There’s something we love about the magical rogue. Creating illusions, distracting guards, and using an invisible, spectral hand to manipulate the environment at range makes for some epic moments at the table. Often considered top tier amongst Rogue subclasses, the Arcane Trickster is certainly one of the easiest to recommend. Let’s get into why…

How to Use This Guide

Everything in this guide has an emoji, ranking how useful a given ability or feature is to playing Rogue effectively.

✅ — An absolutely crucial feature. Often forms the backbone of a class’ look and feel. Will provide some bonus that can’t be found through other means.

🆗 — A solid feature that does its job well. Not game-breaking, and certainly replaceable, but a strong choice that shores up some weakness.

⚠️ — A debatable choice. Could work for a specific build, but otherwise is either a wasted opportunity or is just weaker than other alternatives.

⛔ — Outright bad and detrimental. This weighs down the class and just takes up space on the character sheet. A weakness you will have to accommodate for.

These rankings are meant to help you create an optimized class build, but remember DnD isn’t a game where you need to win to have fun. Weaker but flavorful builds also have their place and can make for fulfilling characters.

What’s Arcane Trickster All About?

Arcane Archetype

We have an exercise for you. Think “magically-enhanced sneak thief” and make a shortlist of every character from movies, books, and video games that springs to mind. There’s a good chance that some of the names you come up with fall neatly into the category of Arcane Trickster.

There are a lot of DnD players who play for an equally large number of different reasons—and the Arcane Trickster seems to work for many of them. The mechanical appeal of this archetype comes down to two things—full progression in Sneak Attack and a decent level of progression in your casting ability. Their typical character profile is popular in fantasy books, movies, and games too. Often morally grey, willing to break the law, but with just enough honor to be a valued ally—the Arcane Trickster is fun to roleplay with lots of great reference points in print and screen media.

There are some classic examples of this subclass in fiction. Our favorite is the beloved Gray Mouser from Fritz Leiber’s work, but any thief/rogue who’s picked up some casting might fit the bill.

Some of Leiber’s early work for magazines and pulp collections is available free from the non-profit archive.org at this link.

Illusion, Enchantment, Evasion, and Attack

Aside from your base rogue skills (Sneak Attack arguably chief among them), it’s your Arcane Trickster’s casting that sets them apart from other character builds. You are usually limited to cantrips and the magical schools of Illusion and Enchantment. This helps balance the subclass and makes sense from a lore perspective. Many rogues would naturally pursue this kind of magic as it pairs nicely with their skills in infiltration, deception, and general sneakiness.

The Arcane Trickster (like all rogues) is hard to pin down and hard to hit. They tend to focus on magical abilities that can either boost their stealth, distract their enemy, or get them out of trouble when things go wrong. Not getting hit while delivering damage is a typically roguish trait, and the Arcane Trickster is no different.

This subclass isn’t going to achieve the god-tier magical abilities of a dedicated caster or the one-hit kills of the Assassin. They can only learn spells up to 4th level, with 11 spell slots available by level 20. But combined with the base rogue abilities, their casting abilities make them an effective class in most scenarios, not only combat.

🥷 Looking for a unique name for your character? Discover our Rogue name ideas

Disarming Traps and Picking Locks with Mage Hand Legerdemain

Mage Hand is an already useful ability but at 3rd level, the Arcane Trickster takes it to new heights. In addition to becoming invisible, the hand can now:

Use thieves’ tools to pick a lock or disarm a trap (within 30 feet – must be visible)
Stash or retrieve an object from the pocket/bag/pouch/container of a creature

To use this second ability successfully, you make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, contested by the creature’s Wisdom (Perception) check.

The Arcane Trickster’s Versatile Trickster ability at level 13, allows them to use their Mage Hand Legerdemain as a bonus action to distract enemies. This is another ability that plays very well with Sneak Attack, helping you more reliably land heavy hits after combat has already started.

Arcane Trickster Subclass Features

Your base rogue is all about waiting for the right moment to strike then hitting your enemies at their most vulnerable. The Dexterity-based rogue features from levels 1-3 synergize well with what awaits you as an Arcane Trickster — more sneaking, hiding, and striking with deadly force at the perfect moment. The difference as an Arcane Trickster is in using spells to augment these abilities.

Because so many of the subclasses’ abilities depend on Intelligence, gaining some kind of racial boost to this score will help you get the most from its features (more about races later). Remember, Sneak Attack only works with ranged or finesse weapons—not with spells or cantrips (with one exception we mention in our spell list below). This, and the feel of the Arcane Trickster, encourage players to build a character that uses Illusion and Enchantment primarily to fine tune their roguish abilities rather than outshine them.

