The Rogue remains a cunning, hard-hitting sneak in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, with Sneak Attack remaining a staple and still offering the same damage and progression as its 2014 counterpart. But the class now gains new ways to spend Sneak Attack damage die, access to Weapon Mastery, and updated subclasses, notably the Assassin and Thief.
Below, we cover key changes to the 2024 Rogue you’ll find in the new Player’s Handbook. If there’s a feature we don’t cover, such as Cunning Action, that means it remains unchanged or saw minor changes.
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2024 Rogue Class Features Overview
Weapon Mastery — Level 1
In addition to the Rogue’s typical suite of features at level 1, you gain access to the new Weapon Mastery feature from the get-go. Each Long Rest, you’ll choose two weapons you’re proficient with and for which you want access to their mastery properties.
As an example of how mastery properties work, let’s look at the mastery properties for two iconic Rogue weapons, the Dagger and the Shortbow.
- Dagger (Nick): The Dagger’s mastery property, Nick, grants you an extra attack on your Attack action if you’re using a weapon with the Light property. This is in lieu of the extra attack you can typically make with a Light weapon using your Bonus Action. Handy if you need to use your Bonus Action for Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide.
- Shortbow (Vex): The Shortbow’s mastery property, Vex, makes it easier for you to land an attack on the following turn. When you deal damage to a creature with your Shortbow, you’ll have Advantage on the next attack roll you make against that creature before the end of your next turn.
Thieves’ Cant — Level 1
Rogues are famous for learning Thieves’ Cant, a unique kind of language that allows you to speak and understand codes. But your time spent in the underground world means you’ve likely crossed paths and worked with all manner of people and creatures. To reflect this, the Thieves’ Cant feature not only grants you Thieves’ Cant but an additional language proficiency.
Rogue Subclass — Level 3
Rogue subclasses in the 2024 Player’s Handbook include the Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Soulknife, and Thief. The Assassin and Thief saw the biggest updates, whereas the Arcane Trickster and the Soulknife saw slight tweaks to improve gameplay.
- Arcane Trickster: Magically-inclined Rogues can now swap out a cantrip each time they level up, giving you greater flexibility in your build. Versatile Trickster has also been changed so that when you use the Trip option of Cunning Strike on one enemy, you can target an additional creature within 5 feet of your Mage Hand.
- Assassin: You can now more easily trigger Assassinate and Death Strike, and Assassinate deals extra damage equal to your Rogue level (instead of turning a hit into a Critical Hit), you’re more adept at poisoning and impersonating others, and you can move after using Steady Aim, supporting hit-and-run builds.
- Soulknife: Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the Soulknife is largely unchanged. Your Psychic Blades now have a range of 60/120 instead of 60/-, they can be used on Opportunity Attacks, and they have the Vex mastery property.
- Thief: The updated Thief can activate magic items that use the Magic action as a Bonus Action and have a unique Cunning Strike option called Stealth Attack that allows you to remain hidden after attacking. Use Magic Device saw the most changes. It now offers you an additional attunement slot, grants a chance to activate magic items without expending charges, and allows you to use Spell Scrolls, no matter your class or spellcasting prowess.
Steady Aim — Level 3
Steady Aim was introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything as an optional class feature that gives the Rogue a reliable way to gain Advantage to trigger Sneak Attack. In the 2024 Player’s Handbook, it is now a standard feature of the class.
Cunning Strike — Level 5
The most exciting new tool in the Rogue’s kit is Cunning Strike. It offers you new ways of utilizing Sneak Attack to cripple enemies or just safely maneuver around the battlefield.
When you deal Sneak Attack damage, you can choose to forgo one or more Sneak Attack damage die to add a Cunning Strike effect to your attack. The DC of your Cunning Strike effects scales off of your Dexterity.
At level 5, you’ll choose up to one of the following Cunning Strike options when you land a Sneak Attack:
- Poison (Cost: 1d6): Put your Poisoner's Kit to good use! With this option, your target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be Poisoned for 1 minute. They can repeat this save at the end of each of their turns.
- Trip (Cost: 1d6): Stick ‘em with the pointy end and watch them fall (Prone, that is) on a failed Dexterity saving throw. Just make sure your target is Large or smaller before choosing this option.
- Withdraw (Cost: 1d6): Hit-and-run with the Withdraw option. It lets you move up to half your Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks after attacking.
At higher levels, you’ll get additional Cunning Strike options and even get to add two effects to a single Sneak Attack!
Reliable Talent — Level 7
“I rolled a 2, but it’s a 37.”
Reliable Talent all but guarantees you’ll be good at your choice skills, whether that’s sneaking around unlocking every door and chest, or just befriending the neighborhood cats. You’ll recognize the feature from the 2014 Player’s Handbook. However, where the Rogue previously gained this feature at level 11, they now gain it at level 7.
