This is a speculative Assassin build for the BG3 Astarion companion. My main character for the corresponding playthrough is a Roguish Bard (with maybe a dip into either Fighter or Ranger, still deciding...). That overlaps a LOT with the Arcane Trickster subclass of Rogue that Astarion has by default. I found myself leaving Astarion at camp because he added nothing new to the party, so I decided to give him a different specialty so that he'd be more useful. My main character already has high Charisma and is the spokesperson for the group, so this Astarion can focus entirely on stealth and combat.
Astarion is a High Elf with the Charlatan (Deception, Slight of Hand) background. This cannot be changed via respec, nor can his Cantrip (Flame Bolt). His attributes can be changed on respec - the build below makes some tweaks.
| Character Level |
Class Level |
Attributes |
Skills |
Proficiencies |
Other |
| 1 |
Rogue 1 |
STR: 8 (-1)
DEX: 16 (+3)
CON: 14 (+2)
INT: 10 (+0)
WIS: 16 (+3)
CHA: 10 (+0)
|
Acrobatics (via Rogue)
Deception (via Charlatan)
Insight (via Rogue)
Investigation (via Rogue)
Perception (via High Elf)
Sleight of Hand (via Charlatan)
Stealth (via Rogue)
Expertise (Slight of Hand, Stealth) |
Light Armour
Simple Weapons
Hand Crossbow
Longsword
Shortsword
Longbow
Shortbow
Rapier |
Sneak Attack (1d6)
Darkvision
Fey Ancestry
Flame Bolt (cantrip via High Elf) |
| 2 |
Rogue 2 |
|
|
|
Cunning Action: Dash
Cunning Action: Disengage
Cunning Action: Hide |
| 3 |
Rogue 3 |
|
|
|
Sneak Attack (2d6)
Subclass: Assassin
Assassin's Alacrity
Assassinate: Ambush
Assassinate: Initiative |
| 4 |
Rogue 4 |
|
|
|
Feat (Ability Improvement, DEX 16=>18) |
| 5 |
Rogue 5 |
|
|
|
Sneak Attack (3d6)
Uncanny Dodge |
| 6 |
Rogue 6 |
|
Expertise x2 (Acrobatics, Perception) |
|
|
| 7 |
Rogue 7 |
|
|
|
Sneak Attack (4d6)
Evasion |
| 8 |
Rogue 8 |
|
|
|
Feat (Ability Improvement, DEX 18=>20) |
| 9 |
Rogue 9 |
|
|
|
Sneak Attack (5d6)
Infiltration Expertise |
| 10 |
Rogue 10 |
|
|
|
Feat (Alert) |
| 11 |
Rogue 11 |
|
|
|
Sneak Attack (6d6)
Reliable Talent |
| 12 |
Rogue 12 |
|
|
|
Feat (Savage Attacker) |
That's probably not all quite correct. I'm still learning how the game mechanics work. Hopefully it is close.
Feats could be reshuffled. Ability Improvement to DEX helps with a lot of things, but waiting until level 10 for Alert isn't great, and Alert could be taken earlier.
There are good arguments for dipping into other classes. Two levels of Fighter is especially attractive. I'm leaving the build as all Rogue, because adding Fighter would be straightforward. There aren't that many choices to make, and you'd just end up with two fewer levels of Rogue.