New player - Rogue - Would like some advice

[MarDeRoam]

I have joined DDO about 3 months ago, started off with my halfling rogue.
I play mostly with a group of rl-friends, we know each other and can rely on each other aswell. Having some sort of same playstyle helps a lot (i.e. crawling mostly, unless a dungeon or wilderness has been done over and over allready).

I am now ready to lvl up to lvl 8 and am in doubt.

I started off as a mechanic rogue, but learned that is a weak build. True she can open doors, chests, find traps and disable them. But in combat i was waiting at the back, trying not to get hit as my HP were very low, and my damage wasn't much of an add to the group.
Some lvls ago, think it was near 5, i rerolled the char and made her an assassin. I love it! i can sneak attack, help my tanks in killing the mobs and don't get killed after one enemy blow.

But (yes, there is a but to come ;-) ), at higher level quests, i seem unable to Spot traps, and thus not able to disable them to get my party through it without someone being killed or very badly wounded(mostly the wizzard lol).

When i level up, should i focus on my spot (and perhaps disable device and open lock) mostly? My party relies on me when it comes to those parts, just as i rely on the tanks to agro and hit the mobs so i can sneak attack them.

Also, what enhancements should i continue taking? This far i have:
Rogue Damage Boost I and II
Halfling Cunning I
Halfling Guile I
Rogue Item Defence I
Rogue Subtle Backstabbing I
Racial Toughness I
Rogue Faster Sneaking I and II
Rogue Assassin I
Rogue Sneak Attack Accuracy I
Rogue Sneak Attack Training I
Rogue Disable Device I
Rogue Hide I and II
Rogue Move Silently I and II

Is there a glimp in the above list? I wouldn't mind rerolling again if this makes me "better".
I like the way i play now, being able to sneak attack (this way i can hide and sneak when i need to solo, i.e. none of my party members there to group with). To help my party in killing, finding traps and disable them, open locks and doors. I aint a zerger, nor a solo-er, but like to have some skills (toughness and higher HP) to be able to survive on my own.

Last doubt i have is about the weapons.
I have the TWF and Weapon Finess (dagger, rapier, SS, LM, LP, i.e.). I have a +2 Flametouched Iron ShortSword and a +2 Heavy Mace. They work for now, but on the higher lvl quests i need "better" weapons.
I am looking for another weapon, but what should i take, conciddering my playstyle? Should i look for high damage? Or for weapons with enhancements like maiming, puncturing, backstabbing, etc.

To complete my list, here are the skills i have:
Balance 7
Bluff 7
Concentration 5
Diplomacy 5
DD 16
Haggle 6
Heal 5
Hide 16
Intimidate 0
Jump 12
Listen 7
Move Silently 20
Open Lock 12
Search 11
Spot 12
Swim 6
Tumble 9
UMD 2

Any and all advice would be very welcome.
If you made it this far, i now realize it has been a long read, so i would thank you for that to start with :-)

regards,
Marei

[Psyk0sisS]

I only play my Rogues as Assassins, and I've rolled up a few..even on the same server . You dont need item defense and shouldn't need disable device enhancements. Now, this all depends on your starting stats, but doing Rogue stuff on an Assassin is easy, as long as you have the proper level gear...also you can cheat a little and buy +5 Thieves Tools from the auction for pretty cheap, they'll boost your disable / open lock a LOT, esp. at lower lvls.

Keep your Rogue skills maxed when you level, then spread the rest of the points with some jump, balance, diplo., UMD...again, all depends on your stats (Int for these). Bail on Bluff...dont invest in it anymore. There might be one or two ppl that think its worth investing into, but the vast majority of Rogues never use it, as it takes forever to "cast" and only lasts for 1 sneak attack. Back to UMD, you'll want it, it makes you more useful in groups. You can heal yourself, raise dead Clerics, remove neg. levels...etc. Hide / Move Silent are really nice as well if you enjoy a good solo run. Monastery of the Scorpion, a lvl 17 quests, can be solo'd almost totally in sneak...and the xp / rewards are worth it for 9 min of your time. Diplo. is great for shedding agro when you're sneak attacks pull it from the tank.

TWF...with Finesse: Make sure you're not using a heavy mace. Use a rapier or SS in your main hand, and probably a SS or Dagger in your off hand. You take a penalty to-hit with heavy wpns in your off hand (rapiers count as heavy, but are finesseable in your main hand). If you come across skellies / zombies, you can use light maces and sickles (for DR purposes).

[HBene]

At first sight, you really should get the Skill Boost enhancement like any rogue should, it's just very usefull to disable traps with success.
About the Spot skill, I supose you should try to get a good +spot item.

Myself, I've never found much use of sneaking and thus I don't even invest on Hide and Move Silently, as sneaking just doesn't work very well with combat. But I can agree that it can be usefull sometimes when doing solo quests, especially to evade starting some battles. Me, I prefer to invest in skills such as UMD, for healing wands use and some nice buffs.

Oh and I think everyone agrees with me for the weapon choice... as you have Weapon Finess, the best choice is by far the Rapier on main hand and Shortsword on off hand. Later on you could even use 2 rapiers if you think you can hit things just fine. And it's allways a good idea to get some weapons with Holy/Good, Frost, Flame and so on, and use them depending on the monsters you're facing.

[MarDeRoam]

Thank you both for your replies.

They helped me very well in deciding, got the Rogue SKill Boost enhancement, maxed out my rogue skills, and invested the left overs into Jump and UMD.
I also placed some bets on the AH for good weapons, both your advice on what sort was very usefull. Now i have to wait for the duration to end, hope i will have at least one of the two items bid on.

