Save me from a restart. PoE1. Rogue, heavy armour, riposte, two handed weapons

[Netherdawn]

Hello.

I bought Pillars of Eternity shortly after release but never meshed with it mechanically or storywise. After watching a lecture by Josh Sawyer on the method behind the stats ('Pillars of Eternity' and Proper Attribute Tuning) I gained a renewed interest to take the game on its own merits. I have run into a snag and hopefully someone can suggest an attribute or talent reshuffle to prevent me changing classes and restarting the save file.

I am level 4 and finishing off the side quests around Gilded Vale. Hard difficulty and using 3 npc companions. I wanted to go for a high resolve, high dexterity rogue, to see the resolve speech options, use heavy armour and not be so much of a glass canon. Coasting off the sneak attack and crit chance to do damage, and avoiding weapon specialisation to have fun with different weapons as I find them, be it dual wielding or two handed, and I wanted the build to use the riposte ability.  The problem I have is the character is still just a little too squishy and I am worried about the deflection being too low to make riposte effective as levels progress.

The Attributes are
Might - 11
Constitution - 10
Dexterity - 16
Perception -14
Intellect - 10
Resolve - 17

 

For Talents
Blind Strike
Two Handed Style
Dirty Fighting
Vicious Fighting

 

The character can stay on its toes against a non boss, non chaffe enemy but anymore and it gets a little dicey; they go down the most out of the party. They have no capacity to eject themselves from a difficult position. 
Would it be viable to readjust the stats to boost constitution or resolve? I am not interested in min maxing but maybe a less mighty rogue?
How much dexterity is needed if using heavy armour?
Are there talents I have overlooked that can keep the character in the fight, or help extradite from a bad situation?

 

With the ring of minor deflection, the deflection is around 38. Taking some hints Yellow Flash build on this forum and going sword and shield it is possible to boost the deflection higher to the 50s-60s but at the penalty of locking myself out of weapon versatility. They could never use a two handed weapon, or dual wield.
Will the lower starting deflection of rogue become less severe as levels increase? As in the penalty is worse at lower levels.
Can a non shield rogue get a high enough deflection to trigger riposte without something cheesey like dual wielding hatchets?
Will more defensive talents become available at higher levels and it would be better to tough it out a bit?

I enjoy the rogue playstyle of setting up conditions for sneak attacks. I usually open combat with a ranged sneak attack and use positioning to funnel enemies to the main tank, however the front line rarely coagulates for long. In tough fights where we get swarmed, Aloth and Durance usually go down before the rogue so it feels like the build is close to where I want it to be.
Is the lack of a dedicated off tank the problem? 
Am I trying to have my cake and eat it?

My other option would be rolling a fighter for higher endurance, deflection and  endurance regeneration, and then focussing on damaging talents to try bring the fighter dps up to a rogue's level, and using scrolls to make up for the more boring playstyle. However I don't want to redo the game and I would have to lock into a specific weapon category (soldier or adventurer, etc) for damage which limits the versatility. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Jaryn]

Hi Netherdawn.

Your rogue is just level 4. Things will improve eventually.

There is a build for rogues with Badgradr's Barricade bashing shield. The shield is enchanted with Thrust Of Tattered Veils on crit. It's damage is also increased by rogue's Sneak Attack and Deathblows.

Having a shield will help you gain more Deflection.

It's also a good idea to get either Godansthunyr war hammer or Cladhalíath spear. The hammer has the Stunning enchantment and the spear can have the Stunning enchantment depending on your choices. Both of these weapons will help you with Sneak Attacks/Deathblows but enemies will attack you less often.  

Pick the Escape ability to get out of trouble in fights or to reach the backline.

