Baldurs Gate 3 Rogue / Gloomstalker S Tier Build! Stealth Is Absurdely Powerful! 

There's a lot of folk concerned on why didn't I choose gnome for this build, even while the ranger gets longbow profficiency as a base. I am truly sorry I didn't adressed that in the video, here's the reasoning to that: First, I don´t like Gnomes, lol. Larian decided to change the attribute profficiency because folk didn't want for the min-maxing to lock you out of playing your favorite race. If you do like the Gnome, then by all means, go for it. If, on the other hand, you like an Orc, or a Dragonborn it works just fine as well! Sure, some racials are going to play some part of the overall effectiveness, but then again, if you like one race, take it. The skeleton of the build is going to perform amazingly with any race. Second, and probably the least important. I like to choose longbows right from the get go, and I also like to be hidden at all times right from the get go, so start with Rogue, that's the best for me. Still, If you want to start Ranger for the longbow, and THEN switch to rogue, by all means, you can. One is NOT better than the other. Cheers you damn gorgeous and beautiful people!

Notes I took -- thanks RPJames! Level 1: Rogue High elf proficiency in long bow (recommended) Starting specs: Str: 8 Dex: 17 Con: 15 Int: 8 Wis: 16 Char: 8 Level 2: you get bonus hidden action Level 3: bonus action, fast hand (two bonus action) Attack twice then go stealth Subclass to be Thief Level 4: multiclass into ranger; Bounty hunter - favored enemy pick Beast tamer - explorer pick Level 5: second ranger Spells: ensnaring strike Spells: hunter's mark Fighting style: archery Leve 6: level 3 ranger Advised spell: speak with animals Subclass: gloom stalker Action: dread ambusher Level 7 / Level 54 gloom stalker Feat: Sharpshooter Itemization Spidersilk Armor Gloves of Thievery Smuggler's ring Amulet of Misty Step (used to reposition) Spring Step Boots (movement speed) Build work: Rogue always hiding Take advantage of last known location mechanic enemies waste action on not attacking Always use misty step - place last known location, then move away Use bonus actions to hit twice per turn Always be in shadows

Love this combo, currently building it! a note, the longstrider spell is a ritual spell that doesnt take spell slots to cast and lasts until you long rest allowing you to buff your entire party with huge additional movement speed, its invaluable. the jump spell is the same but only lasts for 10 turns so a good prep for your frontliners to jump straight into the action. Longstrider can freeup that dash/boots allowing an additional bonus action making dual wield hand crossbows amazing if you arent bothered about stealthing too, turn 1 with 5 attacks using sharpshooter, PEWPEWPEWPEWPEW! a mini gattling gun almost XD

Ranger Hunter/Rouge Thief is one of my fav multi classes in dnd. I haven't played it since gloomstalker was added, so this was my idea for bg3

I agree with you that Thief is better than Assassin for this build. Assassin is a one-trick pony for opening combat rounds, but Thief is a lot more well-rounded/versatile.

When I saw the thief ability, I knew it would be one of the most broken multiclass synergies in the game

The lightning charge items are also really good. With the bow and boots you'll always have charges to dish out extra damage with.

I will say, with the right things at the start, chosing a Wood Elf Ranger at level 1 can net you proficiency in 9 skills. Wood Elf gives proficiency in Perception and Stealth. Outlander gives proficiency in Athletics and Survival. Bounty Hunter and Urban Tracker give proficiency in Investgation and Sleight of Hand. Then Ranger gives you Animal Handling, Insight and Nature. Then Rogue at level 2 will grant you an additional skill from the Rogue list, making you an amazing skill monkey with 10 skills.

Wearing the Dark Urge's cape (that we got pretty early in the game on act 1) is also very good for this build because it automatically turns you invisible after killing an enemy

Great vid. I’m at level 9 act 2 right now and thinking about respecing astarion into this. Or maybe wait for my second play through.

Also consider using the illithid power that gives you auto critical. Critical hits also double sneak dice.

