Arcane Trickster FAQ
What are the main Arcane Trickster features?
Arcane Trickster adds limited Wizard spellcasting, Mage Hand Legerdemain, Magical Ambush, Versatile Trickster, and Spell Thief to the Rogue. The result is a Rogue that uses illusion, enchantment, and magical setup to create safer infiltration, stronger control, and better opportunities to land Sneak Attack.
3rd level — Spellcasting
Gain limited Wizard spellcasting. Intelligence is the spellcasting ability. The 2014 version heavily favors enchantment and illusion spells, with a small number of unrestricted spell choices, and reaches 4th-level spell slots.
3rd level — Mage Hand Legerdemain
Mage hand becomes substantially more useful for roguish work: the hand can be invisible, manipulate carried containers, use thieves' tools at range, and can be controlled with the bonus action provided by Cunning Action.
9th level — Magical Ambush
When you are hidden from a creature and cast a spell on it, that creature has disadvantage on saving throws against the spell during that turn.
13th level — Versatile Trickster
You can use a bonus action to have your mage hand distract a creature close to the hand, giving you advantage on attack rolls against that creature for the rest of the turn.
17th level — Spell Thief
When a qualifying spell is cast on you, you can attempt to negate its effect on yourself and temporarily steal knowledge of the spell, while also preventing the original caster from using that spell for the feature's duration if the save fails.
How the features work together
Arcane Trickster works best when magic supports the Rogue's existing strengths instead of replacing them. Mage Hand Legerdemain expands infiltration and object manipulation, Magical Ambush rewards attacking from concealment with saving-throw spells, and Versatile Trickster turns the upgraded mage hand into a combat setup tool. Sneak Attack, Cunning Action, and Expertise remain the foundation that makes those magical tricks reliable.