BG3 Assassin Build Guide - Maximum Stealth Damage!

Welcome to the Assassin Build for Baldur’s Gate 3. For this build, we’ll be using the Assassin subclass of the Rogue, an even more stealth-focused version of the Rogue that gives you added advantages when attacking unaware or surprised enemies. The BG3 Assassin Build was last updated in November 2025. It works for both PC and Console (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S).

Please visit our Best BG3 Builds overview page for more builds or check out our Best BG3 Rogue Build with the Thief subclass or our BG3 Astarion Build. If you are interested in more Rogue subclass builds, check our BG3 Rogue Builds category page. To get an overview of all classes please visit the BG3 Classes overview page.

The Assassin is quite a linear class – there are fewer choices to make when creating and levelling up your character compared to most other classes. However, the Assassin can still make a very skilled (and slippery) damage dealer and is also great at out-of-combat disciplines like sneaking and thievery.

You can also use this build for Astarion if you have recruited him to your party or chosen him as your main character.

Assassin Build Table of Contents:

Assassin Build Overview
- Rogue Class Summary
- Assassin Subclass
Assassin Character Creation (Level 1)
Assassin Levelling Guide
Assassin Build Equipment
- Early-Game
- Late-Game
Assassin Build Extra Info

Assasin Strengths

VERSATILE, MELEE OR RANGED
MASTER AMBUSHER
EXCELLENT AT STEALTH AND THEFT
REWARDS IMAGINATIVE GAMEPLAY
CAN BECOME INVISIBLE

Assassin Weaknesses

NO SPELLCASTING
LINEAR PROGRESSION
SLIGHTLY SQUISHY
HARDEST ROGUE SUBCLASS TO PLAY

BG3 Assassin Build Overview

Here is a quick overview of the Rogue class and Assassin subclass. If you’re already familiar with how they work, skip this section.

Rogue Class Summary

Rogues are the main “stealth” class in Baldur’s Gate 3. While other classes can stealth, none encourage and reward this playstyle as much as the Rogue.

Skill Expertise – You can choose some Skills that you are Proficient in and become an expert at those Skills, doubling your Proficiency Bonus. This allows you to be extremely good at, for example, Sleight of Hand and Acrobatics (two of the most important Dexterity Skills) right from the start of the game.
Sneak Attacks – If you have Advantage against a target, you can perform a Sneak Attack. This is more likely to hit and deals lots of bonus damage, with the bonus damage increasing as you level up. This allows you to deal crazy damage and even OTK some enemies at the start of combat.
Cunning Actions – You can perform Dash, Disengage and Hide with a Bonus Action instead of a full Action, so you can get a lot more done on your turn.
Uncanny Dodge and Evasion – Unlocked at Levels 5 and 7, respectively, these allow you to negate a large portion of damage from attacks, making the Rogue more durable than you would expect.

Assassin Subclass

The Assassin subclass focuses on ambushes, granting you powerful bonuses on the first turn of combat.

Assassin’s Alacrity – You immediately restore your Action and Bonus Action at the start of combat. This allows you to open combat with a sneak attack and then make another attack on the first turn of combat.
Assassinate: Ambush – Any successful Attack Roll against a Surprised creature is a guaranteed critical hit.
Assassinate: Initiative – When in combat, you have Advantage on Attack Rolls against creatures that haven’t taken a turn yet.
Infiltration Expertise – You can change your appearance at will, concealing your identity.

Character Creation (Level 1) for BG3 Assassin Build

In this section, we will explain the best options to choose when creating your BG3 Assassin Character, such as Background, Race, Skills and Abilities.

Race

Your race isn’t hugely important, and the build will work fine if you just pick your favourite race and go from there.