Best bow is the titan string bow and if you drink a str elixir you get an additional +5 to dmg so if you have 20 dex you'll be getting +10 dmg and then another +10 from sharp shooter, you can buy elixirs in the underdark, use the Cat's grace armor from the egg lady in mountain pass to gain advantage on all dex checks (sleight of hand, stealth, disarm etc)

You can also use dual welding hand crossbows to use both your bonus actions to attack. Or use 1 for sneak attack and one for another shot. Basically it guarantees at least 3 attacks per turn but could be 4-5 if you also use dread ambusher on the first round

Githyanki would be a good race for this build as they get misty step at level five, if you combine that with the misty step amulet you at least get to cast it twice each fight. Also the club of hill giant strength would be good as you’ll be able to jump further.

I went Thief 5 Fighter (Battle Master)5 and Ranger 2 but this looks fun too! Cool build.

I personally prefer the hand crossbows and any items that give me added damage to my attacks. Gloves of archery with hand crossbows basically gives me 4 extra damage guaranteed plus the item that adds 2 poison damage to weapon attacks thats 4 more guaranteed damage. So when i stealth shoot something with sharpshooter im pretty much guaranteed around 50 damage before ive even taken any turn. Thats enough to one shot quitw a few enemies

"sleet" of hand, good one!

Came for the build, stayed for the 🎶Down, Down, Down by the River🎶

this is definitely a build ill do!

This is going to be the one for me good Sir

I feel like a fun challenge would be using the Darkstalker Mantle + Assassin. Pretty much attempt to kill an enemy off as quickly as possible then reposition for the next enemy.

Going to change up Astarion to this. Looks fun!

Get one level of warlock great old one. Mortal Reminder + Assassinate: Ambush is crazy strong. If you are playing as the dark urge and get the invisibility cloak things get really silly.

I flipped the first class to Ranger so that you can get medium armour proficiency, then I used Exotic Materials armour to have him sitting at a hefty 22 AC once he is fully geared around level 10. 5 gloom/5 assassin/2 fighter. >>>> You destroy the priority targets before the fight even begins. The crucial feat is sharpshooter.

Nice, I been using assassin but keen to just cheese the entire game first run through ;) This looks sweet for pure bow sniper Fear short bow is king

My Astarion is currently sharpshooter, but with dual wield crossbows. the -5 to attack roll doesn't apply to offhand crossbows, so you get normal accuracy with the +10 dmg, with 2 bonus actions for offhand shots

Just got thief with 2 one handed crossbows and get sharpshooter feat. The 2 off-hand attacks do get the -5 penalty to attack roll but still get the +10 to damage and can proc sneak attack if needed.

Gloomstalker/Rogue or Rogue/Gloomstalker it doesn't matter. This death cocktail is known by few but feared by DMs like myself. Nice video, I subbed just based on your focus on this weird class combo that lead to insta-death.

I used this for a mele build. It isn't as strong as this but i do like having more attacking actions during combat. I will try this out in my play through for sure tho.

Assassin is so good. Any fight I start has 2 dead people or a dead/almost dead boss. Its been CLUTCH

I'm running a party with 3 Githyanki Necromancers. So many summons. Last one is an Oathbreaker Paladin for +CHA Modifier to damage aura to undead. Gith get Medium Armor Proficiency, so they can all wear pretty much anything. (Third Gith is a Hireling from Withers.)

I was waiting for a Skyrim stealth archer reference haha

Not sure if they are always there, but I found a V rare pair of gloves at a vendor early in act 2 that gives me 18 Dexterity and +1 attack, so I was able to respec my guy to only have 8 Dexterity at level 1, pump up the other stats, then put the gloves on for 18 Dex. My ranger/rogue now has over 10 more health than my tank paladin at level 6 lmao

Thief is absolutely busted, unlike normal 5e it gives a flat bonus action So its nutty with barb (i went into it after barb 6 so i could bonus action dash for the stallion totem barb temp hp) can get up to 4 attacks with Heavy Weapon Master in 1 round

I actually like to do 4 thief 4 gloom stalked and 4 warlock and I do dualweild . If you use the right gear you end up with 25 plus AC crit on either 17 or 15 and with the cloak of displacement and baldurian helmet you don't get hit due to all attacks are at disadvantage and you can't be crit . Plus two good swords stupid damage and either can stealth or just don't stealth . Build is epic especially with the devil sight you just fight in the darkness with bonuses with the right gear .

one thing that makes this better is to choose dark urge origin as you get a cape that gives invisibility on kill.

