Best Feats for Rogues 5e

Amazing Feats for Rogues

• Elven Accuracy: Most rogues will want to pick this up if they want to play as an elf. They have tons of ways to get advantage, especially with the Steady Aim optional rule. And paired with Sneak Attacks; Elven Accuracy can be monstrous. Arcane Tricksters, Assassins, Inquisitives, Scouts, and Swashbucklers also all get extra features to achieve a near constant stream of attacks with advantage.
• Lucky: The Lucky feat is especially good for a rogue. Because rogues are proficient in so many skills, this feat is an extra insurance policy to not fail important ability checks and saving throws. Also helps land attacks seeing as you don't get any extra attacks and need to hit to use Sneak Attack.
• Mobile: This feat was almost made for rogues. Being a glass cannon martial class, rogues like to inflict massive damage and then get out of the way, making this the perfect feat to complement the skirmisher playstyle.
• Moderately Armored: Being able to pick up medium armor and a shield can pump your AC by +4. Rogues will never use half plate or scale mail as it impedes too much with their sneaking abilities.
• Shadow Touched: This feat is a perfect choice for rogues. It gives them some of the utility of an Arcane Trickster without needing to take the subclass. That said, Arcane Tricksters will absolutely love this feat, especially if they have an odd INT score. Strangely enough, Swashbucklers will also love this feat to help them boost their CHA score.
• Sharpshooter: If you’re playing as a ranged rogue, this is pretty much a must-have. The -5 penalty can be easily offset by attacking from unseen, which is what rogues excel at. The extra 10 damage and the ability to ignore half and three-quarters cover will make you an absolute nightmare on the battlefield when paired with your sneak attack.

