INT-Based rogue now sexy?

[Trillea]

Doesn't the epic kukri from the house D quests have INT for damage or somesuch?

[Coldin]

Doesn't the epic kukri from the house D quests have INT for damage or somesuch?

It does. But it's not a very ideal weapon honestly. Most rogues are still better off getting a Radiance Rapier first.

[Surcus1]

I recently made 2 epic midnight greetings for my rogue assassin, will see how that works out...so far it is looking very good.

[Draccus]

I have a 39 Assassinate DC and am amazed at how rarely it works. In Amrath quests, solo, I'm successful assassinating roughly 25% of the time. In IQ quests, solo, I'm successful 30%-50% of the time (the latter range is anecdotal). I thought a 39 was pretty high but it's not nearly high enough in level 18 quests. I'm guessing high 40s will be needed in level 25 quests.

I have only eaten a +2 int tome (I have pulled FIVE +4 tomes and still can't get a freakin' +3 Int tome!) so I have some room to grow but there's no way I'm going to get into the mid-40s range. If I TR'd a second time (which I won't), I could use the 2 ability points for Int (I'm Drow and get int cheaply) but even that with a +4 tome is only good for 41 DC.

[grodon9999]

I have a 39 Assassinate DC and am amazed at how rarely it works. In Amrath quests, solo, I'm successful assassinating roughly 25% of the time. In IQ quests, solo, I'm successful 30%-50% of the time (the latter range is anecdotal). I thought a 39 was pretty high but it's not nearly high enough in level 18 quests. I'm guessing high 40s will be needed in level 25 quests.

I have only eaten a +2 int tome (I have pulled FIVE +4 tomes and still can't get a freakin' +3 Int tome!) so I have some room to grow but there's no way I'm going to get into the mid-40s range. If I TR'd a second time (which I won't), I could use the 2 ability points for Int (I'm Drow and get int cheaply) but even that with a +4 tome is only good for 41 DC.

What the rules, for assassinate . . . you need to not have aggro and then need to attack from a sneak position?

We still don't know how/if stat damage with work. When I was TRing my elf a rogue guidie of mine was being a real sneaky bastard on night in IQ. . . he'd wait for me to hit the mob 3-4 times with my WoP rapiers then run in and steal the kill via an assassinate. After the 3-4 WoP hit's he'd nail them every time.

This has me thinking team-tactics . . .

[Chai]

Flavor Builds are my specialty.

I think a high int Assassin will certainly be more useful, but probably not sufficient degree. Assassinations are a hard maneuver to pull off in most group content due to needing to be in sneak mode, and having a lengthy cooldown.

My halfling assassin actually performs pretty well with to-hit and damage when she doesn't have aggro. But the second she does take aggro, she's pretty much done for. A glass cannon in every sense. And yet she's still really fun to play.

Bluff is going to give the user a 4 second window where every attack is a sneak attack.

If you tell a min maxer that a certain game mechanic just became hugely useful, some will spec for it and learn the twitch style of play to make it happen. I find assassination usage to be more of an excersise in patience than an actual test of twitch skill ability.

Most builds now are built to run into the room, get into combat attack animation as quickly as possible, and stay in that state as long as possible with as few interruptions as possible until the mobs are dead. With assassination, the player is better off waiting either the straight melee to get aggro, or the casters to cc the mobs. Find two close together looking the other way, and BLAM, 2 dead mobs. Most screw ups occur not because of a lack of twitch ability in the player, but due to lack of patience to lie in wait for the right moment.

[Draccus]

What the rules, for assassinate . . . you need to not have aggro and then need to attack from a sneak position?

We still don't know how/if stat damage with work. When I was TRing my elf a rogue guidie of mine was being a real sneaky bastard on night in IQ. . . he'd wait for me to hit the mob 3-4 times with my WoP rapiers then run in and steal the kill via an assassinate. After the 3-4 WoP hit's he'd nail them every time.

This has me thinking team-tactics . . .

Assassinate works very differently.

It is a separate button, not a regular attack, and has a 15 second cooldown. It requires you to be in stealth mode to use. If you are out of stealth mode, you get a message saying "You are in the wrong stance to perform that action."

[Coldin]

Bluff is going to give the user a 4 second window where every attack is a sneak attack.

If you tell a min maxer that a certain game mechanic just became hugely useful, some will spec for it and learn the twitch style of play to make it happen. I find assassination usage to be more of an excersise in patience than an actual test of twitch skill ability.

Most builds now are built to run into the room, get into combat attack animation as quickly as possible, and stay in that state as long as possible with as few interruptions as possible until the mobs are dead. With assassination, the player is better off waiting either the straight melee to get aggro, or the casters to cc the mobs. Find two close together looking the other way, and BLAM, 2 dead mobs. Most screw ups occur not because of a lack of twitch ability in the player, but due to lack of patience to lie in wait for the right moment.

The main issue I encounter using Assassinte the rather inconsistent stealth detection of monsters. Sometimes one can be 5 feet away and obscured in darkness and be spotted right away, and then sometimes one can be nudging right against them and never get seen.

The other issue usually comes up because sneak is easily broken by being attacked. If any monster swings in the rogue's general direction, even if that attack misses, the rogue breaks out of stealth. It can really be an annoyance.

