[CLASS BUILD] The Sprightly Scorpion (PotD solo Stun-locking Rogue)

[Jojobobo]

White March would be your best bet, yes. There's plenty of areas that should be clearable, plus you get the Ring of Changing Heart which allows you to Dominate enemies and helps a lot with CC. I would recommend picking up Munacra Arret if you haven't already for the same reason (should help with Adragans quite a bit).

 

Split-pulling is your friend, so I'd recommend a lot of that if you're playing solo too.

[Dorftek]

White March would be your best bet, yes. There's plenty of areas that should be clearable, plus you get the Ring of Changing Heart which allows you to Dominate enemies and helps a lot with CC. I would recommend picking up Munacra Arret if you haven't already for the same reason (should help with Adragans quite a bit).

 

Split-pulling is your friend, so I'd recommend a lot of that if you're playing solo too.

 

Thanks, yeah i am solo and im using the Munacra Arret

I'll give the white march a try then.

[Jojobobo]

Any of the areas with Lagufaeth are extremely tough and will require pre-preparation (preferably with scrolls against imprisonment, or failing that Scrolls of Defense and something like the Orlan's Bramble Ring), but Russetwood and most of the outside areas of Durgan's Battery are simple enough and allow for completion a fair few quests.

 

For the initial fight at Stalwart, you can stealth most of the way to Darzir. Head down and left along the docks and then when you hit the a few stalls head straight up the middle of the map. When you get to the top of the map head left again - there's a single ogre you'll need to take out. You should now be in the NW corner, which you can lead Darzir to relatively easily while maintaining your corner positioning.

[Dorftek]

Any of the areas with Lagufaeth are extremely tough and will require pre-preparation (preferably with scrolls against imprisonment, or failing that Scrolls of Defense and something like the Orlan's Bramble Ring), but Russetwood and most of the outside areas of Durgan's Battery are simple enough and allow for completion a fair few quests.

 

For the initial fight at Stalwart, you can stealth most of the way to Darzir. Head down and left along the docks and then when you hit the a few stalls head straight up the middle of the map. When you get to the top of the map head left again - there's a single ogre you'll need to take out. You should now be in the NW corner, which you can lead Darzir to relatively easily while maintaining your corner positioning.

 

Cool thanks, ill go there as soon as i have had Azzuro sell me Scwath Gannek. He is really testing my patience, ive been traveling back and forth for 2 hours straight. At first he wouldnt ever appear, when he finally did it took him ages again to show up again. Meanwhile ive had to defend my stronghold countless times, undead Raedric armies included... Now he keeps offering me Gyrges Guantlets. Im about to explode

[Jojobobo]

 

Any of the areas with Lagufaeth are extremely tough and will require pre-preparation (preferably with scrolls against imprisonment, or failing that Scrolls of Defense and something like the Orlan's Bramble Ring), but Russetwood and most of the outside areas of Durgan's Battery are simple enough and allow for completion a fair few quests.

 

For the initial fight at Stalwart, you can stealth most of the way to Darzir. Head down and left along the docks and then when you hit the a few stalls head straight up the middle of the map. When you get to the top of the map head left again - there's a single ogre you'll need to take out. You should now be in the NW corner, which you can lead Darzir to relatively easily while maintaining your corner positioning.

 

Cool thanks, ill go there as soon as i have had Azzuro sell me Scwath Gannek. He is really testing my patience, ive been traveling back and forth for 2 hours straight. At first he wouldnt ever appear, when he finally did it took him ages again to show up again. Meanwhile ive had to defend my stronghold countless times, undead Raedric armies included... Now he keeps offering me Gyrges Guantlets. Im about to explode

 

Yeah it's a pain.

 

I would shoot for Hiro's Mantle over Scath Gwannek - you mentioned you were using Sura's Supper Plate so I presume you haven't gotten it yet? Larder Door is easily good enough as a Bash shield (though Gwannek is better for the spell binding), so I wouldn't pull your hair out too much trying to get it so long as you already have another source of Retaliation.