Great Feats for Rogues

• Alert: The bonus to Initiative equal to their Proficiency Bonus is good for Rogues in basically any scenario, especially when they have a tank or blaster caster in the party. If your Rogue is sneaking around, gets spotted, and has to take out the enemy before they can sound the alarm, this is great. If you're starting a large combat sequence and don't have any ways to get Advantage on your attacks you can give a party member your (usually high) Initiative so they can drop a spell or charge into battle.
• Dual Wielder: While rogues usually focus on delivering a single powerful Sneak Attack, having a second weapon in hand can ensure they get their Sneak Attack damage even if the first attack misses. If their first attack hits and they get to do their Sneak Attack damage, they can always use their bonus action to Disengage or Hide instead of swing their offhand weapon, thanks to Cunning Action. Also, seeing as they don't get proficiency with shields, this is a good way to boost their AC.
• Ember of the Fire Giant: No Dexterity boost, but the defensive buffs are pretty solid. Also, blinding your enemies can net you advantage on your attacks, which is great for activating Sneak Attack. This is a solid choice for more melee-minded rogues.
• Fade Away: A pretty solid ability for rogues, especially if they're using ranged weapons. Being able to disappear after you take a hit will allow you to put some ground between you and your enemy so you don't have disadvantage on your attacks. Plus, rogues are pretty squishy, so being able to turn invisible after you take damage, then on your turn use your movement, Cunning Action to Dash, and action to Dash, can help you get out of combat if you're looking rough
• Fey Touched: A free misty step is what every rogue in existence is looking for. Yeah, it uses your bonus action, but the utility of a 30ft teleport is undeniable. The ASI will likely go to waste, but it could be used to boost CHA for Swashbucklers or INT for Arcane Tricksters. As for the 1st-level spell to pick up, there are not too many optimal choices. Hunter's mark and Hex aren't particularly desirable because you only get 1, maybe 2 attacks per round. You'd rather somebody else cast dissonant whispers on an enemy you fighting so you can get another sneak attack in. Probably the best choice would be hideous laughter in order to incapacitate a creature in combat for some attacks with advantage or take a guard out while you're on a sneak mission.
• Fighting Initiate: The Fighting Styles have some interesting options for rogues. Archery will make damage more consistent for bow users. Blind Fighting is great for fighting in the dark, something a sneaky rogue often wishes to do. Additionally, seeing invisible creatures can be quite helpful.
• Guile of the Cloud Giant: This is a solid enough upgrade to Uncanny Dodge that it could certainly benefit your rogue. As they don't have particularly good survivability, the boost to Constitution plus the ability to teleport out of danger is really beneficial. Plus, you could teleport to the edge of the fray and find somewhere to hid next turn, allowing you to attack with advantage and avoid further attacks.
• Magic Initiate: Utility reigns supreme here, as there are a plethora of great spells that fit into any rogue playstyle. Like Eldritch Knights, Arcane Tricksters should probably pick the wizard spell list, as their subclass grants them wizard spell slots.
• Piercer: This works well if you want to use shortswords or rapiers for your main hand and can also work with a dagger offhand attack. Arguably this is almost a must-have unless you don’t want to use these weapons.
• Revanent Blade: This is an incredible feat for rogues as it allows you to push out max damage with your Attack action while also getting access to a good bonus action attack. This can be helpful for activating Sneak Attack when you miss with your Attack, or just squeezing in some extra damage. Unfortunately, rogues don't normally get access to martial weapon or scimitar proficiencies, so you'll need to take either the Valenar high elf or wood elf race during character creation.
• Ritual Caster: Rogues are usually single-ability dependent (SAD) enough to invest in Wisdom or Intelligence, this is especially true for Inquisitive or Arcane Trickster rogues who need Intelligence for their subclass features. Find familiar is an absolutely busted spell for rogues to have access to, as it can allow them to activate Sneak Attack with ease by getting their familiar to give them the Help action. Plus, you get access to another interesting spell (most likely detect magic) and can find other ritual spells to build out your repertoire during your adventures.
• Scion of the Outer Planes: Grabbing force resistance and guidance can be a great combo to help you round out your defensive capabilities and out-of-combat utility.
• Sentinel: Sentinel is great for rogues who like to be in the middle of the fray, allowing them to perform more Sneak Attacks and immobilize enemies. Unfortunately, they will likely be the target of enemy attacks more often than an ally with a high AC. Make sure you position yourself strategically to take advantage of this!
• Skill Expert: Rogues get tons of Expertise and proficiencies, so this is great if you want to rock skill checks. Having three skill expertise will allow you to double your proficiency with Stealth, Perception, and one of the face skills, which can make you a massive asset outside of combat.
• Skulker: Another amazing option for archer rogue builds who have gone with a race that doesn't provide darkvision. Helps you pull off sneak attacks and hide. Still useful without making ranged attacks, though you will find the most benefit from this feat with ranged builds.
• Slasher: Rogues can enjoy this feat based on what weapons they’re using, as not all melee weapons deal slashing damage.
• Strike of the Giants: Unfortunately, these abilities need Strength or Constitution to be effective. If you stack into Constitution high enough, Cloud Strike could be interesting to get access to limited invisibility. Plus, the 4th-level cloud giant feat is a pretty fun upgrade for rogues. Otherwise, Fire Strike is a good boost to damage and the 4th-level fire giant feat offers a solid AoE damage and debuff ability. Unfortunately, to meet the requirements of this feat, you'll have to pick up a martial weapon proficiency somehow or take the giant foundling background.
• Telekinetic: Rogues can find some use with this for some invisible pickpocketing, but Arcane Tricksters will want it more. Because it buffs their mage hand to 60ft, they can do a whole lot more from that distance. The only issue that rogues will run into is when they want to use their Cunning Action or an offhand attack. That said, the value this offers rogues is undeniable, even if the ASIs don't line up.