However, there are still some useful passive features sourced from your race and subrace, which may be of advantage when it comes to the Assassin build. The table below shows the five most promising options:

Race	Strengths	Info
Lolth-Sworn Drow	Perception Proficiency *Fey Ancestry* Advantage against Charmed Immune to Magical Sleep Superior Darkvision *Drow Magic* *Dancing Lights* (Level 1) Faerie Fire (Level 3) *Darkness* (Level 5)	Not only a great choice due to its racial bonuses, the Lolth-Sworn Drow is also perfect for the aesthetic of the Assassin. You can choose Seldarine Drow instead if you want; they are functionally identical but have a different backstory to their Lolth-Sworn brethren.
Half Orc	Intimidation Proficiency *Darkvision* *Savage Attacks* You roll an extra damage dice when you crit *Relentless Endurance* Once per Long Rest, restore to 1 HP instead of being Downed	Half-Orcs are also some of the best melee damage dealers in BG3, thanks to the Savage Attacks passive feature.
Duergar	Can wear Medium Armour Can wield axes and hammers *Dwarven Resilience* Advantage against Poisoned Resistance to Poison Damage *Superior Darkvision* *Duergar Resilience* Advantage on Saving Throws against illusions Advantage against Charmed and Paralysed *Duergar Magic* *Enlarge* (Level 3) *Invisibility* (Level 5)	With their wider choice of armour and weapon proficiencies, and resistances to poison, charm, and paralysis, Duergar are one of the strongest races in BG3. The only downside of Duergar is their small stature – this reduces their base Movement Speed to 7.5 metres per turn (most races get 9 metres).
Wood Elf	Proficiency in Stealth and Perception Extra Weapon Proficiencies: Shortswords Longswords Shortbows Longbows *Fey Ancestry* Advantage against Charmed Immune to Magical Sleep *Darkvision* *Fleet of Foot* – 1.5 metres of extra Movement Speed	Wood Elves are a good choice for any Rogue build thanks to their innate Proficiency with Stealth and Perception and ability to see in the dark. Their wider weapon Proficiency is handy, but we won’t need it for this build. However, the extra Movement Speed is great for any build, but especially a Rogue, which leans into an agile, evasive playstyle. You can use Half Wood Elf, too; it retains most of the same features.
Deep Gnome	*Gnome Cunning* Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma Saving Throws *Superior Darkvision* *Stone Camouflage* Advantage on Stealth Checks	The Deep Gnome is perfectly suited to sneaking around, thanks to its innate Superior Darkvision and Advantage on Stealth Checks. This race also does a good job of shrugging off a variety of hostile conditions, thanks to their Gnome Cunning. However, their small size means that they have reduced Movement Speed, like the Duergar.

Skills & Background

The Assassin Build is best played with high Dexterity, and fairly high Charisma, since we’ll have plenty of points spare and the Vicious Mockery Cantrip that we unlock at Level 4 uses Charisma to determine its Success Chance. Therefore, we’ll be aiming for the most useful skills that fit these qualities.

To begin with, you need to choose your character’s Background. We recommend the Urchin background, which gives you the following Skill Proficiencies:

Stealth (DEX) – Makes it easier to succeed in stealth checks – staying hidden when an NPC is looking in your direction.
Sleight of Hand (DEX) – Used to determine your success chance when lockpicking and pickpocketing.

The Rogue gets to choose an additional four Skills to be Proficient with, from a limited selection. We recommend these choices:

Acrobatics (DEX) – Makes you more resistant to enemies’ attempts to push and shove you.
Deception (CHA) – Used to pass Deception checks in dialogue.
Intimidation (CHA) – Used to pass Intimidation checks in dialogue.
Persuasion (CHA) – Used to pass Persuasion checks in dialogue.

If you chose the Human race, you can choose one more Skill. Performance is the one remaining Charisma skill, so it’s a solid choice.

Finally, the Rogue gets to choose two of its Proficient Skills for Expertise. Your Expert Skills will double your Proficiency Bonus in them.

I recommend applying your Expertise to your Acrobatics and Sleight of Hand skills.

Abilities

Finally, you need to allocate the Ability Points for your Assassin Build. As mentioned previously, it’s really important to maximise your Dexterity, as this will improve your attack rolls and your performance with Dexterity based skills, most importantly Acrobatics and Sleight of Hand. It also boosts your Armour Class, which is especially important since we’ll only be Proficient with Light Armour.

