Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Help Tips & Tricks Elite Build - Dark Sniper - Drow Rogue - Thief Subclass

Great build. I wonder if the ring "Sunwalkers Gift" would stack with natural dark vision (prolly not). I'd like to make the same build with a wood elf. That way you'd get extra movement, free proficiency with a longbow and the ability to achieve 20 dex (17 creation, +2 at lvl 4 and +1 from Auntie's hair).

As it turns out Sunwalkers gift doesn't stack.

Last I had heard auntie's hair only gave you +1 str, but maybe they fixed it.

if you take the +2 dex feat you lose the Weapon Master feat and won't be able to grab proficiency with Heavy Crossbows, Longbows and Scimitars. Also Drow get the hand Crossbow feat for free - and you can now dual wield hand crossbows and there is even an enchanted HAND Crossbow!

Also Wood Elves only get regular 12m range Darkvision and Drow get 24m range Superior Darkvision. Ranged weapons are all 18m.

Pew pew pew!

Figured ring didn't stack, the ring of poison resistance on a dwarf doesn't stack
There is a dialogue path with Auntie that allows you to pick your stats reward (maybe bugged because I picked Cha and got a Cha & a Str hair)
Wood Elves get longbow & shortswords + more movement = more mobility
20 dex is + 1 to hit & +1 dam over the drow 18 dex build, that makes up the average damage difference between the heavy crossbow and the longbow with a +5% better chance to hit
No getting around the extra range you can shoot obscured targets without penalty, well kinda. I have Shadowheart cast the light cantrip on my tanks weapon so at least near them no one is obscured.

1) Longbow is 1D8/ Heavy Crossbow is 1d10 - so you lose +2 damage range.
2) You also get scimitars as an additional martial weapon, which given that you can make two adamantine scimitars in the forge is a huge deal.
3) The Giantbreaker Crossbow is amazing, and is a Heavy Crossbow, so you lose out on that magnificent weapon as well.
4) The extra movement from wood elf is great, but given that Rogues have dash as BA and an extra BA it's kind of like putting a hat on a hat. I don't even bother with boots of speed and the crusher ring because I have never had a problem being where I need to be. 1.5 meters movement range versus being able to sneak attack someone from an additional 6m range is a no brainer. In the Underdark especially you are going to get value out of that extra distance, and the Grymforge as well which is a highly vertical and dark location.
5) Finally the hair off auntie is confirmed still bugged. So the best you could do is 19 dex which is the same as 18 dex really.

Damage with 18 dex and a heavy crossbow is 1D10+4 for 9.5 average damage
Damage with 20 dex and a longbow is 1D8+5 for a 9.5 average damage, the exact same and 20 dex gives an additional 5% greater chance to hit and actually cause damage
Who cares about the adamantine scimitars, they aren't much if any superior to +1 short swords or Gith SS's. regardless this is a ranged build, a 'sniper' as you called it and BTW the 20 dex gives melee hits +1 to hit and +1 to dam over the Drow too.
Extra mobility is awesome, period.
There is a specific dialogue path with Auntie that lets you pick your reward type and it works, not doubting it's bugged in parts still as I got 2 hairs, 1 CHA and 1 STR when I asked for CHA.
I am not shitting on your build, I complimented it and just was weighing the pros/cons of a wood elf vs a drow for an archer build

That extra 6 meter range though in the Underdark and Grymforge is incredibly good.

The Reeling debuff is pretty nice. You get it with Adamantine Scimitars and the Giantbreaker crossbow.

I will try to get to 20 dex in my current solo playthrough and see if it is possible, but I am hearing it doesn't work.

Went through my old screenshots and still had one left with the formula: Damage Roll: 3 (1d6 Piercing)*((4(level)-1)/2+1)=6

this is what they used for sneak attack, instead of being 2d6 it was 1d6 x level and whatever, pretty sure this is still hidden and no clue if you could find out if they changed it or not.

Per level would make it way OP. I have not noticed that kind of damage but I will check next time my level four sneak attacks. It should be 2D6 at level 4 not 4D6.

Dual wielding handcrossbows is a fun build.
With extra BA from Thief it's extra good ( which I guess they will fix later).

I wonder if we will ever get to Multiclass. I would go Variant Human with Sharpshooter out the gate. Archery specialization. Battlemaster up to LVL 8 and then go Rouge Assassin up to the cap.

At level 5 you get 4d6 sneak attack damage. No other changes to this build yet. It is still one of my favorites.

The Speedy Lightfeet let you double dash for an extra d8 lightning damage on your next attack, and the Whispering Promise lets you use a healing potion with one BA for an extra +d4 to attacks and saves. The Short Sword of First Blood in offhand means you can get behind a target, offhand attack for d6+d8, then crouch and sneak attack for 5d6+4.

