Magic loot is awesome, but nothing compares to getting a magic item that perfectly fits the flavor, features, and playing style of your own character!
With hundreds of items to choose from, finding the perfect item is easier said than done, so to help the rogues out there, here’s our list of the top 10 best magic items for rogues in 5E D&D found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide!
The items are presented in no particular order and we’ll steer clear of insane legendary magic items as well as items with a flat +x bonus and instead focus on fun magic items attainable at most levels of play – items that even a sane DM shouldn’t worry too much about handing out to the party’s rogue!
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1. Gloves of Thievery
If you like to pick pockets, gloves of thievery may be the perfect magic item for you.
Since you are likely already pretty good at stealing and concealing stuff, the flat +5 bonus to Dexterity (Sleigh of Hand) checks from these gloves will give you a huge boost to something you’re already good at. They don’t even take up an attunement slot! What’s not to like?
In our games, we also use Sleight of Hand for picking locks and disarming traps, making these gloves even better. Plus, if you ever want to retire as an adventurer to pursue a career as a stage magician, your gloves of thievery will give you a huge edge over your competitors!
2. Cloak of Elvenkind
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As a rogue, chances are that you’ll already be super stealthy, having potentially maxed out your Dexterity and choosing Expertise in Stealth. A cloak of elvenkind takes your stealthiness to the next level!
Not only does this cloak give you advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide – which a rogue can do as a bonus action using its Cunning Action feature – it doubles down on this by also giving opponents disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to see you. In other words, this cloak will make you a full-blown ninja that very few creatures will be able to detect.
So, whether you aspire to become a master thief, the party’s preferred scout, or just a huge pain in the ass for your DM as you continuously hide in combat to gain advantage (and thus being able to sneak attack) on your next attack, this is the item for you!
3. Ring of Evasion
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With proficiency in Dexterity saving throws and the Evasion feature at level 7, rogues are probably the best class at dodging deadly area of effect spells such as fireball and cone of cold. A ring of evasion takes this to the next level as it allows you to turn a failed Dexterity saving throw into a success – thus completely avoiding any damage with the Evasion feature. Of course, it also works on dangerous single-target effects, such as disintegrate.
You may not need to use the ring very often – and probably never the three times per day it can be used – as you’re already really good at Dexterity saving throws. However, when you do fail that saving throw on a meteor swarm, turning 40d6 damage into a flat zero is a lifesaver. For that reason, ring of evasion deserves a spot on the list!
4. Winged Boots
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Flying is super powerful in 5E – and super annoying for the DM, which some would argue is a virtue on its own. Out of all the items that let you fly around, a pair of winged boots is probably the best pick for a rogue, depending on how your DM rules the use of a broom of flying. Now would I hand this item out to the party as DM? Hell no! Perhaps the less powerful wings of flying, but generally I like to keep things a bit more grounded.
5. Boots of Speed
Far less annoying than winged boots is my personal favored footwear for rogues: boots of speed. These boots allow you to double your walking speed as a bonus action while also causing opportunity attacks against you to have disadvantage. The boots can be deactivated as a bonus action and have a total of 10 minutes worth of super-human speed per day – which basically translates to always if you only use them in combat.
The reason these boots are extra awesome on rogues compared to other classes is due to their ability to dash as a bonus action. Assuming your base speed is becomes 60 with the boots, you can move 120 feet when dashing as a bonus action – and 180 feet if you also use your action to do ‘double dash’, which is 100% a thing, in case you didn’t know. Pair this with a haste spell and you’ll easily outrun Usain Bolt!
6. Bag of Holding
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Thieves tools, poisoner’s kit, herbalist’s kit, ropes, grappling hooks, vials, and caltrops.
Rogues tend to carry around a lot of equipment, but since you probably decided to dump your strength, all your awesome stuff can quickly become a burden. As in literally causing you to be encumbered with a heavy reduction of your move speed as a result, at least if your table is running with the variant rules for encumbrance from Player’s Handbook.
Enters bag of holding. With this magic item, you’ll never have to worry about filling your pockets (bag) with all the amazing stuff you need, and also the stuff you don’t need!
A bag of holding is even cooler if you’re playing as the Thief subclass since you’ll be able to use non-magical items such as caltrops, pre-set traps (at your own risk!), or even throw alchemist’s fire or vials of acid as a bonus action with your Fast Hands feature. In that case, you should definitely convince your DM that you also deserve an alchemy jug, so you can tap it for daily doses of acid and poison. Plus free beer and wine. And mayo!
7. Wands!
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While wielding a wand might conjure an image of a wizard in your mind – thank you, Harry Potter! – the reality is that many of the awesome wands in 5E D&D such as wand of magic missiles can be used by any class. And even if a wand requires attunement by a spellcaster, you still qualify as long as you can cast at least one spell using its traits or features, not using a magic item or the like, according to the DMG errata.
