Category:Rogues

The rogue is not concerned with the "virtues" of knighthood, nobility, or morality. The rogue serves no one but themselves. Rogues are masters of deception, theft, and the effective but honorless ability to stab others in the back. These fellows are not disciplined like soldiers, but they tend to be very quick, often eluding more powerful foes and are quick to relieve the general populace of their heavy coins and possessions. These untrustworthy souls utilize their knowledge of the city to evaluate and steal items of great value, fence them at great profit, surprise their enemies or 'marks,' and evade their antagonists with great alacrity. The prime requisite of rogues is DEXterity which makes them very slippery opponents. Strength is desirable to make their primary attack, the backstab, more powerful and to allow them to carry more loot. Intelligence is a big plus, allowing them to learn their skills quickly and expertly as well as to assist their streetsmarts. And as with all classes, a hardy constitution will help them survive in the lethal dark alleyways and sidestreets of the big cities.

Abbreviation: Rog.

Prime Requisite: Dexterity.

Rogues in General

Rogues have certain advantages and disadvantages compared with other classes. Why create a rogue? Why not? What defines the "essence" of roguishness?

Rogues are a great class to use to learn various areas at hero, as they have in class dodge combined with their stabbing skills which let them initiate combat with a very strong attack, even in full gear. They make great tanks, and can be very powerful when combined with an archer or someone else who does a large amount of damage regularly. Their lack of inclass rescue can be a hindrance - their rescue is more prone to fail and is extra laggy. They have a lot of interesting unique skills, such as pick lock, which can be fun and profitable.

As far as gear goes, due to their reliance on stabs, DR is more important than anything else... more so than warriors. At the same time, when looking at piercers, it is more important to look at the average damage on a weapon. According to various people on herochat, a good average to shoot for on a piercer is 47 and above.

Rogue Creation

So, you've decided to create a rogue... Now what?

The most important things to consider are Racial Damager Modifer and racial stealth. Often these two factors point in opposite directions, so you have to choose one or the other. Usually Damage Mod is favored — stealth is fine as long as it isn't terrible (such as fdk). The other factor to consider is hit points.

Races with good stealth include kzinti and halfling, but they do not have a damage mod. They also don't get a lot of hp.

Orc and Gargoyle are races with a nice damage mod and average stealth. They also get good hp.

Imps are also a good choice, since they get a large damage mod and average stealth at higher evolutions. However, note that they are very bad until lord, partly because they cannot worship.

Rogues at Lowmort Tier

Have a high-level rogue already? If so, what do you wish you'd known before starting out? Here's your chance to help other players...

Training

Train in the usual order, wis, con and int first, then str and dex.

Practicing

Worshipping

Hmmm... Whom to worship? And when?

Rogues, like all classes, may choose to worship at level 10. Although rogues may worship any god, some dieties are more suitable for rogues than others. Tor is by far the most popular god for rogues to worship; because Tor can reduce practice gains, though, some rogues prefer to postpone worshipping him until hero tier after sublevel 101.

Fighting

Soloing: All dressed up and no place to go? Or nobody to go there with? How can a rogue solo through lowmort? - It gets hard after oddities stop giving good/any xp. The next step of the standard lowmort running is volcano; these mobs hit considerably harder, and will force the rogue to quaff almost constantly. Their lack of enhanced damage/third strike really begins to become noticable here.

Tanking: Rogues make very good tanks, due in part to their relatively high dexterity, which makes them harder to hit, in addition to lethal aim and in-class dodge.

Hitting:

Meh, they don't hit well, not compared to archer/psi/warrior/mage at least.

Rogue Prestige Options

Some level-50 rogues may become either Black Circle initiates or bladedancers.

Rogues at Hero Tier

Training

Like always, max your gain related stats first (Wis, con, int) and then work on everything else. Don't worry about maxing out things right away, it's hard, and spells can help alot, especially in the case of strength.

Practicing

Here are some great skills for the tanking rogue:

Shield Block - What more is there to say? Shields are great, and blocking with them is even better. Burning Hands - Lowest area damage spell, very useful for getting all mobs in a room to attack you Riposte - Available to rogues and paladins at hero 69, this skill will give the rogues a chance to counter strike, which is always nice. Enhanced Damage - mo damage less problems Third Attack - see above In addition to these, all the useful utility spells (portal, tele, sanc, frenzy, ident, water, fly, pass door, heighten senses, concentrate, iron skin) are useful, along with any regen skills (meditation).

Devoting

Tor is the standard choice, although by all means not required. Usually waiting till 101+ is reccomended, as Tor descreases pracs earned by leveling. Shizaga and Durr are also possible choices, as they both increase stabbing damage, but not as popular as Tor.

Fighting

Soloing: Rogues do well at soloing with the use of backstab and quickstrike, 101+. Before 101 they might not get hurt much, but they won't be doing much damage either.

Tanking: Before 101, a low hero's best bet is to try to blind the mob with a eye targetted Vital Shot. A successful eye vital shot is usually enough make the mobs unable to hurt the rogue. As the rogue gets closer to 101, they might want to start using Murder, but be warned: undead mobs (such as rot cor, and the majority of mobs in the lower part of Greed's Gallows) can't be targetted with murder. In full tank, it can sometimes start off combat with a "massa" attack

Once a rogue reaches sublevel 101 they should consider Tanking In Hit Gear. The damage done by Backstab alone can bring most mobs to few wounds / big nasty. With a good hitter or two you shouldn't have to tank for more than a couple rounds before the mob dies.

Hitting: Rogues hit like crap until they get third attack and enhanced damage, period. After that, they begin to hit ok, but nothing like a warrior with the same skills. A good way to make yourself useful is to stock up on brandies, or bash, or get a stack of thrown weapons. At 101+ they get quickstrike, which lets them land a vital shot during combat, which is nice, but outside of duos rarely will all but big mobs be alive that long.

Rogues at Lord Tier

The new lord rogue skills Slip and Disengage have breathed new life into this class at the Lord tier.

Like any lord with Quickstrike, Rogues can use Quickstrike and Vital Shot mid-round at lord level to target eyes and blind (those mobs that have eyes anyway).

Rogue Remort Options

Lord rogues may remort into assassins at sublevel 100 and berserkers at sublevel 150.