Improved Cunning Strike — Level 11
By level 11, you’re swimming in Sneak Attack damage die. With Improved Cunning Strike, you can put them to good use by stacking each Sneak Attack with two Cunning Strike options instead of one.
Devious Strikes — Level 14
Devious Strikes expands the Rogue’s arsenal of Cunning Strike options with a host of nasty (read: awesome) effects. The following are added to your list of Cunning Strike options:
- Daze (Cost: 2d6): Who says a support build can’t also deal damage? If your target fails a Constitution saving throw, they’ll only get to move or take an action or Bonus Action on their next turn. Frustrating for Dungeon Masters but fantastic for your party.
- Knock Out (Cost: 6d6): Bonk an enemy on the head and render them Unconscious for 1 minute if they fail a Constitution saving throw. They’ll repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, but chances are when they wake up, you’ll have already stolen whatever it was you needed and bounced.
- Obscure (Cost: 3d6): Who needs to slink into the shadow when you can just blind your target? With this Cunning Strike option, your target will need to make a Dexterity saving throw or be Blinded until the end of its next turn.
Blindsense — Level 14
Blindsense is not a feature of the 2024 Rogue. Instead, the class gains Devious Strikes and an upgrade to Slippery Mind at level 15.
Slippery Mind — Level 15
Slippery Mind has received an upgrade. Now your Rogue is cunning not just in tongue but in mind. You gain proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saving throws, instead of just Wisdom saving throws.
Epic Boon — Level 19
Epic Boons are a new type of feat introduced in the revised core ruleset and that are level-locked. At level 19, the Rogue gets their choice of one of the twelve Epic Boon feats found in the 2024 Player’s Handbook.
The following Epic Boon is a recommended option for the Rogue:
- Boon of the Night Spirit: Increase one ability score by 1, up to a maximum of 30. While in Dim Light or Darkness, you have Resistance to all damage except Psychic and Radiant and, as a Bonus Action, you can gain the Invisible condition.
Alternatively, you can pick another, non-Epic Boon feat, at this level.
Stroke of Luck — Level 20
The Rogue’s capstone feature gets two upgrades in the 2024 Player’s Handbook:
- You can now use Stroke of Luck on saving throws.
- When you fail a D20 Test, it turns your roll into a 20. This means a missed attack roll becomes a Critical Hit.
The capstone feature still functions the same with ability checks and still recharges on a Short or Long Rest.
More Tricks for the Cunning Rogue
The 2024 Player’s Handbook is now available on the D&D Beyond marketplace, which means it's time to set out on new adventures with fresh or familiar characters!
The 2024 Rogue sees a variety of new combat options and quality-of-life changes. Now you can blind the big bad who is wailing on your party Wizard, swap between weapons to utilize the best mastery property for the adventuring day, or just more reliably weave in and out of combat when you don’t have a Bonus Action to spare for Cunning Action. Of course, if rolling heaps of Sneak Attack damage is your preferred playstyle, you’ll find class and subclass features that support that strategy.
We’re delighted to share with you the changes to fifth edition D&D that appear in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. Make sure to keep an eye out on D&D Beyond for more useful guides on using the wealth of new options, rules, and mechanics found in the 2024 Player's Handbook!
Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing Helldivers 2 and Magic: The Gathering with his partners. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dogs, Quentin and Eliot.
This article was updated on August 13, 2024, to issue corrections or expand coverage for the following features and subclasses:
- Weapon Mastery: Clarified that you need to deal damage with your weapon to apply the Vex mastery property.
- Rogue Subclass (Soulknife): Added that Psychic Blades can now also be used with Opportunity Attacks.
- Rogue Subclass (Assassin): Clarified the damage dealt by Assassinate.
- Rogue Subclass (Thief): Clarified that you can use your Bonus Action to activate magic items that use the Magic action.
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Posted Jun 28, 2024It's just not been added to the PHB. Old subclasses remain compatible with the new classes.
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Posted Jun 28, 2024You don't have to play as an assassin to impersonate another person or to create a false identity. I have never, ever, seen a player who has played an assassin ever use their infiltration expertise feat or their imposter feat. Literally can be done better and faster without ever having to play as an assassin.
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Posted Jun 28, 2024Really disappointed with how rogue is nothing but a skill monkey while sucking at everything outside skill checks. It’s such a bad design.
- first off reliable talent makes rolling pointless is boring.
- expertise are overrated. Everyone else already gets an expertise so there’s obviously overlap to be had. Also the utility provided from expertise doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things and casters completely outclass your utility with spells while being able to do so much more.
- Rogues are martials yet the are expected to work much harder to function for worse results than other martials. How is that fair?