Awesome build! Is there any astarian builds that do not rely on stealth? Can’t seem to find one. Appreciate the great build and info!!

would reccomend going 5 into gloomstalker first then speccing into rogue so you get the feat at lvl4 and extra attack at lvl 5

Its like every single time that I ever played Skyrim. Stealthy Rogue.

Nice to see a fellow Controller Chad

Love your videos and the Gloom Stalker. BTW, I use Urban Tracker for SoH to gain another prof. I'm missing out on the reduced dmg types but for some builds it really helps. Using a wood elf and and that trick I can get 11 profs in a rog/ranger multiclass. I also tend to take expertise in Perception to find traps etc instead of SoH at lvl 1 of Rogue. BTW I noticed some interesting things about multiclassing. If you take Ranger at lvl 2 after taking rogue, you do not get any additional weapon profs, but when you do the same with war domain cleric, you get all armors/shields and all martial weapons. Weird but good to know. I'm rolling a cleric/rog multiclass for an all dark urge/evil mulitplayer playthrough. War domain + trickster rogue is my plan.

Great video.BTW could u tell me where to find that cloak,it look very cool

I'd be curious to compare this with the Gloomstalker/ArcaneTrickster combo ;-)

Is this tactician? I have found it a lot harder to stay stealth in boss encounters. Great video!

Thanks for the video. What is the last known location mechanic?

So i have some questions on this build: Is it better to start rogue (think you get more proficiencies, or Ranger (medium armor and more hp) i doubt you’ll need medium Armor or HP ever with this, but yeah… Doesn’t ranger also get Longbows from start, in case you don’t play elf? Then, if you wanted to go assassin instead of thief, Half-Orc would be best, right? And finally, is there any way (other than 2 levels of WL) to get devil’s sight or a similar way to abuse the darnkess spell for stealth and advantage purposes with this. Because i will likely build Astarion like you suggest here, and then have my main be a Paladin/WL that abuses Darkness (in case Astarion doesn’t kill everything before combat really starts).

dual handcrossbows eat longbows for breakfast tho...especially if you do like I did and wear equipment that adds 2 damage per attack b/c it stacks more times with dual crossbows than a single longbow attack. I wear gloves that add 2 dmg and a ring that adds 2 acid damage for a total of +8 attack per first shot. That's about 50 damage just to start the battle. And those are just Act 1 items.

I start Ranger, go to Level 5 for Extra attack, then Rogue Assassin 3. Level 8 you have 3 Attacks (Dread Ambusher + 1 Sneak Attack + Normal Attack) + Sharp Shooter damage + Hunters Mark damage. Also make sure you're dipping your weapon in Poison(s) prior to combat.

I feel like Githyanki allows you to dump CHA as you can choose to gain proficiency in all Charisma skills each long rest.

Missed out on something critical OP. Missed the Club of Hill Giant Strength in the Mage Tower in the Underdark and the Titanstring Bow from the Zhenterim Hideout. CoHGS in the main or off-hand sets the strength modifier of the wielding character to 19 regardless of whether actively wielding bow or not and Titanstring Bow deals damage by adding the strength modifier. Could've basically made your Gloomstalker into an OTK sniper from act one.

I already been doing this!

Hunter's mark is hilarious, as song as you kill the target with it, game thinks you are always concentrating, meaning that any item that wants to you be "concentrating" something will always be turned on.

