criminal is great. If you can’t think of a second set of tools, look for otherbackground options.

If Criminal doesn’t work for you, consider Noble. History proficiency isn’t agreat choice for our low-Intelligence build, but you get Persuasion, a gamingset, and a language, and Position of Privilege is a great way to roleplayyourself into places with nice things to steal.

Feats

Rogues get one more ability score improvement than most classes, and you onlyneed to bring on ability score (Dexterity) to 20 to be successful, so there isa lot of room for you to pick up feats if you’re willing to deviate from theBasic Rules and the SRD. If you’re new to the game, consider simple feats likeSkilled or Resilient. If you want to dabble in magic, consider Magic Initiateand take a look at the Spells section above.

Levels