Thief Acrobats and how to make them work

[Quiller67]

So this is my first character, I went for rogue, and then thief acrobat sounded like fun. I used an XP stone to skip ahead to lvl 16 and am missing a bunch of useful gear. I find that hitting things with a staff is not very easy when I'm constantly falling over dead. How high does my AC have to be? What gear should I be aiming for? What questlines offer it as drops?

All constructive advice gratefuly appreciated.

[stoerm]

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=377967

To summarize: It's not just specific items your character is missing. You've missed all the player experience others have picked up while playing progressively harder quests. How to play and build your character, information about different monsters, item types etc. At least you're playing a fairly straight forward type of character, it's much worse for arcanes and healers, who are expected to provide crowd control and heal raids.

Here's a melee quarterstaff thread:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=158960

P.S. Take subtle backstabbing enhancements and get threat reduction gear, for example the Vulkoor's Cunning (http://ddowiki.com/page/Named_item_sets#Vulkoor.27s_Cunning) set from Red Fens.

You already have deathblock on Death's Locket, but get heavy fort like Whesper says below.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Rogue_equipment

For tactics, don't be the first in a room. Let others get aggro first, then attack. If you get monsters' attention, stop attacking for a while.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Rogue_tactics

[Whesper]

As a new player, you will want deathblock and heavy fortification, I suggest looking to AH to find a robe or light armor with both of those attributes.

Secondly, get a better weapon, as difference between level 7 and 16 weapons is noticeable.

Thirdly, as a rogue, you should be using UMD, at least CSW wands if it's not high enough for healing scrolls.

Moreover, acrobats have a certain playstyle to them and again, for a rogue, certain effects and gear can be game changers. My approach to it on my acrobat life (splashed with monk and fighter though), was both cleaves, high bluff score, Improved feint (a feat) and (improved) deception (item effect). Ring of lies from Reaver's Fate raid in Gianthold is a pretty nifty item to have for that purpose. Also don't forget to use Uncanny dodge if you get in a tight spot.

What I am trying to say here, AC and PRR are not really rogue's strong side. Confusion, sneak attacks, magic items and debilitation are. What is their to-hit and damage worth if you don't allow them to make the roll? *insert maniacal snicker here*

[bonscott87]

Equipment is everything for a Rogue and especially an Acrobat with a Q'staff. There are a lot of nice high level Quarterstaff's in the game but they are all gotten via questing. Rahls Might for the win! My favorite go to staff though is Luminous Truth (I think it's called)...it's fire and light damage. Very nice.

My Acrobat build is Rogue 13/Fighter 7 (Acrobat 2/Kensai 1). Also I'm a half-orc and I took full all the two handed fighting enhancements offered to the Horc. Amazing to do 100+ damage per swing with a staff. Love it.

My biggest go to skill is Bluff. Max that puppy out. Not only does it help shed aggro but more importantly you get automatic sneak attacks and bonus to such while it works. And very few things, even bosses are immune to it.

My AC stinks as before the update AC was worthless past level 12. So I have the best robes available. But now that AC, even low AC, can help I'm trying out some high level leather armor.

Tactics, as noted try not to be the first in the room, don't grab aggro right away if you can help it. You'll grab plenty of it soon enough with your high DPS (at least my build anyway). I have a ton of HPs due to the fighter levels but with a low AC I got hit...a lot. UMD for heal scrolls FTW. By the way, I saved my party more then once by being able to use raise dead scrolls. Everyone dead including the healer and my super evasion the only thing that save me. Go hide in a corner, heal up and then raise dead. I may only have a 50% chance or so but that's why I carry 100 of them. ;)

Advice is to go run the quests you missed, don't do level 16 quests. Learn how to play, use your boosts, use your tactics and so forth. And get your gear for sure. Have fun!

[Ryiah]

What I am trying to say here, AC and PRR are not really rogue's strong side.

Depends on how you build your character. My thief-acrobat was TRed when the expansion was released and is being run up as 18 Rogue/1 Monk/1 Druid. The Monk level for additional AC from WIS (first life I had 70s AC with minimal buffs) as well as Wind stance for increased attack speed. The Druid level gives me access to two spells - Shillelagh for wooden quarterstaffs (like Rahl's Might) as well as Ram's Might for increased STR and damage.

I've linked the character but MyDDO will have little quirks showing everything correctly for it.

http://my.ddo.com/character/khyber/reikara/

[Quiller67]

Many thanks to you all for your advice, it's been very helpful.