Assassin = burst damage round one Thief = consistency/versatility

Why do you recommend Longbow in general? Crossbows do more damage and two hand crosbows also do an amazing job with Sharpshooter. Whats the benefit?

In Tactician Mode, I prefer 3 Thief, 5 Hunter/Collosus Slayer for the consistent damage vs opening damage.

Whats ur suggestion for late game(8-12) build for this?

Just followed this guide - the first few levels are a little rough - specifically that the character doesn't really fill any real roles in the party, or it feels that way. I will say, from a previous playthrough that it's definitely going to go off like a sparkler at level 7 though. I see that you have a LOT of these videos - if you don't mind, can I make a small suggestion? A condensed "select these traits, skills, feats, etc, through the leveling up would be incredibly useful. The way it is now, we need to watch the entirety of the video over and over to get back to a specific level's nuance, instead of something like a flow chart picture or something equally capturable so we can screenshot and reference it. Please don't take this as criticism! You're a silly, funny man and your commentary cracks me up but it's an 18-minute video and I'm making that flow chart myself and will likely post it as text below, just to make it easier on my time and bandwidth. Thanks as always for the amazing builds and the hilarious jokes!

If you plan to be the face of the party , Id also suggest the cantrip Friends.

You could use the gloves that gives +2 to range attacks

I was thief for quite a while but I switch to assassin to try out and I like it a lot more. You just.... Kill everything rofl. It's hilarious. I use 2 *hand crossbows* and stack items and buffs that affect each weapon hit. Like the ring that gives 2 acid DMG per hit and weapon oils and all kinds of stuff. You end up doing like 100 something burst dmg on the first turn and can easily kill 1-3 enemies on the first turn. The thief bonus action was very attractive at first for me, but the assassin getting 4 critical attacks with 95%+ accuracy on the first turn is just too damn sexy. I'm only level 8 right now too lol. 5 ranger(extra attack) and 3 assassin. Dual wielding 2 shortswords and 2 hand crossbows. With the thief I was using the spark boots that give u lightning charges when u dash for the same effect. Permeant lightning charges is very strong! Anyway, I love your build and the vid! But seriously, try dual hand crossbows. Oh God it's so sick my friend!

There's a hide armor sold by the goblin trader in the goblin camp that has +1 stealth modifier and +1 initiative plus increased AC, read some of the stats wrong.

Thanks for the video. BTW, regarding the radial interface that you are showing, will that be the same UI for PS5? I would think shortcuts via keyboard would be easier and faster, but my PC cannot support BG3.

There is no world where I'm gonna walk around an entire game stealthing lol i do not have the patience for that

I love this build, Just curious what is your opinion on taking 4 lvls in Rogue to get the sharpshooter feat before going for gloom Stalker?

SPICY💪

nice Video. What is the mod for your UI -? it looks amazing

What is the fest supposed to be? I might of missed it but he went straight from picking thief, to choosing ranger and go into that.

I seem to have run into a bug that made me lose Longbow proficiency. Corrected it by starting as ranger, leveling 3 times and then changing to rogue to level 3 times and then back to ranger again.

What would u suggest going into after this maybe 2 points of fighter for an extra attack and the rest into rogue?

I'm a thief archer. I have a cool stealth, I attack enemies, they do not see me and automatically restore their health to maximum. It's disgusting.

I think this is the best multiclass build in the game, bar none.

Started with Ranger for medium armor and higher health

I hadn't thought to try thief instead of Assassin. I went with Woodelf for the extra movement. How many levels of Thief vs Gloomstalker are you planning? I'm initially thinking to do 7 Ass/5 Gloom. That gives me extra attack, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, another Expertise, and 3d6 Sneak attack... Do you think going heavier into Gloomstalker will be better?

Well, after 5 in Ranger and 3 in Thief I put levels in Fighter. Action surge just pushes it even higher. I do wonder what to do with my last two levels thou...