Sadly the Speedy Lightfeet is medium Armor. So unless you take the Feat for Medium armor you no can be wear. There are a lot of other good booty options for the rogue though.

I would suggest the Linebreaker Boots, which give you Wrath (+1 damage) for 3 turns when you Dash.

Or Mystra's Grace for feather Fall ability which can be used as a BA.

This is a pretty straightforward Build.

Drow get Superior Darkvision -which is double the normal 12m/40 feet range of regular darkvision- usually there is a limitation on the Rogues ranged sneak attack from height where the darkvision doesn't cover the range of the weapon. In addition rogues are only able to use simple/rogue ranged weapons which usually means Shortbows and light crossbows, which limit damage. This build fixes those issues.

Starting Stats:
Str: 14
Dex: 17
Con: 14
Int: 8
Wis: 10
Chr: 11

You can play with these a bit but 17 Dex is important for later.

Higher strength helps with carry weight, jump distance and shoving/resistance to being shoved
I strongly recommend sticking with 14 con.

I put Charisma at 11 to counter the -1 Charisma from Smuggler's Ring


The main four skills to have are - Athletics, Acrobatics, Stealth, Sleight of Hand you get Perception for free as a Drow.

Expertise is usually Sleight of Hand, Stealth but switching Stealth to Perception isn't the worst choice.

At Level 3 you will take Thief as your Subclass.

At Level 4 you Will take the Feat Weapon Master and choose the extra point in Dex and the following weapons: Longbow, Scimitar, Heavy Crossbow and whatever for the 4th.


At this point with a Heavy Crossbow + 1 at Height you are looking at 1D10 + 5 + 2d6 sneak attack + Poison damage/fire damage(1d4) with a +7 proficiency Bonus and Advantage on attacks to a range of 24 Meters/ 80 Feet.

That's a damage range of 9- 31 damage per hit with a very high chance to hit due to Advantage on all attack rolls.

You will also have high mobility, resistance to being shoved, great jump range and a very good chance of shoving others so you will be the undisputed "King of the Mountain". In addition as a rogue you get Dash and Disengage as a bonus action but a solid shove is a good play if someone tries to close the distance with you.

If you want to throw Wyvern Poison in the Mix and Potion of speed you go to 1d10 + 5 + 2D6 + 7D6 damage. 15- 80 damage. 13- 68 damage (second attack).

Obviously there are other buffs which will increase damage and accuracy. Bless, Cats Grace, Ritual Dagger buff, Gloves of Power with Absolutes Mark*

Best in Slot Items: Helmet of Grit, Studded Leather Armor +1, Smuggler's Ring, Crusher Ring, Fleetfingers, Disintegrating Night Walkers

There are a few amazing weapons to choose from:
Ranged
Giantbreaker Crossbow
The Joltshooter (Combine with The Speedy Lightfeet)
Heavy Crossbow + 1
Firestoker

Melee:
Scimitars +1 are the best because they give you access to slashing damage.

Happy Murdering!


I have made Adjustments to this build but cannot edit the original.

Imo the 'gaming' point of a Woodelf is to get better spotting chance as there are a few places being able to 'find' items /levers helps the party

Also having a light is a good idea for looking around

I enjoyed playing this character and it's one of the few that actually solos the game well

A nice sharpshooter build. Except that I never would play as Drow , I prefer to take medium armor + shields at lvl 4 for protection and use hand crossbows, for a more medium ranged combat. For solo your sharpshooter build is surely better.

But my question, why do you recommend scimitars and slashing damage? I'm using shortswords (because of the style), a +1 specimen or the one with additional damage against full-hp enemies, in the rare instances I'm in melee distance. What is the advantage of slashing damage?

Thanks. So the big reason is simply flexibility in damage types since Rogues only have access to Piercing damage currently. There is only the Wood Woad fight where this matters (they are resistant to Piercing and Bludgeoning damage) but there may be others.

Bludgeoning damage is the real problem because we don't have access to Slings yet in game so we don't have a good answer to Skeletal Undead.

Wood Woad fight, what's that? Is that on the shore of the swamp or did I miss it?

I hope they make slings available. I simply like slings as weapons, even if they are represented wrongly and unfairly weak in DnD. Shouldn't be a Simple Weapon but should have the same damage at least as shortbows (sling projectiles have the same energy as arrows from very strong bows, however cannot penetrate).

yeah, I want to see Slings, Darts, Whips - basically every weapon in the PHB. There is a reason Slings are in D&D and it's to give certain classes access to bludgeoning at range. So they are not useless on fights where the target is resistant to everything else.

You are correct, the Wood Woads are in the Swamp, on a little Island that you have to jump to, with the Mud Mephits and the tree that has a hidden compartment

Slings and darts are in the game files (available with mods) so expect them to be in game. Sling plus sharpshooter is great against an enemy vulnerable to bludgeoning dmg