What would be the best party to enable a rogue?

[Wasp]

Which characters would be the best to enable different rogue builds in combat? So in particular giving them opportunity (=advantage) for sneak attack?

I was thinking:
Order Cleric 1 / Sorcerer Multiclass for Voice of Authority Silvery Barbs giving off-turn reaction attacks
Wolf Totem Barbarian for Melee Advantage attacks (for Melee builds)
Maybe Shepherd Druid for Hawk Spirit Totem ?

So what classes or builds could best enable Rogues?

[stoutstien]

Clockwork sorcerer is an overlooked option thanks to the ability to cancel out disadvantage at the time of the attack which is one of the biggest points rogues suffer. They also get some extra milage from the shield feature.

Has a wild magic/thief combined with a clockwork ally that did a lot better than you'd expect on paper.

[LudicSavant]

Which characters would be the best to enable different rogue builds in combat? So in particular giving them opportunity (=advantage) for sneak attack?

I was thinking:
Order Cleric 1 / Sorcerer Multiclass for Voice of Authority Silvery Barbs giving off-turn reaction attacks
Wolf Totem Barbarian for Melee Advantage attacks (for Melee builds)
Maybe Shepherd Druid for Hawk Spirit Totem ?

So what classes or builds could best enable Rogues?

Order 1 / Evoker X will let you sculpt a spell around a Rogue and trigger a Reaction attack while simultaneously damaging enemies. Your familiar can also set them up with flyby advantage. You'll also be able to give them Guidance to aid their skill checks (Guidance is an Expertise-size bonus in tier 1 and 2).

[Unoriginal]

Which characters would be the best to enable different rogue builds in combat? So in particular giving them opportunity (=advantage) for sneak attack?

I was thinking:
Order Cleric 1 / Sorcerer Multiclass for Voice of Authority Silvery Barbs giving off-turn reaction attacks
Wolf Totem Barbarian for Melee Advantage attacks (for Melee builds)
Maybe Shepherd Druid for Hawk Spirit Totem ?

So what classes or builds could best enable Rogues?

Any melee build enables Sneak Attack for non-Swashbuckler Rogues, so I guess the question is: which melee builds help the Rogue the most?

[Emongnome777]

A battlemaster can grant an off-turn attack with Commander’s Strike. It also grants a bit of bonus damage. The optional flanking rule in the DMG would benefit a rogue working with a melee ally. It isn’t used much and some people don’t like it, so it probably doesn’t help here.

[Quietus]

Any melee build enables Sneak Attack for non-Swashbuckler Rogues, so I guess the question is: which melee builds help the Rogue the most?


A battlemaster can grant an off-turn attack with Commander’s Strike. It also grants a bit of bonus damage. The optional flanking rule in the DMG would benefit a rogue working with a melee ally. It isn’t used much and some people don’t like it, so it probably doesn’t help here.

Wolf totem barbarian/battlemaster fighter multiclass, then?

[Sigreid]

Am I the only one that immediately thought a druid or ranger to cast pass without trace?

[OldTrees1]

Could you elaborate on what you mean by "best" or "enable" in this context? In my experience all a Rogue needed was the willingness to ready an attack (if the Rogue unfortunately won initiative), an ally that was willing to run into melee with the Rogue's chosen target, and protections against common sources of disadvantage (light source/darkvision).

After that minimum bar, are you looking for optimizing the Rogue's Sneak Attack proc rate (chance to hit and number of off turn attacks), or the Rogue's party's chance of winning the encounter?

If it is the former, then you want the melee ally to have a way to grant the Rogue an off-turn attack, a way to give advantage, and a higher initiative than the non-melee allies that also grant off turn attacks. Commander's Strike was mentioned but it costs the Rogue their reaction which limits us to 1 Battlemaster per party.

Party:
Rogue
Commander's Strike 3 / Wolf Totem 3

So who are the other 2 party members? We need ways to give the Rogue off turn attacks, but the Rogue has already consumed their reaction.

I don't know of a way to do that. So maybe we are better off settling and having Wolf Totem 3 + Alert get a higher initiative than the Rogue & run into melee, then have the Rogue and the Commander's Strike 3 each cause a Sneak Attack.

[Unoriginal]

What about Cavalier Fighter?

Maybe with Shield Master?

[Derges]

Hold person allows a rogue to do a lot of damage, some twin casting sorc can do that well. Alt a vengeance paladin who can double as a melee sneak attack buddy when spell slots are low.

