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 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. 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 non-combat Ability Checks.

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:

• Rogue Class Guide
• Character Creation (Level 1)
• Levelling Progression (Levels 2-12)
  • Level 2
  • Level 3
  • Level 4
  • Level 5
  • Level 6
  • Level 7
  • Level 8
  • Level 9
  • Level 10
  • Level 11
  • Level 12
• Equipment
  • Early-Game
  • Late-Game
• Tips & Tricks
• Best Potions

BG3 Rogue Class Guide

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.

Once per turn, Rogues can perform a special Sneak Attack, which grants you bonus damage if you are undetected when you make the attack. This bonus damage increases as you level up.

The Rogue is the only class that can use Dash, Hide and Disengage as a Bonus Action (from Level 2 onwards) which allows you to attack and then hide on the same turn (or vice versa), as well as affording you greater mobility in general. Used correctly, this can make the Rogue slippery and especially dangerous.

While you can play the Rogue without using stealth, you won’t get the most out of the class without a stealthy playstyle, therefore I do recommend trying to get familiar with stealth in BG3 if you have a Rogue in your party.

Assassin Subclass

Assassins build further on the Rogue’s stealth bonuses, and gain bonuses at the start of combat, especially against enemies who were ambushed. The Assassin will always have its Action and Bonus Action restored at the start of combat, which means you can initiate combat by attacking from stealth with your Assassin, and then attack again with the Assassin on the first turn of combat.

Any successful Attack Roll made by an Assassin against a Surprised creature is a guaranteed hit. Enemies will be Surprised if they are waiting in an ambush and are in turn ambushed (attacked from stealth) by you – this requires someone in your party to succeed a Perception roll to detect the ambush.

Your attacks also have Advantage against enemies who haven’t taken their turn yet.

The Assassin is strong at the start of combat, but after that, they just become a normal Rogue. You may want to keep your Assassin stocked up with Potions of Speed to ensure they can fully capitalise on their bonuses at the start of combat.

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.

Background

This build is going to be heavily focused on Dexterity, therefore it makes sense to focus on Backgrounds that boost Dexterity skills. The best options are below:

• Urchin – Stealth (DEX) and Sleight of Hand (DEX)
• Criminal – Deception (CHA) and Stealth (DEX)
• Charlatan – Deception (CHA) and Sleight of Hand (DEX)

While your Background isn’t hugely important and choosing something else won’t affect the build much, these options are the best fit for this Assassin Build.

Race

While in Early Access your race choice was a very important component of your build, this is no longer the case. This is because your race now has no bearing on your Ability scores, which are the most important factor at play. This gives players more freedom to choose any race and class combination that they wish, without having to worry about being pigeon-holed into a “meta” race for their class.

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. Some interesting options are:

• Wood Elf – Longbow Proficiency and very high Movement Speed.
• Wood Half-Elf – High Movement Speed.
• Drow – Proficiency with the Hand Crossbow, and can see in the dark up to 24 metres.
• Lightfoot Halfling – Advantage on Stealth Checks, Reroll dice whenever you roll a 1, but suffers from low Movement Speed.
• Deep Gnome – See in the dark up to 24 metres, Advantage on Stealth Checks, Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma Saving Throws, but suffers from low Movement Speed.

Don’t worry if you don’t want to go with any of these races. As mentioned above, your chosen race is of fairly low importance in Baldur’s Gate 3 post release.

Skills

The BG3 Assassin Build is able to choose an additional four Skills to be Proficient with, more than any other class in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Exactly what you choose here depends on which Proficiencies you are inheriting from your chosen Background and Race. The most important thing is to have all Dexterity Skills selected. After that, choose Wisdom and Charisma skills. For example we picked the following options:

• Acrobatics (DEX)
• Insight (WIS)
• Intimidation (CHA)
• Persuasion (CHA)

Additionally, the Assassin is able to choose two of its Proficient Skills for Expertise, which doubles your Proficiency bonus in those skills. For the best possible results here, choose Dexterity Skills. Sleight of Hand and Stealth are especially important for a successful Assassin , so we went with those. This will make you very good at sneaking around right from the start of the game, and give you an easy time with actions like Lockpicking and disarming traps.

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 Stealth 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.

Thirdly, putting some points in Wisdom and Charisma is going to help with some Saving Throws, as well as out-of-combat dice rolls, such as dialogue ability checks.

Allocate your Ability Points to look something like this:

• 11 Strength
• 17 Dexterity
• 14 Constitution
• 10 Intelligence
• 12 Wisdom
• 12 Charisma

Levelling Progression

In this section, we will summarise what you gain at each level up on the Assassin build, as well as any recommendations for choices to make when levelling up.

