Rogue Class Build Guide for Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024

Rogue is one of twelve classes to choose from in the revised edition of Dungeons & Dragons 2024. Player’s Handbook (formerly known as One D&D, 5.5e, and a few other names). Rogues are stealthy characters whose primary abilities are: wit.

Before we begin, let me give you a quick disclaimer: there is no such thing as “best” in D&D. Classes tend to be well-balanced in terms of damage output. But more importantly, D&D is a role-playing game and a combat game. So there’s more to it than just stabbing monsters. And that means that “best” for a variety of situations, from lockpicking to kobold punting to dragon seduction, is entirely subjective.

Our D&D Player’s Handbook (2024) The Rogue Guide walks you through the classes and explains some of the changes made in D&D 5e.

The Rogue is a mix of sneaky and piercing, and actually requires some effort to get the most out of the character. You’ll need to move around a lot and play the entire battlefield to find a way to get sneak attack damage on every attack. Outside of combat, the Rogue is the party’s primary lockpicker and trap-spotter, and their skill proficiency tends to make them excellent talkers (or liars).

There are so many famous rogue archetypes in fiction that it’s easy to become obsessed with the dagger-wielding, cloaked, hunched goobers that appear on the covers of fantasy novels. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with such heroes, but there’s a vast world out there to draw inspiration from.

Regardless of which class you choose, One D&D changes the way you build your character. Specifically, your chosen background now gives you increased ability scores (either 1 point in each of the 3 abilities, or 2 points in one ability and 1 point in another). In addition, all characters gain the Origin feat. We’ll cover both changes below.

One of the Rogue classes in D&D Weapon Mastery This is a class feature. You can choose two weapons that will use the mastery attribute when attacking.

At level 3, the Rogue gains: Steady aim Features. This Bonus Action During that turn, you have advantage on your next attack (remember, you can use your bonus action at any time), provided you haven’t moved yet, and if you reduce your movement to 0. This is especially useful for ensuring a sneak attack.

Certain actions, such as Cunning Strike’s Poison or Trip, have a Sneak Attack cost associated with them. These actions each cost 1d6 of Sneak Attack damage, so remove that from your Sneak Attack pool before rolling (at 5th level it becomes 2d6), and then trigger the effect after the attack.

Expertise allows you to specialize in two skills you are already proficient in, essentially doubling your proficiency bonus for a given skill. This level 1 class feature is not unique to rogues, but can be used to emphasize combat or social skills. From the start, rogues can become experts in two additional skills again at level 6.

This feature is very powerful, and fits perfectly into the “Rogues aren’t good at anything, they’re either incredibly good or terrible” mentality.

Sneak attack is that As a Rogue, you’ll always be wondering how to deal damage and “how do I prepare to sneak attack this target next turn?”

Basically, if you have Advantage on your attack roll and are using a Finesse (like a dagger or rapier) or a ranged weapon, you can deal 1d6 bonus damage to a single creature once per turn, although you can also sneak attack if there is an ally within 5 feet of the target.

Remember that you have to declare your intention to sneak attack to your DM, so when you attack with advantage, just say you’re using sneak attack and roll the bonus damage die!

Thieves’ Cant is basically the street language of D&D.. You can secretly communicate with people who know the Thieves’ Interpreter, such as local thieves’ guilds, street thugs, and vagabonds. If you’re going into a shady place or talking to someone suspicious, ask your DM if you can communicate with them as the Thieves’ Interpreter to keep the party’s secret or add some fun atmosphere to the scene. The NPC might even trust you more!

You can also learn any additional language you want for free.

You are well trained in two weapon types, each with its own mastery attributes. You can switch between the two weapons you have mastered with each long rest.

When you first create your character, you’ll need to allocate attribute points. For most non-magical rogues, the priority list is as follows:

If you’re a visionary rogue, you should prioritize Intelligence over Dexterity to increase your spellcasting ability, but the rest of the order doesn’t change.

background 1 D&D A way to organize your character’s personal history into statistics. Backgrounds give you a bump to your stats, some skills, tool proficiency, and Origin Feat.

For the Rogue, let’s start with the ones that can raise Agility. Artisan, Trickster, Criminal, Entertainer, Guide, Sailor, Clerk, Soldier, Traveler. Anything beyond that depends on what type of Rogue you want to make.

If you can’t make a decision, Criminal is a good alternative. Getting the Alert Origin feat will increase your Initiative, and you’ll gain proficiency in Sleight of Hand and Stealth, giving you more options for skill proficiency granted by your class.

You won’t choose your Rogue subclass until you’re level 3, but it’s a good idea to think about where you’re headed early on, especially in terms of your Background and Origin traits (above).

The Visionary Trickster is one of the most powerful subclasses in the game, combining the high damage of a dagger- or crossbow-wielding rogue with the utility of a mage.

At level 3, you gain access to spellcasting, which includes three Cantrips and some spell slots. In particular, this gives you access to Mage Hand, which allows you to magically loot pockets and get a lot of interesting things from afar.

As you level up, you will continue to gain spell slots and access to more powerful spells. Eventually, at level 17, you will be able to steal a spell from another spellcaster, allowing you to cast that spell for the next 8 hours.

Assassins are exactly what you think they are, and their goal is to inflict massive damage on your target before they even realize you’re there.

As an Assassin, your primary tool is… Assassination. Assassination gives you advantage on all initiative rolls and allows you to deal extra damage in the first combat round.

At level 17, you can use Death Strike to deal double damage the first time you sneak attack in combat.

Soulknife exchanges a regular blade for a special psychic blade and a die. You can do some pretty wild things with this energy die, like re-rolling ability checks, but the coolest feature here is the knife itself. Instead of using a traditional weapon, you can manifest a physical blade in your hand when you attack, dealing damage and then disappearing as if it never existed.

If that weren’t enough, at level 9 you gain the ability to throw one of your psionic blades and teleport with it.

The Thief is probably the most well-known rogue archetype, and focuses more on the non-combat skills you gain as a rogue. You can climb and jump very efficiently, and steal items more easily than the average character.

By level 17, you’ll be able to move so fast that you’ll get a second turn in the first round of every fight, and most characters will be able to deal a lot of damage or complete objectives before you even move once.