Good Feats for Rogues

• Agent of Order: The efficiency of this feat depends on your build. If you're going to be dual wielding so you can offhand attack, this can be beneficial as it allows you to potentially restrain your enemy for a free attack with advantage (and thus, Sneak Attack). Otherwise, this isn't great for rogues cause they only get one attack per round.
• Baleful Scion: This is a helpful way to output some more damage and keep your rogue's squishy hit points a bit more topped up.
• Crafter: Fast Crafting is a decent ability for a Rogue, granted they know what kind of situations the day holds when they finish a Long Rest, because it's not actually that fast. Still, a proficiency in Carpenter’s Tools, Smith's Tools, and Tinkerer's Tools can give your Rogue a massive collection of crafting options that they can employ during their stealthy missions.
• Crossbow Expert: This is a tricky one. Crossbow Expert gives you a second chance at landing your Sneak Attack, but rogues also want to maximize their DEX as soon as possible and there are better feats available. This one really depends on your playstyle and personal preferences.
• Gunner: Guns work really well for rogues. However, silencers don’t exist in Dungeons & Dragons, making them tough to be sneaky. None of the subclasses stand out here, making guns a safe bet outside of sneaking scenarios.
• Healer: Rogues are decent battlefield medics because of their ability to Dash and Disengage as a Bonus Action. Combined with Healer, you can likely reach any downed teammate and heal them without getting hit yourself. Thief Rogues are particularly good as they can take the Utilize action as a Bonus Action. Overall, this increases your Rogue's utility and helps take the healing off of your caster's plates so they can spend more resources obliterating your foes.
• Inspiring Leader: Rogues are pretty SAD and are good party faces, meaning they can benefit from a decent Charisma modifier. Plus, they're normally lacking hit points in combat, so this is decent a way to boost your own and your party's hit points.
• Mage Slayer: This can be a good option for most rogues, but there isn’t a particular subclass that can make the most. Players who want to keep casters at bay or takedown important targets definitely want this.
• Observant: +5 to passive Perception and Investigation is a solid boost when you're planning on leading the party through dangerous terrain. On top of that, you can read lips which will be useful when on an infiltration mission. Increasing your INT or WIS by 1 isn't the most exciting ASI and holds this back from being a truly excellent feat for rogues. Both the Scout and Arcane Trickster can benefit from this the most, as they either need the stat or the skill buffs.
• Poisoner: This is the best way to get reliable access to poisons, something that any assassin-type character would like to have. This feat also allows you to make much cheaper and more effective poisons than other poisons you might find in the world. While the feat does ignore resistance to poison, there are many creatures that are simply immune to poison, rendering poison one of the worse damage types in 5e. In addition, a DC 14 CON save is overcome quite easily, especially at higher levels. The bonus action to apply the poison may also conflict with your Cunning Action. Overall, this is a cool synergy for rogues, but won't be the most impactful feat.
• Prodigy: Grab another proficiency and another expertise. If your skill monkey abilities weren't enough for you, this will help get you to where you want to be!
• Resilient: Though they don't have to concentrate on spells, rogues could do well from picking up Resilient (CON). This can help increase their hit points while also offering them a bonus to resist effects that target CON, like poison, disease, and necromancy.
• Telepathic: Pretty solid ability for a rogue, especially Arcane Tricksters or Swashbucklers who will benefit the most from the ASI.
• Tough: Ranged rogues won't have any need for Tough because they can mitigate damage by keeping their distance and using Cunning Action to Hide. If your rogue is going to be up close and personal, you may find their d8 hit dice insufficient and want to give your hit points a boost with Tough.

Situationally Useful Feats for Rogues

• Athlete: You get an ASI to Dexterity and some minor movement buffs that can certainly improve your Stealth and infiltration game. If you're playing a ranged rogue and are always looking for the high ground for your ranged attacks, the climbing boost can certainly help. But, that depends on how intricate the environments your DMs provide for combat are. If you're really set on attacking from on-high, just choose a race with a 1st-level fly speed.
• Chef: Rogues typically don't need WIS and can do without CON if they stay out of the fray. Additionality, you've got way better uses for your bonus actions. I can't think of any good reasons why a class rooted in information and greed would also be a chef, so you can probably skip this feat.
• Divinely Favored: Getting free castings of guidance will be nice for your rogue's skill checks and spells like armor of Agathys or shield of faith would help their survivability. This is even better for Arcane Tricksters, who get spell slots they can use to cast these spells multiple times per day.
• Durable: Nothing particularly exciting here for a rogue.
• Gift of the Gem Dragon: Rogues already have Uncanny Dodge as an on-hit reaction, which is important for them to mitigate damage.
• Keenness of the Stone Giant: Rogues already have enough uses of their bonus action. Plus, the ASI spread isn't great.
• Linguist: Depending on the campaign, rogues can benefit from this feat, especially if they're playing a spy, infiltrator, or Arcane Trickster that needs an Intelligence boost. Most of the times, this will be underwhelming.
• Martial Adept: Rogues would love to be able to constantly use Trip Attack to knock their enemies prone, but this won't be particularly effective unless you're planning for a Two-Weapon Fighting build who can use Trip Attack on the first strike, then attack with advantage on the second. Plus, you only get one superiority dice per short/long rest, so this is probably not worth it overall.
• Mounted Combatant: While the advantage on attacks from this feat may seem tempting, riding a mount will rending the rogue's Cunning Action useless and can paint a target on their back. While fighters and paladins may be able to tank for their mounts, rogues will be hard-pressed to do so.
• Righteous Heritor: You'll likely want to save your reaction each turn for Uncanny Dodge, so this is a skip.
• Rune Shaper: Getting access to a free casting of disguise self can be awesome, but Shadow Touched can get you that spell plus invisibility and an ASI right away. You'll have to wait until 17th level to get three spells out of Rune Shaper, so it's best to stick with the feat that provides immediate value.
• Weapon Master: Rogues can use this to gain access to heavy crossbows, though they're usually better off to just dip into fighters for a level.

