Hi guys,

I am playing a game where the DM has told us to prep for L3. My character is a rogue and wanting to take the arcane trickster route. 

I have my spells but stuck on my cantrips. I already have Mage hand (compulsory) and have chosen booming blade. 

I am now stuck on whether to take minor illusion of green flame blade as my third. 

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you. 

Your spell slots and spell are very limited as Arcane Trickster. That means you will probably want to get the most out of your cantrips.

Mage Hand is a given, I would *either* get Green Flame Blade *or* Booming Blade. Having two cantrips that basically achieve the same goal is not going to help you much.

You can use Minor Illusion to your advantage in- and out-of combat, so this would be a serious contender for me.

Thank you for this, I was wondering. 

I was going to drop green flame blade as the higher the levels booking blade does damage even if target doesn’t move. (I know for L1 cantrips target has to move to cause extra damage) 

Minor illusion can work great for stealth (heavily DM dependent, though). 

BB is better than GFB on a rogue after Tier 1. You can BB them, escape using cunning action, and watch them trigger the bonus damage when they chase you (or move for some other reason.) 

I'm always tempted by prestidigitation and mending for non-combat reasons.

Of the choices you mentioned? Minor Illusion

Thanks all. You have helped me massively. This is my first time playing D&D so thanks 

Do not take BB, you will alarm half the dungeon when you use it. GFB may be less damage, but much stealthier.

Quote from Bhuraelea >>

Do not take BB, you will alarm half the dungeon when you use it. GFB may be less damage, but much stealthier.

 This

Quote from Bhuraelea >>

Do not take BB, you will alarm half the dungeon when you use it. GFB may be less damage, but much stealthier.

 BB isn't any louder (or quieter) than GFB unless your DM decides to house rule it that way.  Combat is pretty loud anyway, people hitting metal against metal with all their strength, striking hard enough to put holes in steel.

The best answer to your question is dependent partially on the DM's views on illusions, who else is in your party, what your role is as a result, and how well you coordinate with them.  I would say that Minor Illusion is great with a DM who likes rule-of-cool or if you have somebody else who can cast Silent Image.  Combining Silent Image and Minor Illusion makes illusions very convincing, but ultimately, if your DM doesn't like illusion magic, it's probably not worth it.  The choice of GFB v BB is partially about the damage, yes, but you also want to keep in mind your role in the party.  If you are often sent on scouting missions alone or with the party Ranger, for instance, that's something to factor into your priorities.  If it's there's a lot of intrigue or political shenanigans, definitely get GFB over BB.  Deniability is important for those kinds of campaigns.  If anybody else in your party already has Minor Illusion but doesn't want to take Silent Image, I would go with Prestidigitation or Mending, as Lunali suggested.  Both are useful in non-combat situations and can help you make friends with NPCs.  

message is also very usefull if you need to split your group for whatever reason. Also because of the limitation to your spell selection to illusion magic, there is a high chance you will pick silent immage anyway. In wich case minor illusion becomes less usefull as you can only concentrate on one at a time anyway.

Thank you all for your comments. I have a lot to think about. I think one thing is clear though. I won’t be taking both BB and GFB. thanks again all. 

Quote from Bhuraelea >>

message is also very usefull if you need to split your group for whatever reason. Also because of the limitation to your spell selection to illusion magic, there is a high chance you will pick silent immage anyway. In wich case minor illusion becomes less usefull as you can only concentrate on one at a time anyway.

 Arcane Tricksters get very few spell slots, so Minor Illusion is quite useful because there are many circumstances when it gets the job done and lets you keep your spell slots for something more necessary.

Quote from Bhuraelea >>

message is also very usefull if you need to split your group for whatever reason. Also because of the limitation to your spell selection to illusion magic, there is a high chance you will pick silent immage anyway. In wich case minor illusion becomes less usefull as you can only concentrate on one at a time anyway.

 Minor Illusion isn't a concentration spell.

In a Vacuum, Minor Illusion is a better compliment to Mage Hand and one of the SCAG cantrips than the other SCAG cantrip would be. A possible alternate would be Mold Earth if another party member has Minor Illusion and you don't want to overlap completely. Any of the other cantrips mentioned in this thread thus far provide excellent alternatives regardless of what other party members have, though, many are really only needed on one party member in most situations. 

The choice between Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade can be made easier with information from your DM about whether BB is significantly noisier than GFB, and also on what you plan to do with your bonus action. If you want to Cunning Action Disengage a lot, BB has a lot of synergy with that style. GFB can work with that style to spread damage to multiple creatures and get away, but BB works better for focusing down an opponent and for trying to kite a creature around.  On the other hand, GFB might be better for two weapon fighting since your bonus action won't be available to disengage.  That's not an issue if you want the target to be more likely to stick around (not a guarentee that they will, but more likely for intelligent creatures or instinctual creatures that have had experience with BB, though YMMV per DM). Neither is guaranteed to get the bonus damage, but GFB does let you know when you cast it. Find out if GFB would spread to a friendly target if a hostile target isn't available.

Having both GFB and BB is viable, but limits your utility/non combat interactions to Mage Hand, albeit a stronger Mage Hand than normal.

That said, where would you like more versatility from spells and where would you like to rely on skills and abilities more for versatility? Do other members have access to the utility cantrips? Are you married to the idea of a melee rogue (if so, is it with two weapons?) or would the ability to attack from range with a short bow appeal to you (multiple SCAG melee cantrips are not recommended and Minor Illusion becomes much more potent at range)?

