Reason to go Rogue?

[Griffonheart]

It appears that most of the benefits came from early on, even Deathblow is obtainable in multi class, so is there any to go single class Rogue?

[Elric Galad]

High acc Gambit build or High Int godmode Vanishing Strikes

[Not So Clever Hound]

I would also add, as @thelee pointed out in his guide, that Rogues are one of a few martial classes with Monks that benefit substantially from PL increase due to Sneak Attack. This, on top of the 2 high level abilities that @Elric Galad mentioned can be really good - and of course lots of Guile.

On the other hand, Rogue is one of the best MC options and you can easily mitigate the loss of your high-level abilities and PL with a synergistic class. For example, pick vanilla Cipher with Assassin, take Biting Whip and Hammering Thoughts and you're already better at dealing weapon damage than SC Assassin, with the benefit of an extra class on top. You can go Soulblade with Melee too for an additional one-shot option in your arsenal. Add the DoC breastplate and a swim in the Luminous Bathouse and you have 12 Guile at max level which is still a lot to play with.

[Jayd]

With enough Guile and accuracy Gambit is an infinite deletion machine. The problem with SC Rogues isn't that they don't get high level goodies but that their high level goodies are so good that they encourage you to use nothing else, making them potentially get stale quickly.

[Boeroer]

Yes, against normal foes Gambit is great. Vanishing Strikes calls for a different playstyle, but it's also very cool.

It's also true that you will only use passives and no other offensive ability then. But I find that's a problem with all classes that have a finite resource pool: Since the offensive abilites compete for the scarce ability AND resource points a player is somewhat encouraged to focus on one main attack ability. Even with MC Rogues I often only use Crippling Strike/Arterial Strike. Only if I do a DoT build I will use Arterial + Gouging Strike, Toxic Strike and Ring the Bell (because the different DoTs stack). But that's a very special case. 

[Not So Clever Hound]

14 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Only if I do a DoT build I will use Arterial + Gouging Strike, Toxic Strike and Ring the Bell (because the different DoTs stack). But that's a very special case. 

I wonder what the name of this build is... "Captain Overkill"?  Maybe with dual-wielding Axes to apply stacking Bleeding Cuts and of course Deep Wounds on top? Besides bosses, what on Eora is still alive after those 4 full attacks that requires such a festival of DoTs? Is it a build to use when playing with a FuryShaper with the Blood Ward and stay alive through boss fights?

[Boeroer]

It's a nice build to just shred high DR stuff. Good riddance Steelclads and friends.

Underpenetration and low weapon dmg don't matter that much. I won't use all of those attacks on every enemy though. Some are immune to poison so no Toxic Strike, some enemies don't move so no Arterial Strike, Gouging Strike is pretty low DoT so it often only gets used if the rest isn't enough (or when I dispatch overleved enemies with a Gouging Strike + Lover's Embrace from stealth) and so on. 

I didn't use Battle Axes (total overkill) but daggers for the speed. Especially Pukestabber. Full Attacks with dual daggers and Pukestabber have really short recovery so you can breeze from enemy to enemy and deliver some nice DoTs and also potentially interrupt in a rel. quick time. 

Rogue/Ranger isn't bad for this. High ACC and you can use Evasive Roll instead of Escape to zip around but don't waste Guile. Shadowdancer is also very nice because of the high INT.  

[Not So Clever Hound]

I see! Now I get it, I was wondering if you were getting at a specific item/party crazy combo synergy by stacking those 4 DoTs since you mentioned you stacked them. But yes it must bring a lot of flexibility, and I can totally see Rogue/Ranger being strong with this setup, like a Deadfire Corvo Blinking from one enemy to the other and doing his dirty work.

Shadowdancer would be very strong with Toxic Strike.

And of course, Arterial Strike is the bane of Steelclads and any similar tough melee enemy that doesn't have a weakness to DEX affliction because otherwise they can't move, which defeats the purpose.   

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[Boeroer]

I like Ring the Bell the most actually. It's a tad pricy but it always works, the ticks are high and it lasts pretty long. Toxic Strike can be brutal but immunity to poison isn't that uncommon unfortunately.

If you start from stealth against a Steelclad and apply Gouging Strike + Lover's Embrace, Deep Wounds, Ring the Bell and then Arterial Strike in a quick flurry and then zip away you can watch it melt while it tries to catch up - even if your PEN is total crap. It's fun imo.

[Not So Clever Hound]

You could be the one that beat a Steelclad with bare fists without Monastic Unarmed Training or Transcendant Suffering. There has to be an achievement for that .

I agree on Toxic Strike but it has a special spot in my Deadfire heart because with high INT those last DoTs are insane, and with the Weakened affliction there is hardly a chance that a target will outheal its effect. Toxic Strike + Disintegration is fun to take out a sturdy opponent surrounded by healers and watch them try to desperately keep it alive - and fail. Helpful in very few situations where it's inconvenient to take out the healers first.

I haven't used Ring the Bell a lot because I've mostly played 2H Rogues (ranged or melee). I will try it out further!

[Boeroer]

1 minute ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

You could be the one that beat a Steelclad with bare fists without Monastic Unarmed Training or Transcendant Suffering. There has to be an achievement for that .

If it weren't for the bad accuracy I would be all in.