Dragon Age Origins: Getting your ass handed to you again and again as a rogue
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I found the Rogue to be head and shoulders above the Mage as far as damage is concerned. Once you get Momentum your backstab damage is quite substantial. Dual-Weapon Sweep does a CRAPLOAD of damage in a frontal arc as well. Then you get Lockpicking and Disarm Trap for quite a bit of additional XP.
I haven't played a Warrior, but I definitely found the Rogue to be a better damage-dealer than the Mage, especially on targets you could backstab.
I haven't played a Warrior, but I definitely found the Rogue to be a better damage-dealer than the Mage, especially on targets you could backstab.
To those saying that rogue's are a weak class/don't do enough damage: What the bloody hell are you smoking? As was stated, rogues are easily the highest sustained damage in the game. You're probably just spending your attributes and skills badly.
There are three ways to play a melee rogue: First is full strength with some dex, or the Rogue-Who-Thinks-He's-A-Warrior. Good damage, good survivability thanks to beefy armors, boring to play. Next is full dexterity, or Ghost Rogue. With full dex, you will always hit your enemies and never be hit by them. Fantastic survivability, decent damage. Fun to play 'cause you're a soloing fiend.
And then there's my favorite: full cunning with some dex, or WTFBACKSTABLOLBBQ!?!? Rogue. With a pair of good daggers and a boatload of cunning to take advantage of lethality, your rogue will become a backstabbing machine of death. If you combine further with rogue abilities like momentum (backstabs every .5 seconds), coup-de-grace (insta-backstab on anything stunned/paralyzed), good poisons, and proper party buffs like Telekinetic Weapons and the Champion's aura, then I cannot begin to emphasize the sheer killing power you will emit. We're talking 100 damage backstabs every half second. Seriously; Shit. Will. Die. This build does merely decent damage when not backstabbing, has survivability based solely on killing other dude before he can hurt you, and requires complete micro-management, but is still incredibly fun to play. Also has the benefit of being able to open anything in game without a single point in deft hands.
There are three ways to play a melee rogue: First is full strength with some dex, or the Rogue-Who-Thinks-He's-A-Warrior. Good damage, good survivability thanks to beefy armors, boring to play. Next is full dexterity, or Ghost Rogue. With full dex, you will always hit your enemies and never be hit by them. Fantastic survivability, decent damage. Fun to play 'cause you're a soloing fiend.
And then there's my favorite: full cunning with some dex, or WTFBACKSTABLOLBBQ!?!? Rogue. With a pair of good daggers and a boatload of cunning to take advantage of lethality, your rogue will become a backstabbing machine of death. If you combine further with rogue abilities like momentum (backstabs every .5 seconds), coup-de-grace (insta-backstab on anything stunned/paralyzed), good poisons, and proper party buffs like Telekinetic Weapons and the Champion's aura, then I cannot begin to emphasize the sheer killing power you will emit. We're talking 100 damage backstabs every half second. Seriously; Shit. Will. Die. This build does merely decent damage when not backstabbing, has survivability based solely on killing other dude before he can hurt you, and requires complete micro-management, but is still incredibly fun to play. Also has the benefit of being able to open anything in game without a single point in deft hands.
Wow, you're so awesome, I bet you're on the football team and push other kids into lockers too.Wolfram01 said:
I wish I was like you.
Telling the OP he sucks is bad forum etiqutte
I did notice that left to her own devices, Leiliana was great at running away and avoiding the fights. I just made her an archer.Kiwibloke said:
Rogues "pwn". I cannot emphasize the sheer killing power a well though out Rogue can dish out.
Firstly get Lethality then bring your cunning all the way up along with your dexterity. The new patch now makes daggers use dexterity to determine damage so if you have a rogue with high dexterity and cunning you'll be lethal as shit.
Or you can go another direction, a ranged Rogue. A rogue with a bow and a decent melee support will eradicate enemies. Abilities like scatter shot and arrow of slaying can put enemies down and you'll never even get hit, you won't even need strength if you put points into getting Lethality.
Rogue specializations are unholy as well.
Assassin makes you back stabs all the more painful and give you health back when you kill with a back stab.
Duelist not only increases your defense and attack but has an ability where for twenty seconds you will always do critical damage. That combined with momentum and/or haste can make a rogue easily deal 400 points of damage to even a High Dragon.
A rogue with Bard also makes for great support, but if you're going ranged then a Ranger is a perfect class, plus if you have a blood mage your summons can be sacrificed to fuel their abilities.
Rogues are also perfect for laying down traps, in 2nd rank stealth they can lay down plenty of traps which kill half of your enemies before they even get within spitting distance of you.
Plus if you have the DLC Warden's Keep, they give you an extra ability which makes you move faster in Stealth mode for free.
I play Nightmare mode on the PC and I have the Nightmare plus mod which basically makes the game even harder, I cannot do it with anything but a Rogue. So yes, Rogue owns.
Firstly get Lethality then bring your cunning all the way up along with your dexterity. The new patch now makes daggers use dexterity to determine damage so if you have a rogue with high dexterity and cunning you'll be lethal as shit.
