Rogue Guide

Agility is the rogue’s primary attribute. It constitutes the rogue’s chance of dealing a critical strike and chance to dodge an attack. All other stats are extremely important except for intellect. The rogue has absolutely no need for intellect.

The rogues combat system is built on an energy meter and a combo system. There are opening moves, standard special attacks and finishing moves.

Opening moves and standard special stacks give combo points when executed for a hit. As many as 5 points can be built up. The more points you build the more effective your finishing move will be.

Also, the rogue has a 100 point energy bar. Every special attack uses energy which fairly quickly regenerates (20 energy every 2 seconds). This system of energy sets the pace for how quickly a rogue can use specials. Specials can be used quickly in succession (one per second) but the energy bar keeps the rogue from being able to spam attacks too much. Most special attacks have a one second timer on them and ignore weapon speed.

Stealth- Our primary ability. Use it. Some quests are actually designed to be advantageous for rogues because they can stealth to complete it rather than having to fight their way through. It is our defining ability. It is necessary to be in stealth before using our best attacks (openers). Higher ranks of stealth only provide a faster movement speed while in stealth, but every level we gain decreases the chances of us being detected in stealth. To reduce that further, use the talent Master of Deception. This has a significant impact on our stealth. Keep in mind that stealth is not invisibility or invulnerability. I consider MoD a “must have” talent. While a good rogue can get around a level 62 mob without MoD, the advantages of it are too big for me to pass up.

Players deal with stealth detection differently than mobs. It is based on level difference and distance. You are basically invisible to a player until you get within a certain distance at which time they hear the stealth noise and/or see a faint transparent image of you. The closer you get, the easier you are to see.

Regardless of level, mobs will detect you and knock you out of stealth of you pass through them. While my 60 rogue is seemingly completely undetectable by level 50 mobs, even a level 1 mob will detect me if I try to walk through them.

Backstab- This is an attack in which you attack your opponent from behind for big damage. The primary difference between backstab and ambush is that ambush must be used as an opener in stealth while backstab can also be used out of stealth while in combat. Mobs will not let you walk up behind them and stab them in the back. Some will argue that from clever movement they can get a backstab in on a mob. The truth is this will usually only occur as the result of lag.

What a backstab rogue will do instead is gouge a mob, move behind it and backstab when he has enough energy to do so. To pull this off you have to wait until you have a lot of energy before you gouge. If your last 45 energy goes into gouging your enemy, you will not regenerate the 60 you need to backstab before they come out of stun.

Obviously in groups a rogue could backstab without stunning their opponent if a warrior, or anyone else keep the aggro on them and the mob’s back to you.

There is a LOT more to be said about this skill. I will cover it in detail in the Swords vs. Daggers section.

Gouge- This skill allows you to stun your opponent for up to 5 seconds. You must be in front of your target and any damage you or anyone else does to their opponent will bring them out of stun. This is one of the best skills we have if used properly. My primary use for gouge is to keep my opponent at bay while I regenerate energy and get myself into position. I am not a dagger rogue, but whenever I gouge my opponent I immediately move behind them. Even against mobs, this buys a split second of extra time while they turn around to hit you. At times it can be like 2 free hits.

I will almost always use gouge regardless of my situation when I have 4 combo points built up. I gouge them for my 5th and will eviscerate them when I gain enough energy to do so. To me, being a rogue is about control. Gouge gives me control. You don’t hit me and I get a free shot on you. THAT is control.

In large groups I really don’t use gouge at all unless I am the last in my group standing and am going toe to toe with a single elite mob or am in the rare situation of pulling aggro off a caster. In solo PvE and PvP I use it very often.

Eviscerate- This is your bread and butter. A 5 point eviscerate is what a rogue is inevitably working towards. There are other finishers, but at the end of the day eviscerate is where we get the bulk of our DPS.

There isn’t much to say about this skill. For me it represents 80% of my finishers and about 50% of my damage in solo play.