Baldur’s Gate 3: The 10 Best Feats for Rogue

10: Tough

Anyone who’s played an RPG before knows that rogues aren’t usually paragons of health. High health pools are delegated to beefier classes like the barbarian and fighter. This is unfortunate for rogues in a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 where taking damage is an eventuality.

While the rogue has some built-in abilities to help them survive, more health is always helpful. And that’s exactly what this feat does. The Tough feat increases your hit point maximum by 2 for every level you’ve gained. This is a feat that gets better the longer you have it. While 2 hit points may not seem like a lot, by level 12 that’s an extra 24 health added to your maximum health pool. For a class that doesn’t have a lot of health, 24 HP can be the difference between life and death.

8: Dual Wielder

If you’re going melee rogue, chances are you’ll be dual-wielding. Since you can’t get Sneak Attack damage with anything but a ranged or finesse weapon, there’s no reason not to have a weapon in your offhand. And if you’re going to be dual-wielding, might as well make it better in every way.

The Dual Wielder feat allows you to use Two-Weapon even if you aren’t using light weapons. You also gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class as long as you’re wielding a melee weapon in each hand. This feat comes with a lot more packaged than it might seem. Not only do you get a bonus to AC, which is always nice, but you can also dual-wield heavier weapons. While this doesn’t mean you’ll be running around with a greatsword in each hand, that does mean weapons like rapier longswords can be dual-wielded.

This increases our damage from d6’s to d8’s, which is nothing to sneeze at. Furthermore, there are some strong finessable longswords, like Phalar Aluve, scattered throughout the game that have some very useful abilities.

7: Magic Initiate

Even a rogue can benefit from the magic touch. A rule of thumb I’ve found when playing Baldur’s Gate 3 is that a little magic can always help, no matter what class you’re playing. And while the rogue does get a magic subclass in Arcane Trickster, Magic Initiate is a way for rogues to explore their magic side without going all in.

There are different types of the Magic Initiate feat denoting the different spellcasting classes, but essentially Magic Initiate allows a player to learn 2 Cantrips and a level 1 spell from that class’s spell list. You can grab Magic Initiate for the Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard classes. I recommend grabbing only utility spells from this feat since the casting ability to whatever version of Magic Initiate you grab.

Grab Minor Illusion and you now have a Cantrip to help your stealth. Take Longstrider and you can increase your movement speed for the rest of the day. There’s a lot you can do with this one feat which is why it’s one of the best feats for rogue.

6: Actor

Even the best sneak thief gets caught eventually. When that happens you either fall back on your sharp blades or your sharp tongue. And some situations shouldn’t end in combat. This is where the Actor feat comes into play.

The Actor feat increases your Charisma by 1, to a maximum of 20. This feat also doubles your proficiency for Deception and Performance Checks as well as grants you proficiency in those skills if you don’t have them. Essentially this feat gives your character expertise in Deception and Performance. Aside from the nice bonus to Charisma, this frees your actual expertise choices for other skills. If you’re playing your rogue as a face character or skill monkey, this feat is not to be missed. 

5: Defensive Duelist

The best way to avoid damage is to avoid the attack. And what’s a rogue without their fancy footwork? The Defensive Duelist feat allows your character to add your Proficiency Bonus to your AC using your reaction when wielding a Finesse Weapon you are Proficient with. As a melee rogue, you’ll most likely be using a finesse weapon to receive your Sneak Attack damage. And if you’ll be using the weapons anyway, might as well increase your defenses while you’re at it.

While this will only amount to a +2 in the early levels, by level 12 you’ll have a +4 to your AC on top of any armor and Dex you have. This can make your rogue an incredible evasion tank as enemies will have trouble landing a shot on them.

4: Alert

Always keep your head on a swivel. A good rogue knows that they want to be the first in and first out when things go bad. And the Alert feat will help you do that. The Alert feat gives you a +5 bonus to Initiative and can’t be Surprised. This is a simple feat that is incredibly useful. The bonus to initiative plus your high Dexterity means you’ll most likely be going before most enemies in the game when combat starts. The inability to be Surprised means that even if you get ambushed, you’ll still be able to act and defend yourself.

This feat also pairs well with the Assassin subclass. Since the Assassin is strongest when going before everyone, you can see why Alert would be a perfect fit.

3: Mobile

Speed is key. Especially when you specialize in less-than-scrupulous dealings. But a rogue with this feat will never have to worry about that. The Mobile feat increases your base speed and makes it so difficult terrain doesn’t affect you when you Dash. You also don’t provoke Opportunity Attacks from your target after making a melee attack. This feat is excellent for melee rogues who like to dance around the battlefield. Being able to negate Opportunity attacks from whoever you attack in melee means you can dish out some damage, and then run behind the barbarian for safety.

This ability has excellent utility and shouldn’t be slept on. It is easily one of the best feats for the Rogue, no matter how you decide to play them.

2: Sharpshooter

Finally, we get to some feats for the ranged rogue. While getting in close and ribbing your enemies from the shadows is always fun, nothing beats the arrow from nowhere. Many combat scenarios can be started with a well-placed shot. This feat will ensure whoever you hit won’t be getting back up.

The Sharpshooter feat makes it so your ranged shots do not receive penalties from High Ground Rules. Furthermore, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to your attack roll for a +10 to damage. This feat is essentially Great Weapon Master for ranged weapons. And while the -5 to attack sucks, the rogue has a lot of ways to negate this debuff. From the context of initiating combat with this from stealth, you’ll be getting Advantage on the attack anyway. A -5 won’t mean anything in the long run. And the +10 to damage with Sneak Attack is devastating to anyone you hit it with.

1: Crossbow Expert

If you’re going to learn how to use a weapon, might as well learn how to use it right. Other than being an iconic weapon for the rogue, the crossbow is a very powerful weapon in their hands. The Crossbow Expert feat makes it so that when you make crossbow attacks in melee range, the Attack Rolls do not have Disadvantage. Your Piercing Shot also inflicts Gaping Wounds for twice as long. 

This is incredibly powerful for rogues who focus on range. Not taking Disadvantage means you’re effective at any range. It also means you don’t have to worry about losing your sneak attack if someone decides to run up to you. Pair this with a feat like Sharpshooter and you become a ranged damage-dealing machine. This feat is truly one of the best feats for a rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3.