I’ve been looking to make an assassin build for some time. Unfortunately, the Assassin subclass is… bad, let’s be honest. Fortunately, there is another subclass who is going to work perfectly for what we need: Monk’s way of the shadow.

We’re going to stack damage sources & riders, and combine them with vulnerability to piercing damage. Here’s what you can expect to see (act 3 spoilers):



You can expect to deal stupid amounts of damage, while being really hard to hit and making your opponents’ life much more difficult.

This build shines for evil playthroughs, as a good numbers of items obtained through evil choices are a perfect fit for a shadow assassin. It is possible to play it on a good playthrough, though.

If you plan for them to go the evil route, Shadowheart and Astarion both are great thematic fits for this build. It is obviously also great for The Dark Urge.


We’re going to aim for 2 Fighter / 6 Shadow Monk / 4 Thief, in that order. Here’s why:

2 Fighter

• Gives us CON Saving Throw proficiency, which will be useful to maintain concentration.
  
• Lets us wear light and medium armor. Technically, this extends to heavy armor, but we won’t need it.
  
• Lets us use any weapon that we want.
  
• Access to Action Surge for better burst damage potential.

6 Shadow Monk

• Access to great movement abilities with Step of the Wind and Shadow Teleport, the latter also being a source of Advantage.
  
• Access to Stunning Strike, which will be a great source of both control and advantage.
  
• Access to Darkness, which will be one of our main abilities.
  
• Access to Extra Attack.
  
• Access to a feat.

4 Thief

• Access to an extra bonus action, which can either be used for Shadow teleport, off-hand attacks (two weapon version) of Great Weapon Master bonus attack (two-handed version).
  
• Access to Sneak Attack, which is an okay extra source of damage.
  
• Access to a second feat.

• Deals a stupid amount of damage late game.
  
• Can be played either with a two-handed weapon, or two light weapons.
  
• Easy stat investment.
  
• Excellent itemization with a lot of alternatives for contested items.
  
• Can trivialize a lot of fights with a well placed Darkness spell.
  
• Near unmatched mobility with Step of the Wind and Shadow teleport.
  
• Pretty good critical chance, deepened by our numerous sources of advantage.
  
• Excellent concentration saving throws, which will allow you to maintain Darkness for as long as you want.

• Not the best early game. You can expect the build to come online around levels 6-7. You’re not bad in the early game, but there’s a clear gap between early and mid game. Your best items also come in the late game.
  
• Can be a bit awkward to maneuver, especially if you have ranged characters, as Darkness will also affect them.
  
• Action economy can be a bit awkward if you do not get Hastened by someone else, especially when playing the two-handed variation. There are ways around it, however. More below.

Open Rogue. Take 17 DEX, 14 CON. Rest is up to you. Take thieving proficiencies. If you want to be the party face, make sure you get Persuasion Proficiency (through background) and +2/+3 CHA.

Your best stat is going to be DEX (or STR for the two-handed variant). Don’t feel like you have to heavily invest in WIS, you won’t scale with it.

You can start as Monk if you want to (see Alternative Approaches).


The first thing you need to know is that you absolutely do not need to pick any species that has Darkvision. You might be thinking that would help you see through Darkness, but it’s the other way around: Darkness counters even superior Darkvision.

Once we clear that up, there isn’t really any species that stand out. You will get all weapons and armor proficiencies once you respec, too, so species doesn’t matter too much for that.

Half-orc’s brutal critical passive deserves to be brought up, as you will have a pretty decent critical hit chance towards the late game. But you can safely pick whatever you like and expect it to work.

You’re going to level up as a Rogue until level 6.

At level 3, take the Thief subclass.

Thief gives us an extra bonus action which can be used for off-hand attacks, which eliminates the need to get Extra attack ASAP. Feel free to put your best weapon in your off-hand, as you will be using it more often.

At level 4, take Savage Attacker.


