Dragon Age Origins: Getting your ass handed to you again and again as a rogue

[MiracleOfSound]

It's a tough game.

I had to drop the difficulty halfway through my game as a warrior, but I'm determined to keep it at normal for my mage playthrough.

Mage was very dominate for me. Arcane Warrior + Blood Mage = hax.

It certainly helps a lot being able to heal yourself in the solo parts without wasting all your potions.

That's the biggest problem I have, I can never seem to have enough potions and they run out real quick.

 

[LWS666]

mellee is hard. i figured a dwarf mellee fighter would be easy. i was PWND on easy difficulty.

 

[Amnestic]

It's a tough game.

I had to drop the difficulty halfway through my game as a warrior, but I'm determined to keep it at normal for my mage playthrough.

Mage was very dominate for me. Arcane Warrior + Blood Mage = hax.

It certainly helps a lot being able to heal yourself in the solo parts without wasting all your potions.

That's the biggest problem I have, I can never seem to have enough potions and they run out real quick.

Go mage tower and get Wynne. Your healing needs will be all covered if you set up her tactics properly.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

It's a tough game.

I had to drop the difficulty halfway through my game as a warrior, but I'm determined to keep it at normal for my mage playthrough.

Mage was very dominate for me. Arcane Warrior + Blood Mage = hax.

It certainly helps a lot being able to heal yourself in the solo parts without wasting all your potions.

That's the biggest problem I have, I can never seem to have enough potions and they run out real quick.

Go mage tower and get Wynne. Your healing needs will be all covered if you set up her tactics properly.

I love Wynne... my game got way easier when I found her.

SHe needs micro management though, she never does what I tell her in the tactcis screen!

 

[Computer Ed]

To play a Rogue class in most RPGs is as much about the play style and mind set as the actual mechanics. I have played a Rogue in DAO, was my first character in fact and found it a bit easy so I did my second, current one and upped the difficulty, still not impossible, I am having a blast.

You have to THINK like a rogue. You pick where the fights happen and how. Make use of traps, poisons and bombs to control the flow of the fight. Solo I can deal with rooms up to 5 or 6 with no problem.

Also do not be afraid to run. Pick the fight quick and then run away for a bit, the AI will drop back slowly and where you started with 10 enemies you might end up with 4 and be able to turn and fight on your terms.

As for specialties, I chose Duelist and Assasin. Everything fears me with dual daggers.

 

[TPiddy]

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.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but pretty much all Darkspawn in the final battle are one shotters, no matter who you're playing or what attack you use... only the Shrieks and Ogres and Emissaries take more than one hit.

 

[StriderShinryu]

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.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but pretty much all Darkspawn in the final battle are one shotters, no matter who you're playing or what attack you use... only the Shrieks and Ogres and Emissaries take more than one hit.

And here I thought I was doing something right lol Either way, the runes really do help.

 

[Sanguinius- The Angel]

I played a dual wield rogue, and it sounds to me like your problem is the lack of Cunning. Cunning is REALLY important for a Rogue, seconded only by dexterity. My Rogue had I think.. 48 Cunning? Somewhere around that, and was doing a LOT of damage. So much, that he was pulling off of Alastair, who was my tank character.

 

[GyroCaptain]

You can't stealth during combat

Yes, you can. Just get it higher the level 1.

your unique class attack namely backstab gives you all of about 4 extra damage per attack.

Get better equipment. I was going massive damage with back-stabs as a rogue.
Not to mention traps I could use and throw around.

I played through the game my first time with a rogue, and I slaughtered everything.
Specifically mages.

There certainly were hard parts, but I loved my rogue.

This. I beat the game the first time as a rogue, and on hard. I did die a good bit, but after about level 15 it started to roll over into a rogue shenanigans-fest where the rest of the party was slowing me down.

 

[Ham Blitz]

I am not sure. My rogue (Dual Daggers) kicks massive amount of ass, and it has been awhile since I had the problem of dying. It might just be the tactics or backup your using with them. Stealth is a fairly useless skill(Or at least for me), granted, though with skills like momentum combined with the ability to backstab enemies from any angle if they are stunned, the dirty fighting skill, and daggers with rune that can paralyze, Rogues can get a lot of damage in. (It might also help to have that one skill that makes cunning your strength. Choosing the Ranger does tend to help with them, since you get another damage taker and distraction.

 

[Daedalus1942]

I'd just like to ask a question and get some opinions, is the rogue the worst class to play? You can't stealth during combat, your unique class attack namely backstab gives you all of about 4 extra damage per attack. This is pathetic seeing as the warrior can do more damage with its basic attack from the front. What the hell is the point in playing a class that still sucks even in its specialities?

Do i just suck? What am i doing wrong? Im a fairly low level, around 9 or 10 but i really dont think im doing anything particularly wrong. I get behind enemies while stealthed and use my amazing backstab ability to do all of about 1 and a half times normal damage which fucking sucks anyway...what the fuck? I know im not meant to be some sort of juggernaught but i am meant to be the critical hitter, assisting and making the killing blows to enemies otherwise occupied with the bigger tank threats. Even my speical attacks seem to do no more damage than my normal ones. FOr instance i recently aquired a few duel weapon attacks like riposte and cripple, both of which seem to do absolutely nothing...