[Wasp]

Clockwork sorcerer is an overlooked option thanks to the ability to cancel out disadvantage at the time of the attack which is one of the biggest points rogues suffer. They also get some extra milage from the shield feature.
That would speak for an Order Cleric 1 / Clockwork Soul X. Which is also thematically cool


Order 1 / Evoker X will let you sculpt a spell around a Rogue and trigger a Reaction attack while simultaneously damaging enemies. Your familiar can also set them up with flyby advantage. You'll also be able to give them Guidance to aid their skill checks (Guidance is an Expertise-size bonus in tier 1 and 2).
Oh yes, that's a very neat trick! I wonder if that combined with a familiar would work better than a Clockwork Soul... I mean the familar could also help targeting the Rogue for Clockwork Soul...


Any melee build enables Sneak Attack for non-Swashbuckler Rogues, so I guess the question is: which melee builds help the Rogue the most?
That is true. Thanks! Advantage from Wolf Totem would still help though...


Wolf totem barbarian/battlemaster fighter multiclass, then?
And seems quite okay by itself. Too bad you can't change the 3rd lvl totem spirit depending on the fight...


Am I the only one that immediately thought a druid or ranger to cast pass without trace?
I mean a Summoning Druid could really help the rogue in general!


Could you elaborate on what you mean by "best" or "enable" in this context?[...]

After that minimum bar, are you looking for optimizing the Rogue's Sneak Attack proc rate (chance to hit and number of off turn attacks), or the Rogue's party's chance of winning the encounter?
As you assumed: It's optimizing the Rogue's damage output, but we could also add anything that would protect them/make them more durable directly (so NOT killing the enemy faster, so that the rogue has a better overall chance of surviving/being resurrected).

[Kane0]

Anything that grants advanrage, an extra attack, a bonus to movement or a way to avoid opportunity attacks.

If you're talking a classic party try an Order Cleric (Guiding Bolt, anything on the rogue to grant attacks), Battlemaster or Rune Knight Fighter (shoves, commanders/distracting manuevers or fire/storm runes) and an Enchanter Wizard (haste, twinned hold/laughter).

[Keravath]

I usually find it best if the rogue can rely on their own skills to obtain advantage during combat.

The best support for a rogue is typically a character that can give the rogue an off turn sneak attack. Some folks use haste on the rogue so that they can make an attack with the haste attack action on their turn and then use their actual action to ready an action to make another off turn sneak attack with an appropriate trigger ... even if that is something like "the next character starts to take an action" - depending on what your DM allows for triggers on held actions.

Battlemaster fighter's have commander's strike which uses one of their attacks but can give the rogue an off turn sneak attack.

In terms of getting advantage for the rogue ...
- Tasha's added "Steady Aim" which works for both ranged and melee attacks though generally I prefer ranged rogues since it is easier to change targets and less risk.
- Bonus action hide followed by a ranged attack.
- Arcane Trickster rogue with an owl familiar (fly-by) performing the help action.
- Three levels of warlock (blade pact) for some spells, improved pact weapon for a +1 ranged or melee weapon that you can send to a pocket dimension, darkness+devils sight for advantage to attacks and disadvantage to be hit against a lot of opponents (works pretty well with a ranged rogue who can stay out of the way of the party)

Personally, I think every rogue should have devils sight since darkvision just isn't as good - the -5 hit to passive perception and disadvantage on perception checks in the dark makes it much harder to notice traps/clues and other relevant details when wandering around in the darkness. Devils sight fixes that issue.

[Corran]

For advantage shoving works for melee, the help action (ideally through minions), anything that restrains/ paralyzes/ incapacitates, making them unseen (illusions, but also sight enhancers like the twilight's cleric work). What else? Wolf totem barb, silery barbs (not advantage technically), faerie fire. I think that's most of it.

But dont worry too much about giving them advantage cause they have tools to grant advantage to themselves. On that front you should worry more about how you cancel disadvantage or worse, cause single class rogues wont have great con and wis saves. Fear, restrain, paralysis, poison, incapacitation, blindness or other magics like suggestion and dominate person or similar in nature abilities can really put the hurt in you. Clerics get some nice spells to counter such effects, like heroism, the restoration spells, dispel magic, freedom of movement, hero's feast. Paladins and bards can help with saves and do get access to such spells (paladins also come with fear immunity @10).

