What's a strong, balanced, stealth capable party?

[EphTheorem]

With a party of four, what classes would you personally like in a stealth heavy party/campaign that covers every traditional role? Something that has enough damage, support, defense, and utility to go around, but all party members (at a *minimum* of 4) are capable of good stealth.

Brainstorming for a future game, I think I might be playing a Way of Shadow Monk. Valor Bard and Moon Druid are also potential party members, but you don't *need* to include that when sharing your own preferences. If you want to roll with those examples though, feel free.

[RogueJK]

Just about any party can be decently good at Stealth with judicious application of the Pass Without Trace spell.

A Trickery Cleric not only gets that spell, but also adds further to this with Blessing of the Trickster and Guidance. These can make even the least dextrous heavy armor wearer able to handle moderate Stealth checks.

[Ason]

I'll use the "classic" four-person party as a guide for my suggestion:


Warrior: dex eldritch knight (taking the criminal, urban bounty hunter or urchin background)
Thief: rogue or monk
Cleric: moon druid (taking the criminal, urban bounty hunter or urchin background)
Mage: lore bard (taking expertise in stealth)


This gives you a party that can stealth together while adapting to most situations.

[J-H]

Anyone can be proficient in Stealth with the right background, so I'm assuming you're looking for class features that help.

Classes that are best. (5/11 base classes)
-Druid (any, shapeshifting/Pass Without Trace)
-Rogue
-Monk (Shadow)
-Wizard (illusions and enchantments)
-Cleric (Trickery)

Classes that do a bit but not much. (2/11 base classes)
-Sorcerer (Shadow, Darkness ability; meh)
-Warlock (spells/invocations for Darkness, sneaky familiar, etc.)

Classes that bring nothing to the table. (3/11 base classes)
-Fighter (any)
-Barbarian (any)
-Bard (any, as far as I know)

Situational (1/11):
-Ranger. Also, I don't know much about Rangers.

[RogueJK]

Classes that bring nothing to the table. (3/11 base classes)
-Bard (any, as far as I know)

Situational (1/11):
-Ranger. Also, I don't know much about Rangers.

I strongly disagree with your classification of Bards as bringing nothing to the Stealth table. Bards get spells like Invisibility and Silence that help with Stealth situations, can choose Expertise in Stealth, and Bardic Inspiration helps with Stealth checks. A Bard can also choose Pass Without Trace as a Magical Secret. Plus they're typically DEX-based. I'd put them up with Rogue and Wizard as some of the best for Stealth. (Makes sense, since they're basically Rogue/Wizard amalgams.)


Rangers get the Pass Without Trace and Silence spells. Gloomstalker Rangers specifically are functionally invisible in darkness, even to those with Darkvision. And if you include Unearthed Arcana, various UA Ranger class features also help with Stealth, including getting Expertise with Stealth, imposing a penalty to enemy Perception while motionless, Hiding as a bonus action, and simply becoming invisible.

[da newt]

There isn't a single class that can't be built to stealth. All it takes is a little DEX, background/proficiency, and armor choice. Dark vision helps too.

[Contrast]

First question to ask you DM is if they use group stealth (1/2 party has to beat) or minimum score (whoever rolls lowest is the relevant score) so you can plan accordingly.

For stealth you want maximum uptime on Pass Without Trace for which shadow monk is a good option due to the regenerating Ki on short rests mean they could theoretically keep it up all day.

For resting in enemy territory dream druid (you could pretty easily be rolling min 20 on stealth while making lunch!) and someone capable of casting Leomunds Tiny Hunt would be nice. Utility like flight and teleportation abilities can also get you around obstacles that might otherwise have you revealing yourselves (consider races who get these inherently). Divination is also a powerful tool for knowing when and where you should or shouldn't be in the first place.

I'd say Pass Without Trace combined with a trickery cleric would probably be enough to make any party 'stealthy' without further investment so I wouldn't worry too much about trying to optimise the entire team.

