Character Build: Spellbinding Rogue

[masterty66]

Not sure if anyone is still playing Poe1, but whenever I get the itch to play this series I tend to do full runs. It just doesn't feel right for me starting in Poe2. I gotta get the whole experience.

And so, one of the builds that caught my eye when replaying Poe1 recently was Boeroer's Sorcerer's Apprentice. Using scrolls plus deathblows is indeed a fun concept. but I thought...what if I took that concept, and applied it to making a Rogue focused not just on scrolls but on spellbinding items as well? The end result was a build that looks actually pretty similar to what he did, but altered in a few ways. But you may notice many of the talents/skills are similar to what Boeroer took. So first off, thanks Boeroer for the inspiration!

So the idea behind this build is to pile on lots of spellbinding gear and sit in the back lines tossing around spells. So then, why use a shield and riposte? There's a few reasons for it. Number one, it makes you less likely to be the target of enemies which gives you more time to sit in the backlines and toss your spells around with impunity. As a Rogue and especially once you get Deathblows you can do tons of damage with your spellbinding items and spells. But you can't do that if you're constantly dead due to enemies bumrushing you. The shield helps there. 

However, it also gives you some flexibility. If you're out of spells or don't feel like using spells on a given encounter you can still flank and do lots of damage since Badgradr's Thrust procs benefit from Deathblows. So this guy should be a capable meleer and spellcaster both. You can use spells to soften enemies up and then wade in and clean up the remains with good melee ability. 

I also take enough lore to cast scrolls, and mechanics to handle most traps. This guy is a pretty good jack of all trades that way. You should have enough lore I think to cast most useful scrolls like Missiles and such (which benefit from deep wounds and death blows). 
 

Keep in mind though this guy carries 4 weapon slots. So you won't always sit there with a shield. When you run out of Fireballs with Flames of fair Rhian for example you might want to swap to Whitespire and toss some blizzards, or swap to Bittercut to use infestation of maggots. etc. You've got options.

Basic strategy with this guy is use your companions to inflict afflictions (Painful Interdiction, Mental Binding and the like) and then blast the hell out of them with your spellbindings/scrolls. You can then flank and clean up the few still alive after. You can also use more clever strategies and charm enemies with Munacra Arret and Ring of Changing Heart. Eventually you can use Acuan Gimas to have some fun stealing spells from enemies too.

I'm still in the process of playing this guy through and I don't have all the talents fully decided below but most of these should be the general idea. I'll try and revise this once I finish the play to make sure I have the exact talents figured out. But I think you get the idea.

Anyways it's been a fun concept so far so I hope someone gets some inspiration from this. 

 

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Spellbinding Rogue

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Difficulty: PotD v. 3.02

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Class: Rogue

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Race: Aumaua

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Background: Deadfire Archipelago - Merchant

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Stats:

 

MIG: 16

CON: 10

DEX: 13

PER: 10

INT: 18

RES: 08

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Skills: Stealth 1, Athl. 3, Lore 8, Mech. 12, Surv. 4  

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Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important)

Weapon Focus Ruffian ®

Weapon and Shield Style ®

Deep Pockets ®

Vicious Fighting

Quick Switch ®

 

Abilities

Blinding Strike

Crippling Strike

Deathblows(!)

Deep Wounds ®

Dirty Fighting

Second Wind (a)

Sneak Attack (a)

Withering Strike

Riposte

 

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Items (*=additional echantments by me; !=important, r=recommended):

 

Weapon set 1: Flames Of Fair Rhian (*Exceptional, *Corrosive Lash, *Durgan Refined), Badgradr's Barricade

Weapon Set 2: Acuan Giamas (!)

Weapon Set 3: Whitespire

Weapon Set 4: Bittercut/duplicated Flames of Fair Rhian

Boots: Animancer's Boots

 

Head: Munacra Arret

 

Armor: Sun-Touched Mail of Hyran Rath/ White Crest Armor

 

Neck: Cloak of Minor Missiles/Amulet of Summer Solstice

 

Belt: Coil of Resourcefulness/Belt of the Royal Deadfire Canoneer

 

Rings: Ring of Searing Flames, Ring of Changing Heart

 

Hands: Rotfinger Gloves

 

Quick slots: Scrolls, e.g.: Binding Web, Paralyze, Missile Barrage, Concussive Missiles, Bounding Missiles, Crackling Bolt, Rolling Flame, Maelstrom 

Edited September 12, 2020 by masterty66

[Boeroer]

Yes, you can pile up a pretty big amount of spellbindings, spellstrikings and spellholdings to a huge aresenal. I especially like the rel. early Sun-Touched Mail of Hyran Rath from the thieves that stole the scroll of Wael. By the time you get it you won't have Deathblows yet, but with the Rogue's ACC and the blinding effect its Sunbeam (3/rest) is great to have. If one does the Skaen quest right in Dyrford you can get an amulet which has another set of Sunbeams (3/rest). As you also carry as one can see. By the end of the game (and with the help of the Helwax Mold) you can nearly have as many per-rest spells as a wizard.  But with more oomph as soon as you can unlock Deathblows. 

I played Devil of Caroc almost exclusively with Badgradr's Barricade (since you can get both at roughly the same time) and Godansthunyr (to trigger Deathblows for the shield's Thrust of Tattered Veils passively) and it's awesome on a rogue. Good idea to combine the use of that shield with spellbindings.

Edited September 13, 2020 by Boeroer

[masterty66]

4 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Yes, you can pile up a pretty big amount of spellbindings, spellstrikings and spellholdings to a huge aresenal. I especially like the rel. early Sun-Touched Mail of Hyran Rath from the thieves that stole the scroll of Wael. By the time you get it you won't have Deathblows yet, but with the Rogue's ACC and the blinding effect its Sunbeam (3/rest) is great to have. If one does the Skaen quest right in Dyrford you can get an amulet which has another set of Sunbeams (3/rest). As you also carry as one can see. By the end of the game (and with the help of the Helwax Mold) you can nearly have as many per-rest spells as a wizard.  But with more oomph as soon as you can unlock Deathblows. 

I played Devil of Caroc almost exclusively with Badgradr's Barricade (since you can get both at roughly the same time) and Godansthunyr (to trigger Deathblows for the shield's Thrust of Tattered Veils passively) and it's awesome on a rogue. Good idea to combine the use of that shield with spellbindings.

Yeah it's a lot of fun. Versatile too. Sure you have your damaging spells and scrolls but you can also do things like charm enemies, paralyze them, etc.

Godansthunyr + Badgradr's is definitely an awesome combo. You could go for that with this build if you wanted to have like a core set of weapons that you would use when you don't feel like casting spells. I opted to go slightly more spellheavy and setup my weapon sets such that I always had something with spellbindings on it but if you wanted to balance more towards melee then Godansthunyr + Badgradrs is awesome and you would still have plenty of other slots on this guy to use for spellbindings when you wanted them.

This guy certainly should still be able to melee well, but it's got more of a caster bent to it.

Also I just like being able to survive while I'm slinging my spells and not have to worry so much about Lagafueth and such gunning my Rogue down before he has a chance to unleash his spells. So the shield just works so well for that, and it's an added bonus that you can dps with it too :). 

Edited September 13, 2020 by masterty66