Or you can go another direction, a ranged Rogue. A rogue with a bow and a decent melee support will eradicate enemies. Abilities like scatter shot and arrow of slaying can put enemies down and you'll never even get hit, you won't even need strength if you put points into getting Lethality.
Rogue specializations are unholy as well.
Assassin makes you back stabs all the more painful and give you health back when you kill with a back stab.
Duelist not only increases your defense and attack but has an ability where for twenty seconds you will always do critical damage. That combined with momentum and/or haste can make a rogue easily deal 400 points of damage to even a High Dragon.
A rogue with Bard also makes for great support, but if you're going ranged then a Ranger is a perfect class, plus if you have a blood mage your summons can be sacrificed to fuel their abilities.
Rogues are also perfect for laying down traps, in 2nd rank stealth they can lay down plenty of traps which kill half of your enemies before they even get within spitting distance of you.
Plus if you have the DLC Warden's Keep, they give you an extra ability which makes you move faster in Stealth mode for free.
I play Nightmare mode on the PC and I have the Nightmare plus mod which basically makes the game even harder, I cannot do it with anything but a Rogue. So yes, Rogue owns.
Hmmm odd I've never had issues with my rogue maybe it's because I speced well enough. Anyway, you can stealth in combat and you have a feint death. Maybe you should add some points into cunning strength and dexterity. Also try getting beter gear to. But this is also coming from that has played rogues in every game with a rogue like class and done very very well. On a side note the duelist and assassin spec is amazing and fun.
Good to know... I just don't like people acting like a dick towards the OP for no reason.DoW Lowen said:
Used a rogue on my first playthrough. Was definitely a little flimsy at first, but became fairly dominant later on.
As others have said, go with a sword/dagger then two daggers as soon as you get the dexterity -> damage skill. Strength becomes useless as a rogue once you get enough to wear the Drakeskin armour (I upped it enough to wear the Superior drake set, so about 24 or so) so most of your points should be spent on Dexterity and Cunning. Willpower and Constitution are good too, but less important particularly if you make good use of your passives to increase your defense and up in combat mana recovery.
Enchantment slotting is another big help, so make sure you have good stuff slotted at all times. I went with damage runes over stun/etc. runes. Near the end game when you're fighting Darkspawn almost exclusively I had the + Darkspawn Damage runes slotted and was one shotting almost everything outside of the leader mobs. Even early on though, slot whatever runes you find. They make a huge difference.
As far as specializations, I went Duelist/Ranger.. which appears a rather unpopular combination. I loved it though as I was more than strong enough to go toe to toe with any enemy, front or rear facing and your Ranger pets are great to have around. They do respectable damage and having an extra body for the enemies to worry about is always good. After many tough fights, myself and my pet (usually the blightwolf) would be only things left standing.
As others have said, go with a sword/dagger then two daggers as soon as you get the dexterity -> damage skill. Strength becomes useless as a rogue once you get enough to wear the Drakeskin armour (I upped it enough to wear the Superior drake set, so about 24 or so) so most of your points should be spent on Dexterity and Cunning. Willpower and Constitution are good too, but less important particularly if you make good use of your passives to increase your defense and up in combat mana recovery.
Enchantment slotting is another big help, so make sure you have good stuff slotted at all times. I went with damage runes over stun/etc. runes. Near the end game when you're fighting Darkspawn almost exclusively I had the + Darkspawn Damage runes slotted and was one shotting almost everything outside of the leader mobs. Even early on though, slot whatever runes you find. They make a huge difference.
As far as specializations, I went Duelist/Ranger.. which appears a rather unpopular combination. I loved it though as I was more than strong enough to go toe to toe with any enemy, front or rear facing and your Ranger pets are great to have around. They do respectable damage and having an extra body for the enemies to worry about is always good. After many tough fights, myself and my pet (usually the blightwolf) would be only things left standing.
As a mage? really. Stand far away, while your melee party members battle the enemies and you can cast spells such as arcane bolt, blowing them away.Jamienra said:
IMO rogues are probably the hardest class to do right. At the start it will be hell because you'll have no skills, crappy armor and no natural constitution like the warrior. Make sure you have a mage with a weapon buff sustain (cold or flaming weapons) and your damage will increase. Rogues in endgame are VERY high DPS characters, it's just the matter of getting there.
My first character was a mage and it was just plain boring, so I started over. My second is a rogue, and it kicks so much ass. Other than when fighting demons, I get to just stun every enemy, getting constant crits. I also get constant crits to the back. I'm a balanced archer/dual-wielder, but I mostly use the swords because my specials are better. I honestly don't think it's particularly hard. And when it gets too tough, you can always switch to easy mode. I often find myself having to do that while fighting larger hordes of enemies.
The damage with bows is definitely better than with weaker daggers, I just happened to get lucky and find a really nice one that does major damage. So...I'm not sure if it's actually hard and I'm just a natural, or if I'm just getting really lucky, or what, but I don't have any problems while playing rogue.
The damage with bows is definitely better than with weaker daggers, I just happened to get lucky and find a really nice one that does major damage. So...I'm not sure if it's actually hard and I'm just a natural, or if I'm just getting really lucky, or what, but I don't have any problems while playing rogue.