Bad Feats for Rogues

• Cohort of Chaos: Unfortunately, this is too unpredictable to be a efficient use of a feat.
• Crusher: This feat doesn’t add much to the rogue class unless you’re aiming for a particular style of play. Rogues can already get in and out of melee range with Cunning Action, and they typically want DEX over STR.
• Defensive Duelist: Rogues already have one of the best defensive reactions in the game with Uncanny Dodge, making this feat redundant in most scenarios.
• Eldritch Adept: Only those who choose the Arcane Trickster subclass can gain this feat, giving them a little more utility. The best invocation would be Mask of Many Faces, granting them unlimited uses of alter self. Misty Visions may be helpful, too, for infinite silent image casts.
• Fury of the Frost Giant: Unfortunately, your Uncanny Dodge will always take precedent over Frigid Retaliation, so this is a skip.
• Gift of the Chromatic Dragon: Rogues don't normally attack enough to make good use of this feat.
• Gift of the Metallic Dragon: You already have Uncanny Dodge as a reaction, and one free casting of cure wounds isn't beneficial enough for you to consider taking this feat.
• Grappler: Nothing here for a Rogue.
• Great Weapon Master: Rogues can’t use martial weapons, locking them out of this feat entirely.
• Heavily Armored: Rogues typically rely on Dexterity and Stealth, making this feat less useful.
• Heavy Armor Master: Rogues don't get proficiency with heavy armor.
• Keen Mind: Nothing here for a rogue. It is at least of some use to Arcane Tricksters who cast spells with INT, but there are plenty of other feats to take before this one. Namely, Fey Touched or Shadow Touched.
• Lightly Armored: Already has access to light armor at the start.
• Medium Armor Master: Rogues don't get proficiency in medium armor.
• Metamagic Adept: Only the Arcane Trickster subclass can take this feat, but it works great for them. Not only is extending the duration of spells nifty, being able to cast spells with Subtle Spell will allow them to get out of tricky situations quickly.
• Orcish Fury: Nothing here for a rogue.
• Outlands Envoy: One free casting of misty step and an ASI isn't enough to make paladins want to take this feat. If you want to add some magic to your rogue's repertoire, Fey Touched will be much more impactful.
• Planar Wanderer: A rogue with an expertise in Arcana and a stacked Intelligence ability that's a portal-cracking mastermind could be a fun and unique character, as long as you encounter interplanar travel frequently in your campaign. Otherwise, this feat doesn't do enough to be worthwhile.
• Polearm Master: Rogues definitely won’t want this feat, as polearms can’t be used with Sneak Attack.
• Savage Attacker: Skip this feat.
• Second Chance: This isn't worth it as you have Uncanny Dodge that you can use every turn already.
• Shield Master: Rogue's don't get proficiency in shields and have too many uses for their bonus action to pick this feat up.
• Soul of the Storm Giant: Rogues usually struggle with survivability, but this feat isn't the answer. Focus on feats that will provide more maneuverability rather than boosting your tankiness.
• Spell Sniper: Rogues normally can't cast spells but Arcane Tricksters could actually see some benefit. Unfortunately, ranged spell attacks don't trigger Sneak Attack, which certainly holds this feat back for those builds.
• Squat Nimbleness: Rogues are much better off going with Mobile, even though Squat Nimbleness provides an ASI.
• Vigor of the Hill Giant: None of the effect really produce enough value to rogues to make this feat worthwhile, even with the +1 to Wisdom. Focus on something that will either boost your damage, mobility, or utility.
• War Caster: Rogues who choose to become Arcane Tricksters can find a lot of use, as several of their spells will require concentration or somatic components. Arcane Tricksters typically won’t want to cast spells as opportunity attacks. This is because opportunity attacks can net them another sneak attack as long as they meet the conditions.

Other Rogue Guides

• Rogue 5e Overview
• Rogue Races
• Rogue Subclasses Overview
• Inquisitive
• Swashbuckler
• Arcane Trickster

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Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. He is a Adamantine best-selling author of Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery on DMs Guild and is a contributing author at D&D Beyond. Follow Mike on Twitter.