Level 2

At Level 2 we gain a couple of 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.

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 the Assassin gains 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 – Immediately restore your Action and Bonus Action at the start of combat. This is great for ambushing by attacking from stealth. It allows you to attack before combat begins without compromising your first turn in combat.
• Assassinate: Ambush – Any successful Attack Roll against a Surprised creature is an automatic Critical Hit. Creatures can be surprised by ambushing them, or by sneaking up on creatures who were themselves waiting in Ambush (detecting ambushing creatures required someone in your party to succeed a Perception check)
• Assassinate: Initiative – Gain Advantage on Attack Rolls against creatures who haven’t taken a turn yet.

Level 4

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

Choose Ability Improvement and use it to improve your Dexterity score to 19. This will improve your accuracy and weapon damage, as well as making you better at various actions such as Lockpicking.

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. Acrobatics is a great one to choose, as it will help you resist being pushed around by enemies. Since it’s a Dexterity skill it makes sense to choose it anyway.

For your other choice, you can get anything you like really. Consider a Charisma skill such as Persuasion or Intimidation, to give you an easier time in dialogue options.

Level 7

At Level 7 your Assassin 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 Resilient feat and use it to improve your Dexterity to 20. This will also give you Advantage on all Dexterity checks.

Level 9

At Level 9, your 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.

In each section there is a table with an overview of the recommended equipment, and below the table there is more detailed information about each item, including how to obtain it.

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.

Haste Helm

The Haste Helm gives you Momentum for 3 turns at the start of every combat. This is an especially good effect for the Assassin subclass, who is strongest at the beginning of combat. It helps to ensure that you can reach enemies quickly. The Haste Helm is found inside a locked chest near the Blighted Village Waypoint.

Cloak of Protection

The Cloak of Protection increases your Amour Class by 1, and gives a +1 bonus to all of your Saving Throws. This is a good defensive buff that makes your Assassin more resistant to damage and enemy effects. It is sold by Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn in Act II.

Spidersilk Armour

The Spidersilk Armour is good early game Light Armour for the Assassin. It gives you a +1 bonus to Stealth checks, and Advantage on Constitution Saving Throws. makes it a little easier for you to sneak around, and makes you considerably more resistant to hostile effects that involve a Constitution Save. The armour is dropped by Minthara in the Shattered Sanctum. If you want to leave Minthara alive in your playthrough then you can use any other piece of Light Armour for now.

Gloves of Thievery

The Gloves of Thievery give you Advantage on Sleight of Hand checks, which mainly covers actions such as Lockpicking and Pickpocketing. When you have Advantage on a dice roll, it means you roll two dices and choose the one that rolls the highest, making success considerably more likely. With its high focus on Dexterity, the Assassin is likely to be the most suited character to Thieving in your party, and these gloves will allow you to make the most of that. They are sold by Brem in the Zhentarim Hideout in Act I.

Acrobat Shoes

The Acrobat Shoes increase your Acrobatics skill by +1, making your character a little better at resisting enemy pushes. However the more important effect of these shoes is that they give you Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws. Combined with the Spidersilk Armour, we now have Advantage on both Constitution and Dexterity Saving Throws, making your Assassin more resistant to a variety of different effects. The Acrobat Shoes are sold by Barcus Wroot in Last Light Inn in Act II. Make sure to rescue him from the windmill in Blighted Village (Act I) or he won’t be there and you won’t be able to buy these shoes!

Amulet of Misty Step

The Amulet of Misty Step grants you the Misty Step spell, allowing you to teleport to a visible location within 18 metres. This is great for rapidly closing the gap to distant enemies, escaping from a bad combat situation, or jumping to an area that is otherwise unreachable. The Amulet of Misty Step is found in a chest in the Defiled Temple, near the Ogre called Polma.

Fetish of Callarduran Smoothhands

The Fetish of Callarduran Smoothhands grants you the Invisibility spell, which you can use once per Long Rest. This is great for sneaking around. Invisbility lasts for up to 10 turns, but attacking an enemy will break the effect. Found by looting one of the dead deep gnomes being thrown into the water in Grymforge.

Smuggler’s Ring

Another great item for stealthy characters, the Smuggler’s Ring gives a +2 buff to Stealth and Sleight of Hand, while reducing your Charisma ability by -1. This makes you considerably better at sneaking around, lockpicking and pickpocketing, which is definitely worth losing 1 Charisma for, as we barely use Charisma for anything except the occasional dialogue check. Looted from a skeleton hidden in the bush, on the lower path by the river, at Risen road in Act I.

