Diplo/Bluff question

[KiwiPhil889]

Question on using the Bluff/Diplo or other skills.

Am building a rogue,and the best DPS is achieved on Sneak attack yeah? So,to improve the chances of sneak attack,and avoid some aggro at the same time, i thought i would run with a reasonably high Diplo rogue. However, i overheard someone making comment that diplo drives the mobs straight to the cleric or arcane,which isn't really desirable, so thought maybe Bluff would work better??

If anyone can let me know the mechanics of the 2 skills,(or a better alternative), i would be a happy little assassin lol.

cheers

[xanvar]

Diplomacy convinces the bad guy your friends so the monster goes in search of a different target. Sometimes its the caster sometimes its the guy with the big axe. I think it is a must use skill for rogues though for two reasons. One it lets you get more sneak attacks in which lets the monster die faster. Two it saves you from taking the hit that you may not be capable of taking which lets the healer breath a bit easier.

[KiwiPhil889]

Pretty much what i thought, seems its morely likely to be the guy with the axe if he hits it next. Whats the diff with bluff though??? or imp Feint???

Anymore more help/knowledge/advice appreciated

cheers

[Finvara]

a successful bluff check will "feint" and leave the monster "flat footed", thus gaining you your sneak dice on your next attack, and ONLY your next attack.

Improved Feint is a much faster way to do this.

[xanvar]

They work almost the same way. Bluff has an animation that goes off so it is slower to use than diplomacy. I like diplomacy because it is instant. Improved feint is a fancy bluff check. All three let you shed agro and get a sneak attack in. The hard part is remembering to use it.

[Finvara]

Bluff and Improved feint do NOT let you shed aggro.

[KiwiPhil889]

Looks like i will be carrying on with my Diplo rogue experiment lol,prolly gonna bite the big one,but thats what i really like about this game,it lets you really experiment with class builds.

cheers

[wamjratl1]

Keep going the diplomacy route. It's an AOE skill so all mobs in the area are affected. Bluff and feint only work on a targeted mob, i believe. And who cares if they go for the caster or cleric? you just got your sneak attacks back so you can take them out before they hit anyone else!

[krud]

IMO the bluff animation is too slow to make it useful in combat. My ftr/rog uses Improved feint instead. The IF animation is one swing of the weapon, so it is doable in combat. It is AOE, though it seems only on mobs within your facing (I need to test this more). IF causes the mob to "lose aggro" for 6 seconds. The AI acts as if you shed aggro, but they do not aggro on anyone else, they just stand there, or turn around; you - "Hey! look over there! mob - huuhh? With IF you can get sneak attack on multiple mobs, but only one attack per mob. The feint also seems to last longer than the icon above their head indicates. I have feinted a group, took a few swings at one mob, then switched to another and was still able to get a sneak attack, even though the icon had disappeared, and it looked as if he re-aggro'ed on me. I use IF in combination with cleave. I can feint a group, hit cleave and score sneak attacks on all of them. I'm not so sure this method is good for a squishy rogue since it will cause you to retain more aggro than you want. With the ftr levels I can take a few hits. Also, with the limited feat selection a pure rogue gets I think two feats for IF may be too much. If diplo works as described (never used it) i think it's a better option for a rogue. No feats, just the skill investment, though, you might have to get used to chasing them around a bit.