Secondly, any character in Baldur’s Gate 3 really needs to start with at least 14 Constitution, which will increase your Maximum Hitpoints.

The Assassin benefits from a bit of extra Charisma, so it’s good to put some points in there, too.

Allocate your Ability Points to look something like this:

10 Strength
16 Dexterity
14 Constitution
10 Intelligence
12 Wisdom
14 Charisma

Bolded Abilities are essential. The others can be tweaked if you want.

Assassin Levelling Guide – BG3

We will now walk you through the process of levelling up your Assassin. Note that this is a very linear class and subclass combo in terms of how it progresses, so there aren’t many choices to make while levelling up.

Early-Game Assassin Levelling Progression BG3

We’ll start with the early game, at levels 2-4.

Level 2

At Level 2, we gain some new Bonus Actions:

Cunning Action: Dash – Double your Movement Speed this turn.
Cunning Action: Disengage – Focus on retreating safely. Moving won’t provoke Attack of Opportunity.
Cunning Action: Hide – Allows you to Hide using a Bonus Action.

While other classes can perform these abilities, doing so consumes a normal Action rather than a Bonus Action. This effectively means that the Assassin can Dash or Disengage on the same turn that they attack, while other classes cannot.

Level 3

At Level 3, you get an additional 1d6 for Sneak Attack Bonus Damage, meaning Sneak Attacks will now do between 2 and 12 bonus damage (instead of 1-6), depending on the damage roll.

At Level 3, you also need to choose the subclass for your Rogue Build. For this build, we’re using the Assassin subclass.

For choosing the Assassin, you’ll immediately gain the following bonuses:

Assassin’s Alacrity – You immediately restore your Action and Bonus Action at the start of combat. This allows you to open combat with a sneak attack and then make another attack on the first turn of combat.
Assassinate: Ambush – Any successful Attack Roll against a Surprised creature is a guaranteed critical hit.
Assassinate: Initiative – When in combat, you have Advantage on Attack Rolls against creatures that haven’t taken a turn yet.

Level 4

At Level 4, you must choose a Feat for the BG3 Assassin Build. Feats are strong passive effects that can enable a certain build idea or give a stat buff to increase damage or survivability.

Choose Ability Improvement and use it to improve your Dexterity score to 18. This will improve your accuracy and weapon damage and make you better at various actions, such as Lockpicking.

Mid-Game Assassin Levelling Progression BG3

We’ll now go through the mid-game levelling, levels 5-8.

Level 5

When you reach Level 5, your Assassin gains a few extra features to make it stronger.

Firstly, your Proficiency Bonus is increased from +2 to +3, meaning you’ll now get a +3 bonus when rolling for skills that you’re Proficient with.

You also get another Sneak Attack Die, so your Sneak Bonus Damage can now roll up to 18.

Lastly, you get the Uncanny Dodge passive feature. This is a Reaction, meaning it cannot be performed manually. Your character will perform it when they are attacked by an enemy, up to once per round. Uncanny Dodge will cause you to take half damage from the incoming attack.

Level 6

At Level 6, there aren’t many choices to make.

All you need to do is choose two additional Skills to gain Expertise with.

I recommend choosing Stealth and Deception, but it is up to you.

Level 7

At Level 7, you will gain an additional sneak attack damage die, meaning your bonus damage from stealth will now be 4-24.

You also gain the Evasion passive, which gives you extra resistance to spells and effects that normally deal half damage on a Saving Throw. Now they’ll do no damage if you succeed the Saving Throw, and half damage if you fail it.

Level 8

At Level 8, you’ll get to choose another Feat for your Assassin Build.

Choose the Ability Improvement feat and use it to improve your Dexterity to 20.

Late-Game Assassin Levelling Guide BG3

We’ll now go through the end-game levels for the Baldur’s Gate 3 Assassin Build, Levels 9-12.