 

In terms of getting Azzuro's items, what I always used to do was save at the Caed Nua with a pile of cash, play until that's depleted through stronghold turns - then reload and try again. It's very tedious, but it works - obviously it's entirely random how long you'll be waiting for (I think pressing R brings up the rest menu, and if you position your mouse right to click on a Bright Hollow rest plus hit return when the rest thing pops up so it selects to rest you can speed the process up a lot). If you push your stronghold security to above 50, attacks on your stronghold become practically nonexistent. 

Edited December 30, 2017 by Jojobobo

[Dorftek]

 

 

Any of the areas with Lagufaeth are extremely tough and will require pre-preparation (preferably with scrolls against imprisonment, or failing that Scrolls of Defense and something like the Orlan's Bramble Ring), but Russetwood and most of the outside areas of Durgan's Battery are simple enough and allow for completion a fair few quests.

 

For the initial fight at Stalwart, you can stealth most of the way to Darzir. Head down and left along the docks and then when you hit the a few stalls head straight up the middle of the map. When you get to the top of the map head left again - there's a single ogre you'll need to take out. You should now be in the NW corner, which you can lead Darzir to relatively easily while maintaining your corner positioning.

 

Cool thanks, ill go there as soon as i have had Azzuro sell me Scwath Gannek. He is really testing my patience, ive been traveling back and forth for 2 hours straight. At first he wouldnt ever appear, when he finally did it took him ages again to show up again. Meanwhile ive had to defend my stronghold countless times, undead Raedric armies included... Now he keeps offering me Gyrges Guantlets. Im about to explode

 

Yeah it's a pain.

 

I would shoot for Hiro's Mantle over Scath Gwannek - you mentioned you were using Sura's Supper Plate so I presume you haven't gotten it yet? Larder Door is easily good enough as a Bash shield (though Gwannek is better for the spell binding), so I wouldn't pull your hair out too much trying to get it so long as you already have another source of Retaliation.

 

In terms of getting Azzuro's items, what I always used to do was save at the Caed Nua with a pile of cash, play until that's depleted through stronghold turns - then reload and try again. It's very tedious, but it works - obviously it's entirely random how long you'll be waiting for (I think pressing R brings up the rest menu, and if you position your mouse right to click on a Bright Hollow rest plus hit return when the rest thing pops up so it selects to rest you can speed the process up a lot). If you push your stronghold security to above 50, attacks on your stronghold become practically nonexistent. 

 

 

Yeah i'm on xbox so chain-resting is a lot slower then that hehe =)

I finally got it but i feel like i am loosing dmg by using a bash shield, the bash itself takes a full recovery turn and its really weak attack, meaning im hitting enemies way less with my spear now. The only Strike ability i have so far is Blind so using bash just for that feels a little "meh".  Does "Two Weapon Style" work when ur using a bash shield btw? It should because the bash is using a full weapon turn individually to bash.

 

I dont think i want Hiros Mantle because i am using Cloak Of Comfort (yeah not a "true" solo run i know i know ) because i have a companion in Caed Nua to do the missions and deal with supplicants. 

 

Btw, i noticed ur not using Vulnerable Attack on this build. U think i should specc out of it?

On Xbox if i Stun something that is already stunned it will cancel out the other stun and the game will say "stunned" on the enemy even tho he is not stunned. So i cannot chain-stun. Same thing with Prone effect... Sigh, i should never have bought it on console..

 

Edit: Because of this i am considering trying out Purgatory and maybe drop Veterans Recovery for something else.

Edited December 31, 2017 by Dorftek

[Jojobobo]

Yeah i'm on xbox so chain-resting is a lot slower then that hehe =)

 

 

I finally got it but i feel like i am loosing dmg by using a bash shield, the bash itself takes a full recovery turn and its really weak attack, meaning im hitting enemies way less with my spear now. The only Strike ability i have so far is Blind so using bash just for that feels a little "meh".  Does "Two Weapon Style" work when ur using a bash shield btw? It should because the bash is using a full weapon turn individually to bash.

