As a rogue, Astarion is part of a class that some find to be weaker in Baldur’s Gate 3. Therefore, he needs the best possible build and gear to enhance his abilities. Luckily, although Rogues are not the greatest in direct confrontation, there are many ways to make them work. Here are the ones I find to be the most effective.
Best Astarion Rogue Class Builds
Astarion is a Rogue, and as such, you should consider always having a high Dexterity value and maximizing his Sneak Attack damage potential. If you are mostly interested in high bursts of damage, just go ahead and make Astarion an Assassin Rogue. Equipping him with a Cloak of Cunning Brume and a Knife of the Undermountain King will enable you to deal high amounts of damage almost every turn. This is not a hard build since Assassin is a very straightforward subclass.
Alternatively, you can opt for a Rogue/Fighter multiclass build. It’s important to level up as a Fighter early on. That way, you can choose the Two-Weapon Fighting Style for Astarion, allowing him to fight with two crossbows or two daggers. Daggers are my first choice. They can be used both as melee and ranged weapons, and magic daggers return to your hand when thrown.
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As a Rogue, you want to reach level 5 so you can get Cunning Actions, Fast Hands, Second-Story Work, and an Ability Score Improvement. Follow the same leveling strategy as a Fighter to gain Two-Weapon Fighting, Action Surge for an extra action, Choose the Champion subclass for its Improved Critical Hit, the Dual Wielder feat, and finally, the Fighter’s Extra Attack at level 5.
The allocation of the last two levels is flexible, but I recommend to reaching level 7 as a Rogue. Fighters gain another Feat at level 6 and a Subclass feature at level 7. As a Rogue, you would get two Skill Expertises at level 6, which is not impressive, but at level 7, you get Evasion, and your Sneak Attack damage increases to 4d6.
Best Gear for Astarion
Assuming that you’re using Astarion as a rogue, there are several items that can benefit him in BG3. Here are some of the best ones:
- Cloak of Cunning Brume: This cloak, acquired from Mattis in Act 2, allows the user to turn their disengage (action and bonus action) into a free spammable 1-turn fog. You can use it to force Disadvantage and deal your sneak attack damage or to safely run away.
- Drow Studded Leather Armour: This light armor grants 12 AC and a +1 bonus to Stealth checks.
- Gloves of Thievery: These gloves give you Advantage on Sleight-of-Hand checks.
- Knife of the Undermountain King: This very rare short sword is extremely powerful. It lets you crit with 19 or 20 and reroll damage dice when you roll 1s or 2s. It also grants you Advantage in Attack Rolls against lightly or heavily obscured targets, providing you two chances of scoring a critical strike with a natural 19 or a 20.
- Ritual Dagger: When you hit an attack with this dagger, you gain a +1d4 bonus to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws until the end of your next turn.
- Sussur Dagger: This +1 rare dagger has the ability to silence enemies upon hit, making it a must-have weapon for facing spellcasters.
- The Graceful Cloth: This item is found in late Act 1 and provides significant benefits such as +2 Dexterity to a maximum of 20, +1 Dexterity saving throws, and an increase in jump distance.
Can You Respec Astarion’s Class in Baldur’s Gate 3?
If you’re not satisfied with your current build and want to try a different one, know that you can go to Whithers to respec characters, even companion ones. However, you must be controlling Astarion primarily when doing so. Withers changes the class of the character who starts the conversation with him.
You can not only redistribute all his Ability Scores but also change his class if desired. For instance, if your Original Character is already a rogue, or you like Astarion but don’t like his class at all, just bring him to Withers, and you can get that fixed.