Level 9

At Level 9, the Assassin’s Proficiency Bonus is improved to +4. This means you now have a +4 bonus added to rolls for any skills you are Proficient at (or Attack Rolls using weapons you’re Proficient with). This bonus always applies unless you roll a 1 (Critical Fail/Miss).

You gain another Sneak Attack Die here, too, meaning your attacks from stealth will now deal 5-30 bonus damage.

At Level 9, the Assassin subclass gains access to the Infiltration Expertise action, allowing you to disguise yourself. Characters who know your character will behave as though they are meeting you for the first time (not including party members).

Level 10

Unlike most other classes, the Assassin gets to choose an extra Feat at Level 10.

Choose the Alert feat, which prevents you from being Surprised by enemy ambushes, and gives a +5 bonus to your Initiative Rolls, helping to ensure that you will take your turn before other characters, therefore making maximum use of the Assassin subclass passives.

Level 11

At Level 11, you’ll gain another Sneak Attack Die, giving your attacks from stealth a possible 6-36 bonus damage.

You also gain the Reliable Talent passive, which guarantees that rolls with any of your Proficient Skills will be at least 10. If you roll below a 10, the value is increased to 10. This means you can no longer Critically Fail when rolling for skills that you have Proficiency with.

Note that this only applies to Skills, not weapons, so you can still roll below 10 when attacking with a weapon you’re Proficient with.

Level 12

If you’ve reached this point, then you have finished levelling up your Assassin build. Congratulations!

At Level 12, you’ll get to choose one more Feat for your character.

Savage Attacker is a great choice for your final Feat. It allows you to roll your damage dice twice, and use the highest roll of the two, making poor damage rolls considerably less likely. Note that this bonus only applies to melee weapon attacks.

BG3 Assassin Build Equipment

Below is the recommended Equipment setup for this Assassin Build. We have split the equipment into an early-game and late-game section to ensure you can make use of this build regardless of how far into the game you are.

Don’t worry if your equipment doesn’t exactly match what is listed here – the build still works fine if some pieces of equipment are different. Don’t be afraid of experimenting and trying different combinations, too.

Early-Game

Early-game equipment can be obtained in Act I and the earlier parts of Act II.

Slot	Item	Effects	Location
Head	Haste Helm	3m extra Movement Speed for the first 3 turns of combat +1 to Dexterity Saving Throws	In a wooden chest next to a cart, by the Blighted Village Waypoint
Cloak	Cloak of Protection	+1 to Armour Class and Saving Throws	Purchased from Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn
Chest	Spidersilk Armour	+1 to Stealth Checks Advantage on Constitution Saving Throws	Dropped by Minthara in the Shattered Sanctum
Gloves	Gloves of Thievery	Advantage on Sleight of Hand checks	Sold by Brem in the Zhentarim Hideout
Boots	Disintegrating Night Walkers	Misty Step spell Immunity to Entangled, Enwebbed and Ensnared Cannot fall Prone due to Grease or Ice	Looted from True Soul Nere in the Grymforge
Necklace	Broodmother’s Revenge	When healed, your next attack deals an extra 1d6 Poison Damage This is tricky to activate reliably now. One option is to drink a healing potion. Another is to get healed by an ally. Later in the game, we’ll combine this with another item to automatically activate it every turn.	Loot from Kagha in the Druid Grove.
Ring 1	Crusher’s Ring	Gives 3 metres extra Movement Speed	Loot from Crusher in the Goblin Camp, or steal it during dialogue.
Ring 2	Caustic Band	Adds 2 Acid Damage to all of your weapon attacks	Sold by Derryth Bonecloak in the Myconid Colony.
Melee Main Hand	Shortsword of First Blood	Deal an additional 1d8 Damage to targets at full HP.	Looted from an executed Deep Gnome in the Underdark
Melee Off Hand	Hunter’s Dagger	The target must succeed on a DC13 Constitution Saving Throw or become Ruptured. Ruptured targets take 1d4 Damage when they move.	Sold by Roah Moonglow in Shattered Sanctum
Ranged	Hand Crossbow +1 (Dual Wield)	A decent ranged weapon that can be dual-wielded If your race gives Proficiency with Longbows, that’s also a good alternative	Sold by Derryth Bonecloak in the Myconid Colony.