 

I dont think i want Hiros Mantle because i am using Cloak Of Comfort (yeah not a "true" solo run i know i know ) because i have a companion in Caed Nua to do the missions and deal with supplicants. 

 

Btw, i noticed ur not using Vulnerable Attack on this build. U think i should specc out of it?

On Xbox if i Stun something that is already stunned it will cancel out the other stun and the game will say "stunned" on the enemy even tho he is not stunned. So i cannot chain-stun. Same thing with Prone effect... Sigh, i should never have bought it on console..

 

Edit: Because of this i am considering trying out Purgatory and maybe drop Veterans Recovery for something else.

 

Personally I'd still go for the bash. Recovery is halved when you're two weapon fighting, whether than be two weapons or a weapon and bash shield. This translates into you hitting marginally slower with the spear than with no other attack at all, but you still attack reasonably fast. The Bash is also very useful in giving your Strikes two chances to score a crit on the affliction duration - particularly with Blind which targets Reflex (so the Bash can graze for the Blind effect, but then because Blind massively debuffs Reflex the second Blind roll coming from the spear will often crit - resulting in much longer durations for Deathblows for you).

 

If you're starting to use Purgatory, you're probably better off running with more of the Yellow Flash build posted previously. The Stun on this build is integral, and it's the reason why Vulnerable Attack isn't opted for - because the damage should mostly be high enough that the DR bypass isn't critical (and the added recovery of Vulnerable Attack is also far from desirable when you need to be attacking frequently to chain the Stun). Tanky Rogues are always pretty fun IMO, so I guess whatever you go for you should have a reasonably good time.

[Boeroer]

A bashing shield doesn't give you the 50% recovery bonus that dual wielding will give you (at least that was still the situation when I played a shield rogue at PoE version 3.04).

 

That's the main reason why bashing shields usually lower your dps compared to a normal shield (because bashing does way less damage than most weapons and you simply alternate between bash and weapon attack with speed gain. Bashing has low recovery so it speeds you up a bit compared to a single weapon, but the bashing damage usually is so low that it will ruin your overall dps). Exceptions a Full Attacks obviously (also, bash has quite high ACC and works well with applying blind/hobbled and so on. Bash gets +1 ACC per char level because it's considered to be an ability) and special bashing shields that apply some nice effect when they hit/crit, namely Badgradr's Barricade (Thrust of Tattered Veils on crit, works with Deathblows) and Dragon's Maw (which can't be soulboud by a rogue).

Edited January 1, 2018 by Boeroer

[Jojobobo]

A bashing shield doesn't give you the 50% recovery bonus that dual wielding will give you (at least that was still the situation when I played a shield rogue at PoE version 3.04).

 

That's the main reason why bashing shields usually lower your dps compared to a normal shield (because bashing does way less damage than most weapons abd you simply alternate between bash and weapon attack with speed gain. Bashing has low recovery so it sepped you up a bit compared to a single weapon, but the bashing damage usually is so low that it will ruin your overall dps). Exceptions a Full Attacks obviously (also, bash has quite high ACC and works well with applying blind/hobbled and so on. Bash gets +1 ACC per char level because it's considered to be an ability) and special bashing shields that apply some nice effect when they hit/crit, namely Badgradr's Barricade (Thrust of Tattered Veils on crit, works with Deathblows) and Dragon's Maw (which can't be soulboud by a rogue).

Just had a quick read of MaxQuest's thread, and it appears that the main weapon has full recovery as you say, but the Bash attack has half recovery, so yeah it's a little slower. Still as mentioned I like the two affliction rolls for a Rogue, and Thrust of the Tattered Veils triggers more or less constantly with the build.

 

The key thing that was tested was that the Dex and Int allowed for the desired Stun-chaining on Stun-roll hits for the spear, so even with the increased recovery you can still get the chaining that's needed.

