Trap Monkey Rogue Advice

[Scalion]

In my opinion, anything more than a 14 int (maybe 16 on a drow) is too much. With a 14 starting int you can take enhancements and feats to adjust your disable and search to where you feel it should be.

I love my halfling monk/rogue and the stats were simple... 14 14 14 14 8. I will end up as a 6 monk 14 rogue and be just as good at traps as any pure rogue. Especially since the monk's fire buff gives an extra +2 to skills and I can cast it on myself if given time to meditate.

Really there's no absolute best way to do rogue, but I would say that a rogue needs to have at least 2 areas of expertise. Traps, UMD use, Melee damage. Think about those 3 aspects of the class and think of balance like the equalizer on a CD player. Try to find the balance that works for you. On my rogue/monk I wanted some fun with a Qstaff and have decent melee skills, and do traps quite well. I even have enough concentration and put the effort into using my monk buffs frequently. I sacrificed a high UMD skill, I have the ranks but not the stats, but at higher levels even my UMD will be of at least some use to the group via resurection scrolls etc.

If your concept for your character truly focuses on traps... I'd consider a build that would focus on mechanic spec for trapwork, get some good use magic device skill, and stay in the back with a repeating crossbow and wands at the ready during the heavy combat.

[PopeJual]

My pali buddy is really a good sort and was really polite about this situation but was quite adamant that I needed to forget damage and respec as a trapmonkey (this along with get a heavy armor feat you are too squishy). I asked what do I do then in the heap of quests that have no traps, if I have no other skills then why would anyone be interested in a rogue for the likes of Irestone inlet or Kobold assualt even Gianthold for later on? His response matched a lot of others, thats the price of playing a rogue all you are good for is traps.

There are lots and lots of people who only play lower level characters who think that this is true. There are also lots of people who think that all Clerics are good for is healing, that all Rangers are good for is ranged combat and that Barbarians don't have any responsibility for their own HP (it's the Cleric's fault when they die after the Barb runs into a situation that the Barb can't handle).

All of those people are certainly entitled to hold those opinions. And all of those opinions are foolish, wrongheaded and counterproductive to good play. All of those opinions will actively prevent those players from succeeding in higher level play.

I will say that a Rogue should ABSOLUTELY be able to handle all the traps in the game at level on Normal. It doesn't take a "trapmonkey" to make that happen, however. I'm currently leveling up Ranger with 12 Int and I'm keeping Search and Disable Device maxxed. I have one level of Rogue (taken at level 1 and I'll never take another) and I carry appropriate gear and I can find and disable every trap that I've searched for including on Elite on quests that are two levels higher than my character level (I took care of all the traps for The Church and the Cult on Elite when I was level 7.)

But I am CERTAINLY not what most people would consider a trapmonkey.

[/quote] So I reset my enhancements and set up as a dedicated trap monkey, totally gimp for anything but traps my dps was about 1/4 my earlier damage and (this is the best bit) there was a lot of comments from my usual party members wondering why everything was so much harder to kill. But I could do traps and the +3 gear from korthos worked for me right up to lvl 9 needing foxes cunning only on elite.[/quote]

That's a trapmonkey. A trapmonkey gives up significant abilities in other areas in order to make finding and disabling traps their only priority. And it's not a good idea.

Why is it not a good idea? Because it's not necessary. The most significant difference between characters that find and disable traps and characters that fail to find and disable traps is their gear, not their feats and enhancements. No matter what you do with your enhancements, you will be occasionally embarassed by traps if you don't have appropriate gear. If you have appropriate gear, you will never be embarassed by traps with even two Rogue levels (or 1 Rogue level and 9 levels of Ranger for Evasion).

Keep your Search maxxed. Keep your Disable Device maxxed. Wear a Search +skill item when you search. Wear a +Disable Device item when you try to disable the trap. Wear something else useful in that slot (I happen to have +Search goggles and +Disable Device goggles, so I just swap back and forth when I do traps) when you're not working on traps.

• Carry a wand of Fox's Cunning or potions of Fox's Cunning. They're cheap and easy to acquire.
• Get your hands on better Thieve's Tools. +5 Thieves Tools give you a +7 to open locks and disable traps and you can use them at level 1. You just can't FIND them at level 1.
• Wear your Voice of the Master for another +1 to your Rogue skills.
• Get yourself a Detect Secret Doors clicky so that you don't have to waste resources buffing up your search skill with consumeable resources when you're just trying to find a secret door.
• Get some Heroism potions when you're high enough level to consume them. Ask your Wizard/Bard to cast Heroism on you (or Greater Heroism or Good Hope or use the Bard song that increases skills).
• If you're Human get the enhancement that gives you a bonus to your skills/AC/attack/damage for 20 seconds. Use that boost when you try to find a trap box and fail, then search again. You'll certainly find it on the second try. If you're not Human, get the Rogue enhancement that does the same thing for only skills.

...and most of all, don't make a Rogue for your first character. When you know about where the traps are in all the quests that you like to do, you won't have to invest skill points in Spot. You may want to do so anyway, but it's at least not necessary for trap busting. You'll also know where the trap boxes are and the trap boxes are often not where the trap is. You'll have a higher level character (i.e. YOU in the other character) to earn money to buy Fox's Cunning and Heroism potions that you couldn't afford as easily at lower levels.

That higher level character can also pass all the +5 Thieves Tools that he/she finds to you. And don't be afraid to mention on your level 16 Wizard that you're collecting Thieves Tools for your low level Rogue when you go into a high level quest - many other players will pass any +5 Thieves Tools to you when they find them in a chest.

my advice, and its a hard line that opposes a lot of comments here and I wish it wasnt so but if you can have a final goal in mind when you roll your toon but build trap monkey for the first 4-6 lvls (assuming pure rogue) then start to branch into your eventual goal then you will get what I feel is a good balance. I throw my spare points into the traps and when I hit lvl 10 had 16 or 17 on my trap stats this coupled with the +10 goggles for each of the skills and I am having no issues as yet with my trap abilities.

...and now I'll go ahead and say that this here is actually not terrible advice. Don't sacrifice everything in your character's build for the sake of traps. Don't take any feats that improve your ability to deal with traps. Don't take more than a 14 Int (16 if Drow). All of those decisions are difficult and expensive to change when you're higher level. Enhancements are easy and cheap to change out, however. Go ahead and throw a few points into the +save vs. traps enhancement. Go ahead and throw some action points into the +search and +disable device and heck, even into +spot enhancements. DEFINATELY take Human versitility (if you're human) to get the + to skills for 20 seconds or the Rogue +skill 20 second boost (if you're not human) and keep those for the entire life of your character. If you can't quite afford all the best combat enhancements at lower level, that's okay.

You can always dump most of the trap based enhancements when you get a bit higher level and have better, more appropriate gear. Enhancements are almost free to change out at higher levels. Feats are expensive to change out at higher levels. Ability scores are impossible to change out at higher levels unless you Reincarnate your character (and that costs real life $ instead of game money for almost everyone).