If you ask me, start with 5 levels in Gloomstalker. Problem with this guide is #1 you’re not getting your ASI until like level 7, and #2 you’re not getting extra attack until like level 8. You’re better off just going first 5 levels into Gloomstalker, then multiclassing into Thief/Assassin.

Rogue (5) - Extra Attack Thief (3) - Bonus Action Fighter (2) - Action Surge Thats three attacks in the first turn. Add one more level to thief to get an extra FEAT. One more level to fighter to get subclass champion & improved critical hit. However attacks per turn are mostly irrelevant. Advantage, pace without trace and greater invisibility will mean you barely ever enter turn based mode.

Thank you for your video. Very helpful. I would limit the usage of "I can't stress enough" filler phrase :) I think you used it like 20 times in this video :P

what about the rest of the levels? did i miss it or did you not go to level 12 in your guide? ty!

Just looking for some build help here, longtime 2nd and 3-3.5 vet here, I want to do a fighter(battlemaster)/Rogue(Assassin) multi build. Would it be optimal to get 5 levels first in fighter, for the extra attack, then multi into rogue with the assassin route? I am really just wanting really strong opening damage, while being able to finish

Hey man would you be able to give me a breakdown for what you would consider the best total level distribution would be up to level 12? The video only shows level seven?

How would you continue to level to 12? 3 rogue 9 ranger? or would you go back to rogue after getting extra attack with ranger?

So here is a thought, inserting a bard sword in this. Coming from a shapeshifter idea. so i.e. gloom 5 / thief 3 / bard 4. So adds disguise self at lvl 1 if you start with bard. and it also adds loads of utility. so bard 4 for that 1 extra spell slot Planning this for my first darkurge, no spoilers plz ;-) Any suggestions if this is feasable or useful? cheers.

I use the dark urge cape and always being invicible after killing an enemy and trust me im always killing enemies. using dual crossbow for nuclea bombing. Im doing like 60-80 damage at lvl 5 per turn. But im full ranger no MC.

Could this work with dual wield Melee as well if you took something else other than archery and sharpshooter?

*NEVER* say "You are never ever miss a skill check!" I've just rolled 2 x 1 on my social warlock with +10 and advantage. I rolled this on a really important check in a story dialogue with 0 inspiration points left and a long time not saving the game ...

There are gloves of archery, I got from somewhere, that adds +2 to attack and damage.

But you are missing out from the extra attack from level 5 ranger? you will get it 3 levels late?

I was wondering if you take 5 lvl in ranger to get extra attack if you could sneak attack and then do a normal attack or does sneak attack use and action and cancel the extra attack?

Darkvison to hit penalties were removed. Starting with Ranger gives longbow so you can take another race like Gith

what level selections are you making after level 7?

Would a duel hand crossbow wielding Drow mess up the build or diminish damage?

After you get Thief 3 and Gloom Stalker 5, what do you suggest doing with the remaining four levels for multiclassing? I can't decide.

RPjames8 Question..... Can you expand on whats best levels to take after 7 please? Thanks love the guide and wile just lvl 4 its playing nicely. Thx.

For items I actually swap the boots for the boots of speed and swap the gloves to gloves of archery ! Those mixed with these items he has listed work bloody great for me in this build

do yo level Ranger for the rest or Rogue? you didn't really go further with the leveling.

Any chance you can round out the leveling on this build? I'm going for a dual wield so I think the right split is 5 ranger/7 rogue.

Isn't dual wielding handcrossbows overall better since you can choose to spend the bonus action on also dealing dmg? This way you have more attacks per round and therefore more sharpshooter procs which trumps the higher base dmg of the longbow. So dual handcrossbows would mean higher dpr and higher flexibility or do i miss smth? The sharpshooter feat also seems to be bugged for offhand attacks since it does apply the dmg but not the penalty to the hit roll.

5 gloomstalker / 5 theif / 2 fighter ♥️

assassin aint bad its for OHKO style of play you can easily do 250dmg in the first round on an enemy with sin pretty much bursting any boss instantly.

Will it work to make Astarion into something build like this?