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

[Ivan913]

Honestly, not to be rude, but I'm surprised your having as much difficulty as you are. My rogue is a fricken powerhouse. The tricks (or at least my tricks) to making a good rogue are as follows:

- Dual wield daggers, and make sure to get Momentum AS FAST AS YOU CAN. I cant stress how important it is to have this when your in the back doing your back stabs. You individual hits will seem kinda small compared to a 2h warrior and other classes, but the sheer speed makes up for it and more.

- Good equipment. Honestly, do all you can to get stuff that adds to your crit chance and adds on to your crits and backstabs.

- Add a lot to your dex at the beginning. Since your pretty frail a a rogue (Wynne had more health thean me most of time in my save) dex will make it hard to hit you, eventually so much so that you'll only get hit like every 10 or so strikes at you (especially with Evasion) later on when your pretty safe with that, add a lot to cunning as well.

- Make sure you have a good tank like Alistair or Shale. They'll usually take the hits while you go in the back taking out the baddies one by one.

These worked for me beautifully, and should work for you too.

 

[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

Cone of Cold?

No i cant remember the actual name but its a huge radius fireball that knocks everything down whiles setting them on fire

 

[Uilleand]

I loves my rogue...
Stealth + archery kill shot = glee!!
Plus I use her to sneak up on HUGE hoards of enemies and draw them out, one at a time to follow me around the corner...
*Genlock emmisary looks up* O HAI, Sten! *squish*

 

[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?

No i cant remember the actual name but its a huge radius fireball that knocks everything down whiles setting them on fire

Can't go wrong with knockdowns and fire.

 

[Eatbrainz]

Mage is the best class for clearing rooms, especially with the upgraded Walking Bomb spell.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

No i cant remember the actual name but its a huge radius fireball that knocks everything down whiles setting them on fire

That spell is actually just called "Fireball", heh.

 

[thedailylunatic]

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.

 

[Desert Tiger]

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

Only unbalanced things about it is that mages are without a doubt the best class in the game.

 

[GloatingSwine]

Lurk Moar.

Get a big scary mate to take the aggro, then stab dudes.

 

[high_castle]

The rogue is actually my favorite class and one of the most powerful (far more versatile than the warrior). However, it's easy to lose focus and spread your skill points into a variety of skills, thus making a very weak jack-of-all-trades. So decide right now whether you're there for melee DPS or party buffs. Melee works the best, IMO.

My rogues usually ignore the Dual Striking->Riposte->Cripple->Punisher chain, at least at the outset. They're useful, but nowhere near as useful as Dual Sweep->Flurry->Momentum->Whirlwind. If you can re-spec (PC version only), do it. It will probably make your life easier. Dual Sweep and Whirlwind are awesome for crowd control. Save them for when you deal too much damage, draw all the threat, and wind up surrounded. You'll get yourself out of a lot of trouble with Whirlwind.

As far as stealth goes, you can absolutely use it in combat. For my melee DPS rogues, I always grab Stealth IV when it becomes available. Stealth III allows you to engage in combat while stealth, but IV masks you from a greater number of enemies. Remember that some bosses will always see through you no matter what, but it's still a great tool for the myriad of other fights in the game. Also make sure you grab Coup de Grace as soon as possible for the chance to auto-backstab anyone stunned, paralyzed, or incapacitated. Then set your mage up with Glyph of Paralysis, Petrify, and Crushing Prison and unleash your rogue. Fun times.

As far as specs go, I like Assassin best. Mostly for Feast of the Fallen and Mark of Death. The former allows you to deal out more damage, especially useful in boss fights, while the latter restores stamina from foes killed with a backstab. The rogue lives off his skills. You should have Momentum turned on all the time, and be using Dual Sweep, Flurry, Mark of Death, and Dirty Fighting regularly. These eat stamina, so FotF really helps you keep up your reserves.

In short, don't underestimate the rogue. My rogues always get the killing blows for all bosses. They're the easiest to keep alive, the most versatile in combat, and they get some really cool moves. Keep trying, play around with the skills, and see what you like. Of course, at the end of the day, everyone's different. I, for instance, can't stand sword-and-board, but that may be your preferred style.

 

[Lemon Of Life]

I played through on normal, and got my ass handed to me again and again as a warrior. Damn I must suck. Fantastic game though, the dialogue and choices were what kept me going. And the combat is great, just a bit hard for my liking.

 

[UnusualStranger]

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...

Personally, it sounds like your rogue might not be focused. Are you going for the sneaky backstabs? Upgrade stealth up to where you can use it in combat. (Very useful) Also, have a much higher DEX and Cunning at all times. And there is a skill which replaces STR with you Cunning, which would be extremely helpful.

Perhaps you are more warrior style rogue? Work on that Con and Dex. Have duel weapons, but you can have a full blown sword and knife (works for me anyways) While STR isn't important, don't let it lag too far behind. I find being able to wear scale armor is good for the level you are at.

 

[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.

 

[Spygon]

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

This is how i played my first character and got the same amazing kick ass results.

Rogues are awesome just use better equipment and stop trying to use them like a warrior.Use sneak attacks on people then disappear from the main fights to find you next target.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Try a lower level setting, get used to it and come back

 

[Undeleted]

Get lethality and pump cunning. Put a few points in dex now and then so you can equip daggers.

 

[Wolfram23]

OP: You sound like you suck. I first played the game as a warrior, it was alright I played for maybe 15hrs then tried a mage with my gf, then tried a new game as a rogue. And guess what? The rogue made the game so, so easy. By far the most consistent high damage character I've played with yet (dps not per hit), he's at about the same place my warrior was but is in much better shape. I use Alistair as a tank (in this game, you really don't need to PLAY as the tank) and pwn shit on my rogue (DW daggers ftw).

Still, the combat is so messed on console that I got bored and have been playing every other game I own instead of finishing DA:O...

Also, I played on the hardest difficulty.