Hunter’s Dagger

The Hunter’s Dagger allows you to Rupture enemies hit by the dagger. Ruptured enemies take 1d4 Piercing damage when they move. The Condition lasts for 3 turns. Sold by Roah Moonglow in Shattered Sanctum. If the item is not there, try Long Resting to reset the vendor’s wares. You do not need to spend any Camping Supplies on a Long Rest for this purpose.

Shortsword of First Blood

Deals 1d8 extra Piercing Damage to enemies who are still at full health. Dual wield this weapon with the Hunter’s Dagger. The Shortsword of First Blood can be looted from an executed Deep Gnome in the Underdark, near the entrance to the Decrepit Village (the entrance closest to the Myconid Colony)

Hand Crossbow +1

The Rogue class doesn’t usually have Proficiency with larger ranged weapons such as the Longbow (unless you have this Proficiency from another source, such as the Wood Elf race). However the Rogue can use Hand Crossbows. The Hand Crossbow +1 is a slightly upgraded version of the standard Hand Crossbow, with a +1 bonus to Attack and Damage Rolls. It is usually sold by Derryth Bonecloak in the Myconid Colony. As described above, use a Long Rest to reset the vendor’s wares if it is not there.

Unlike most other ranged weapons in BG3, Hand Crossbows can be dual wielded. Use another Hand Crossbow alongside it to increase your ranged damage potential.

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 late-game.

Mask of Soul Perception

The Mask of Soul Perception gives a +2 bonus to your Attack Rolls, making your attacks more accurate. You also gain the same bonus to Initiative Rolls, making it more likely that you take your turn before other Creatures – this is especially important for the Assassin, since you get bonuses when attacking enemies who haven’t taken a turn yet. This mask can be found in a locked Gilded Chest in Helsik’s room, upstairs in the Devil’s Fee in Lower City.

Shade-Slayer Cloak

When you are hiding, the Shade-Slayer Cloak reduces the number you need to hit with your Attack Roll in order to crit is reduced by 1. Make sure to attack from stealth when possible to benefit from this bonus, as well as the extra sneak damage that the Rogue gets. Sold by Sticky Dondo in the Guildhall, Lower City Sewers.

Bhaalist Armour

Grants a +2 bonus to Initiative Rolls, which can stack with the bonus from the Mask of Soul Perception. You also give out an aura that causes enemies within 2 metres of you to take 50% more Piercing Damage, which acts as a massive buff to your own attacks. Enemies who are Resistant or Immune to Piercing damage won’t get this effect, however. The Bhaalist Armour is sold by Echo of Abazigal in the Murder Tribunal, after you accept Bhaal and become an Unholy Assassin.

Elegant Studded Leather (Alternative)

An alternative to the Bhaalist Armour. The Elegant Studded Leather still grants the Initiative Bonus, but lacks the Piercing Damage aura. However you do instead get Advantage on Stealth checks, making it considerably easier to sneak around. The Bhaalist Armour is more powerful than this item, however if you are on a “good” playthrough you might not want to get that item at all, so this is a good alternative for such cases. Found inside High Security Vault Number 9 in the Counting House in the Lower City. A key for the vault can be obtained by completing the Return Rakath’s Gold quest.

Legacy of the Masters

The Legacy of the Masters gloves give you a +2 bonus to your weapon Attack Rolls, making your attacks more accurate. You also get a +1 bonus to Strength Saving Throws. They are sold by Dammon at the Forge of the Nine, in the Lower City.

Helldusk Boots

The Helldusk Boots prevent you from being forcibly moved against your will, allow you to ignore the effects of Difficult Terrain, and allow you to use your Reaction to succeed a Saving Throw that you otherwise would have failed. You can also use the Hellcrawler action to teleport, dealing fire damage in the location where you land. Found in a locked gilded chest on the top floor of Wyrm’s Rock Fortress.

Fey Semblance Amulet

The Fey Semblance Amulet gives you Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma Saving Throws. The Assassin doesn’t usually have much focus into these Abilities, making it difficult to succeed Saving Throws of these types. However this amulet gives you a much better chance by allowing you to roll twice for each attempt, making you more resistant to a wide variety of hostile effects. This item is a reward for completing the Avenge the Hag Survivors quest in Act III.

Killer’s Sweetheart

When wearing the Killer’s Sweetheart Ring, the first time you kill a creature (per 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.