Around levels 5-6 (7 if you do Ethel just before moving on to Act 2), you will be able to get Hag’s Hair, and this build is a great candidate for it. Thing is, you’re going to think about what you want to do late game, otherwise you might end up wasting the bonus.

There are essentially three possible situations:

• If you want to play two shortswords, take +1 DEX.
  
• (Evil playthrough) If you want to play Shar’s spear with STR Elixirs, take +1 DEX.
  
• (Evil playthrough) If you want to play Shar’s spear without STR Elixirs, take +1 STR. This is the optimal approach for Shar’s spear users.

If you don’t exactly know what the different possibilities involve, scroll down to Loot to use.

Once you reach Mirror of Loss, apply the same criteria to decide between STR and DEX.

On an evil playthrough, you should also consider getting Potion of Everlasting Vigour[bg3.wiki] if you want to run Shar’s spear. It’s a horrible choice, but, well, evil playthrough.


Once you hit level 6, respec with the same stats as before. You can take high WIS if you like, but it’s not going to do much for you unless you don’t wear armor.

At level 1, open Fighter for the two-weapon fighting style.

At level 2, open Monk. Level up Monk all the way up to 5, taking Way of the Shadow and Savage Attacker along the way. You should end your respec at 1 Fighter / 5 Shadow Monk.

At level 7, take one more Monk level. This will grant you one of your core (and coolest!) abilities, Shadow Teleport.

Your next mission will be to get your extra bonus action back ASAP. At level 8, open Rogue. Level it up until level 10 and take Thief once again.

At level 11, get Rogue level 4 and take Ability Score Improvement for +2 DEX. If you’re playing Two-handed, get Great Weapon Master instead.

At level 12, get Fighter level 2 for Action Surge.

Remember to get +2 DEX (or STR, if you took STR from Hag’s Hair) from Mirror of Loss.

This build is going to play out very differently in terms of loot based on your alignement. Because of this, I will be marking items as (Good) or (Evil) where needed.


Your first mission is to find a good pair of +1 Shortswords/Daggers. Steelforged Sword[bg3.wiki] is a glorified +1 Shortsword that can be looted in Blighted village. At the same spot, you can easily get a +1 dagger. You can comfortably keep these weapons for a while.

If you happen on +1 Hand Crossbows, get them as well. They’ll come in handy.

Bracers of Defence[bg3.wiki] can be acquired early for more defense if you started as Monk.

Consider getting Broodmother’s Revenge[bg3.wiki]. It is easy to trigger, and very valuable for you.

If you’re The Dark Urge, get and wear The Deathstalker Mantle[bg3.wiki] and never take it off.

In the Underdark, you can get Shortsword of First Blood[/url] and [url]Caustic Band[bg3.wiki].

Disintegrating Night Walkers[bg3.wiki] are one of your best boots options.

On the way to the crèche, make sure you get The Graceful Cloth[bg3.wiki]. It’s a great piece of equipment for this build, especially if you have monk levels and good WIS.

At the crèche, make sure you grab Knife of the Undermountain King[bg3.wiki] and Gloves of Dexterity[bg3.wiki]. The sword is one of the best weapons for this build; equip it immediately. Hold on to the gloves for now.

Strange Conduit Ring[bg3.wiki] is a good ring to use in tandem with Darkness, and is less contested than Caustic Band.


There are several great items for you at the beginning of the act. Your first stop is Last Light Inn, where you should buy Yuan-Ti Scale Mail[bg3.wiki]. By now you should have Warrior levels, and are able to use it. If the armor is contested, you can stick to The Graceful Cloth, or grab Sharpened Snare Cuirass[bg3.wiki] at Moonrise.

If you’re not wearing The Deathstalker Mantle, grab and wear Cloak of Protection[bg3.wiki].

At Moonrise, you should grab Render of Mind and Body[bg3.wiki]. I would take that sword over Sword of Life Stealing, as the extra damage is more consistent.