[nickl_2000]

I have played in this group and it worked, really really well. We bypass so many encounters it was silly.

Bard/Draconic Sorcerer
Shadow Monk
Dex Paladin
Hunter Ranger

[Nidgit]

Barbarian is being underrated here as a tank. Rage resistances mean they don't need loud armor to help them avoid damage, which makes them a solid stealth-capable tank and one I'd probably pick over most Dex-based Paladins or Fighters.

My stealth party would probably look something like:
Totem Barbarian
Shadow Monk
Lore Bard
Dreams Druid

[Eldariel]

Well, your typical Wizard/Bard/Druid/Cleric team would be all over it. Cleric would have to go some Dexier Cleric like Arcana Cleric but they could still frontline just fine. This kind of team could be built in any number of ways; any two-four could be built frontliners with good backline abilities, and all of them are obviously great at range. All of them have access to good stealth packages as well; you could use Prodigy, Aereni Elf, etc. for Expertises across the board (though it might be high opportunity cost for the Cleric specifically as they need to also work around the fact that the best Medium Armor is anti-stealth) and all of them can naturally get fine Dex. The team would also have such high amount of daily spells that it would be pretty easy to afford numerous for each encounter. And of course, they have all the non-combat utility in the world and all the world changing magic.

Honestly, the exact details can go any which way. Certainly, Moon Druid is a fine pick and Lore Bard is probably the best of that bunch, but your Cleric and Wizard can be almost anything as long as you don't pick one of the heavy armor Str domains for Cleric. Something like Moon Druid, Arcana Cleric, Lore Bard and Diviner/War Wizard/Bladesinger/etc. depending on how you wanna place the foci in the party makes for a lot of versatility and a solution to any kind of situation, with numerous options for how to approach any given problem. Of course, no class is necessary as such; you could just as easily rock two Wizards, Clerics, Druids or even Bards/Sorcs. You can of course outsource melee to summons/underlings to a degree as well and just act at range and you can rock some archery builds or whatever (Bards and Wizards at least have an easy access to Extra Attack and ranged proficiencies), and stealth makes for a great kity team that can fully avoid melee in an open space. Spells multiply your options in this regard, of course; vision denial, movement reduction, nukes, single target CC, summons, mobility, whatever you want.

[Man_Over_Game]

The only thing you'd have to avoid is just certain Fighters, certain Clerics, and most Paladins. Make sure your Barbarian and other medium-armor folk have the right armor for sneaking.

Other than that, there's not really anything keeping your team from sneaking around, and that's the biggest limiting factor to your question. From my understanding, the party shouldn't have a proficiency for sneaking, but just the capability to. I think everyone's going a little bit overboard just to ensure the party can sneak around.

[stoutstien]

With a little bit of planning you can even make a party with a H armor user or two in it passable in a stealth heavy party.
- as mentioned above pass without a Trace is a huge boost.
- proficiency, even with low or negative modifiers can increase the odds of passing checks.
- trickery clerics can counter the disadvantage on stealth from medium/ heavy armor.
- bardic inspiration, saving face(hobgoblin racial), flash of genius, and other ways of effecting rolls after you see them can protect the party from a bad roll.

Working together, I've seen parties use stealth with clanking plate users with ease.

[GeistInMachine]

The goal of stealth in the long run i think isn't in itself to simply be 'stealthy', rather what stealth enables is to get from point A to point B in the least amount of time, using the least amount of resources. To that end, I think a stealthy party is one that is highly mobile, able to achieve goals socially, and of course, stealth.

You also asked for a balanced party that has all roles.

