Teriklar's Guide to Rogues
He'd been tipped off to the presence of a large stash of money and decided he should come help relieve the baron of his fortune before someone else with the same intentions beat him to the gold. He sneaks along the edge of the hallway, but as he nears the treasury he hears footsteps, so he finds a spot in the dark to sit while he finds out what is coming along. It's one of the baron's guards, making a patrol around the castle. He waits silently until the guard is right next to him, and then bursts out of the shadows, smashing him over the head and sending him unconscious to the floor.
Quickly moving along, he gets to the door of the treasury. He reaches into a little tool belt and whips out his trusty lock pick and gets to work. After a few seconds there is a faint clicking noise and the door slowly swings open. However, something doesn't seem quite right, and looking around, he notices a strange looking brick in the floor. He makes sure to step around it and moves into the treasury to collect the money. Satisfied, he turns around to see another man in the doorway, another thief by the looks of things. Without hesitation he grabs a knife from his belt and throws it at the man before he can react, impaling the knife in his throat. He slips past the dying man and darts out of the castle and into the night without anyone realizing he had been there…
The life of a rogue is a hard one, be it a petty pick pocket to a master thief or a deadly assassin. Rogues are people who have decided that labor is a waste of time and that it is much easier to make their living off of others, through theft and murder. Many are loners in life, preferring to stalk the shadows alone to hunt their prey, grabbing the loot or killing the target and then disappearing before anyone can realize what has happened. Having a few friends to watch one's back is always helpful, and sometimes groups of thieves or assassins will organize to help take care of one another when times get really rough.
The members of the Dark Brotherhood, an infamous thieving ring in Sigil, and the Red Hand, a band of bloody assassins based in Maldra's Keep, are prime examples of organized crime. When it comes down to the line, though, a rogue's loyalty is to himself first and foremost, and many are happy to stab a "friend" in the back if it means getting ahead. And a rogue always needs to be one step ahead to keep out of the hands of the authorities, who are very adamant in watching for illegal activities...
Proficiencies
The following proficiencies are available to those who follow the rogue profession.
The main skills differentiating this class from the bard class are bash, blind fighting, evasion, kick, shield block, snare, throwing, and tracking.
Bash/Kick
These two skills are similar to each other. They both act as an extra attack during combat, draining your stamina to deliver a blow to your opponent. Kick isn't very draining, only costing about 20 stamina but not very effective for an additional attack unless you do not have much for stamina. Bash on the other hand is very powerful, costing 250 stamina for a successful hit but delivering more damage than hits from normal weapons. Both of these attacks can throw you off balance if you miss, meaning that you will have less attacks the following round. Keep in mind that if you're webbed, you cannot use either of these attacks.
Blind Fighting
A skill for those who are looking to become assassins, blind fighting is the ability to fight without eyesight. This skill kicks in when fighting against something you can't see, whether the room is too dark to see in, if whatever you are fighting is invisible to you, or if you've been blinded by a spell or effect. It gives you a bonus to your combat accuracy in a limited or no sight environment based on your proficiency in this skill. This skill can be practiced all the way up to 100%.
Evasion
As you wander around the world, you'll find that some creatures or people just don't like you. The best way to deal with these creatures is to simply avoid them. Evasion is the art of staying out of the way of bad things. If you encounter a creature or person (a non player type) that will attack you, your skill in evasion will help prevent an attack, though some creatures are far too aggressive to be avoided.
Shield Block
There are five common defenses, three general defenses and two defenses for armed opponents. Rogues and bards both get dodge and acrobatics, but the separator for the two classes is shield block, a defense which works primarily against only armed opponents. Though it does work to block certain types of offensivespells. This defense is very difficult to master because you won't find many opponents who are armed unless you decide to hunt players down. It is very effective when used against armed opponents, and it also can be used to completely stop a magical attack such as a fireball or lightning bolt, as well as breath attacks. The downside to using your shield to block attacks is that it slowly wears down, so be sure to keep an eye on the condition of your shield and repair it if it starts to get too beaten up.