- I hate how steady aim basically tries to force you into a ranged playstyle. If I don’t use a ranged weapon Its a dead feature. What if I don’t want to use you a bow and want to just use daggers. Why am I further being punished for wanting to enjoy? It’s already more costly to melee weapons. Why is ranged getting extra benefits over them?
- The gap between subclass features is way too large.
- Assissin got better but still suck. Imagine playing through 8 levels and the only thing you got from your subclass was 8 extra damage on the first turn assuming everything works out. Seriously? That scaling is also awful.
- Assissinate working only the first round means it you basically don’t have a subclass after that. Jeremy, how is this a good design? Y’all do realize combat often happens in waves and the key target to an encounter isn’t just standing there for your 1st round right? So I plink my microscopic assinate damage that I could have probably picked off anyways and now I’m without a subclass. Come on dude.
- if that’s not enough they make my other tier 3-4 features a niche alter spell that will probably never be used because more convenient alter options exist and needing to watch someone for a hour falls into such a extreme niche. And the other stuff requires a rogue that’s already lacking in damage to other martials to give up even more damage to use their other effects.
Rogue is hands down without a doubt the worst class in 5e now. Congrats Wotc you took my favorite trope and made it a class and subclass I would never touch because other classes do its job flatout better. 👎
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Posted Jun 28, 2024I wouldn't go so far as to say that. Rogue still has plenty of great things about it. It just needed a bit more damage at the higher levels. Unfortunately "Cunning Strike" doesn't help with that, it only makes their damage even lower in exchange for some much needed combat utility.
I think rogue is totally fine before level 10. It's only in the teens that they will really start to struggle in combat compared to other classes. Increasing the sneak attack die size, or giving extra sneak attack dice at the high levels would have been a welcome improvement to help rogues keep up. As it is now their damage at high levels is going to be quite pitiful, especially if they are often using cunning strike.
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Posted Jun 29, 2024Cunning strikes should be named cunning nerfs. 2014 - my thief applies poison to his blade and attacks with sneak attack (blade damage + sneak attack damage + poison damage)
2024 - my thief must decide whether to apply poison to his blade or make a sneak attack (blade damage + poison damage) OR (blade damage + sneak attack damage)
To me, that seems like a Nerf.
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Posted Jun 29, 2024This is a pretty woefully bad faith read.
You can still use a poisoner's kit, but if you don't want to dedicate actions to it you can poison without costing actions not at the complete sacrifice of sneak attack, but the slight reduction of sneak attack damage (3.5 damage average).
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Posted Jun 29, 2024I'm not sure what your definition of bad faith read is. But this was not a bad faith read by the fact that I did not read it in bad faith. This is what I read.
Now, I may not understand it, but I would like to. I am saying that I can get three different kinds of damage on my opponent using the 2014 rules. I am saying I only get two different kinds of damage on my opponent using the 2024 rules. Please explain how you are using cunning strike to get three different kinds of damage on your opponent.
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Posted Jun 29, 2024Incorrect. This article simply lists the changes.
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Posted Jun 29, 2024The more I think about these features, the more disappointed I get. Once again, the Assassin is getting shafted compared to other Rogue subclasses, but D&D's video will sprinkle words around to make you think it does something useful. Giving movement after Steady Aim pales in comparison to the Thief's ability to remain hidden after attacking in combat for zero cost (freeing their bonus action to use Steady Aim) and Steady Aim still keeps melee Assassins stuck in the front of combat since they can't move beforehand, unless they are riding a mount. Not very stealthy, huh?
Death Strike still requiring a CON save means Power Word Kill is still far more reliable due to most high level foes having the ability to auto-save on their saving throws if they fail, and up to 3 times per day. If a Wizard can just straight up deal up to 100 damage to a creature once per day, than the subclass that lets you "emphasize the killing" should be allowed to do big damage once per combat. If you actually want to reduce the gap between martials and spellcasters, then do it. Let Assassins add half of their rolled damage on a failed save so that they're actually doing something with this feature.
The most disappointing of all, is Sneak Attack.
Yes, that last bullet point in tandem with my advice to Death Strike means you're likely doing an average of 108 damage (or an average of 144 if the CON save miraculously fails) on the first round of combat at level 20. If that sounds like overkill to you and you want to have a dramatic fight, then use your Cunning Strike options to lower the damage. Otherwise, let the Assassin be an actual assassin and kill with ease. If that Ancient Dragon just laid waste to half of Neverwinter in the dead of night, give it a taste of it's own medicine while it sleeps in a lair.
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Posted Jun 29, 2024Wait. Do rogues no longer have expertise???
the rangers made mention of it but nowhere for rogues?
Edit: nvm. I can read. It’s there just didn’t change.