This setup is designed to give you superb mobility and to boost your melee weapon damage with the Caustic Band, Shortsword of First Blood and Hunter’s Dagger.

The Gloves of Thievery will make Lockpicking and Pickpocketing much easier. It’s a vital item for lockpicking some of the hardest doors in the game (above DC 20).

Late-Game

Late-game equipment is available in Act III and the latter parts of Act II. However, sometimes items from the early-game section remain powerful enough to be carried into the late-game.

Slot	Item	Effects	Location
Head	Mask of Soul Perception	+2 to Attack Rolls, Initiative Rolls and Perception Checks Cast Detect Thoughts once per Short Rest	In a locked Gilded Chest in Helsik’s room
Cloak	Shade-Slayer Cloak	While Hiding, the number needed to roll a Critical Hit is reduced by 1. Can stack with similar effects	Sold by Sticky Dondo in the Guildhall, Lower City Sewers.
Chest	Bhaalist Armour	+2 to Initiative Enemies within 2m become Vulnerable to Piercing Damage, unless they are Resistant or Immune to it.	Sold by Echo of Abazigal in the Murder Tribunal, if you become an Unholy Assassin
Gloves	Gloves of Thievery	Advantage on Sleight of Hand checks	Sold by Brem in the Zhentarim Hideout
Boots	Disintegrating Night Walkers	Misty Step spell Immunity to Entangled, Enwebbed and Ensnared Cannot fall Prone due to Grease or Ice	Looted from True Soul Nere in the Grymforge
Necklace	Broodmother’s Revenge	When healed, your next attack deals an extra 1d6 Poison Damage The Ring of Regeneration will activate the extra damage every turn!	Loot from Kagha in the Druid Grove.
Ring 1	Ring of Regeneration	Heals you for 1d4 HP at the beginning of each turn	Multiple locations are possible – see below
Ring 2	Killer’s Sweetheart	The first time you kill a creature each Long Rest, your next attack will be a guaranteed Critical Hit.	Found on the top level of the stone structure in the Self-Same Trial in the Gauntlet of Shar, Act II.
Melee Mainhand	Crimson Mischief	Deals 1d4 bonus Necrotic Damage Deals 1d4 bonus Piercing Damage to enemies who are half health or lower Making an attack with Advantage deals 7 bonus Piercing Damage (main-hand only) Attacking with your off-hand weapon adds your Ability Modifier to the damage of the attack (off-hand only)	Looted from Orin, during Get Orin’s Netherstone.
Melee Offhand	Bloodthirst	The number needed to roll a Critical Hit is reduced by 1 +1 Armour Class (off-hand only) Bound Weapon – Cannot be knocked out of your hand When an attacker misses you, you may retaliate and gain True Strike (off-hand only) Creatures hit with this weapon get Vulnerability to Piercing Damage (main-hand only)	Looted from Orin, during Get Orin’s Netherstone.
Ranged	Hellfire Hand Crossbow + another Hand Crossbow	Can cast Scorching Ray once per Short Rest You can inflict Burning by attacking while Hiding or Invisible Combine it with any other Hand Crossbow to dual-wield them	Dropped by Yurgir in the Gauntlet of Shar.

An overview of the purpose of each item in this BG3 Assassin Gear setup:

Defensive Items
- Ring of Regeneration
Mobility Items
- Disintegrating Night Walkers
Damage Boosters
- Bhaalist Armour
- Broodmother’s Revenge & Ring of Regeneration Synergy (important)
- Caustic Band
- Crimson Mischief & Bloodthirst
Accuracy Items
- Mask of Soul Perception
- Bloodthirst (increases crit chance)
- Shade Slayer Cloak (increases crit chance)
Utility items
- Gloves of Thievery (Makes Lockpicking and Pickpocketing much easier!)

Assassin Build Extra Info

Below is some additional info that will help you to play the Assassin Build, including tips and tricks, info about the best potions, and the best Illithid Powers.