So, if you’ve picked a race or feat such as Magic Initiate, or if you’re an Arcane Trickster or a high-level Thief, you can use any wand even if it requires you to be a spellcaster.
Out of those, wand of binding and wand of paralysis are a seriously great match for a rogue since they allow you to paralyze an opponent. Why is that so great? Well, scoring a hit against a paralyzed target is an auto-crit – and scoring a critical hit with sneak attack is super powerful. And satisfying.
Wand of binding even has the added benefit of allowing you to gain advantage on a saving throw to avoid being paralyzed or restrained, or to escape a grapple, which can be really useful.
8. Glamoured Studded Leather
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A glamoured studded leather is a +1 studded leather (the rogue’s favored armor type) that you can cause to assume the appearance of ordinary clothing or some other kind of armor of your choice as a bonus action. Now, of course, this is far less powerful than a +3 armor, but I think it’s really flavorful item and a great match for any rogue.
9. Weapon of Warning
A weapon of warning gives you advantage on initiative rolls, which is always nice – especially if you’ve chosen the Assassin subclass, since you’ll auto-crit on surprised enemies and have advantage on creatures that have yet to take their turn in combat.
At the same time, as long as the weapon is on your person, you and any of your companions within 30 feet can’t be surprised. The weapon even wakes you up if you are sleeping and combat starts! I mean, what’s not to like?
10. Oathbow
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This item is a tricky – and potentially amazing – one for a ranged-based rogue.
Once per day when you use this longbow, you can designate a target to become your sworn enemy, which gives you advantage on attack rolls against it (meaning you’ll always be able to use sneak attack), lets you ignore half-cover and disadvantage due to long range, and add an additional 3d6 piercing damage to the damage roll.
All of the above is crazy, so what’s the caveat? Well, you can only have one sworn enemy at the time, and while that enemy lives, you have disadvantage on attack rolls with all other weapons – so, if your target manages to escape, you’ll be at a huge disadvantage when using any other weapon but the oathbow!
Thief Subclass Only
If you are a Thief and ever manage to reach level 13, there are a ton of cool items you could use with your “Use Magic Device” feature, which basically lets you ignore any requirements a magic item usually has.
This opens up a whole section of crazy magic items!
In my opinion, the best and most versatile options are magic items that let you cast spells – from staff of power and staff of healing to the various instruments of the bards as well as necklace of prayer beads that’ll let you cast bless, branding smite, and cure wounds. Just to mention a few. Crazy stuff.
Honorable Mentions
When I make these lists, I always end up excluding a bunch of awesome items. And then I decide I don’t want to exclude them. That’s what this section is for.
Cape of the Mountebank
A cape of the mountebank isn’t the strongest magic item or anything, but it does allow you to cast dimension door once per day while not taking up an attunement slot – and sometimes teleporting you and a friend 200 feet towards (or away from!) your foes can be priceless. For that reason, I think it deserves a spot on the list!
Ring of Protection & Cloak of Protection
A flat +1 bonus to your AC and saving throws is great. The same thing could be said about a stone of good luck, which gives a +1 bonus to ability checks and saving throws instead.
Nine Lives Stealer & Sword of Sharpness
Your critical hits are already deadly as a rogue, but with a +2 Nine Lives Stealer your opponents will have to succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or instantly die whenever you score a critical hit against it. Since you can Hide as a bonus action and, if you’re an Assassin, auto-crit when surprising enemies, this is pretty badass! The same could be said about the sword of sharpness, which lets you deal an additional 4d6 damage and potentially chop of your foes limbs when you score a critical hit!
Hat of Disguise
If you like to infiltrate and are perhaps playing in an urban campaign such as Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, it can be quite useful to alter your appearance – both during and after a heist!
Amulet of Health
This item gives you a base Constitution score of 19. It isn’t very fun or original, but hey, at least it’s powerful!
Scimitar of Speed
It seems that One D&D is going to provide a much-needed buff to dual wielding, letting you make an attack with your offhand as part of your attack action instead of having to use a bonus action. If that ends up being the case, scimitar of speed will become pretty awesome on a rogue as it’ll allow you to make an additional attack as a bonus action.
Manual of Quickness of Action
Raising your Dexterity by 2 as well as your maximum dexterity score is super powerful. On the off-chance that your campaign stretches out over a few centuries (and you’ve chosen a race that lives for a very long time), you could even use this item multiple times as it regains its magic 100 years after being used. The main reason this item isn’t on the list is that I prefer a permanent stat increase to be achievable only as some kind of reward bestowed by a powerful entity – and preferably to the whole party instead of whoever decides to read an old manual.
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Conclusion
That covers our top 10 list of the best magic items for rogues in 5E D&D!
As we’ve focused on fun and flavorful items that are obtainable at most levels of play, there are lots of super-powerful legendary magic items that we didn’t include, ranging from a luck blade (that grants you the wish spell three times) to a vorpal sword or even a plain +3 armor or weapon (the latter being very rare) that doesn’t take up an attunement slot, just to name a few.
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