Dungeons & Dragons: All Rogue Subclasses, From Most Powerful To Most Powerful

From Masterminds and Scouts to Phantoms and Soulknives, explore the most powerful Rogue subclasses in Dungeons & Dragons.

As Dungeons & Dragons expands its popularity in 2023 and beyond, both casual and professional gamers will benefit from knowing how to build the most effective Rogue subclass possible. Rogues are ideal for keeping a low profile on the battlefield and striking when you least expect it, and certain subclasses offer different skill sets, including powerful melee, defense, spellcasting, strategy, and defense qualities.

Each year's release of the D&D source material introduces new subclasses, allowing players to tweak their Rogues in a variety of ways. For those looking for the most powerful rogue subclass, some options balance offense and defense in a more powerful way than others.

9/9 Mastermind

For dungeon-exploring campaigns, Masterminds are the least effective rogues, due to their severe lack of combat skills. However, in campaigns where social interaction is critical, planners use their ability to gather and analyze information about the enemy and apply their extensive knowledge to manipulate and mislead the enemy, helping their party gain an advantage.

Masterminds are ideal for players who enjoy deception, intrigue and manipulation to get an upper hand on their enemies, and are great for interacting with NPCs as the face of the party. Alas, their one-dimensionality and fragility There's a lot that falls short on the battlefield, and Mastermind's role as an effective rogue is often overlooked.

8/9 Inquisitive

As the highest rank of seers, curious rogues are able to notice mundane details that other subclasses cannot, making them ideal detectives for investigating enemies and territories. Between their Insight, Perception, and Investigation skills, they can spot manipulation spells aimed at them and make quick counter-defenses. As such, this subclass is perfect for sniffing out sneak attacks and ensuring the overall health of your party when playing on a physical or virtual Dungeons & Dragons table.

In addition to their useful extrasensory perception, Curious Rogues also possess more combat power than Masterminds, making them more valuable and versatile when forming a group. The Insightful Fighting skill in particular is a great way to balance sneak attack and detective skills. However, Wisdom-based skills aren't the most compatible with typical Rogue qualities like Charisma, Intelligence, and Agility, so keep that in mind when building your team.

7/9 Scout

When it comes to balanced ranged combatants and survivalists, Rogue Scouts is a solid subgenre of the iconic folk tabletop RPG. Rogue Scouts are best suited as sneak raiders, bounty hunters, and undetected spies who use the natural environment to their advantage, although they are not as strong in ranged combat in terms of melee and DPS attacks.

Scouts are able to alert their teams to impending danger and the ability to fight in ranged combat, using powerful abilities like Ambush Master, Surprise Strike, and Skirmisher, using their natural and survival skills to instantly outwit and subdue enemies. While some find Scout Rogues a bit too simplistic, they're great in any campaign.

6/9 Thief

A classic Rogue archetype, Rogue Thieves is absolutely best at robberies, lockpicking, hijackings, assassinations, and all types of operations involving secrets and stolen property. Most players choose to play Rogue in the first place because of these qualities, but Thief's lackluster combat skills leave a lot to be desired when fighting enemies on the battlefield.

The most impressive powers Rogue Thieves acquire include climbing, sneaking, disabling traps, and using magical items stolen from various characters, no matter from whom they were taken. Thief also have Fast Hands, an effective skill that allows them to steal A project worth simplifying and taking advantage of the "use object" action. Alas, the feature cannot be used on magic items, which would reduce the overall power of the subclass.

5/9 Swashbuckler

While some prefer Rogue Scouts to Rogue Swashbucklers because they tend to get hit less often in combat, the latter are absolute beasts when it comes to lethal combat power. Most rogues are poor at close quarters combat, but roving swordsmen are very adept at both melee and ranged combat, using great speed and skilled swordsmanship to tease their foes.

With the Swashbuckler sneak attack subclass feature, the subclass also has a range of movement options when not attacking, helping them dodge, dodge and dodge enemy attacks. With their flamboyant taunting abilities and debauched abilities that allow them to step up sneak attacks on adjacent enemies, the Swinging Swordsman combines melee acumen with precision and charm skills to create an impressive balance of power.

4/9 Phantom

Most D&D gamers agree that Phantasm has the most original flavor of all the Rogue subgenres. Much of their power comes from Tokens of the Dead, being able to obtain soul trinkets from the dead and use them for additional benefits Corrupt or ask dead key issues. Alas, being a non-spellcasting class, unless casting spells for priests, their overall power range is limited.

Thanks to their Whispers from the Dead and Wails From the Grave abilities, Rogue Phantoms can be a masterpiece of all trades, can turn into ghosts, roam freely to spy on and sneak up on enemies, and can even deal necrotic damage to enemies most unexpectedly , giving them super-powerful and multifaceted Rogue qualities that are more unique than most subgenres.

3/9 Assassin

By trade, assassins must be as stealthy as possible in order to do their jobs effectively. So the deadly Rogue subclass is just as deadly as it sounds, trained to only deal as much damage to enemies as possible without thinking about the consequences. Assassins have always been with the shadows, they are very good at infiltrating, killing low-level monsters and high-level bad guys in classic dungeons and dragons, and then get away with it.

While their role is fairly simple and often one-dimensional, the sheer power Assassins gain through their all-powerful traits is as punishing as they come. Assassination feature allows subclasses to shyly use critical attacks Strength, the Deathstrike feature doubles the damage rate sneak attacks do to enemies, and perhaps most beneficially, the Imposter feature allows assassins to impersonate characters, making it easier and safer to infiltrate enemy territory. ^Those wishing to add a unique twist of magical sorcery to their Rogue characters should explore the Arcane Trickster subclass, a cunning, cunning, and highly deceitful trickster with few weaknesses. As the only rogue subclass with a spell list, the magical acumen and dexterity displayed by arcane tricksters give them an edge over others as wicked half-spellcasters.

2/9 Arcane Trickster

While newcomers to classic fantasy RPGs might find Arcane Magician a bit overwhelming, professional gamers will take their party to the next level by using the subclass's brilliant tricks. For example, they can steal spells from other people, cast magical ambushes while hiding, and use the awesome mage hand Legerdemain to magically steal items from entire rooms and use them against enemies.

Soulknife is the most powerful Rogue subclass in the game. Using ultra-powerful Psionic capabilities, combined with its massive mechanical qualities and rich flavor, the extremely balanced Rogue The subclass uses Psionic Energy dice rolls to determine exactly how to use their power, giving them more control than others.

1/9 Soulknife

Additionally, with its all-powerful psionic and psionic blade capabilities, the Soulblade uses immense psychic power to fight both mentally and physically, defeating most enemies who can only do one or the other. Soulknives are equally adept at ranged and melee range, and thanks to their Rend Mind feature, they can control the minds of their enemies and manipulate them as desired. If that wasn't enough, Soulknives can use their Psychic Veil ability to become completely invisible for an hour, ensuring they remain undetected while infiltrating enemy territory.

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