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

[Platinum117]

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...

 

[Zenode]

I tried rogue once, couldn't even get to the stage of becoming a warden, so yes i believe that its a goddamn hard class to play

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You CAN stealth during combat, once you get it to a high enough rank.

 

[Jamienra]

As a mage i got my arse handed to me a lot. It seems pretty unbalanced class wise to be honest. I thought rouges would have been ok though

 

[sms_117b]

I'm trying to play through as 2 different rogues now, one a dual wielder the other a archer, the archer fares a lot better! To be honest I normally use Sten to draw the attention with threaten, massive armor and the Reaver ability (intimidating shout?), that way my rogue doesn't tend to be on the wrong of any attacks.

But I know what you mean, and playing a rogue is just a *****, especially as I'm used to a warrior

 

[azzamatazz]

DUALIST ROUGE FTW! or just go archer and hang way back and let your party members do the tanking

 

[Baby Tea]

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.

 

[Gralian]

Make sure you're actually using daggers, not swords... I think backstabbing with a sword only does trivial damage. I made that mistake too. Decide if you're going to be a backstabby sneaky kind of rogue, a full on frontal berserker kind of rogue with two swords, or an archer. Deciding on what kind to be helps in picking future talents and gets you in a kind of groove for attacking the enemy. Don't pick heavy armour, use only daggers for backstabbing and don't be the first one to engage the enemy. And yes, get better gear - daggers go for higher crit chance, so look for that instead of pure damage.

 

[Jenova65]

I love playing as a rogue, I find it the most satisfying of the choices! I think DA can occasionally hand your ass to you just make sure you are paying attention ;-) That said haven't really had a ass handing session as such, couple of areas that made me try a bit harder, but that's all (maybe you could turn the difficulty down)

 

[Quad08]

Rouge is one of my favorite classes to play as. Assassin and duelist skills, plus duel weapons equals amazing

 

[Amnestic]

As a mage i got my arse handed to me a lot. It seems pretty unbalanced class wise to be honest. I thought rouges would have been ok though

You're doing it wrong. Mages are without a doubt the most powerful class in the game, capable of soloing the hardest difficulty.

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?

You need a maximum of 22 Strength (iirc) to be able to wear the top level rogue armour stuffs. Pretty much everything else should be getting pumped into Dexterity with a sprinkle in others for your health/fatigue stats.

Dual Wield rogues are one of the highest DPS classes in the game. They don't have the powerhouse abilities of a mage (who are unrivalled in pure flexibility) but they can hit hard and hit fast.

 

[Platinum117]

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.

Ime trying to get better equipment now actually, but i cant find decent daggers anywhere. Ive found no dagger past steel which sucks ass, i guess i can go mainhand longsword but ive tried that and i still got raped in a one on one against some templar dude. i stunned the shit out of him and backstabbed like crazy but im still only hitting maximum 17's from backstabs... DO i need better weps?

 

[Platinum117]

Make sure you're actually using daggers, not swords... I think backstabbing with a sword only does trivial damage. I made that mistake too. Decide if you're going to be a backstabby sneaky kind of rogue, a full on frontal berserker kind of rogue with two swords, or an archer. Deciding on what kind to be helps in picking future talents and gets you in a kind of groove for attacking the enemy. Don't pick heavy armour, use only daggers for backstabbing and don't be the first one to engage the enemy. And yes, get better gear - daggers go for higher crit chance, so look for that instead of pure damage.

Okay thanks this helps, ill stick with my daggers for the moment but i never seem to get critical hits.. like ever. I cant tell actually because the game is a such a clusterfuck of numbers that you cant tell when you are making hits or if its your allys. I dont think ive ever dealth higher than 17 damage in a hit which is pathetic. What sort of damage should a critical hit from a level 10 rogue be doing? Two daggers and about 28 dexterity? I swear im doing something wrong.

 

[Steampunk Viking]

Rogue + Arrow of Slaying = Epic Win.