The final build would look something like this:

Crippling Strike OR Blinding Strike                          
Weapon Focus 
Escape                                                    
Weapon and Shield Style                                                 
Reckless Assault                                          
Deflecting Assault
Dirty Fighting                                            
Vicious Fighting
Riposte                                             
Bear's Fortitude                                               
Deathblows                                                
Snake's Reflexes         
Sap                                                       
Aspirant's Mark OR Superior Deflection                        
Withering Strike OR Adept Evasion   
Outlander's Frenzy OR Veteran's Recovery OR Bull's Will

 

[Jaryn]

I would personally play a different build first and, if you still want, switch to Badgradr's Barricade later in White March.

Rogue Build with Sword of Daenysis + March Steel Dagger.

Crippling Strike OR Blinding Strike                                           
Two Weapon Style 
Escape                                                    
Weapon Focus Noble
Dirty Fighting                                            
Vulnerable Attack
Deep Wounds                                              
Vicious Fighting 
Adept Evasion                                             
Snake's Reflexes                                               
Deathblows                                                
Savage Attack           
Sap                                                       
Bear's Fortitude    
Persistent Distraction                                    
Superior Deflection

 

With this build you wont be able to tank. It's more about flanking enemies and picking your targets. The weapon combination is crazy fast and accurate.

[XauripMaster]

This looks very similar to what I am planning to run on my next character (high PER and RES for dialogue purposes and Rogue because Mechanics is a pain to come by otherwise). The snag I keep running into is that Rogue is a squishy class. Bottom tier starting Deflection and Health means putting your Rogue in the vanguard is gonna suck. I've grown to accept Wound Binding is kinda mandatory on all low Health classes (I had Kana straight die without it during a certain late-game optional fight, out of a fresh rest).

For Badgradr Barricade, I was unimpressed when I ran it on Caroc. Ironically the best survivability I had on her was using Stunning or Overhearing weapons.

As far as attributes go, I think Rogues are find dropping MIG to 8 or even 6 (hell I might try noodle armed Rogue at some point just to see how it goes). A Chillfog or Tanglefoot can enable sneak attack forever and the damage modifier is additive.

[Boeroer]

You're only lvl 4 and the early game is the hardest part, especially for defensively minded characters - because there isn't much im terms of items and abilities to help you stacking up enough deflection. It doesn't help that Rogues don't have high starting deflection of course.

So it will get better! You will get better deflection gear, be able to pick Superior Deflection (I'd recommend it), have a Priest buff your deflection etc. In addition to deflection buffs you also want to lower enemies' accuracy. Check out Despondent Blows, Devotions for the Faithful, blinding or frightening spells and abilities and so on. 

A Rogue with a two hander won't be a real tank, but you can make a Riposte build work - if it's not the only thing you are focusing on but treat it more like a nice addon.

Check out the great sword "Tidefall". It improves your survivability because it drains a percentage of the damage you cause as endurance for you. It also wounds enemies, which stacks with Deep Wounds (also on Riposte attacks) which is really nice, too - because this means that they take damage over time from your Ripostes even if you are not hitting them further.

Another option is to use an overbearing two hander (the Temperacl or Hours of St. Rumbalt) which will cause prone on crit - which also improves your survivability because once an enemy is prone (from a direct crit or a crit from a Riposte) he/she cannot attack your for some time (and also unlock Sneak Attack at the same time).

The third option is to use the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer (and maybe Forgemaster Gloves, too) and use the summoned great sword Firebrand. It has almost twice the base damage of a normal great sword and thus its attacks hit incredibly hard, especially with Rogues and their several damage bonuses. It's not the fastest weapon (compared to durganized stuff) but that's countered by the occasional instant Riposte attack. If the enemies already have an affliction that unlocks Sneak Attacks, a single Riposte might be enough to one-shot them (at lower levels - high level enemies have too big of an endurance pool to be one-shot by anything). 

Keep in mind that getting flanked is an automatic -10 deflection malus - so try to not get surrounded and flanked.  Imstead take on one (or two) enemy in front of you and keep your back free of enemies if possible. Use Escape and other mobility abilities to get out of a flanked position.

 

 

Edited May 28 by Boeroer