I agree, it's fairly difficult. I did the whole of The Fade on normal, UNTIL I got to that fucking Sloth Demon. On normal I could get him down to his last form, but I wasn't able to kill that one. After about the 40th time dying I changed it to easy, just so I could beat the shit, but yes, you're right, it would seem it's the most difficult class.
I've since changed it back to normal, but I really hate not being able to play the game the way it was meant to be played.

 

[Amnestic]

Choosing the Ranger does tend to help with them, since you get another damage taker and distraction.

Important Thing to Remember: Pretty sure you can only have one Ranger pet in your party at a time, so you don't want a second Ranger (say, Leliana) if you yourself have chosen Ranger.

 

[Ham Blitz]

Choosing the Ranger does tend to help with them, since you get another damage taker and distraction.

Important Thing to Remember: Pretty sure you can only have one Ranger pet in your party at a time, so you don't want a second Ranger (say, Leliana) if you yourself have chosen Ranger.

Ah yes, my friend warned me of that. Luckily, I don't use Leliana as my rogue, but yes, that is probably a very good piece of advice.

 

[high_castle]

Choosing the Ranger does tend to help with them, since you get another damage taker and distraction.

Important Thing to Remember: Pretty sure you can only have one Ranger pet in your party at a time, so you don't want a second Ranger (say, Leliana) if you yourself have chosen Ranger.

Ah yes, my friend warned me of that. Luckily, I don't use Leliana as my rogue, but yes, that is probably a very good piece of advice.

Honestly, I found ranger rather overrated anyway. Useful only to a support style rogue and not really another damage dealer. There are so many other ways you can draw threat and distract enemies, while summoning those pets eats up a colossal amount of stamina. You won't be able to use combat skills nearly as often. And you also won't be able to use Momentum most likely, since that too is a sustained skill. At higher levels or with the right equipment, it gets easier, but...meh. I never felt like the ranger pets made a great difference in battles. Certainly never one that could justify the stamina hit it takes to keep them around.

 

[Ironsouled]

I'm playing a rogue on the highest available difficulty and it's not that bad. You just have to make sure that your tank draws threat and that you stay behind enemies. I actually beefed up strength to the point that I can wear the armor of diligence, and I still have enough dex and cunning to be effective; my only problem is keeping a low profile so I don't draw threat.

Btw, my first play-through was with a mage, and it's certainly the best class in the game. Once again, the trick is not drawing too much threat with all the massive amounts of damage you do and, depending on the difficulty, not nuking your team-mates.

I'm with him... though my first play through was as a warrior (yeah yeah jaw jaw boring fag etc. etc.) I then found MAge and after figuring out the perfect means of flaming death... never looked back. I have a rogue, and enjoy playing him... Archer rogue of course. I like it 2 ways. A) don't get hit B) take all available damage and laugh at the pathetic little nubcakes.

 

[Darkblaven]

Actually, I'm doing better as my Rogue, then my previous Mage class. I guess I'm just used to playing a rogue in most games.

 

[Postman667]

Rogues do more damage overtime than warriors, especially if you take Duelist and Assassin spec.

 

[JWW]

Dragon Age looks just like WoW but singleplayer with more interesting quests and a better plot. There are hardly any reflexes needed: its combat system is basically done in shin kicking mmorpg style (you aim some spells, but it doesn't make up for the rest).

Therefore: Dragon Age's stealth is nonexistant.

 

[TPiddy]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but pretty much all Darkspawn in the final battle are one shotters, no matter who you're playing or what attack you use... only the Shrieks and Ogres and Emissaries take more than one hit.

And here I thought I was doing something right lol Either way, the runes really do help.

Yeah, I thought I was pretty good too, until I realized that a single shot from my staff that did 19 damage was enough to kill one of the grunts... Now that I know better I conserve using my talents for bigger opponents.

 

[TPiddy]

Honestly, I found ranger rather overrated anyway. Useful only to a support style rogue and not really another damage dealer. There are so many other ways you can draw threat and distract enemies, while summoning those pets eats up a colossal amount of stamina. You won't be able to use combat skills nearly as often. And you also won't be able to use Momentum most likely, since that too is a sustained skill. At higher levels or with the right equipment, it gets easier, but...meh. I never felt like the ranger pets made a great difference in battles. Certainly never one that could justify the stamina hit it takes to keep them around.

If you spec well as a ranger, by putting more points into willpower, etc... you can be very good. I had a ranger / archer rogue, and the poisonous spider comes in really handy. Will poison and web ball people for you as well, and draws some of the aggro. Combine that with archer talents like Scattershot and Arrow of Slaying and you're a pretty effective support group. I had Sten / Oghren for tanking and Morrigan for healing but I hardly ever got touched.