Snare
This is another skill for would-be assassins who prefer to lay in wait for their prey. Snares won't snag non-players, but if laid in a neutral or chaotic player killing room, a snare has a fair chance to go off when someone (yourself included) enters the room, entangling them instantly. It has the same effect as the web spell. This can be lethal for the victim whether or not it is expected, since it hinders the victim's ability to react, and completely prevents the victim's escape. This is a very good skill to have if you are leaning towards killing other players.
Throwing
This is a versatile skill for any rogue to have, assisting in fights with non-players and players alike. It entails the rogue's ability to throw something on target without injuring himself in the process. This skill is involved in throwing weapons or bombs at a foe. When throwing bombs or explosive type weapons, only your throw proficiency is counted for determining the chance to hit, while weapons such as throwing knives, throwing axes, etc depend on that weapon's proficiency for accuracy and damage. This skill is key for people who are not fans of magic in combat; throwing weapons provide extra hits on an opponent for little stamina cost (although you need to pick up weapons thrown at someone), flash bombs can blind an unsuspecting opponent, poison vials can be a quick way to deliver poisons to a victim, and, if you're in real trouble, you can throw a smoke bomb to make the room go completely dark and stop all combat in the room. Keep in mind that you can't throw anything while webbed.
Tracking
This is also a very useful skill on the battlefield and off. Tracking allows you to find a non-player or player in the immediate region. You can find the direction of someone by just using the command "track " or you can use "track <target> auto" and you will walk along the trail you find, taking you to the next room and searching again for your target, etc etc. If your target is in the area but too far away to track, you'll see the message "You can't sense a trail from here." Some targets do not leave tracks that you can trace; if you're trying to chase one of these, you'll get the message "You can't sense a trail." meaning they're nearby but you can't track the way to them. And if the target isn't in the area, you'll get the message "You can't find the trail of anyone like that."
Being a Rogue
As can be seen from the skills in the list and those described, rogues are suited for both adventuring and player killing. Their skills are suited towards making quick strikes on an enemy and then being able to get away. They employ a good amount of brute force in their activities too, so strength, vitality, and agility are a must for any good rogue. An ideal rogue will be very agile and have a lot of vitality, with strength being another good characteristic to develop. It wouldn't hurt to develop your wisdom and luck; those are both attributes that are good to have for any class. Rogues tend to have a higher hit point base and stamina than that of bards to reflect their more physical nature.
As a rogue fresh on the streets, you'll need a good weapon. Daggers are the norm for rogues, as they're light and easy to wield, and can be very deadly when jammed into an unsuspecting target's back. You should develop your agility and vitality as soon as possible, these will help you overall with fighting and gains when you raise a level of experience. Once you get good with your dagger, you should consider getting some skill with backstab, which allows a first-strike attack for extra damage. Training in dodge is very important too; it's the most common defense employed as it's easy to learn and effective in every combat situation. Second attack provides an extra attack with your weapon and is essential in the upper classes.
Once you get some experience under your belt, you should definitely consider putting some time into throwing and perhaps a throwing weapon, be it knives or stars or just bombs and explosives. Also think about using bash and kick as additional skills to enhance your ability to attack. Throw, kick, and bash all fulfill the quick attack mission by inflicting extra damage in addition to normal weapon hits. A lot of the rogue skills are oriented toward player killing, such as sneaking, hiding, shield block, snare, and blind fighting. You won't find many non-players with weapons, and non-players do not get caught in snares. Blinding or other methods to restrict vision aren't used often if at all by non-players. Sneaking and hiding only affect players as non-players will see you enter a room and know of your presence at all times. These skills serve to enhance your ability to slay fellow players.
Rogues would appear to be most famous for their skills at stealing, picking locks, and detecting and disarming traps. Unfortunately, stealing is not very worthwhile against non-players as items that are equipped cannot be stolen, and any non-player carrying a very powerful item will notice your pilfering attempts long before you get away with them. You can only steal from other players in a Chaotic Player Killing environment, and in a situation like that you'll probably be more worried about surviving the encounter than stealing their valuables. However, peek can be a good skill to put at least a little time into, because it allows you to see a target's inventory. It's good for checking out if the creature you're looking at has an item you need, for a quest or for personal use. Lock picking may be useful at low levels if you have a lock pick and a lot of patience, but once you get bash to a reasonable level you can smash most doors down. You could even use an item to get the "pass door" effect which will let you walk through many doors you find in your journeys. Detecting traps is not a very useful skill as every trap that exists in the game except for snares (set by other rogues) and scorching runes above doors can be seen just by looking in the room, and the traps activate so rarely that attempting to disarm them is more likely to trigger them than your mere presence!