Ring of Regeneration

A powerful but simple ring, the Ring of Regeneration heals you by 1d4 HP at the start of every turn. There are three possible ways to obtain it, depending on the status of specific characters in your playthrough:

• If Rolan is dead – Sold by Lorroakan’s Projection in Sorcerous Sundries
• If Rolan and Lorroakan are both alive – Sold by Rolan in Sorcerous Sundries
• If Rolan is alive but Lorroakan is dead – Can be pickpocketed from Rolan in Ramazith’s Tower

Bloodthirst

The strongest dagger in the game, Bloodthirst reduces the Attack Roll needed to crit by 1. This can stack with the effect from the Shade-Slayer Cloak, meaning you only need to roll 18 instead of the usual 20 to crit, when attacking from stealth. Bloodthirst also causes enemies hit with the weapon to be 50% weaker to Piercing Damage (does not stack with the effect from the Bhaalist Armour – you only need one or the other). It’s also classed as a Bound Weapon, which means you cannot be disarmed of the weapon, and if you throw it, it will automatically return to you.

Bloodthirst is looted from Orin, during Get Orin’s Netherstone.

Crimson Mischief

A legendary Shortsword, Crimson Mischief makes for the perfect dual wield pairing with Bloodthirst. It’s best wielded in your off-hand, with Bloodthirst in your main-hand. When equipped in this configuration, you’ll gain all of the following bonuses from Crimson Mischief:

• 1d4 bonus Necrotic Damage on attacks with this weapon
• 1d4 bonus Piercing Damage on attack against targets with less than 50% HP remaining.
• Attacking with Advantage will add 7 bonus Piercing Damage to the attack, no matter what the reason for the Advantage is.
• Your Ability Modifier is added to the weapon’s attack damage, only when wielded in your Off-Hand. With 20 Dexterity, this gives you 5 bonus damage.

Crimson Mischief is also looted from Orin – You should prioritize dealing with Orin as soon as you’re able to, as the weapons she drops will make your Assassin much more powerful.

Hellfire Hand Crossbow

Attacking from stealth with the Hellfire Hand Crossbow has a chance to set the target alight. You can also cast Scorching Ray at Level 3 once per Short Rest. Dropped by Yurgir in the Gauntlet of Shar in Act II. You can dual-wield this with any other Hand Crossbow of your choice.

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 – detecting them sneaking up on them will Surprise them for the first turn of combat, giving more attack buffs to your Assassin.

Strongest Potions for the Assassin Build in BG3

There are two potions that are especially well-suited to this Assassin Rogue build.

Potion of Speed

The Potion of Speed is a very strong potion in BG3, especially for builds with high damage output. It works by giving the drinker an extra Action each turn for 3 turns, as well as +2 Armour Class, Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws and increased Movement Speed. This is great for situations with many enemies or one especially strong enemy – you can dish out damage very quickly for a few turns, or perform other actions such as casting spells and healing.

The downside of the Potion of Speed is that after the effect expires, you will be Lethargic for 1 turn, preventing you from taking an Action. As long as you account for this downtime and don’t leave your character in too dangerous of a position when it occurs, the Potion of Speed is a great boost that I highly recommend making plentiful use of.

You can craft a Potion of Speed by combining Ashes of Hyena Ear with any Salt.

Elixir of Bloodlust

The Elixir of Bloodlust is another powerful potion in BG3. When drunk, it lasts until your next Long Rest (unless you drink another Elixir, as you can only have one Elixir active at a time). Whenever you kill an enemy while under the effects of this potion, you will gain 5 Temporary Health and an extra Action on your current turn. You can combine this with the Potion of Speed, or another source of the Hastened effect, to potentially gain 3 Actions on your turn if you manage to kill an enemy on that turn.

You can craft an Elixir of Bloodlust by combining Ashes of Worg Fang with any Salt.

Other Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds

• Druid Build – Circle of the Moon
• Bard Build – College of Lore
• Ranger Build – Hunter
• Monk Build – Way of Shadow
• Monk Build – Way of the Four Elements
• Monk Build – Way of the Open Hand
• Necromancer Build – Necromancy
• Fighter Build – Battle Master
• Barbarian Build – Berserker
• Warlock Build – Great Old One
• Cleric Build – Light Domain
• Rogue Build – Thief
• Sorcerer Build – Wild Magic
• Wizard Build – Evocation School
• Paladin – Oath of Ancients
• More Baldur’s Gate Guides & Builds

If you want to check out the map of Baldur’s Gate 3, please visit the Baldur’s Gate 3 Interactive Map.