Personally, the Minor Illusion has so many (non-concentration) utility uses that it beats out having a second SCAG cantrip.  Message is a close second, having used that to coordinate a rescue of one player with 2 other ones  nearby but not in sight.  Depends on the game you want to play.

As far as which cantrip; I lean to Green Flame Blade for one reason;  you will never miss the second target if you hit the first.  This allows you to tag the weaker AC target and then automatically hit the high AC target.  But do ask if the 2nd target is a MUST or can you choose NOT to target a second target as mentioned above. 

I find Booming Blade to be a more certain effect.   Green Flame requires a 2nd creature within 5 ft of the first.   In outdoor  battles, people often spread out and it becomes useless.  Even in indoor battles this is not certain.

Rogues find it very very easy to walk 20 ft, Booming Blade them, then Bonus Action Disengage back 10 ft.  Bad guys often has to move.  The only real issue is after you disengage and the idiot fighter charges the monster you just set up for the extra damage when he approaches you again.

Also, as you go up in level, the damage for Booming blade becomes a really nice add that lets you one shot weaker creatures, as it is concentrated.  Unless you routinely attack multiple weak creatures surrounding a single strong man, I prefer Booming Blade.

Quote from Jhfffan >>

Quote from Bhuraelea >>

message is also very usefull if you need to split your group for whatever reason. Also because of the limitation to your spell selection to illusion magic, there is a high chance you will pick silent immage anyway. In wich case minor illusion becomes less usefull as you can only concentrate on one at a time anyway.

 Minor Illusion isn't a concentration spell.

In a Vacuum, Minor Illusion is a better compliment to Mage Hand and one of the SCAG cantrips than the other SCAG cantrip would be. A possible alternate would be Mold Earth if another party member has Minor Illusion and you don't want to overlap completely. Any of the other cantrips mentioned in this thread thus far provide excellent alternatives regardless of what other party members have, though, many are really only needed on one party member in most situations. 

The choice between Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade can be made easier with information from your DM about whether BB is significantly noisier than GFB, and also on what you plan to do with your bonus action. If you want to Cunning Action Disengage a lot, BB has a lot of synergy with that style. GFB can work with that style to spread damage to multiple creatures and get away, but BB works better for focusing down an opponent and for trying to kite a creature around.  On the other hand, GFB might be better for two weapon fighting since your bonus action won't be available to disengage.  That's not an issue if you want the target to be more likely to stick around (not a guarentee that they will, but more likely for intelligent creatures or instinctual creatures that have had experience with BB, though YMMV per DM). Neither is guaranteed to get the bonus damage, but GFB does let you know when you cast it. Find out if GFB would spread to a friendly target if a hostile target isn't available.

Having both GFB and BB is viable, but limits your utility/non combat interactions to Mage Hand, albeit a stronger Mage Hand than normal.

That said, where would you like more versatility from spells and where would you like to rely on skills and abilities more for versatility? Do other members have access to the utility cantrips? Are you married to the idea of a melee rogue (if so, is it with two weapons?) or would the ability to attack from range with a short bow appeal to you (multiple SCAG melee cantrips are not recommended and Minor Illusion becomes much more potent at range)?

 RAW you can't two weapon fight with the SCAG cantrips.  TWF states you can bonus action attack if you take the attack action.  BB/GFB is the cast a spell action that causes you to make one melee attack.  it is not the attack action.

Quote from BubbaNugget >>

Quote from Jhfffan >>

Quote from Bhuraelea >>

message is also very usefull if you need to split your group for whatever reason. Also because of the limitation to your spell selection to illusion magic, there is a high chance you will pick silent immage anyway. In wich case minor illusion becomes less usefull as you can only concentrate on one at a time anyway.

 Minor Illusion isn't a concentration spell.

In a Vacuum, Minor Illusion is a better compliment to Mage Hand and one of the SCAG cantrips than the other SCAG cantrip would be. A possible alternate would be Mold Earth if another party member has Minor Illusion and you don't want to overlap completely. Any of the other cantrips mentioned in this thread thus far provide excellent alternatives regardless of what other party members have, though, many are really only needed on one party member in most situations. 

The choice between Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade can be made easier with information from your DM about whether BB is significantly noisier than GFB, and also on what you plan to do with your bonus action. If you want to Cunning Action Disengage a lot, BB has a lot of synergy with that style. GFB can work with that style to spread damage to multiple creatures and get away, but BB works better for focusing down an opponent and for trying to kite a creature around.  On the other hand, GFB might be better for two weapon fighting since your bonus action won't be available to disengage.  That's not an issue if you want the target to be more likely to stick around (not a guarentee that they will, but more likely for intelligent creatures or instinctual creatures that have had experience with BB, though YMMV per DM). Neither is guaranteed to get the bonus damage, but GFB does let you know when you cast it. Find out if GFB would spread to a friendly target if a hostile target isn't available.

Having both GFB and BB is viable, but limits your utility/non combat interactions to Mage Hand, albeit a stronger Mage Hand than normal.

That said, where would you like more versatility from spells and where would you like to rely on skills and abilities more for versatility? Do other members have access to the utility cantrips? Are you married to the idea of a melee rogue (if so, is it with two weapons?) or would the ability to attack from range with a short bow appeal to you (multiple SCAG melee cantrips are not recommended and Minor Illusion becomes much more potent at range)?

 RAW you can't two weapon fight with the SCAG cantrips.  TWF states you can bonus action attack if you take the attack action.  BB/GFB is the cast a spell action that causes you to make one melee attack.  it is not the attack action.

 That's true. That would negate the damage benefit from two weapon fighting at level 5. That would mean that once you get the SCAG cantrips you would want to stop using two weapon fighting.  Good catch, BubbaNugget.