Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Baldur's Gate 3 Doom: The Dark Ages Marvel Rivals Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Thanks to Baldur's Gate 3's new Swashbuckler subclass, it no longer sucks to be a pure Rogue Ted Litchfield 17 April 2025 A three-level dip no longer. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Larian) I love being a sneaky, thiefy guy in an RPG, but Rogues have always been in a really weird spot in Baldur's Gate 3. Thief and Assassin are two of the strongest three or four-level multiclass components in the game, but there's basically been no reason to stick with them beyond that. Thief's extra bonus action and Assassin's surprise round perks are transformative, but they don't get much worth writing home about at higher levels. While Sneak Attack precipitously increases in power throughout the game, Rogues are just fundamentally hampered by being weapon damage-based characters that don't receive Extra Attack. A full 12-level Rogue is always weaker than a multiclass Bard/Rogue, Fighter/Rogue, or Ranger/Rogue, and you really feel stifled not being able to attack as many times per round. With Patch 8's Swashbuckler subclass, Rogues finally have an alternative. A full 12-level Swashbuckler is not only seriously strong and Honour mode ready, they nail a unique class fantasy while being fun and engaging to play. You may like Baldur's Gate 3 just got the Hexblade, one of D&D's most OP multiclass options, and it's still the best 1-level dip you could possibly take I'm a Baldur's Gate 3 Honour Mode sicko, and these are the 4 new subclass builds I'm most excited for in Patch 8 The biggest coup is the Swashbuckler's Dirty Trick abilities at level four. All three have their uses, but Flick o' the Wrist is the real heat: Potentially disarm an enemy without worrying about expending resources, and you crucially do full weapon damage in the process. Swashbucklers don't get Extra Attack proper, but they can instead make a full main-hand attack with a Bonus Action, making up the difference. What's more, Swashbucklers get this not-quite-but-still-kinda Extra Attack a full level before Fighters et al. acquire the real thing, and in the dog days of early to mid Act 1, that's a huge advantage. Using your Bonus Actions on Dirty Tricks makes dual wielding less desirable for anything other than an offhand stat stick (like Crimson Mischief with Bloodthirst in the late game), but this does lend the Swashbuckler to using the fun, strong, class-appropriate Duellist's Prerogative rapier. Another strong strategy I've heard is grabbing the Great Weapon Master feat (+10 damage, -5 accuracy with two-handed weapons) and pairing it with the Phalar Aluve longsword, the only Finesse (and thus Swashbuckler-friendly) weapon in the game that can still be two-handed, activating the feat. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Going the distance with Rogue for a full 12 levels also means Sneak Attack can come alive in a way it just doesn't with a quick dip: 6d6 extra damage per round for a 12-level Swash as opposed to 2d6 on a three-level jaunt. Swashbucklers' Rakish Sneak Attack also lets them land them with no set-up⁠—less important with the plentiful sources of advantage in the late game, but a real boon in Act 1. Swashbucklers' Charisma focus⁠—it determines the saving throw difficulty on their Dirty Tricks⁠—also lends them to taking one multiclass dip in particular, the Hexblade. This would still keep the Rogue center stage and grant access to the full gamut of their abilities and 6d6 Sneak Attack. A Swashbuckler 11 / Hexblade 1 just makes sense, consolidating weapon accuracy and damage under Charisma, and it also grants access to the OP Booming Blade cantrip. After testing this out in Act 1 myself, I'd recommend starting as a Rogue and only grabbing Hexblade at level 5, so as to not delay those juicy Dirty Tricks. But even without a Hexblade's rizz-based melee combat, a high-Dexterity, high-Charisma pure Swashbuckler promises to be an enjoyable, powerful way to play through Baldur's Gate 3, nailing that RPG sweet spot of "fun to roleplay" and "feels really good in combat." Larian finally liberated pure Rogue from being a self-imposed challenge of a character. Baldur's Gate 3 romance: Who to pursue Baldur's Gate 3 multiplayer: How co-op works Baldur's Gate 3 endings: For better or worse Baldur's Gate 3 multiclass builds: Coolest combos Best RPGs: The greatest you can play now Larian Studios Ted Litchfield Social Links Navigation Associate Editor Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Baldur's Gate 3 just got the Hexblade, one of D&D's most OP multiclass options, and it's still the best 1-level dip you could possibly take I'm a Baldur's Gate 3 Honour Mode sicko, and these are the 4 new subclass builds I'm most excited for in Patch 8 Baldur's Gate 3's accidental PS5 release of Patch 8 has the theorycrafters in a flurry—though I'm just glad D&D's blade cantrips are officially here Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 added a busted new spell that gives Fighters better smites than Paladins—and it's only a cantrip Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 testers are whispering that a previously mediocre subclass is now an S-tier war god of infinite thunder smites, but there's no way it can last Baldur's Gate 3's stress test update has, mercifully, made one of its new OP cantrips halfway balanced again—but it's really still quite good Latest in Baldur's Gate Thanks to Baldur's Gate 3's new Swashbuckler subclass, it no longer sucks to be a pure Rogue Forget Baldur's Gate 3's new subclasses: Patch 8's most disgusting power gamer combo is the Rock That Makes You Stupid paired with a sneakily revamped level 2 spell Baldur's Gate 3's excellent new photo mode is full of details, dances, and poses for your cat—as well as 7 different ways to vogue, because why not Former BioWare producer says Baldur's Gate 3's impact on game dev will be 'somewhat muted' thanks to industry convention, and I can't help think we've got it all backwards Baldur's Gate 3 just got the Hexblade, one of D&D's most OP multiclass options, and it's still the best 1-level dip you could possibly take 'This is it. Our final major game patch for Baldur’s Gate 3': The colossal Patch 8 is finally here, marking the end of (non-bug fix) updates for Larian's triumphant RPG Latest in News Co-op submarine survival simulator Barotrauma has a free weekend on Steam, so dive in with friends and experience the most comically horrifying deaths you can imagine Rematch, the soccer game from the maker of Sifu and Absolver, is holding an open beta this weekend Thanks to Baldur's Gate 3's new Swashbuckler subclass, it no longer sucks to be a pure Rogue 22-year-old MMO MapleStory is getting the 'old school' treatment with the original lead game designer in charge of new classic servers Forget Baldur's Gate 3's new subclasses: Patch 8's most disgusting power gamer combo is the Rock That Makes You Stupid paired with a sneakily revamped level 2 spell You should buy our favorite co-op survival game of 2024 on sale now for $20—because the price goes up to $35 in May HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested MSI RTX 5060 Ti 16G Gaming Trio OC review Tempopo review Tempest Rising review Corsair Void Wireless V2 review Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB review (Palit Infinity 3) PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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