Str vs. Dex Rogue

[mediocresurgeon]

IMO, there is no reason to make a Finesse build unless it is also an AC build. And a well-played rogue should never have aggro, and therefore probably doesn't need AC... And if said rogue had aggro, they would probably want low AC+Radiance Guard to finish off whatever is killing them quickly, rather than rely on AC to draw out the fight.

I would make a rogue a Strength build with minimal dex (15 base, +2 tome) for feat prerequisites. Making a strength build, in addition to doing more damage than a finesse build, means that you can use whatever weapon you feel like--you are not restricted to Light weapons.

[Gorstag]

I prefere str based rogues, the dps especially with rad II khopesh's is insane. My 1 fighter/15 rogue, has a unbuffed str of 30. Add that with the crit multiplier of khopesh's as well as sneak attack damage and it is simply a work of art. Then through 450+ hps into the mix and he can even take the hits when he does get agro till the rad II affect goes off. Still, to each their own I guess.

[drachine]

i have 5 rogues and all of them are strength based. they all have 28-30 strength and around 24 dexterity. i did so for the following reasons.

strength rogues do more damage in most situations. the difference between a rogue with 34 dexterity and weapon finesse and a strength based rogue, i think in most situations you want the strength.

dexterity builds must take weapon finesse so in a sense if you are a pure rogue you are down a feat because you have to take this because hitting stuff is normally strength based.

also strength builds effectively gain another feat, Trip. Trip is a strength based skill and if you want to trip stuff you need high strength so in effect the dex based rogue is down two feats.

the dexterity based rogues gains AC bonus and higher to hit bonus, but not damage. personally think you obviously can go AC focused on a rogue, but i think DPS is a better way to go, my rogues wear a lot of guards coz they get hit more. its not really a big deal though as they all have 300 to 350 hitpoints.

also constructs and undead and anything with damage reduction, you are going to see a real difference with strength over dexterity

[Dexxaan]

(I simply couldn`t resist.....)

Considering the OP`s playstyle I`d say go DEX based.

You`ll need all the Saves, to Hit and AC you can get.

[kodiak974]

I say go str based but I like to play my rogues like fighters in certain situations. But I was probably the first person to make a two hander rogue and this was way before tempest was out and acrobat. I was swinging a sword of shadows before the shroud was around. Heck, with this build I was even able to get the cabal trap elite on a roll of 4 or more. I have now converted to acrobat II so I use both staffs and other two handers. I do not want to depend on sneak attack damage only, I want to do great dps all the time. 14 rogue / 2 fighter with 391HP and I have a 30str and if I started it over then I would have 32 str and a few less int. because the cabal trap is dumb to worry about imo.