Feel free to grab Ne’er Misser[bg3.wiki] and Hellfire Hand Crossbow[bg3.wiki] if you’re still using Hand Crossbows.

After that, you should go grab Eversight Ring[bg3.wiki] for blindness immunity and Shadow-Cloaked Ring[bg3.wiki] for more damage. You should always use Shadow-Cloaked Ring as your “damage ring” option - I’ll explain why later.

In the Gauntlet of Shar, grab Dark Justiciar Gauntlets[bg3.wiki] and Dark Justiciar Helmet[bg3.wiki].

(Evil playthrough) Dark Justiciar Half-Plate (Very Rare)[bg3.wiki] is really good for you. Its main perks are high AC and concentration saving throw advantage - the rest is secondary. It is often contested, but usually for casters who just want saving throw advantage, which the Rare version already provides. You can also just use the Rare version yourself (which can be obtained in good playthroughs, too!).


(Evil playthough) Shar’s Spear of Evening[bg3.wiki] is one of the best weapons in the entire game and even stronger for this build. It’s a +3 weapon, gives you blindness immunity (which will free one of your ring slots), deals extra damage to obscured targets, allows you to cast Darkness basically at will, has a special attack that creates Darkness, and gives you advantage on Saving Throws while obscured. Absolutely crazy. Remove Eversight ring if you get it.

Despite all that, it is not the best weapon for this build. Also, it’s not a finesse weapon. If you want to wield it, you will have to respec to have high STR. This is where the choices you made for Hag’s Hair and the picking up of Gloves of Dexterity becomes relevant. Respec and follow the exact same choices, but dump DEX in favour of STR, take Defence fighting style, and put the Gloves of Dexterity on.

If Shar’s spear is contested, just give it to the other build - you will do better with shortswords and daggers anyway, and whoever is contesting the spear probably will not.

You can also go 17 STR, 16 DEX and 14 CON without gloves of Dexterity, but you will have to basically dump all mental ability scores. Up to you, but I do not recommend it - having bad saving throws on all mental abilities is asking for trouble.

Another option is to dump STR and start using STR elixirs, but I do not recommend it. If you’re on an evil playthrough, you can get to +7 STR without elixirs, provided you took Hag’s Hair and Potion of Everlasting Vigour. Increasing STR without elixirs is perfectly feasible with this build and opens up more options, such as Bloodlust or Viciousness elixirs.

The optimal option here is probably to dump DEX for now and use Gloves of Dexterity. That will allow you to keep a high score in one of the mental abilities (typically CHA if you’re the party face). In Act 3, you will be able to get a fixed 23 CON score, then respec and get your DEX back up, while getting better gloves options (see below).

We are going to reach absolutely absurd amounts of damage really fast.

(Good playthrough) Armour of Agility[bg3.wiki] is your best armor if your're locked out of Bhaalist Armour. Unwanted Masterwork Scalemail[bg3.wiki] is also a possibility.

(Evil playthrough) Bhaalist Armour[bg3.wiki] is your best armor. It benefits from high DEX, increases your initiative even further, and most importantly, can inflict vulnerability to piercing damage to enemies around you. Guess what deals piercing damage? Your weapons.

Crimson Mischief[bg3.wiki] (Main hand) and Dolor Amarus[bg3.wiki] (Off-hand) are your best weapons for dual wielding. Dolor Amarus actually boosts any of your critical hits, not only those done with the weapon itself. Furthermore, its perk can be acquired through other weapons and stacks with itself - which means you can get even more damage for free by wearing Vicious Shortbow[bg3.wiki] (this particular item, however, is only obtainable through an evil choice).

(Good playthrough) Bloodthirst[bg3.wiki] (Main hand) is your only alternative to apply vulnerability to piercing damage if you do not have Bhaalist Armour.

Sarevok’s Horned Helmet[bg3.wiki] is a direct upgrade to your previous helmet.