To those requirements, I propose the following:

1) Totem Barbarian (Take Elk at 6)
-Doubles party overland travel speed
-Reasonably stealthy, yet strength based for athletic challenges
-Party Tank

2) Horizon Walker Ranger
-Favored Terrain has synergies for quick overland travel speed
-Pass Without Trace and Silence for stealth
-Teleportation abilities
-Ethereal Step can penetrate walls

3) Circle of Dreams Druid
-Can hide party during rests
-Pass Without Trace
-Wildshape
-Personal teleports (can be used while wildshaped)
-Wind Walk and Transport Via Plants for quick travel and bypassing obstructions
-Can teleport to location of last long rest

4) Divine Soul Sorcerer
-Combo of both Arcane and Divine spell lists
-Party Face
-Subtle Spell
-Effective buffer for party survival
-Dimension Door
-Teleport, Plane Shift, Word of Recall



This team covers most of the major types of magic, has a Tank, DPS, Control, and Buffer casters

Can pull off combos such as:

Windwalking to infiltrate a location
Pass Without Trace to objective
Accomplish Objective, bug out with Word of Recall
Return to the field using Walker in Dreams


This party operates as a strike force that can get anywhere very, very quickly, and leave just as quickly
Enemies will barely know you are there, and have no idea where to find you after.

Strike anywhere, anytime, and be gone without a trace

[HiveStriker]

With a party of four, what classes would you personally like in a stealth heavy party/campaign that covers every traditional role? Something that has enough damage, support, defense, and utility to go around, but all party members (at a *minimum* of 4) are capable of good stealth.

Brainstorming for a future game, I think I might be playing a Way of Shadow Monk. Valor Bard and Moon Druid are also potential party members, but you don't *need* to include that when sharing your own preferences. If you want to roll with those examples though, feel free.
Any party that can get Expertise in Stealth, Pass Without Trace and Inivisbility for the whole party.

For example, full caster one
- Trickery Cleric: for buffs and resilience spells, bonus spells, bonus stealth.
- Shepherd/Grassland Druid: for all Druid awesomeness (best caster for traveling utility: Pass Without Trace, Conjure Animals, later Transport With Plants and Wind Walk).
- Divine Soul Sorcerer: for Extend, Subtle and Twin metamagics to pair with buffs like Enhance Ability, Haste, Fly, Aid... Plus Catnap to help Warlock.
- Fiend Tome Warlock: for auto-upcasting Invisibility and managing all rituals of everyone.
All humans to grab Prodigy, several people with the most important spells (Pass Without Trace, Invisibility).
Warlock can "perma-invis" the whole party, while Cleric and Druid relay for Pass Without Trace.
All can be Polymorphed if needed (Sorcerer twinning for him and Warlock).
Solid party to decide which encounter to take, and under which conditions.
If you want some Wizard in there for the INT part, you can swap it for either Cleric or Warlock depending on taste: school will obviously be Transformation.

For a martial-based party:
- Arcane Trickster Rogue: obvious reasons (Invisibility), go DEX or STR and INT.
- Gloomstalker Ranger: same (Goodberry, Pass Without Trace, Conjure Animals), go DEX or STR and WIS.
- Devotion Paladin: mainly for auras and ability to get nova damage if needed. Devotion for Sacred Weapon when time comes to face head-on. Go DEX (to wear armor without disadvantage on Stealth) and CHA.
- Shadow Monk: not necessarily the *best* fourth member for versatility, but the ability to cast several Darkness/Silence in a row and recharge on short rest will help much this party get by.
Problem of this party is the overall lack of spellcasting: there are ways to completely circumvent challenges when you can simply spam/chain some spells, this party cannot.

---> Optimal party would probably be a mix of the two others, at least mixing casters and martials.

In that regard, you could also consider "gishes" party.
- DEX: Swords Bard: Expertises naturally, good array of infiltration spells (manipulation / sound), mobility.
- WIS: Trickery Cleric comes back if you want pure caster (which means you'll definitely need Magic Initiate to get some punch in melee at leaast with Booming Blade), otherwise it's obviously Ranger. :)
- CHA: Hexblade Blade Warlock obviously.
- INT: Bladesinger Wizard is the only good starting pick for a gish.