Level 1 (Rogue)

✅ Sleight of Hand

The DM can call for a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check any time you attempt to plant something on someone, pick a pocket, or conceal an object on your person.

✅ Expertise

You can either choose two skills you’re already proficient in and double your proficiency bonuses or choose one proficiency and your thieves’ tools and double those bonuses.

✅ Sneak Attack

You can strike quickly, exploiting any distraction to your enemies. Once per turn, you can deal an extra d6 damage to a creature you’ve already hit if you have advantage against that creature. You don’t need advantage if there’s another creature hostile to your enemy within 5 feet of it. This makes it a valuable weapon to use in coordination with the tank/fighter of the group.

🆗 Thieves’ Cant

Your life as a rogue means you’ve picked up the odd mix of lexicon, jargon, and misdirection that is the Thieves’ Cant. This form of communication is a little clunky, as it takes up to four times longer than common speech to relay the same message. Only another creature who knows this language can understand what you say.

You can also recognize and produce a set of signs that can convey simple messages to other thieves and rogues. These messages might warn of danger ahead, mark the location of a safe house, or lead the rogue to interesting treasure an associate didn’t have time for.

Level 2 (Rogue)

✅ Cunning Action

This ability represents your quick reflexes and agility. You can take a bonus action on each turn of combat, using one of these three abilities:

Dash allows you to cover twice as much ground as usual.
Disengage means you can retreat from melee range without provoking an Opportunity Attack.
Hide lets you attempt to disappear from view, potentially gaining another Sneak Attack (you must disengage before you can hide).

Level 3 (Arcane Trickster)

✅ Spellcasting

At 3rd level, you can choose two cantrips (in addition to Mage Hand Legerdemain) and any two 1st level spells from the schools of either Illusion or Enchantment. You can also choose one spell from any school of magic (1st level on the Wizard’s spell list).

The Arcane Trickster can only take spells outside of Illusion and Enchantment at a few select levels, so choose wisely. Remember, Sneak Attack requires a finesse or dexterity weapon, spells and cantrips won’t work (with a few exceptions we’ll list later).
Intelligence determines your spellcasting ability. You study magic as a Wizard’s apprentice would, learning spells through dedicated study and memorization. Your modifiers are below:
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.

✅ Mage Hand Legerdemain

At level 3, your Mage Hand develops further, becoming more useful and stealthy. In addition to being invisible, you can now control it as a bonus action to pick locks, disarm traps, pick a creature’s pockets, or stash an item on a creature. Mage Hand Legerdemain can be an asset in exploration, social encounters, and combat.. You will also inevitably get some classic laughs out of its use at some point in your adventure. It’s kind of tailor made for slapstick moments and fun.

Level 5 (Rogue)

✅ Uncanny Dodge

This core rogue ability allows you to use your reaction to half the damage from an incoming attack.

Level 7 (Rogue)

🆗 Evasion

Your heightened reflexes allow you to react to area of effect attacks. When making a saving throw against this type of attack, you now take no damage on passing the check and half damage if you fail. This is a base rogue ability and stacks with Uncanny Dodge.

Level 9 (Arcane Trickster)

🆗 Magical Ambush

This Arcane Trickster ability works well with your rogue’s tendency to stay hidden from view. When you target a creature with a spell that requires a saving throw, the creature has disadvantage on the check. This is helpful as your Arcane Trickster is not a pure Intelligence build and may not have a particularly high Intelligence proficiency modifier.

Level 11 (Rogue)

✅ Reliable Talent

Whenever you make a roll involving one of your skills (something you are proficient in), anything rolled 9 or less on a d20 is turned into a 10 – highly useful for picking locks, disarming traps, etc.

Level 13 (Arcane Trickster)

✅ Versatile Trickster

This allows you to use your Mage Hand Legerdemain to distract enemies as a bonus action. This is huge – more Sneak Attacks, more critical hits, and more damage. The creature you try to distract must be within 5 feet of your spectral hand. Once you designate a target, it has disadvantage against it for the rest of the turn.

Level 14 (Rogue)

🆗 Blindsense

This allows you to sense illusions and invisible creatures within 10 feet as long as you can hear. This is helpful as it means these creatures don’t gain advantage on attack rolls against you.

