The 6 Best Rogue Weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3

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Human Made

Penned by Nathan Hart

I'm a stand-up comic by night and write for HGG by day. Most of my gaming happens at an improvised desk at the Days Inn right outside whatever small town I'm in for the night.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Rogues are one of the most exciting classes to play in Baldur’s Gate 3, and one of the first companions you recruit to your party is the beloved romance option, vampire, and rogue Astarion. If you’ve decided to play a rogue or you’re just looking to outfit Astarion with the strongest gear available, the weapons you choose for your rogue are important. The ideal builds for rogues are to either use a rapier in one hand, or to dual wield a shortsword and a dagger. That and you likely will have a longbow on your back to land long-distance sneak attacks. Here are the six best items you can pick up in Acts 2 and 3, with Act 1 lacking any truly standout weapons for rogues.

#6 Sword of Life Stealing

The Sword of Life Stealing is a great pick for any rogue build revolving around dual wielding, as it is a short sword usable in either hand. It works well with builds that emphasize critical strikes like Assassin Rogues since its best effect is that it deals an extra 10 necrotic damage to creatures that aren’t undead or constructs every time you crit. You’ll also gain ten temporary hit points, a great buffer for a usually fragile class. It also counts as a +2 shortsword, dealing an extra two damage and making it easier to hit an enemy.

This sword is being sold by Dammon at the Last Light Inn during Act 2. Dammon is the Tiefling blacksmith you might meet during Act 1 at The Druid’s Grove, and he’ll only be around to sell you this piece of gear, among others, if you save the Tiefling refugees during Act 1.

#5 Knife of the Undermountain King

The Knife of the Undermountain King is a +2 shortsword in disguise, even though it sounds like it would qualify as a dagger. You gain advantage on attack rolls against targets that count as obscured, generally meaning you’re fighting them in an area too poorly lit to see well in. It also, like many great Rogue weapons, reduces the number you need to get a critical hit by one. This effect can stack with others and can add up to huge amounts of damage. This feature also makes it so this weapon cannot deal minimum damage, with any result of 2 being re-rolled.

This item is being held by A’jak’nir Jeera, a Githyanki quartermaster in the Creche Y’llek area beneath Rosymorn Monastery in Act 1. You can either trade for this powerful sword or if the Githyanki prove to be hostile, you can slay A’jak’nir and take it from her body.

#4 The Dead Shot

This excellent longbow comes with a +2 enchantment, allowing you to hit enemies more easily with it and do more damage than you would otherwise. It has two special properties that make it well-suited for rogues. First off, it brings the number you need to land a critical hit with any weapon down by 1, making it more likely to land a big strike with any other weapons you have in your possession as well as with The Dead Shot itself. It also lets you add your proficiency bonus to an attack made with this item twice, so long as you aren’t firing with disadvantage. Rogues are likely to be fired from hiding often, so disadvantage is unlikely.

You can find The Dead Shot being sold by Fytz the Firecracker, a weaponsmith at the Stormshore Armory inside the city of Baldur’s Gate. Stormshore is in the lower city and won’t be accessible until a good deal into Act 3 of the game, but this bow is still worth picking up for the rogue in your party.

#3 Crimson Mischief

Crimson Mischief is a powerful shortsword that adds +2 to any attack or damage rolls made with it, along with an extra 1d4 worth of necrotic damage being done with every strike. The weapon does an extra 1d4 worth of damage to targets with 50% or less of their health. It’s a versatile short sword, with different effects whether it’s in your main hand or off hand. When you make an attack with advantage and this is in your main hand, you deal an extra 7 piercing damage. Since sneak attacks require you to have advantage, Rogues will have advantage on their targets more often than other characters. Meanwhile, in your off-hand, this weapon lets you add your ability modifier to the damage of its attacks, raising its damage output significantly.

You loot this weapon from Orin the Red when you defeat her during the quest “Get Orin’s Netherstone”. This questline will get started when you first take a long rest after arriving in the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate and will lead you to defeat the murderous shapeshifter Orin the Red.

#2 Bloodthirst

This dagger is another excellent rogue weapon in part because it increases your chances of landing a critical strike, just like The Dead Shot listed above. These effects can stack with each other. It also lets you cast the cantrip True Strike to give yourself advantage on your next attack. It’s a bound weapon so you can’t be disarmed and it returns to your hand after being thrown. Just like Crimson Mischief, it has different effects based on whether it’s being used in your main hand or your off-hand. In your main hand, creatures you strike with this weapon gain a vulnerability to piercing damage so they’ll take double the damage from future strikes. In your off-hand, it gives you the ability to riposte missed attacks, giving you True Strike in the process, while also raising your armor class by one.

Just like Crimson Mischief, you also loot Bloodthirst from Orin the Red after defeating her. Her Netherstone will at first be embedded in the dagger, but once it is removed you will gain access to Bloodthirst. These weapons drop together and can be paired in different combinations for different effects.

#1 Duellist’s Prerogative

The ultimate Rogue weapon in the game is likely the Duellist’s Prerogative. This +3 rapier does some extra necrotic damage with every strike, with that 1d4 possibly making the difference with the multiple attacks you’ll be making each turn with this weapon. It gives you an extra reaction to use every turn and lets you spend reaction points when you land a melee weapon attack to deal extra necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus. You also land critical strikes on a 19 with this weapon. If you don’t dual wield with this weapon you gain an extra attack. On top of all this, you can challenge your targets to a duel, inflicting bleeding and forcing your target to take disadvantage if they try to hit anyone but you.

You can get this weapon by completing the Save Vanra questline in Act 3. You’ll start this questline by finding a distressed mother named Lora yelling at Flaming Fist guards outside the Basilisk Gate Barracks. Alternatively, if you saved Mayrina in Act 1 she might send you to help with Lora. You’ll need to defeat a certain Hag again, with some additional conditions, to acquire this legendary blade.