Best Assassin Build Tips & Tricks for Baldur’s Gate 3

While the Assassin Class is among the simplest and easiest to build, it takes a careful hand to get the most out of the class in combat. While positioning is important for all classes, this applies even more to the Rogue.

We get huge amounts of bonus damage from Sneak Attacks, either melee or ranged, so do your best to create scenarios where you can easily disengage and get back into Stealth each turn. Remember to make use of your extra Bonus Action and Cunning Actions when needed.

If sneaking around in close quarters, be very careful about enemy Opportunist Attacks – they will always attempt one if they can see you, you are in melee range and you do not have Disengage active.

The Assassin differs from other Rogue variants due to its special bonuses themed around hitting enemies hard at the very beginning of combat. Whenever possible, aim to start combat by sneak attacking, and always be on the lookout for Ambushing enemies – sneaking up on them will Surprise them for the first turn of combat, giving more attack buffs to your Assassin and forcing them to skip their first turn.

Strongest Potions for the Assassin Build in BG3

The Potion of Speed is arguably the most powerful potion in Baldur’s Gate 3. It doubles your Movement Speed and gives you an extra Action each turn.

One drawback of this potion is that when it expires, your character will be Lethargic for one turn, unable to move or take any Actions. So you should be careful not to have your character stranded in a dangerous position when the potion runs out!

You can craft the Potion of Speed in the alchemy menu by combining Ashes of Hyena Ear with any Salt. Create ashes, salts and other alchemy concentrates by combining three of the same ingredients together – for example, combining three Hyena Ears will create Ashes of Hyena Ear.

Hyena Ears can normally be looted from either Hyenas or Gnolls – you can find a lot of them around the Risen Road in Act I, for a good supply of them, which should last you a while.

You can combine this with the Elixir of Bloodlust. Elixirs and Potions can be stacked with each other, but you can only have one Elixir active at a time. Potions tend to expire after a few turns, whereas Elixirs last until your next Long Rest, unless you drink a different Elixir in the meantime.

The Elixir of Bloodlust grants your character another Action when you kill an enemy. This effect can only trigger once per turn. Combined with the Potion of Speed, this gives you two additional attacks if you defeat an enemy on your turn.

It can be crafted by combining Ashes of Worg Fang with any Salt. Worg Fangs are looted from Worgs, the beasts usually kept by Goblins.

This is an OP alchemy combo that you can use to turbocharge the Assassin’s damage output in tough fights!

Assassin Build Illithid Powers (optional)

Illithid Powers are unlocked later in BG3 when you learn more about Mind Flayers and Tadpoles. By eating Jars of Mind Flayer Parasites, you gain one point. This is another optional skill tree that you can get access to if you want. Here are some of the best Illithid Powers for the BG3 Rogue Build with the Assassin subclass:

Mind Blast: A conal blast of Psychic Damage that can also stun several targets at once. If the Assassin is outnumbered by several advancing enemies, then Mind Blast can help to swing things back in your favour.
Cull the Weak: When you reduce a creature’s hit points below a certain threshold, this power instantly kills it and deals 1-4 Psychic Damage to nearby enemies. This is particularly effective when engaging groups of weaker foes, enabling you to thin their numbers rapidly.
Fly: This can be used to reach hard to get to places or change positions in combat.
Mind Sanctuary: This creates an area that allows all within to use Actions and Bonus Actions interchangeably. This typically means you can deal more damage, since you can use your Bonus Action as a normal Action. However, enemies who are inside the area will also enjoy its benefits. Be careful with your placement so that your party gets buffed by the Mind Sanctuary and not the enemies!
Psionic Backlash: This is a top-tier Reaction from the Illithid Powers skill tree in BG3. It allows you to deal Psychic Damage when a nearby enemy casts a spell. This is especially useful if the target is casting a Concentration Spell. The damage from Psionic Backlash can immediately break their Concentration, ending the spell’s effects.

Other Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds

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BG3 Assassin Build Guide – Maximum Stealth Damage!