It’s fun to play a rogue in , but sometimes it’s just as ✱fun to mix things up. Multiclassing might be just the thing to take your rogue up a notch, but not all c♔lasses work well with rogues. Here’s a guide to help you make the best decision.
Artificer
One or two levels in artificer certainly doesn’t♊ hurt a rogue, especially if they’re clever. Artificer spells like mage hand, message, disguise self, and feather fall are invaluable for any rogue who doesn’t want to take the Arcane Trickster subclass, and the Magical Tinkering ability can help clever rogues pull of some good cons. Infusions can be good as well; a +1 weapon doesn’t hurt, and rogues can make a lot of use of magic items like the bag of holding or wand of secrets.
Barbarian
Subtlety is not the barbarian’s strong suit. Still, there is some synergy here. Bonus rage damage only applies when you use strength, but it is stiওll possible to use a finesse weapon with strength. Really, the main use of rage will be the damage resistances, especially since they stack with Uncanny Dodge and (in rarer cases) Evasion. Reckless attack can be useful for proccing Sneak Attack, but as a rogue you should be able𓂃 to maneuver in other ways to get the extra damage, and not invite advantage against yourself.
Bard
If you want to be the ultimate skill monkey, take three levels of bard. Bards get Expertise, which, in addition to Ja𝕴ck of All Trades and rogue Expertise, means you will be bad at nothing and very good at a lot of things. The College of Lore even adds bonus proficiencies, although rogues who want a little more combat prowess may want to take the College of Swords subclass instead.
Many bard spells are good for rogues as well, ♊especially ones who also serve as the party face. In addition, if you take the Arcane Trickster rogue subclass, those three levels of bard will boost your spell slot levels.
Cleric
It’s usually not a terrible idea to take one level of cleric, thanks to the Divine Domain abilities gained at 1st level. The main question is, which one to take? Knowledge Domain is good for skill monkeys, since it not only gives extra proficiencies, it offers double proficiency in these skills (which, due to wording, stacks with Expertise). The Light Domain ability is good for anyone, but relies on a decent Wisdom score to use multiple times. If your campaign has a lot of potential assassination targets, it might be worth putting tw♔o levels into Grave Domain cleric to get Path to the Grave; if you can cast it stealthily, then get bonus Assassin rogue damage, it can allow you to one-shot most targets.
Druid
A few druid spells are good for rogues, but most aren’t. Wild Shape can be good for scouting or infiltration, but otherwi꧃se doesn’t🌱 overlap with a lot of the rogue’s wheelhouse.
Fighter
As general martial characters, fighters help rogues out a lot in combat. Dueling and Archery are both great fighting styles for rogues, and Action Surge especially benefits Assassin rogues looking to get the maximum 1st-turn damage. At three fighter levels, the Battle Master archetype has a lot ဣof combat options for the savvy rogue, and the Samurai gives a bonus proficiency and free advantage three times a day. Taking five levels gives an extra attack, but at this point your Sneak Attack damage might lag to the point that it’s not worth it.
Monk
Monk multiclassing is hampered by the fact that you probably won’t have stellar Wisdom. While the abilities might synergize at higher levels, at low levels many of them are things that rogues can do anyway or that interfere with r🙈ogue abilities.
Paladin
Multiclassing into paladin isn’t great, but it isn’t terrible either. A lot of the abilities are nice to have, just not ver💦y rogue-y. However, the Dueling fighting style is good for melee rogues, and Divine Smite is a few uses of good bonus damage – offset, of course, by the Sneak Attack damage you’re missing out on by not taking two levels of Rogue.
Ranger
1st-level ranger abilities fit thematically with Scout rogues, but don’t do much outside of an exploration campaign. 2nd-level abilities are better for rogues – Dueling and Archery are great fighting styles and hunter’s mark is good despite taking up a rogue’s bonus action – but there are better investments if all you want is fighting styles and one go♌od spell.
Sorcerer
Depending on how muc༒h investment you want, you can take one or three levels in sorcerer. One level gets you spellcasting (there are a few good rogue utility spells at least) and a Sorcerous Origin ability. Draconic Bloodline and Shadow 🧸Magic origins are good for this.
Third level gets you Metamagic, which can be used to set up nice combos. Quickened Spell can be used to cast booming blade or green-flame blade as a bonus action, which procs⛎ Sneak Attack and does bonus damage. Then, for your action, you can ready an attack to be used as a reaction on another turn. Since Sneak Attack only applies once per turn, not once per round, that’s twice as many♎ Sneak Attacks. Subtle Spell can also be a great way to cast spells without others realizing.
Warlock
Dipping into warlock is dependent entirely on the subclass. The Archfey is the best patron, especially if you’re the face of the party. An area of effect charm is good, and access to the faerie fire spell is great for rogues. If you’re in an intrigue campaign, it can be beneficial to take tw♔o levels purely 🌌for the Mask of Many Faces invocation – the ability to cast disguise self at-will is great.
Wizard
This is only good𓂃 if you really want to take a rogue su🗹bclass that isn’t Arcane Trickster, since you get all the good rogue-y wizard spells there anyway.