Blindness immunity can be also acquired with Steelwatcher Helmet[bg3.wiki] (comes with CON saving throw advantage) or Helldusk Helmet[bg3.wiki] (comes with Critical hits immunity and other perks). I would just keep Eversight Ring (unless using Shar’s Spear) and use a better helmet, however. You happen to not need much when it comes to rings.

If you do not like stacking Dolor Amarus effects (or are not on an evil playthrough), The Dead Shot[bg3.wiki] is your best bow and will essentially be used for critical hit chance.

As you’re using a lot of Bonus Actions, Helmet of Grit[bg3.wiki] is a decent possibility for you. It’s also super easy to set up with Amulet of Greater Health: just swap the amulet out and then back in, you will have much less than 50% HP. Heal back to something closer than 50% and you’re good to go.

(Evil playthrough) Craterflesh Gloves[bg3.wiki] are an interesting piece of gear. Dealing an extra 2d6 Force damage per critical hit is no joke, and we will have a decent critical chance. If you are playing with shortswords, this is your best pick.

If you’re playing with Shar’s spear, things get tricky. By now, you should have respeced to dump DEX and use Gloves of Dexterity - if we remove those, we lose AC and Initiative. Not great. But if you have naturally high DEX, then, again - Craterflesh Gloves are your best pick.

Amulet of Greater Health[bg3.wiki] is worthy of consideration in this case. It will allow you to dump CON to 8 and put your points somewhere else (respec when you get it). If makes using Shar’s spear less tedious in terms of stats investment - but again, it’s a heavily contested item.


Best-in-slot end game items get a little mixed up depending on whether you’re playing two-handed or with two weapons, so here’s a little recap. The boots are largely irrelevant, and thus not in the recap.

For good-aligned playthroughs, the Two weapons variation is the only really viable one.

This is not really a “how to” segment, but it might serve to know how damage is going to work.

First, some of your damage isn’t a precise type of damage - it just lists “weapon damage”, if at all. This is the case of Sneak Attack, Dolor Amarus perks, and also Shadow-Cloaked Ring. What happens is that those damage instances will inherit your attacking weapon’s, which is Pierce damage. And when you apply piercing damage vulnerability to enemies, it also doubles that inherited pierce damage. This is why keeping the Shadow-Cloaked Ring (over something like Caustic Band or Strange Conduit Ring) is important: unlike the other two, this ring’s damage will benefit from vulnerability.

Second, Savage Attacker will give you advantage on all damage rolls. That includes Sneak Attack, but also Craterflesh Gloves, Shadow Cloaked Ring, etc.

Third, you will roll a lot of damage die, especially when scoring critical hits.

It all adds up together, but obviously, the bulk of your damage comes from Pierce damage vulnerability - which is why you will see a big power surge in Act 3. On the bright side, it means this build remains perfectly viable in Honour Mode, even if you will see less damage.


Make sure you always trigger Sneak Attack as a reaction. It will allow you to duplicate some damage instances (except in Honour Mode).

This build is best paired with a control character that can quickly spread Crawler Mucus on enemies (like my Eldritch Knight Archer) or cast Hold X on multiple targets.

Use Elixirs - either Viciousness for easier criticals (you won’t wear that many items that give you better critical hits) or Bloodlust.

You should always get Hastened by a support. Darkness consumes a whole action and enemies will not patiently wait and remain blinded. Keeping another action in the bag after you cast darkness is another attack that you can use on blinded enemies, two once you get your extra attack.

You can also start a fight by casting Darkness on your opponents to trigger a turn of surprise, or drink a Speed Potion. If the potion's effect is about to expire, remember to drink another one as your last action of the turn. This will make you Lethargic, but only for the rest of your turn - you'll be hastened again on your next turn.

Feel free to recast Darkness often in a fight, but careful of your Ki. Speaking of which, Ki should always be used to cast Darkness, or for Stunning Strike. Your other spells are mostly useless (Flurry of Blows is okay until you get your second bonus action back).

You can also stay in stealth while another party member (preferably with high Initiative) initiates the fight. While they are still taking their turn, you can cast Darkness on enemies usually without being detected, and then strike.