Equipping Yourself
Since there is an emphasis on speed and strength, you want to find equipment suited toward both of these. You'll want to have some kind of item to bestow the haste spell. Items such as rings of bleached bone, beautiful silk scarves, or an alligator tooth necklace will give you this important spell. Invisibility is essential for any would-be rogue, and either a belt of shadows or boots of stealth will do. At higher levels, a wizard's cloak will provide you with an improved invisibility spell, which doesn't wear off when you get into combat. Having said this, you'll need something to help you see invisible people so they can't come up on you and attack you while you're not watching, and you can get this effect by wearing a crystal heart pendant or a sand colored ring. There are also potions of true sight that will accomplish this effect.
Keep an eye out for items that give bonuses to vitality, agility, and strength. Items with an accuracy bonus are also good to have; you don't want to miss with your killing blow or your victim has a chance to survive and escape. You should favor items with hit point and stamina bonuses; items with a spell point deduction won't be a bother to you so don't be afraid to wear them. Always keep an eye out for wisdom bonuses as wisdom governs your number of practice points per experience level. Vitality affects your hit point increases, strength controls your stamina boosts, and knowledge affects how much spell power you will gain (although spell power isn't important to a rogue).
As far as weapons are concerned, your best bet are daggers. As a rogue starting out on the streets, daggers are your most effective tool of the trade, but as you advance you'll find other, more powerful weapons to use to bring down your opponents faster. Daggers and most other piercing weapons are suitable for backstabbing, a proficiency that will help you defeat monsters and people faster by making a very strong attack on the target to initiate combat. Silver daggers, Devil's daggers, the Quickblade, and Grimbold's dagger are a few weapons you should keep an eye out for. There are many other daggers scattered around, so be sure you watch the auction blocks for potential weapons or ask people as you meet them. In addition to your fighting knife, you'll want a few throwing knives, stars, or maybe darts once you get some experience. These will allow you to make additional attacks on an enemy for very little effort. You can even make use of bombs and explosives, flash bombs to blind your target or smoke bombs to escape an unfavorable situation.
There is a wealth of equipment, especially at lower levels, that will bestow different bonuses to your stats and attributes, so your best bet is to keep looking for equipment that is your level. Use the above guidelines for when there are a few possible choices at your level of experience, and don't hesitate to ask other players or guides for advice or information on equipment. The Materia Magica website also has a database with nearly every piece of equipment available, so it might do you some good to browse through it and find some equipment suited for you.
Fighting NPCs
Most mobs (mobiles, or the non-player types that wander around) you will fight in the beginning will be straight hand to hand fighters, not utilizing any special attacks or spells. Against these enemies, backstab them, bash them, kick them, throw weapons at them, and just kill them off. If you come across any dragon types that breath fire at you, you can use shield block to stop the fire, but otherwise you should use dodge or acrobatics, since these defenses work against unarmed opponents (95% of mobs are unarmed). Element of surprise isn't exactly key against mobs because they either attack on sight anyway or don't react at all to your presence until you attack. Just take your time and mobs won't give you any trouble.
Fighting Players
As mentioned before, this class has some skills geared directly toward player killing. The bard class also gets the sneaking and hide skills, but the classes digress from this point. If you're an active killer (prefer to run people down), you can sneak and then track them down, and once you find them you can open with a thrown weapon, a flash bomb, or can stab them in the back to catch them unaware. As mentioned before, dagger is a relatively weak weapon to use, so backstabbing may not be your best bet. You could consider using bash for your surprise attack also, but be aware that bash causes a 2 second delay for your next command to take effect. A flash bomb that manages to immediately blind the victim can throw the fight in your favor, since the enemy can't use spells or hit you effectively.
