Would this rogue build work (newbie player)?

[Oxford_Guy]

After some internal debate (and questions here) about what class to play for my first proper game of Pillars of Eternity, now that 3.0 is out, and despite some warnings that it may not be the best class to play for an initial game, I think I'd like to play as a rogue, as this has been my favourite type of class to play in other cRPGs, but I'm not at all sure how to allocate my stats (apart from general recommendations in the character creation screens that Might and Dexterity are very import and Perception and Intellect are fairly important). 

 

I don't like to ultra min-max my characters in cRPGs, though, so what would be a good stat allocation (i.e. actual numbers) for a rogue build, if setting a limit that the minimum that I would tank a single stat to would be, say, 8 (maybe one stat as low as 6?)?

 

I was thinking of playing a rogue who was a human or wood elf from a noble or dissident background

 

Was thinking along the lines of a stealthy, stabby rogue, armed with stilletos (maybe rapiers or sabres) and maybe pistols to open with, with decent intelligence and perception, and favouring accuracy over massive brute strength

 

I'll be playing this game on normal difficulty and with the in-game companions, so my player character will be the only custom build.

 

Would something like this work?:

 

Wood Elf

Old Vailian - Dissident

 

Mig 16

Con 8

Dex 18

Per 16

Int 12

Res 8

 

Blinding Strike

 

Am open to suggestions to tweak this, if this build looks no good, or even if just needs some small tweaks...

 

 

 

 

[DreamWayfarer]

Wood Elf

Old Vailian - Dissident

 

Mig 16

Con 8

Dex 18

Per 16

Int 12

Res 8

 

Blinding Strike

 

Am open to suggestions to tweak this, if this build looks no good, or even if just needs some small tweaks...

 

 

 

Wood elfs are not too good a race for a rogue that will be on melee most of the time, even if you open with guns. If you want an elf, Pale Elfs are always a solid pick. If you are willing to try other races, Island Aumana have great flexibility with the extra weapon slot, and can do some serious burst damage by quick switching guns. Hearth Orlans are also very good, since you will generaly want to flank foes with a Rogue anyway.

 

For the attributs, I'd suggest droping Might a bit to invest into Perceotion and Dextery, since the bonus damage stacks additively, and sneak attack already gives you +50% damage. More DEX and PER could serve you better. There are some builds that benefit from INT, like applying Deathblows(was that the DoT skill? Long time since I played a Rogue) with Concussive Missiles scrolls, but I woudn't raise it above 14 on a rogue of mine.

 

And I would suggest taking Crippling Strike instead of Blinding Strike, since it is 2 per encounter and you generaly use other party members to disable your foes anyway.

 

EDIT: I would suggest this, but I am no Rogue expert:

 

Pale Elf

 

Deadfire Arquipelago

 

10 MIG

 

20 DEX

 

08 CON

 

16 PER

 

08 INT

 

16 RES

Edited February 17, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Wolken3156]

Deathblows is the massive damage mod that applies when an enemy meets two conditions required for Sneak Attacks. You're probably thinking of Deep Wounds, which is an amazing DoT effect. You don't really need INT for it though, since it'll get reapplied every time the Rogue attacks.

[DreamWayfarer]

Deathblows is the massive damage mod that applies when an enemy meets two conditions required for Sneak Attacks. You're probably thinking of Deep Wounds, which is an amazing DoT effect. You don't really need INT for it though, since it'll get reapplied every time the Rogue attacks.

Yeah, but with a ranged Rogue and a hunting bow, or with a Concussive/Bounding Missiles scroll, you could apply it on many foes(AKA, Boeroer's Mad Hornet). But then, the OP wants a melee Rogue, so you are right. I will edit my post.

[Oxford_Guy]

 

Wood Elf

Old Vailian - Dissident

 

Mig 16

Con 8

Dex 18

Per 16

Int 12

Res 8

 

Blinding Strike

 

Am open to suggestions to tweak this, if this build looks no good, or even if just needs some small tweaks...

 

 

Wood elfs are not too good a race for a rogue that will be on melee most of the time, even if you open with guns. If you want an elf, Pale Elfs are always a solid pick. If you are willing to try other races, Island Aumana have great flexibility with the extra weapon slot, and can do some serious burst damage by quick switching guns. Hearth Orlans are also very good, since you will generaly want to flank foes with a Rogue anyway.

 

For the attributs, I'd suggest droping Might a bit to invest into Perceotion and Dextery, since the bonus damage stacks additively, and sneak attack already gives you +50% damage. More DEX and PER could serve you better. There are some builds that benefit from INT, like applying Deathblows(was that the DoT skill? Long time since I played a Rogue) with Concussive Missiles scrolls, but I woudn't raise it above 14 on a rogue of mine.

 

And I would suggest taking Crippling Strike instead of Blinding Strike, since it is 2 per encounter and you generaly use other party members to disable your foes anyway.

 

EDIT: I would suggest this, but I am no Rogue expert:

 

Pale Elf

 

Deadfire Arquipelago

 

10 MIG

 

20 DEX

 

08 CON

 

16 PER

 

08 INT

 

16 RES

 

 

Are there any disadvantages to a rogue having INT that low? Or to put it another way, what advantages would higher INT give a rogue? Are there any rogue skills or abilities that would be disadvantaged by low INT?

Edited February 17, 2016 by Oxford_Guy

[Wolken3156]

Your afflictions from Blinding Strike, Crippling Strike, Withering Strike and Fearsome Strike won't last as long. If you have the expansions, Smoke Cloud, Sap and Feign Death also won't last as long, and Smoke Clouds radius will be smaller. Beyond that though, it doesn't really affect all that much, you can always have a Wizard or Druid set up the same afflictions to help out with generating Sneak Attacks.