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Posted Jun 29, 2024Below, we cover key changes to the 2024 Rogue you’ll find in the new Player’s Handbook. If there’s a feature we don’t cover, such as Cunning Action, that means it remains unchanged or saw minor changes.
Can half of the comments are these pages not be people failing to read the full article?
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Posted Jun 30, 2024This is terrible. Rogues are just condemned to do less dmg than every one else while being skillmonkey.
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Posted Jul 1, 2024At level 5 they should have said "Here's two options: Cunning Strikes or Deadly Strikes. Chose one and gain additional benefits for that feature at 11th and 14th levels" with Deadly Strikes just being either increased die size (d8) like you said or just a couple extra dice. It's basically an additional sentence, doesn't take up much room and gives the players choice.
For the higher level features I'd say just have the 11th and 14th level features being utility - X number of sneak attack die roll for damage on a miss. And then either another die or 2 or more dice on a miss. Just straight forward for people who don't like how hard Cunning Strikes nerfs the class.
I think WOTC is afraid of the rogue doing damage because... I don't know, but they really hate the idea of it for some reason.
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Posted Jul 2, 2024They just haven’t made any changes to those abilities, they only mentioned things that were getting re-worked and added.
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Posted Jul 2, 2024It appears in bad faith because nothing has happened to your poisoners kit. Your 2014 play remains usable, and the cunning strikes don’t mean no sneak attack damage, they just reduce the additional dice by one (so 1d6 bonus at level 3 on top of your additional effect instead of 2d6). If you don’t want to sacrifice action economy for a piddling amount of damage, you can slightly reduce your sneak attack damage (where, again, you aren’t negating your sneak attack damage, merely reducing it. You still will be rolling additional sneak attack damage on top of your main attack). The poison move is also not adding damage to your attacks, but imparting the poisoned condition to your target, so if you have poison and the rare occasion where burning a whole action to poison your blade is useful you can still do that.
So rather than do 4d6+dex damage (~14+dex) with your shortsword sneak attack at lvl 5 you can do 3d6+dex (11.5+dex) and have a chance to give them disadvantage on most everything, have a chance to give all your melee allies advantage on attacks against them, or give yourself a free actionless disengage + movement boost. You could do this on top of using additional poison to increase the damage, if you did so earlier as you would do in 2014.
Forgoing an attack entirely to poison your weapon, which was required in most combats to apply poison, is nearly never worth it. You needed what were often niche circumstances where you had the drop and time to prep. Now you can still poison people, at a cost which for most levels of play will be less than a 20% decrease in damage on one hit.
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Posted Jul 6, 2024That. Just that.
Rogue was previously fun cause it allowed some sort of customisation through skills, tho underpowered in terms of combat. Now everyother class get access to some of that customisation, and rogue is someway somehow more underpowered in combat, and you are also still forced to play in a specific way.
Rogue is new hexblade. U goes for one level (and even that I'm unsure) and never more. Like who the **** will actually play a rogue and enjoy it versus ANY other martial/expert.
On narrative, reliable talent is the worst thing ever. Failing is part of any game's fun.
In fight, Rogue basically revolve around sneak attack condition, and now 2 inbuilt way to lift those condition. Game design fail. You play against the game mechanics which mean urself.
The main feature of rogue is having tools to stay alive ? I guess the fighter have something to answer.
Rogue got inbuild battlemanoeuver, while the fighter still got the crit stuff in a subclass and other stuff too.
At least the opposite would make sense but who cares.
Cunning is legit awfull as a core class feature. Especially since its made on a detriment of another core feature. Like Paladin loose their smite if they want to benefit their aura. Wtf.
As a swashbuck feature however it would be good.
Good changes are the bonus action dual wield economy so you can actually go melee and still use ur defining core active feature.., lifting AT school restriction, Ass ******* lvl 9 removing sneak attack condition, yay I dont need to play the meet the criteria game to use my passive core feature (like what is the downside of Extra attack ?), Earlier blindsense cause yes.
And thats it.
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Posted Jul 7, 2024Thank you for elucidating. It was a misunderstanding of the reading that was the problem; a bad read, but truly not in bad faith.
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Posted Jul 7, 2024It's not just you though. The entire party can get critical hits on the unconscious creature. Creature is never going to survive long enough to get another save. I went through the CR 14 creatures and most of them are likely to fail the save meaning a death dragon might be killed on round 1.
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Posted Jul 9, 2024Most of them will not fail a CON save at that level. The average CON save modifier at level 14, across the base MM, is +8.7. Even if you drop that to +8...
First off, you need adv, and then you'll have 78% chance to hit. Your level 14 DC, with maximized DEX is 18. The average monster has a 60% chance to save.
While possible, it is a highly unlikely edge case that we ought not to plan for. Also, the monster you mentioned has Legendary Resistances, so you'll need to burn through those first.