Rogue Class Build Guide for Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024

Rogue is one of 12 classes you can choose from in the revised version of Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Players Manual (formerly known as One D&D, 5.5e, and a few other names). Rogues are characters focused on cunning, and their primary Ability is Agility.

Before we begin, a quick disclaimer: There is no “best” in D&D. Classes are generally well-balanced when it comes to damage output. 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 diversity of situations—from picking locks to kicking goblins to seducing dragons—means that “best” is entirely subjective.

Our D&D Players Manual (2024) Rogue Guide takes you through the class and discusses some of the changes from D&D 5e.

Rogues are as cunning as they are stinging, and it actually takes some work to make sure you’re getting the most out of your character. Finding ways to get your Sneak Attack damage on every attack means you’ll be moving around a lot and playing all over the battlefield. Outside of combat, Rogues are a party’s go-to for picking locks and finding traps, and their skills often make them good talkers (or liars).

There are so many famous Rogue archetypes in fiction that it’s easy to limit yourself to the dagger-wielding, cape-wearing, hunched-over oaf you see on the cover of fantasy novels everywhere. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of hero, of course, but there’s a whole world of inspiration to draw from:

Regardless of which class you ultimately choose, One D&D changes the way characters are created. Specifically, the Background you choose now comes with an Ability Score improvement (one point each in three Abilities, or two points in one Ability and one point in another). Additionally, each character gains an Origin Feat. We’ll cover both of these changes below.

One of D&D’s Rogue classes gets the gun control class property. You may choose two weapons with which to use the Mastery Property when attacking.

At level 3 villains get the Steady aim feature. This bonus promotion gives you advantage on your next attack that turn (remember, you can use your bonus action at any time) provided you haven’t moved yet, and it also reduces your movement to 0. This is specifically useful for ensuring a Sneak Attack.

Certain actions — like Cunning Strike’s Poison or Trip at 5th level — have a Sneak Attack cost associated with them. Each of these actions costs 1d6 of your Sneak Attack damage, meaning you remove them from your Sneak Attack pool before you roll them (making it 2d6 at 5th level) and then activate the effect after your attack.

Expertise grants you Expertise in two of the skills you are already proficient in, essentially allowing you to double 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 an expert in two additional skills at level six.

This trait is extremely powerful and contributes to the mentality of ‘villains are never good at anything, they are either incredible or terrible’.

A sneak attack is the way to deal damage as a rogue, and “how do I prepare to stealthily attack this target next turn” should be going through your head every time you make a move.

Essentially, you can deal 1d6 bonus damage per turn to a single creature if you have Advantage on your attack roll and you’re using a Finesse (like daggers or rapiers) or a Ranged weapon. The caveat here is that you can also perform a sneak attack if you have an ally within five feet of the target.

Keep in mind that you need to communicate your intent to sneak attack to your DM, so if you attack with advantage, say you’re spending your sneak attack and roll that bonus damage die!

Thieves’ Cant is basically the language of the streets in D&D. You can secretly communicate with others who know Thieves’ Cant, such as people in the local thieves’ guild, street thugs, vagabonds, etc. If you find yourself in a dark area or talking to a suspicious person, ask your DM if you can communicate with them in Thieves’ Cant to keep secrets from your party or just add some fun flavor to the scene. The NPC might even trust you more!

You can also learn an additional language of your choice for free.

You are well-trained in two weapon types, allowing you to use the mastery properties of each. You can switch between the two weapons you master with each Long Rest.

When you first create your character, you’ll need to assign your attribute points. For most non-magical Rogues, this is your priority list:

If you’re an Arcane Trickster Rogue, you’ll want to prioritize Intelligence after Dexterity to increase your spellcasting ability. The rest of the order doesn’t change, though.

Backgrounds in One D&D are a way to codify your character’s personal history into their stats. Backgrounds give you a stat boost, a few skills, tool skills, and an Origin Feat.

For Rogues, we start with everything that will raise your Dexterity: Artisan, Charlatan, Criminal, Entertainer, Guide, Sailor, Scribe, Soldier, Wayfarer. After that, it depends on what kind of Rogue you want to make.

Criminal is a good fallback option if you can’t decide. The Alert Origin Feat you get increases your Initiative and makes you proficient in Sleight of Hand and Stealth – opening up more options for your Class-granted skill proficiencies.

You don’t choose a Rogue subclass until level 3, but you should think about where you want to go from here pretty early on, especially in terms of Background and Origins (above).

The Arcane Trickster is one of the most powerful subclasses in the game, as it allows you to combine the high damage of a dagger or crossbow-wielding Rogue with the utility of a Wizard.

At level 3, you gain access to spellcasting, including three Cantrips and some spell slots. In particular, this gives you access to Mage Hand, which allows you to loot bags magically and remotely, as well as some interesting stuff.

You continue to gain spell slots and access to more powerful spells as you level up. Eventually, at level 17, you can steal spells from other spellcasters. You can then cast that spell for the next 8 hours.

Assassin is exactly what you’d think it is: dealing massive damage before your targets even know you’re there.

Your main tool as an assassin is… Assassinate, which gives you advantage on all initiative rolls and lets you deal bonus damage during the first round of combat.

At level 17, you can use Death Strike to deal double damage on your first surprise attack in battle.

The Soulknife swaps out regular blades for special psychic blades and dice. You can also do some pretty wild things with the energy dice you’re given – like rerolling a skill check – but the coolest feature here is the blades themselves. Instead of using traditional weapons, you can manifest physical blades in your hands when you attack, dealing damage and then disappearing as if they were never there.

And if that’s not cool enough, at level 9 you gain the ability to throw one of your psionic swords and then teleport to it.

The Thief is probably the most well-known Rogue archetype, and is more focused on the out-of-combat skills you need as a Rogue. You can climb and jump very efficiently, and you can steal things more easily than the average character.

At level 17, you can move so fast that you get a second turn in the first round of a fight, allowing you to deal a lot of damage or complete an objective before most characters can even move once.