[Boeroer]

Yes, with rogue's Full Attacks a bashing shield is better than a normal one because you can "prepare" the victim with the first strike (which is the offhand's bash) and then your main hand follows with the more hefty hit which already gets Sneak Attack or even Deathblow bonus.

 

Badgradr's Barricade is great with a rogue. ToTV on Deathblows does tremendous damage (most of the time the Thrust also crits which means +150% damage, even more if you have Merciless Hand and so on - can be boosted up to +200% on crit) and also with Cladhaliath (or other stunning/proning weapons) and decent INT you can score crits + Deathblows all the time with just one Blinding Strike while being very tanky (for a rogue).

 

I used a similar setup with the Devil of Caroc but used Godansthunyr instead of Cladhaliath - mostly because of the looks of the hammer which matches the body of the construct. It was a great offtank-dps setup. So I can totally recommend this build.

Edited January 1, 2018 by Boeroer

[Jojobobo]

Yes, with rogue's Full Attacks a bashing shield is better than a normal one because you can "prepare" the victim with the first strike (which is the offhand's bash) and then your main hand follows with the more hefty hit which already gets Sneak Attack or even Deathblow bonus.

 

Badgradr's Barricade is great with a rogue. ToTV on Deathblows does tremendous damage (most of the time the Thrust also crits which means +150% damage, even more if you have Merciless Hand and so on - can be boosted up to +200% on crit) and also with Cladhaliath (or other stunning/proning weapons) and decent INT you can score crits + Deathblows all the time with just one Blinding Strike while being very tanky (for a rogue).

 

I used a similar setup with the Devil of Caroc but used Godansthunyr instead of Cladhaliath - mostly because of the looks of the hammer which matches the body of the construct. It was a great offtank-dps setup. So I can totally recommend this build.

Yeah from what I tested ToTV procced every time on the Bash from the Cladhaliath Stun due to the massive Deflection debuff stunning provides, and as mentioned the build can Stun constantly on hits of the Stun role (with great hit to crit conversion and reasonable accuracy to facilitate crits - which once they start should keep propagating from the Deflection debuff). Deathblows is also easy enough to achieve when Stun is pretty much guaranteed from other Strike abilities or from simple figurine flanking.

 

I really need to test this out fully to legitimise it a little more, currently I'm working on another weird solo Wizard build (not even the other tanky one I've been playing, I've been a little deterred seeing as a I now want to restart it to encompass the 3.08 changes and avoid the pirate gear - it always feels repetitious when you've sunk in 50 hours or so already). Hopefully I'll get round to it soon, but solo runs take ages.

[Dreamsickle]

I didn't see any mention of what blood pool talent to go with.

[Jojobobo]

I didn't see any mention of what blood pool talent to go with.

It's designed as a solo build, so naturally you can't take companions to sacrifice them.

 

However if you were to use it in party play, really whoever is fine. The attributes are pitched so that the build works nicely already with a boost, so I'd probably take one of the slightly defensively orientated ones (Aloth, Eder, Maneha, Durance, etc.).

[vanyel54]

Great build ! 

With this much intellect i add Munacra Arret and Ring of changing heart and it works really good.

[Jojobobo]

Great build ! 

With this much intellect i add Munacra Arret and Ring of changing heart and it works really good.

Thanks! And yes, both of those can be added, very useful spell-bindings to have.

[vanyel54]

Ok tested on PotD solo. I just finished an almost full run (i just bypass concelhaut).
I wanted to test this class that I played very little and I must say that it went rather well. You are to expect a lot of kitting but it was an interesting experience.
Early levels, I go full stealth. When I got Badgradr’s Barricade, I start to go more for the fight.
Some changes i made from the build :
- I use Godansthunyr rather than Cladhalíath
- I prefer to let MIG at 10 and pump more PER

Thanks Jojobobo for your work (even if you're not there anymore)