Guided by the golden grace of a radiant light, the Blade of Rafiance Rogue brings Elden Ring flavors to Steinhardt’s Guide.
Rogues have the shortest end of the stick when it comes to subclasses in D&D 5.5E. This is because Rogues have the longest wait between getting new features from their subclass. They get a feature at level 3, and then not again until level 9.
It really stretches out the time, and means that if your level 3 feature is even a little lackluster, or if, say, your subclass doesn’t really let you do the thing it says it does until you have a couple of features, then Rogues are in for a bit of a slog.
That’s one of the big reasons that subclasses like the Arcane Trickster are so popular, because even if you have to wait until level 9, you’re still getting new spells with your levels. But the Blade of Radiance Rogue out of Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt player pack has a different take. It just makes the higher-level features feel, for the most part, truly high-level. Is it enough to counterbalance the slightly more defensive 3rd-level feature? I’ll let you judge for yourself.
The Blade of Radiance Rogue – What If Your D&D Character Had Weapon Arts?
One of the things the Blade of Radiance Rogue does really well is outline the fantasy of having cool sword techniques that are straight up magical. They let you gain an edge on the opponent, and they feel like something straight out of Elden Ring (instead of Bloodborne, this time). It fits the lore of Steinhardt’s Guide as well, since these Rogues are all about fighting with faith.
In game mechanics terms, this means you’ll want a good Wisdom in addition to your Dexterity. You can see it in the core level 3 subclass feature Divine Blessings. This is a big umbrella ability that gives you a pool of Divine Points which you can spend on various abilities. You get 1 + your Wisdom modifier; they refresh on Short or Long Rest, or whenever you kill a certain type of monster. Your Wisdom modifier also determines your save DC for your abilities.
What abilities, you might be wondering? At this stage, there are three. First, Armor of the Faithful, which is sort of like a single-enemy version of Sanctuary. You can spend a Divine Point, and the enemy has to save or attack someone else/waste the attack, and can’t attack you until your next turn.
Divine Inspiration, your second ability, is a little more like a ribbon. You can reroll a History, Religion, or Insight Check by spending a Divine Point, but at least you get a bonus on the reroll. The third ability, Rend the Blasphemous, is the attacking one; spend a Divine Point to make a Bonus Action Attack after you take the Attack action. It plays well with certain fighting styles, though I do think this subclass is going to be a little Bonus Action hungry, just by virtue of being a Rogue.
To round out level 3, you also gain Sanctified Champion. This, at first, appears to be a ribbon feature: you get to do a ritual on a melee weapon you’re proficient with that does piercing or slashing, and it becomes your Sanctified Blade (which you have to use for your abilities).
But it has a hidden benefit. Any weapon you designate as your Sanctified Blade gains the Finesse property for you. Even if it’s Two-Handed or Heavy. And as part of this feature, you gain proficiency with Martial weapons and Medium armor, so you can be a Rogue with a Greatsword or a Greataxe if you wanted. Which is pretty strong.
Higher Level Radiance – Worth The Wait
After six levels with a Bonus Action attack and a Reaction point-defense-sanctuary spell, you finally gain more abilities. These feel very much like some of the Weapon Arts you’d find in the mid-game of Elden Ring. Starting at level 9 with Righteous Armament. This feature unlocks three more uses for your Divine Points.
You get Chains of Judgment, which lets you spend a Divine Point to deal bonus damage and restrain a creature if they fail a save. Divine Retaliation lets you spend a Divine Point to attack someone who just hit you. And Erupting Blades is the real Elden Ring one, with the ability to trade in your Sneak Attack damage to one creature, to instead deal a 45-foot-long line of radiant blades that strike the ground and deal your Sneak Attack damage to any who fail a Dex save.
At level 13, Saintly Revelations gives you the ability to cast two Cleric Cantrips, as well as the Heroism, Protection from Evil and Good, and Shield spells, which you can cast on yourself at will, no spell slot or components required. If you make it to level 17, these don’t even take Concentration. This is what I’m talking about; powerful features, definitely worth the wait. I like a higher powered game myself, so your mileage may vary, but to me, this is good. That’s what level 13 SHOULD feel like.
It all caps off at level 17 with Final Judgment. This gives you two more abilities. First, you can cast Spirit Guardians once per Long Rest for free, and then for 3 Divine Points afterward. And you can imbue your Sanctified Blade with radiance, causing it to shed light and deal 2d4 extra damage. Honestly, a bit of a slowdown after the jump to level 13.
You can find the Blade of Radiance Rogue in Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt!
Don’t Miss:
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