You’ll also want to trigger the extra poison damage from your amulet. A caster should take care of that, but you can also do it with a bonus action (potion or Second Wind).


The first thing you need to be weary about is that until you get any sort of permanent blindness immunity (the earliest being in early Act 2), Darkness will blind you as it would anyone else should you stand in the cloud. Until you have blindness immunity, you should always place Darkness in such a way that your targets are on the edge of the circle, and you can attack them without getting blinded. Obviously, enemies will move around, so make sure you can finish off the blinded enemies before they get to take a turn.

Remember that Darkness makes archers weep (casters too, to a degree, but you will not encounter many in the early game). Block their lines of sight with Darkness if you can and watch them being useless.

It is very important to understand obscuration mechanics with this build. A lot of your abilities and bonuses (Shadow Teleport, Shar’s spear extra damage) will only work in lightly or heavily obscured zones. To know how much any spot is obscured, just press shift and hover your mouse over any place. A half circle means lightly obscured, an empty circle means heavily obscured. This is very useful when looking for a spot to Shadow Teleport to (or from).

Speaking of Shadow Teleport, feel free to use and abuse it. It looks awesome and is super useful in terms of movement alone. Getting advantage on the follow up attack is great in itself, works well with certain weapons (Render of Mind and Body) and is great to mitigate Great Weapon Master’s penalty (if you’re using Shar’s Spear).

Once you get your blindness immunity, you can throw caution to the wind and start moving around in your own Darkness clouds without problems. If you have Deathstalker’s Mantle, it’s even better. Try hitting an invisible target while being blind. Yup. Me neither.

Lastly, once you are able to apply piercing damage vulnerability to enemies (either through Bloodthirst or Bhaalist Armour), make sure you do it before unleashing the bulk of your damage. This is mostly relevant for Bloodthirst, as Bhaalist Armour’s Aura of Murder is a passive effect.

From there, it’s just a matter of getting more and more powerful. Extra bonus action and Action Surge will increase your burst damage, and your core items will make an absolute killer out of you. The core gameplay remains the same - get Hastened, cast Darkness on your enemies and start knifing them. Shadow teleport around if you need to. Feel free to end your turn in your own Darkness cloud.

Here's a little showcase of the build (act 3 spoilers). In that fight, enemies are immune to Darkness, so I didn't use it. Shadow Teleport became less useful as I already access to flying.

You can. Monk also has Shortsword proficiency for the early game, and gets Flurry of Blows at level 2 which will in most cases be equivalent to Thief’s extra bonus action in terms of attacks.

Thing is, Thief will have more versatility in the early game (one more bonus action is a huge deal when you can also use it to hide, use a coating, etc.) and will not have to deal with Ki management (which is arguably a minor problem). Your damage output also isn’t high enough in the early game to justify spending a whole action on Darkness.

If it suits you better in terms of immersion, start Monk. If you want the stronger early game, start Rogue. In both cases, you will have to respec at level 6 anyway.


It’s just bad. Thief has more utility and synergizes better with your abilities.


Adding Smites on top of your damage is tempting. Thing is… there really only is room for 2 Paladin levels, which would give you a meager 3 level 1 spell slots. Not worth it. This build just is not Swords Smite Bard.


It’s a possibility, but I don’t think it’s worth it. Sure, you get evasion, but spellcasters usually won’t be able to target and hit you purposely when you’re sitting in Darkness. It’s not worth losing a feat or Action Surge.


You can absolutely let go of a feat (the ability score improvement one) and take Fighter to level 3 for a subclass. In that case, you should always pick champion - extra critical hit chance goes a long way when we attack with advantage most of the time. It’s even truer if you use Craterflesh gloves.

If something isn't clear to you, or if you feel like I missed something, let me know in the comments below. I read every single comment I get, and will do my best to answer yours.

Thanks for reading the guide and I hope you have fun with the build!