❗ SPOILER WARNING ❗
| ASTARION | VAMPIRIC ROGUELOCK |
Highkey, the 
Swashbuckler subclass was made for 
Astarion.
Dirty Tricks are characteristically cruel and flamboyant additions to his arsenal, while Fancy Footwork and Rakish Audacity allow him to safely enter melee and use his Vampire Bite.
A timely dip into the synergistic 
Hexblade Warlock and the Necromancy of Thay add flavourful vampiric flair.
The build is thematic for either companion quest outcome, but a few more levels in Warlock could be a suitable alternate path for ascended Astarion as he delves deeper into profane magic and relies less on his resourcefulness.
| ABILITY POINTS |
STR | 8 | Can be dumped, because finesse weapons use DEX instead.
DEX | 16 | Primary ability for weapons, key skills, combat initiative, and AC for light armour.
CON | 14 | Secondary ability for health points and maintaining concentration on spells.
INT | 10 | Neutral for skills and saving throws.
WIS | 10 | Neutral for skills and saving throws.
CHA | 16 | Primary ability for Warlock spells, pact weapon, Swashbuckler features, and dialogue skills.
| ROGUE 1 |
| High Elf Cantrip |
If you have the means through mods, swap out 
Fire Bolt for 
Friends or 
Minor Illusion.
Either one is a useful cantrip when sneaking around and pickpocketing.
| Charlatan |
Sleight of Hand | Life in the sordid underbelly of Baldur’s Gate demands nimble, sticky fingers.
Deception | Astarion is practiced in concealing his true nature.
| Skills |
Stealth | A creature of the night is no stranger to skulking about in the shadows.
Persuasion | His knack for enticing words keeps Astarion useful to his master.
Acrobatics | A starved vampire spawn is weak, but uncannily agile in spite of that.
Investigation | Astarion refined a keen eye for detail at law school, in his former life.
“I was a magistrate, working to keep the peace in Baldur’s Gate.”
Acrobatics, Stealth, and Sleight of Hand are the best skills to hone, but Persuasion and Deception are also useful when Astarion is frequently initiating dialogue or pickpocketing and stealing items.
| Sneak Attack | 1d6 |
The Rogue’s bread and butter.
In the ‘Reactions’ tab on the ‘Spellbook’ page of Astarion’s character sheet, turn on ‘Ask’.
This allows Sneak Attack to trigger when making offhand or opportunity attacks, and when casting Booming Blade or 
Wrathful Smite.
| ROGUE 2 |
| Cunning Action |
Dash, Disengage, and Hide as bonus actions, which helps with strategic movement to set up advantage for Sneak Attack.
| ROGUE 3 |
Astarion can now weave in and out of the fray with ease to make use of his Vampire Bite and stick enemies with a melee Sneak Attack.
| Sneak Attack | 2d6 |
| ROGUE 4 |
Evade attacks more often while in the thick of melee combat.
This scales into higher levels with Astarion’s proficiency bonus.
Astarion can unleash his snarky personality on enemies with 
Vicious Mockery.
Sand Toss and Flick o’ the Wrist round out a nifty kit of unchivalrous bonus actions.
| ROGUE 4 | WARLOCK 1 |
| Bind Hexed Weapon | Hexblade’s Curse |
As he starts to dabble with the Necromancy of Thay, Astarion taps into a profane power.
Binding a pact weapon lifts his critical chance, increasing the lethality of Sneak Attack.
| Cantrips |
Eldritch Blast | Spreads ranged damage between multiple targets in one turn.
Booming Blade | Additional damage dice for lethal crits with Sneak Attack.
| Spells |
Hex | More damage dice for crits and a WIS skill debuff that synergises with Panache.
Wrathful Smite | Locks down a priority target with the Frightened condition.
| ROGUE 5 | WARLOCK 1 |
| 
Uncanny Dodge |
Passive damage reduction that stacks with resistance.
| Sneak Attack | 3d6 |
| ROGUE 6 | WARLOCK 1 |
| ROGUE 7 | WARLOCK 1 |
| Evasion |
Reduces incoming damage from DEX save actions and spells, such as 
Fireball, with a chance to dodge them completely.
| Sneak Attack | 4d6 |
| ROGUE 8 | WARLOCK 1 |
Significantly buffs Astarion’s melee weapon damage by applying advantage to all Sneak Attack damage dice rolls and damage riders.
| ROGUE 9 | WARLOCK 1 |
| Panache |
Goads enemies into attacking Astarion, in a typical peacocking fashion.
Use the WIS variant of Hex to reduce a target’s passive 
Insight, and Panache will be more likely to succeed.
| Sneak Attack | 5d6 |
| ROGUE 10 | WARLOCK 1 |
+2 to CHA for pact weapon attacks and Swashbuckler features.
| ROGUE 11 | WARLOCK 1 |
| 
Reliable Talent |
There’s no longer a lock nor lackey that could stand between Astarion and what he desires.
| Sneak Attack | 6d6 |
| EQUIPMENT |
| Helmet | Gibus of the Worshipful Servant |
Movement boost at the start of combat and advantage on concentration saving throws to avoid dropping Hex or Wrathful Smite.
| Cloak | The Deathstalker Mantle |
The invisibility passive can combo with Astarion’s companion quest dagger, Rhapsody, to possibly inflict Bleeding.
A suitable alternative for non-Dark Urge runs could be Cloak of Cunning Brume or Shade-Slayer Cloak.
| Armour | Elegant Studded Leather |
Sneak around with ease and get a free cast of 
Shield every short rest for when 
Defensive Duellist doesn’t hit its mark… and besides, this armour is simply stylish, darling.
In the fringe case of an Unholy Assassin of Bhaal run, opt instead for the unbeatable Bhaalist Armour.
| Gloves | Abyss Beckoners |
The ghouls summoned by Danse Macabre—a spell learned via the Necromancy of Thay—are immune to the Demonspirit Madness condition inflicted by these gloves, receiving the benefits of Demonspirit Aura without any of the drawbacks.
| Boots | Evasive Shoes |
AC buff and a better chance of resisting shoves.
| Amulet | Surgeon’s Subjugation Amulet |
Inflict Paralysis on a critical hit once per long rest to strategically lock down and crit nuke targets.
Once the effect has been consumed for the day, you can swap out this equipment slot—Pearl of Power Amulet to restore a scarce Warlock spell slot, otherwise Amulet of Misty Step is generally useful.
| Ring 1 | Ring of Exalted Marrow |
The necrotic claw attack and free cast of 
Command on undead creatures seem appropriate for a vampire who dabbles in necromancy.
Also, Ghoulish Touch can possibly inflict Paralysis for delicious auto-crits.
| Ring 2 | Killer’s Sweetheart |
Stack critical hits for lethal Sneak Attacks.
| Melee Main | Sword of Life Stealing |
An additional surge of necrotic damage on critical hits, with a touch of vampirism for flavour.
| Melee Offhand | Rhapsody |
Astarion’s companion quest reward.
Although bonus actions will most often be saved for Dirty Tricks, rather than offhand attacks, the Scarlet Remittance stacking feature makes this dagger a useful offhand stat stick.
It can also inflict the Bleeding condition with the right setup, which is a spell concentration killer.
And of course, it holds significance to Astarion’s character arc, so it feels right that he would keep it close at hand.
| Ranged Main | The Dead Shot |
A source of Improved Critical that makes use of Astarion’s elven proficiency with longbows.