That said, I love using Assassinate when it works, and I love using Bluff followed by assassinate for a quick kill.

[grodon9999]

That said, I love using Assassinate when it works, and I love using Bluff followed by assassinate for a quick kill.

WoP - WoP - WoP - WoP -WoP - WoP -WoP - WoP - . . . . bluff . . . . assassinate?

[Thrudh]

Then suck on Malicia

Heh.

[Chai]

What the rules, for assassinate . . . you need to not have aggro and then need to attack from a sneak position?

We still don't know how/if stat damage with work. When I was TRing my elf a rogue guidie of mine was being a real sneaky bastard on night in IQ. . . he'd wait for me to hit the mob 3-4 times with my WoP rapiers then run in and steal the kill via an assassinate. After the 3-4 WoP hit's he'd nail them every time.

Yeap, we have been doing this for quite a while now. Melee uses a WoP weapon in one hand and a curse spewing puncturing in the other. I can assassinate just about anything missing a few points of CON with a -4 to saves for good measure.

I have even done this myself on tough mobs. Open up with normal melee, use the curse spewer / WoP to debuff, throw out a bluff, get into stealth mid jump, land and BLAM, dead mob. With a radiance weapon you dont even need to toss a bluff out, as blinded = SA.

This has me thinking team-tactics . . .

Exactly.

Epics will no longer be the ******** throw a stun or mass hold then get into the fastest attack animation as possible as quickly as possible monster they used to be. Instead of being focused on who has the best DPS gear, they will be focused on who has the best teamwork mentality, and understanding entire game mechanics rather than just DPS mechanics. Players will be able to succeed through quality of play and through superior understanding of situations the game throws at them.

[Coldin]

WoP - WoP - WoP - WoP -WoP - WoP -WoP - WoP - . . . . bluff . . . . assassinate?

If your Assassinate DC really needs that much help...sure.

Though really with that many WoP, the mob is probably going to become helpless anyway, and then you might as well either not bother with Bluff, or not bother using Assassinate at all.

[grodon9999]

Epics will no longer be the ******** throw a stun or mass hold then get into the fastest attack animation as possible as quickly as possible monster they used to be. Instead of being focused on who has the best DPS gear, they will be focused on who has the best teamwork mentality, and understanding entire game mechanics rather than just DPS mechanics. Players will be able to succeed through quality of play and through superior understanding of situations the game throws at them.

I sure as hell hope so, all the leaked new has me really interested in the game and what tactics will work. It'll be really nice to see something besides brute-force win.

I'm more interested in game-play than loot but I'm probably in the minority.

[Darkrok]

I really think that stun/hold will be even more important than it used to be. I think they'll find some way to mitigate the wail/finger issue to make stun/hold attractive as well. It just won't be stun/hold/heavy pick - it will be stun/hold/do whatever you can do that does the most damage. Wail will be doable as well but balanced with stun/hold. I can dream can't I?

[Kale_Hagan]

My view of the Assassinate ability is this:

I'm certainly going to get some gear together to make the DC as high as possible. I need (or like if you prefer) a 14 starting Int just to get my skills.

So:
14 Int, +2 tome, +1 exceptional (Whisper ring), +2 exceptional (spyglass), +2 capstone, +1 ship buff, +6 int item (which I intend to slot a +6 int augment on the epic Phiarlan Mirror Cloak), and have a cutthroat's smallblade as the +15 MS and Hide item.

This puts my MS and Hide skills in the 60s with a weapon swap and cloak swap, and gives me a 39 DC.

This hardly gimps anything else I do.

I think the best strategy for this is to build your assassin however you like, and then up the int DC as it is convenient. All of the equipment I have that increases int is used for something else, and the int bonus is convenient.

[voodoogroves]

I sure as hell hope so, all the leaked new has me really interested in the game and what tactics will work. It'll be really nice to see something besides brute-force win.

I'm more interested in game-play than loot but I'm probably in the minority.

It's making me consider not TRing my rogue to an acrobat, for one.

[Draccus]

My view of the Assassinate ability is this:

I'm certainly going to get some gear together to make the DC as high as possible. I need (or like if you prefer) a 14 starting Int just to get my skills.

So:
14 Int, +2 tome, +1 exceptional (Whisper ring), +2 exceptional (spyglass), +2 capstone, +1 ship buff, +6 int item (which I intend to slot a +6 int augment on the epic Phiarlan Mirror Cloak), and have a cutthroat's smallblade as the +15 MS and Hide item.

This puts my MS and Hide skills in the 60s with a weapon swap and cloak swap, and gives me a 39 DC.

This hardly gimps anything else I do.

I think the best strategy for this is to build your assassin however you like, and then up the int DC as it is convenient. All of the equipment I have that increases int is used for something else, and the int bonus is convenient.

I take care of all my Int needs with a +9 Int ToD ring. Int is the most situational ability score for rogues (if we agree that Wisdom is irrelevant) so there's no need to have any Int items in permanent slots. I tend to keep one ring slot as a swap slot so the Rhakir's ring or any of the other +6/+1 exc Int rings are a perfect fit.