My first character was a Rogue and he kicked ass, just use them for DPS instead of tanking and you should be fine. Also, high level stealth will allow you to stealth in combat. Also, if you're going melee, ALWAYS attack from behind, even if unstealthed and I think ever hit will be a critical (it deals more damage at least...)

 

[Jamienra]

As a mage i got my arse handed to me a lot. It seems pretty unbalanced class wise to be honest. I thought rouges would have been ok though

You're doing it wrong. Mages are without a doubt the most powerful class in the game, capable of soloing the hardest difficulty.

I found that up to the ogre it was extremely difficult as the spells were very week. Even after Redcliffe it was quite difficult. maybe now i have a new spell that seems ridiculously powerful i'll be ok

 

[Baby Tea]

Ime trying to get better equipment now actually, but i cant find decent daggers anywhere. Ive found no dagger past steel which sucks ass, i guess i can go mainhand longsword but ive tried that and i still got raped in a one on one against some templar dude. i stunned the shit out of him and backstabbed like crazy but im still only hitting maximum 17's from backstabs... DO i need better weps?

I didn't use two daggers until I had two bad-ass daggers.
Otherwise, I was using a dagger and a bad-ass sword.

Don't forget about poisons or traps, either. Both very effective and handy. Toss a grenade out there to lure them into a trap where they get even more damage done and then you back-stab them to death. Remember that the rogue isn't a 'take 'em on' class. It's a complimentary class. It's the support class. Warriors tank, Mages AOE, and Rogues disable and debilitate. You've got to work with your team.

 

[Sparrow]

The way I see it, Warriors are the easiest but the weakest class to use. Mages are quite difficult to master, but definately the best class in the game. Rouges just need to rely on a heavy hitter within the group and a tank. I recommend Sten/Shale with Alistair/Oghren.

 

[Gralian]

Make sure you're actually using daggers, not swords... I think backstabbing with a sword only does trivial damage. I made that mistake too. Decide if you're going to be a backstabby sneaky kind of rogue, a full on frontal berserker kind of rogue with two swords, or an archer. Deciding on what kind to be helps in picking future talents and gets you in a kind of groove for attacking the enemy. Don't pick heavy armour, use only daggers for backstabbing and don't be the first one to engage the enemy. And yes, get better gear - daggers go for higher crit chance, so look for that instead of pure damage.

Okay thanks this helps, ill stick with my daggers for the moment but i never seem to get critical hits.. like ever. I cant tell actually because the game is a such a clusterfuck of numbers that you cant tell when you are making hits or if its your allys. I dont think ive ever dealth higher than 17 damage in a hit which is pathetic. What sort of damage should a critical hit from a level 10 rogue be doing? Two daggers and about 28 dexterity? I swear im doing something wrong.

It's not pathetic. Leliana hits for around that much when she goes to melee. You need to understand that rogues hit fast as opposed to warriors. My level 20 two-handed warrior can crit for around 70 to 80 damage for example, but he moves so darn slow that he can only get a few hits off before he is knocked on his ass. Rogues attack fast, which results in high dps as opposed to spike dps. That 17 or 20 crit damage you're doing could easily double or triple in the space of a few seconds, while a warrior would only get one crit off if he's lucky. Just keep your chin up and stick with it. It's never that easy in the beginning. Once you do one of the major quests (like Paragon of her Kind etc) it gets a lot easier to do the others because you've started to get better gear.

 

[Amazigh]

As a mage i got my arse handed to me a lot. It seems pretty unbalanced class wise to be honest. I thought rouges would have been ok though

You're doing it wrong. Mages are without a doubt the most powerful class in the game, capable of soloing the hardest difficulty.

I found that up to the ogre it was extremely difficult as the spells were very week. Even after Redcliffe it was quite difficult. maybe now i have a new spell that seems ridiculously powerful i'll be ok

Cone of Cold?