If you're more of the passive killer type, you could set a snare and then hide in the shadows, waiting patiently for an unsuspecting enemy to walk into the trap and be webbed. The instant web is very powerful and allows you plenty of time in case you become indecisive. Once you have the victim in your sights, the situation can carry on as described above once you find your target., launching an attack with backstab, bash, or a thrown weapon. Both of these methods rely on the rogue's ability to conduct a sneak attack, surprising the target so much that it cannot react.
Class Combinations
Rogue tends to work well with most classes, so you shouldn't worry too much about its compatibility with any other choice. Barbarian and Wizard are two advised classes that work well with rogue, as well as two classes we advise against, Valkyrie and Ranger.
Barbarian
You already have the speed as a rogue, so becoming a barbarian compliments the rogue very well by adding strength to the mix. Barbarians get throwing spears and axes, two very potent weapons when chucked at an enemy. They get the axe skill, arguably the most powerful one-handed weapon available. The strength bonus that comes from being a barbarian and the large hit point gains per level boost your killing power, combining power and stealth into a dangerous mix.
Wizard
Rogues get a wide variety of combat abilities, wizards get a wide variety of magic spells. Bards don't work well with wizards because bards use an instrument, which takes up the hand a wizard would hold a spellbook in, which makes rogue an even more sensible alternative. Wizards get plenty of spells that enhance your abilities as well as debilitating spells to use against a tough enemy. Wizards are physically weak, so combining with a physically strong class such as rogue allows you to withstand attacks long enough to work your magic on a foe…or if you're smart, you can use your fancy rogue skills to surprise someone with your magic.
Valkyrie
They get the blind fighting skill, which is one of the unique skills for rogues. They also get shield block, one of the rogue's better defenses. Valkyries do not get track or snare, or throwing for that matter, but by having a couple of the rogue's more valuable skills, a valkyrie would have more diversity in skills by becoming a bard. (besides, you can always fork up $30 and get track)
Ranger
Rangers are rogues with magic. They even get the +2 bonus to your racial maximum for agility. The main differences between the two are that rangers get herbalism, spells, and their bonuses per level are mainly gains in spell power while rogues get more hit points and stamina. Ranger would be a better partner for bards as it gives bards the rogue skill set.
Aside from these classes, rogue will work pretty well with any other class, making your character a bit stronger of a fighter and orienting you more for stealthy, speedy strikes. A barbarian/rogue combination can be powerful because not only do you get the barbarian's axe for a hand to hand weapon, but you can use throwing axes for an extra powerful throwing attack.
Roleplaying
If you're going to play a rogue, you need to consider what category of person your character is. Are you just someone who's down on their luck and needs to do a little borrowing just so you can eat? This one's easy to play, since someone like this is either depressed about their situation or are rather happy-go-lucky, just taking life one day at a time and never being worried about a thing. Latarathus, the skilled rogue of Xaventry, is an example of the kind of laid back, carefree sort of person you would be.
Are you someone who thinks they should partake in everyone's fortune and have no problem with helping yourself to others' belongings? Thieves of this sort range from secretive to very open about their profession, although the more vocal they are about their skills, the better they're likely to be because they have the utmost confidence that they'll never be caught. This breeds a high level of arrogance in all manners of thieves. Harman of Lowangen is so confident in his skill that he sits at the front gate of the town, sizing up potential victims as they enter and letting them know that he could easy lighten their load should he find a reason not to like them.
Are you someone who stalks prey in the night and leaves their cold body in a gutter? The assassin types are very quiet and prefer to not be seen or heard. After all, the more people who know you, the more people who can stab you in the back. Assassins are the loneliest of the bunch, making silent strikes in the dark with no one else around to cause trouble, be it a friend of yours or the unlucky guy you're fighting with. Being the anti-social sort, you should avoid conversations and definitely not get involved with anyone, because emotions can affect the ability to hunt your prey if things get too serious.
In closing, rogues are a very versatile class to choose from. It might not be the absolute best class to start as if you're new to the game, because there are several tricks can do in the hands of an experienced player, but otherwise they have many skills that will never be effectively used unless you know what you're doing. However, once you get a little experience with the game, rogue is a good combination of direct physical attacks as well as indirect approaches against the enemy, and goes well with many other classes. That is all, adventurer…good luck in your travels.
