Nimbus The Rogue

[rbeane1]

My Level 17 Rogue is kicking B^TT and taking Names. We were up against L21 Savant
Beserkers and he was doing 200 points damage a round. here are his Stats.

Str. 65 (+10 Bonus Incl)
Int. 55
Pie. 50
Vit. 50
Dex. 91
Spd. 80
Sen. 106 (+10 Bonus Incl)

SWRD 82 (+5 Bonus Incl)
Dagg 76
CLCB 84
DLWP 88

He is using Bloodlust and a Theives Dagger. I think it must be his high
Dex and Sens thats giving him his high damage. I use to go with speed and
strength but senses and dexterity look viable also.

[ 12-08-2004, 04:28 PM: Message edited by: rbeane1 ]

[Krull]

rbeane1

That's interesting. Are you saying you put 3 points into DEX & SEN first? How are you building him?

The reason I ask is that I'm planning a 3 Bishop party with a Lord, Ranger and either a Rogue or Bard in support (yes, I know I've told people in the past I prefer small parties but this is an exception). You could help me decide!

I tend to go for STR & DEX first. STR for the 'to hit' and penetration and bonuses to damage to make his backstab more deadly and DEX for the same 'to hit' and penetration bonuses, extra attacks but also as it's the controlling attribute for weapon skills, Dual Weapons, Stealth and Locks & Traps.

I have noticed though that if you give him the Cloak of Perception, with it's +20 to SEN, he does get better.

What kind of party is he in? Do you have others who can lockpick and pickpocket so he can concentrate on combat skills?

Thanks.

[rbeane1]

he is in a party of 4. A fairy ninja, a rawulf gadgeteer and a Gnome Bard.
he is the main lock picker. I didnt start him out to be the killing machine he
just turned into one. I dumped most of my points into Dex and Senses. i was
piling the points into senses as he was going to be my main finder of hidden
objects. Dexterity because it was the prime requirement of a rogue. I did put
some points into Str and speed to get them to Min levels. I thunk after speed
goes above 75 you get an extra attack / round. I need Strenghth to help carry
the gadgets and instruments.

[Ziggurat]

The dual weapons and both dagger/sword going over 50 seems to increae no. of attacks. Dex and speed going over 60 or 70 certainly help, too.

[Wereboar]

Well, rogue is the class with the second highest damage output, due to backstabbing. And with bloodlust, he gets an extra attack, and extra damage from the melee attack mode.

My level 18 rogue currently has 2 attacks with up to 3 swings each (3 + 1 extra) with bloodlust, and 2 times 2 swings with the thieves dagger. Damage is x4 on average for the sword, x3 for the dagger. Plus 100% extra damage from 100 strength. I didn't count the damage numbers (hardly possible since there are rarely enough enemies in close range), but i think it would be quite over 200/round. (Well, a quick calculation shows 400 damage, assuming he gest max swings, and all swings hit).

I didn't raise senses at all. Instead, i maxxed dex first, and strength and speed so that they reached 100 at the same level.

[Scatter]

Once you got Sen around 60, there's nothing you can't find if you know where to look. The only effect Sen has in combat is missile to-hit.

[Klutz]

Yep. Rogue + Bloodlust + Thieves Dagger = massive close-combat damage, from early on. The emphasis on SEN is helping out close combat and dual weapons, and DEX also helps dual weapons, dagger, sword skills. In that party, the Rogue would definitely be the main damage-dealer until the Faerie Ninja gets the Cane and becomes good with it, and even then it will be close again if your Rogue gets the good swords available later in the game. Rogues are fantastic at close combat, and are generally considered to be second only to Fighters in that regard.

As others have stated, emphasizing STR instead of SEN would probably have gotten you even more damage, but SEN in still very helpful for a Rogue.

Though the details depend on race and to some extent the rest of the party, I would normally go with STR+DEX and then SPD+SEN for a Rogue, to get Powerstrike early and Reflection to augment Stealth.

Wereboar: If I have a reliable "haster" in the party, I'll do what you described except with STR, DEX, and SEN: DEX to max first, balancing STR and SEN, and then STR and SEN to reach 100 at the same level. That's a good build for any character using Bloodlust. Since Bloodlust gets all those extra attacks and damage, and the to-hit/penetrate penalty of Berzerk, it's best to emphasize the attributes that improve your chances to hit on all those attacks. DEX is best at that, followed by STR (improves learning of sword skill) and SEN (improves learning of close combat skill).

[ 12-09-2004, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: Klutz ]

[Wereboar]

Klutz: My current party is rogue (bloodlust/thieves dagger), fighter (Doom), mage, priest. IMO a very easy 4 character party (in expert ironman), but no haste spell this time.