Next move is to go find some good lvl gear, but gotta earn back some cash first, lol.

Thanks again, and any more help/advice is still very much appreciated.

[Psyk0sisS]

If you're on Khyber, I can help you out more...

Other than that, I wouldn't invest heavy into Jump...do more so into Diplo and make sure you hotkey it so you can hit it fast if you get agro. I usually take Jump to about 13-15, Tumble to about 10 (more tumble means less dmg from falling btw). UMD is "king" for any class, esp. Rogues so keep on with that .

I'd also suggest to save furthering Halfling Guile / Cunning until you make sure all the others you need for Assassin 3 are set.

Again, just my opinions but I like to think I have a pretty good grasp on Assassins .

Also, if you're looking to have some fun...and challange your Rogue skills, I suggest you check out this thread - R.O.G.U.E Proving Grounds

[MarDeRoam]

As is in my sig....i'm at Argonessen ;-)

But your help allready means a lot. Being a new player i have to learn it all. And with advice from vets like yourself it goes better and faster. Why make mistakes, if i can learn from other's XD.

And the thread you refer to, it looks like fun, if i had plenty of playtime a week. But with about 10 hours p.w. i have my hands full questing with my friends and to keep up to them as they go fast on leveling. It's a hard work for my halfling rogue, lol.

Again, thanks alot for the time and efford in helping me out.

[Bernaise]

I think sneaking works great, if you can keep your party from zerging for the 10-15 seconds it takes you to get into place.

The following is really required reading for all aspiring Rogues

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...=dancing+rogue

[Fenrisulven6]

Sable's. But thats the older version. The current version, with whatever updates she's added, is in the compendium here:

http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Notes..._Dancing_Rogue

[baddax]

IMO assasin does not shine really well till level 12. So even if you plan on speccing as an assasin there is nothing wrong with picking up the mechanic pre until you hit level 12.

[MarDeRoam]

Thanks for the links, i've read them, the guide is very helpfull.

This far, i'm doing fine in my group, they know to hold back a little when i need to sneak, i have good sneak attack, and i can spot danger, disable traps en find and open secret/locked doors.

[MarDeRoam]

On my new rogue assassin (currently 14), I took Improved Evasion first, and Crippling Strike second (10 and 13 respectively), and from what I'm experiencing right now, I'd actually consider taking Improved Evasion and Slippery Mind at 10 and 13, waiting until 16 for Crippling Strike.
Here's why:

-There are a lot of traps whose boxes are found somewhere through the trap, meaning you'll need to make one or more Reflex saves just to disarm. I ran a VoN 5 elite the other day with another rogue, and while he had a better Reflex save than I did (multiclass Monk/Rogue), I was dying in traps less often since I even on a poor roll I was taking 1/2 damage. Also, you're going to always be subject to Reflex-based spells.

-Monsters still haven't gotten such inflated HP that you have time to drop their Str to 0 before they die. Out in GH even the toughest monsters tend not to get more than a few swings before they're dead if I have sneak attack on them. While some Str damage is worthwhile for dropping their damage and attack bonus, they just don't last long enough for the debuff to be very worthwhile.

-Failing a will save is one of the worse things that can happen to any character, and Rogue will saves are typically pretty poor. I know that most of my deaths come from failing a save vs. Greater Command, Otto's, Hold Person, Symbol of Stunning, Fear and Hypnotism--all Will saves.

Putting all of this together, it seems to me like Imp. Evasion and Slippery Mind are more valuable earlier, as they will be granting you their benefits, tangibly, for longer than Crippling Strike will. Certainly by the time you're in the Vale, though, Crippling Strike will be great to have, as many of the monsters there have over-inflated HP.

I'd probably not take Skill Mastery--the only skill that really benefits from it is UMD, as the rest of your skills should be high enough for almost everything, and blowing a feat for +1 UMD is fairly poor.


more about gear: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=227091

Rapiers are better because of the critrange, but shortswords are light weapons. Wielding a light weapon in your off-hand (twf) reduces the attack penalty bij 2 (for both weapons).
So, for your first greensteel allways make a rapier. For the second you can;
make a shortsword, or
deal with the -2 penalty, or
take the oversized two weapon fighting feat.
Or just go for the 2 rapiers.

more about weapons: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=218597

Fortification:

1) What is Fortification?
heavy fort give you 100% immunity to critical hits and sneak attacks


2) What is it about the higher level quests that makes Fortification so important?
Because higher level mobs can one-kill you on a critical hit, and they critical hit very often.

3) Do the OP's demands/statements about the need for Fortification apply to all character classes? Or is it more important for melee classes and less important for casters, for example?
Get Minos legens, it's for nearly any class and any build, heavy fortification and +20hp on helm slot. You can get it collecting 20 tapestry from the orchard rares. (It is Necropolis IV that covers the Orchard, the quests in the Orchard, Litany of the Dead, and the Abbot raid)

Run the f2p quest "A Relic of soveriegn past" to collect adamantine ore. There is a crafter inside that for 10 pieces of ore make you a heavy fortification collar. It is a level 12 quest, but on normal with a hireling and some smart play you can do this.
The quest is out of house D inside another building near their broker, the quest entrance is inside house K.
Big central room with respawning elementals ( kill the summoners to stop the respawning )
Far door on the West side to find the needed key.
Door on the Eastern wall to farm the ore and find the crafter.