For reaction attacks you've got haste and then you've got spells that make the enemies provoke OA's (dissonant whispers, command(?), fear, eyebite; can't think of more at the moment). Order cleric's CD, BM's maneuver (which also work well if the rogue can get some of them). If the rogue grabs sentinel then you could really do with a dedicated melee buddy who has a talent at drawing at least some enemy attacks (making your rogue tanky can help with that of course). Other than that, rogues can be great when fighting in heavily obscured areas, and if they have a way of "seeing through it" (eg blind fighting), then it is extremely easy to have enemies trigger OA's from you (you can do the same if invisible, eg gr invisibility, but your melee allies will have a harder time keeping mobile than it would be if inside a heavily obscured area where they can basically move away from enemies at no cost). So, any ally who can profit from heavily obscured areas either through their own character or through summons will combine nicely with a rogue who is set up to make the most of it.

Rogues can tripple down on their speed, so any ally who can provide movement boosts (eg longstrider, haste; special mention to freedom of movement which can be an amazing mobility boost when the terrain is tricky) can help the rogue outrun more things. Eg with longstrider on, and assuming a 40' base speed, you can now keep your distance against enemies with a speed of 60. Outrunning stuff can be powerful if you use it to eg divide enemies or lure them to where you want to fight them.

Long range attackers (assuming you have some room to maneuver). Use the rogue to sneak on enemies, have your allies at a distance (ideally from the opposite side). Light the enemies with the rogue (hooded lantern can help, throwing torches can help, I particularly like faerie fire from an arcane trickster -magical ambush helps landing it - because it keeps enemies lit so it restricts the rogue's positioning less). Have your allies start shooting while using the rogue to lure enemies to the different direction.

Fireball (or other dex targeting save AoEs) casters synergize nicely if you've got multiple of them, when you use a rogue to lure enemies in ifreball formation. If you've got the careful metamagic you can extend this to other AoE's as well because the rogue is a good bait not primarily because of evasion, but because they can run fast and hide when unseen (eg invisibility, darkness) so they are good at getting away from tough spots. So put them in one in an attempt to have enemies fall for it, and then exploit it with fireballs or with ranged attacks from 600' or with terrain you rigged or with whatever else. Having someone with dimension door or revivify to get the rogue out or back from the dead could be useful when you eventually mess up.

[LudicSavant]

Another powerful way to help out Rogues is to create situations that generate OAs for them. A simple example of this would be Command or Dissonant Whispers.



Oh yes, that's a very neat trick! I wonder if that combined with a familiar would work better than a Clockwork Soul... I mean the familar could also help targeting the Rogue for Clockwork Soul...


Ordervoker is pretty high up there in terms of Rogue enablers.

In addition to what I already mentioned, Evoker can also set down Sculpted Hazards like Sickening Radiance, and then have the Rogue stand in those. People who don't want to keep standing in it can provoke a Rogue's Sneak Attack Booming Blade OA and rider. A Rogue with Expertise in Athletics can also drag people back inside such hazards.

There's a long list of stuff like this for ordervoker+rogue. For example you've also got a lot of the buffs (and debuff removal) that a Rogue wants to keep getting their SAs without a hitch. You've also got plenty of abilities that complement a Rogue's skill checks well. You've got abilities that can generate SA for the Rogue even if the Rogue wins their initiative. You also are fundamentally good at covering roles that Rogues aren't (like AoE damage, among other things).

Heck, even if the Evoker gets blinded and can't use their sculpt spell for a given Fireball, they can often trust the Rogue to dodge with Evasion. It's harder to 'gum up the works' of Ordervoker + Rogue than it is for some other Rogue enabler combos.

For instance Wolf/Battlemaster is useful but only really does its thing well if the tactical situation lines up such that you're both in melee with the target at the same time. Rogue went first? Nada; even readying an action seriously cuts into your combo here. BM went first and killed the target with their action surge? Nada. BM went first then target fled? Nada. Barb did a shove combo? Then the Wolf part's unnecessary. Rogue wants to use its ranged options right now? Wolf doesn't help. And so forth. They also aren't especially good at helping the Rogue out with non-combat utility.

[Guy Lombard-O]

Am I the only one that immediately thought a druid or ranger to cast pass without trace?

Sort of. I immediately thought of a Trickery cleric for Blessing of the Trickster, PWT & Hold Person.

[Frogreaver]

Cast simulcarum on the rogue and command it to obey him. Twin haste on both. jk.

Haste is one of the best options.

Bless or anything that grants attack bonuses are good. I don’t think bardic inspiration was mentioned here.

Other thing not mentioned is good control so rogue isn’t being beat down by all the enemies at once. They have decent durability but not in 1vN situations.