 

As the main character though, there are times when INT is called for during dialog and quests, but its not too terribly important.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Wolken3156

[Oxford_Guy]

Your afflictions from Blinding Strike, Crippling Strike, Withering Strike and Fearsome Strike won't last as long. If you have the expansions, Smoke Cloud, Sap and Feign Death also won't last as long, and Smoke Clouds radius will be smaller. Beyond that though, it doesn't really affect all that much, you can always have a Wizard or Druid set up the same afflictions to help out with generating Sneak Attacks.

 

As the main character though, there are times when INT is called for during dialog and quests, but its not too terribly important.

 

Okay, I could be tempted to push INT up to 10 or so, maybe at the expense of RES?

[DreamWayfarer]

Okay, I could be tempted to push INT up to 10 or so, maybe at the expense of RES?

I would lower DEX to 18 or MIG to 8 instead, since RES is the most important attribute for conversations. Edited February 17, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Abalon]

Generally I always dump int on my rogues less it's a ranged rogue build where you want to use tall grass or borelain for melee rogue I typically go 13 might, 8 con, 18 perc, 18 dex, 4 int, 18 resolve

 

I prefer moon godlike for meta gaming but Orlanot works well too

[DreamWayfarer]

Generally I always dump int on my rogues less it's a ranged rogue build where you want to use tall grass or borelain for melee rogue I typically go 13 might, 8 con, 18 perc, 18 dex, 4 int, 18 resolve

 

I prefer moon godlike for meta gaming but Orlanot works well too

Well, the OP has said he does not want to drop anything below 8 if possible.

[Oxford_Guy]

 

Generally I always dump int on my rogues less it's a ranged rogue build where you want to use tall grass or borelain for melee rogue I typically go 13 might, 8 con, 18 perc, 18 dex, 4 int, 18 resolve

I prefer moon godlike for meta gaming but Orlanot works well too

Well, the OP has said he does not want to drop anything below 8 if possible.

Indeed, and I certainly wouldn't want my character to have less than 8 INT, don't like the idea of my character being a moron...

[DreamWayfarer]

Indeed, and I certainly wouldn't want my character to have less than 8 INT, don't like the idea of my character being a moron...

To be fair, when roleplaying I take INT to mean not all aspects of intelligence, but the ability to make abstract connections between pieces of information, to quickly extrapolate what will happen based on what you know, and even some measure of mental discipline.

 

A character with little INT to me is someone who sees things directly without grasping or even considering their implications, but not a complete moron. This also allows for a 7 INT char to share many dialogue options with a 17 INT one without things being unbelievable.

 

But I still don't minmax, as I find that attributes lower than 8, or at most 7, just look unbalanced and weird to me.

Edited February 17, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Oxford_Guy]

Okay I've gone with:

 

Arabella

 

Female Pale Elf

 

Deadfire Archipelago - Raider - my conceit for how a Pale Elf ended up in the Deadlier Archipelago is that she was captured young by pirates )

 

10 MIG

 

08 CON

 

18 DEX

 

16 PER

 

10 INT

 

 

16 RES

 

Blinding Strike (thought may be more useful in melee than crippling strike)

 

Will see how this goes...

[DreamWayfarer]

Okay I've gone with:

 

Arabella

 

Female Pale Elf

 

Deadfire Archipelago - Raider - my conceit for how a Pale Elf ended up in the Deadlier Archipelago is that she was captured young by pirates )

 

Nice backstory. Although unnecessary, since some nomadic Pale Elf tribes migrate to the South of the Arquipelago during very harsh winters. Which would also give more opportunities for pirates to capture her, so it actualy works even better...

 

 

Blinding Strike (thought may be more useful in melee than crippling strike)

 

Not really, since with 16 RES you are relatively safe against single foes, and if your enemy is too strong or there are many foes your survival will depend much more on your other party members, since it is only 1/encounter. And it is better spent dealing damage, since Rogues eventualy earn better 'oh #%@&!' abilities. Edited February 17, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Oxford_Guy]

 

Okay I've gone with:

 

Arabella

 

Female Pale Elf

 

Deadfire Archipelago - Raider - my conceit for how a Pale Elf ended up in the Deadlier Archipelago is that she was captured young by pirates )

Nice backstory. Although unnecessary, since some nomadic Pale Elf tribes migrate to the South of the Arquipelago during very harsh winters. Which would also give more opportunities for pirates to capture her, so it actualy works even better...

 

 

Blinding Strike (thought may be more useful in melee than crippling strike)

Not really, since with 16 RES you are relatively safe against single foes, and if your enemy is too strong or there are many foes your survival will depend much more on your other party members, since it is only 1/encounter. And it is better spent dealing damage, since Rogues eventualy earn better 'oh #%@&!' abilities.

 

 

Okay, I started again and re-specced with Crippling Strike, I'd only just started the game anyway

[VahnXIII]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416939844

 

Rogue - Prince of Persia Blue Edition

 

This is a great build to get started with. Things die very fast. Served me well until I decided to reroll Cipher for 3.0 + WM expansions.

[VahnXIII]

Oh and for RP purposes, I went with human, deadfire, drifter. Played as an opportunist with plenty of run ins with pirates. After a particular fiasco, it was time to skip town and travel to a place with no connections...The Dyrwood of course.

[Mocker22]

One thing that should be mentioned here....don't drive yourself nuts on your first playthrough. Stats being a bit off won't hurt you much at all. PoE is about sound tactics in combat, so for your first time through be determined to learn what stuff does. I.e. key spells, etc.