Level 15 (Rogue)

🆗 Slippery Mind

You’ve developed enough mental fortitude from years of adventuring that you gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. This represents your character’s years of experience – useful given your character’s likely fairly low Wisdom score.

Level 17 (Arcane Trickster)

🆗 Spell Thief

Spell Thief sounds amazing at first but can feel underutilized given the spell you “steal” must be from 1st to 4th level. When you are targeted by a spell, the caster must make a saving throw. Should they fail this throw, the spell doesn’t affect you and you steal its use. Some Arcane Tricksters use this within the party, asking a higher-level caster to “lend” them spell for use later.

Level 18 (Rogue)

✅ Elusive

Your roguish slipperiness in combat has become so advanced that you no longer suffer disadvantage on attack rolls against you as long as you aren’t Incapacitated.

Level 20 (Rogue)

✅ Stroke of Luck

Once per long rest, you can turn a miss on an attack roll into a hit, or any failed ability check into a 20. This can only be done once per long rest.

The Ideal Arcane Trickster

Dexterity remains your primary stat as an Arcane Trickster with a secondary focus on Intelligence. These two ability scores determine your success using your core rogue skills and magical Arcane Trickster abilities respectively. Racial picks that give boosts to these two abilities are recommended. Though the Arcane Trickster won’t achieve the same raw damage output as some other roguish subclasses, their access to spells makes them invaluable. For this reason, it’s crucial to pick the right spells for the Trickster you want to play. You’ll still deal most of your damage through Sneak Attack with a ranged or finesse weapon, using your magic to augment your abilities in other ways.

Ability Scores

⛔ Strength

Typically a dump stat for Arcane Tricksters. Other members of the party can supply the brawn.

✅ Dexterity

This is your key ability score as a rogue and remains vital to your efficiency as you level up as an Arcane Trickster.

🆗 Constitution

Important for every class. Arcane Tricksters are a martial class and will draw enemy attention.

✅ Intelligence

As your spellcasting modifier, Intelligence is a key stat for the Arcane Trickster.

🆗 Wisdom

As a roguish character, Wisdom (Perception) can be important during exploration. Wisdom saving throws are also useful.

⚠️ Charisma

This can be a valuable ability score for some roguish subclasses but not typically the Arcane Trickster.

Racial Considerations

Racial picks that give boosts to Intelligence and Dexterity work best here. If you plan on fighting in melee range, a respectable amount of constitution is also needed. Darkvision can be valuable to a rogue during exploration and the same can be said for Wisdom.

Ultimately, we’ve selected only the most optimal racial choices. We, however, do have a soft spot for janky, under-optimized characters with flair. Choose whatever seems most fun to you but the following picks all make for solid Arcane Tricksters.

Elf

✅ Eladrin: With proficiency in Perception, Darkvision, a +2 to Dexterity, and a +1 to Charisma, you could do worse than pick this magical Fey Elf.
✅ High Elf: Longbow proficiency helps you maximize ranged/Sneak Attack damage, a free cantrip from the wizard spell list is useful, and the Intelligence bonus will help with your casting.
✅ Wood Elf: The wood elf is a classic rogue choice for a reason. Pretty much all of their features are useful. Longbow proficiency, the Hide in Nature ability, higher walking speed, and a bonus to Wisdom all have utility for an Arcane Trickster build.

Gnome

🆗 Deep Gnome: Advantage on stealth checks on rocky ground can be useful for any rogue subclass. And with 120ft of darkvision and a +1 bonus to Dexterity, there’s a decent case to me made for playing a deep gnome Arcane Trickster.
🆗 Forest Gnome: The Minor Illusion cantrip that comes with picking forest gnome is a good pick for a budding Arcane Trickster. The +1 to Dexterity is useful to any rogue subclass.

Halfling

✅ Lightfoot: The +2 Dexterity bonus is important but so is this halfling’s diminutive stature. Lightfoot halflings are small enough to use their larger party members to hide behind. This leads to more Sneak Attack opportunities.
🆗 Stout: The halfling +2 bonus to Dexterity is perhaps more suited to the Arcane Trickster than the poison resistance and +1 to constitution. Neither of these hurt though. The Constitution bonus could be important if you want to go melee.

Tiefling

✅ Feral Tiefling: get a +2 to Dexterity, a +1 to Intelligence, and Darkvision. This is tailor-made for play as an Arcane Trickster

Human

✅ Variant Human: A free feat and skill at level 1 is always a nice touch. And a +2 to Dexterity and +1 to Intelligence also play into an Arcane Trickster build quite neatly.