Rogues are a relatively unique class in Baldur’s Gate 3 from a combat perspective because players have found out early on that where it shines in combat doesn’t necessarily have to be with melee weapons. Instead, players have found that being a ranged Rogue can be useful, making finding the right weapons for the class a potentially complicated task.
While you want to be able to have a strong melee weapon that you can use to attack enemies at close range, many players will likely try to keep their Rogues away from enemies and make them a ranged attacker. In an ideal world, having a strong melee weapon and powerful ranged weapon is the optimal way to play Rogue, but if you have to share your loot with numerous other characters, that can be a tricky situation.
This guide will walk through the best melee and ranged weapon options for Rogue players so that regardless of who you’re playing with or what your build is, you can land the filthiest and nastiest critical hits with your Sneak Attack, whether it’s up close or from afar.
Best Rogue melee weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3
Before we give examples of the best melee weapons, it’s important that we lay down a foundation for what makes a weapon good for a Rogue. Because Dexterity is their primary Ability Score, we want to look for weapons that have the “Light” and “Finesse” distinction. Additionally, being proficient in those weapons is critical.
For instance, I have a Wood Elf Rogue in my current campaign. While Scimitars seem like an excellent Light and Finesse weapon, my rogue doesn’t have proficiency in them because of his race. If I want to use either of those types of weapons, I need to spec into the Weapon Master Feat. Luckily for us, Rogues gain access to a massive total of four Feats over 12 levels instead of just three, so this is easily possible if we find the right weapon along our journey.
In Act One, you should be able to get by with just about any short sword in your main hand. Rapiers can be powerful, but if you choose to wield one, you will lose out on the ability to have an off-hand weapon. I don’t recommend using Rapiers early in the game because of the added utility of an off-hand hit, especially if you’re playing Thief. You can then put another shortsword or dagger in your offhand.
While playing Thief, you have multiple bonus actions each turn, this gives you the flexibility to potentially make two off-hand attacks in a given turn, and that adds up over the course of a fight.
Act Two
- Sword of Life Stealing
- Knife of the Undermountain King
Don’t worry too much about the weapons you have in Act One because once you hit Act Two, you will quickly get the chance to straight up purchase some Very Rare short swords that have great abilities, and you’ll be able to use them until you find a Legendary weapon in Act Three.
The Sword of Life Stealing is a vendor sword that can be purchased from Dammon at Last Light Inn if you saved the Tieflings in Act One. With a +2 Weapon Enchantment, the short sword also deals additional damage if you land a Critical Hit. Depending on your build, you will likely be trying to optimize your chances of getting crits making this sword a no-brainer.
Additionally, the Knife of the Undermountain King is a shortsword that can be purchased from A’jak’nir Jeera, Quatermistress in Creche Y’llek. The sword also has a +2 Weapon Enchantment and comes with one of the game’s more powerful weapon abilities—Organ Rearranger.
Organ Rearranger gives the player an enhanced ability to land Critical Hits, and if their roll is too low, they get to reroll. Meanwhile, Shadowblade gives the user Advantage against targets that are hanging out in places that aren’t well-illuminated. I ended up using these two weapons as my main melee weapons well into Act Three and all I needed to do was spend a little bit of gold to get them.
Act Three
- Crimson Mischief
- Bloodthirst
- Duellist’s Prerogative
This is where melee weapon options get a little bit weird, and optimizing your kit will depend on what quests you end up doing first. There’s no wrong answer, as is frequently the case in BG3, but here are your options.
Crimson Mischief and Bloodthirst are the prototypical Legendary weapons that players will gravitate toward in Act Three and in order to get them as quickly as possible you will need to expedite your efforts at stopping Bhaal’s chosen—Orin the Red. If you’ve already gotten to Act Three, you’ve likely seen Orin whip Bloodthirst out at least a few times in cutscenes. Both of these weapons are looted after killing her.
Crimson Mischief gives players Prey Upon the Weak, which gives bonus damage to attacks on targets with less than half their total health. It also provides Redvein Savagery when used in your mainhand, giving you an extra seven piercing damage when you have an advantage on a target, which you should always be aiming to have via Sneak Attack. Used in your offhand, it gives Crimson Weapon which adds your Ability Modifier to the damage or your attack.
Bloodthirst is equally loaded with bells and whistles. Improved Critical reduces the number you need to roll in order to make Critical Hits. It also gives you the cantrip True Strike and has abilities that are exclusive to using it in your main hand and offhand. You’ll likely want to use it in your off-hand to give yourself +1 Armor Class and True Strike Riposte.
Alternatively, players can choose to wield just one weapon if they get the Legendary Rapier Duellist’s Prerogative. It is earned as a reward for completing the Save Vanra quest that starts with a conversation with Lora at the Basilisk Gate. This weapon has a +3 Weapon Enchantment, and its Elegant Duellist ability reduces the number you need to land a Critical Hit to 19. More importantly, it makes up for the fact that you don’t have an off-hand weapon with the Dueler’s Enthusiasm, which gives you an extra attack with your Bonus Action, making it arguably better than the Crimson Mischief-Bloodthirst combo.
Best ranged weapons for Rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3
- The Dead Shot
- Gontr Mael
The Dead Shot is the more easily and quickly obtainable of these two weapons because it can be purchased from the vendor Fytz the Firecracker at the Stormshore Armoury in the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate.
Its abilities, Improved Critical and Keen Attack, which doubles the users Proficiency Bonus when rolling ranged attacks, make it the strongest bow in the game from a pure damage perspective, but one of the abilities that Gontr Mael has makes it an equally excellent choice.
The Legendary longbow Gontr Mael is gained from defeating the Steel Watcher Titan during the Disable the Steel Watch quest in the Lower City. What sticks out the most about this bow to me isn’t that it has a ton of abilities—Promised Victory, Gontr Mael: Glowing, Bold of Celestial Light. It’s one ability in particular that it has—Celestial Haste—which allows the user to get five ferns of Haste per long rest without getting a Lethargic Debuff afterward.
With Haste being one of the most overpowered buffs in BG3, you have no excuse not to equip this bow to one of your characters, even if it isn’t your Rogue. Ultimately, I believe the benefits of Dead Shot are stronger for a Rogue, and I think Gontr Mael’s Celestial Haste is better suited for a Fighter or Barbarian like Lae’zel or Karlach. But if you’re rolling with a group composition that doesn’t have either of those in it, you should make sure that you’re getting use out of that Celestial Haste.
