New player, some questions regarding rogues/party comp etc

[Arandur87]

Hi there!

 

I'm new to PoE and looking for some advice/answers to questions regarding the rogue and party play, without getting spoilers on skills/spells/story.

 

I started playing yesterday (on normal for now) and chose the rogue as my main character. I want a character for high single target DPS with the ability to pick locks, sneak, disarm traps and strike from the shadows. Classical RPG-rogue.

 

I read through some explanations regarding stats and attributes and I think I understand most of it already. My questions though are:

 

- Is sneaking to enemies and striking them from the back with bonus damage a thing later on? I managed to do it in the intro, when that fighter girl from the caravan engaged first and I wonder if it's that doable later on as well

 

- Might or Dex as main attribute for a dagger using stealth melee rogue? Seems like Dex with extreme high attack speed could be super powerful against casters with all the interrupts

 

I'm planing on playing with a party, as it's my first playthrough. I know there will be some companions to recruit, but I also know that I can "create" my own mercenary guy. Is it possible to set up a group with all self made characters instead of using the predefined people you meet?

If so, I would love to have following party setup and would like to know if it's possible/viable:

 

Paladin with 2H as an off tank/supporter to bind 1-2 enemies and help the party.

Fighter with 1h+shield as Main Tank with lots of defense and the ability to bind as many enemies as possible.

Classical "Mage" with lots of offensive power and AoE, maybe a summon as well?

"Support Caster" (not sure what class, pls recommend something): Should have some CC, some buffs, some debuffs, maybe summon? Offense/defense doesn't matter. 

Priest as Healer/Buffer/Debuffer

My char (Rogue) as pure single target DPS.

 

- Do I need to focus on all defensive stats or is reflex enough to not get hit by AoE frequently with my rogue as the two tanks should ideally tank everything?

- If my rogue uses daggers, should I focus on axe/mace for my tanks to have more ways to get around enemies DR?

- Is the religion thing on Paladins/Priests important for their skillset or is it more a flavor thing?

 

Thank's in advance and cheers!

[Boeroer]

Hello and welcome!

 

I'll answer your questions one after the other, using your quotes:

 

- Is sneaking to enemies and striking them from the back with bonus damage a thing later on? I managed to do it in the intro, when that fighter girl from the caravan engaged first and I wonder if it's that doable later on as well

Yes, Backstab can be done from stealth and invisibility. There are several ways to turn invisible (talent, items, ability). Backstab doesn't need to be done from the back by the way. Sneak Attacks need afflictions on the enemy to work. They also work in the first 2 secs of combat automatically. So usually you get Sneak Attack + Backstab bonus when you attack from stealth and picked Backstab as an ability.

 

- Might or Dex as main attribute for a dagger using stealth melee rogue? Seems like Dex with extreme high attack speed could be super powerful against casters with all the interrupts

Since rogues already have a lot of damage bonuses you can go with less MIG and put more points into DEX.

 

I'm planing on playing with a party, as it's my first playthrough. I know there will be some companions to recruit, but I also know that I can "create" my own mercenary guy. Is it possible to set up a group with all self made characters instead of using the predefined people you meet?

If so, I would love to have following party setup and would like to know if it's possible/viable:

 

Paladin with 2H as an off tank/supporter to bind 1-2 enemies and help the party.

Fighter with 1h+shield as Main Tank with lots of defense and the ability to bind as many enemies as possible.

Classical "Mage" with lots of offensive power and AoE, maybe a summon as well?

"Support Caster" (not sure what class, pls recommend something): Should have some CC, some buffs, some debuffs, maybe summon? Offense/defense doesn't matter. 

Priest as Healer/Buffer/Debuffer

My char (Rogue) as pure single target DPS.

You can go with a hireling party- no problem. Maybe you'll lack some money right at the start to buy them all at once though.

Party compisition looks nice. I'd recommend a druid as supprt caste because he has all the things you mentioned.

 

- Do I need to focus on all defensive stats or is reflex enough to not get hit by AoE frequently with my rogue as the two tanks should ideally tank everything?

Depends. If he's more glassy he can do more damage - but if he's too glassy he'll do no damage because he's knocked out. However, if you don't drop RES and CON to 3 you can babysit him enough to get along without defensive talents. Just don't rush into melee. Let the tanks engage first.

 

- If my rogue uses daggers, should I focus on axe/mace for my tanks to have more ways to get around enemies DR?

There are several ways to lower enemies DR and/or to stack some DR bypass on your rogue - like Vulnerable Attack and special grloves that give you DR bypass or spells.

 

- Is the religion thing on Paladins/Priests important for their skillset or is it more a flavor thing?

For non-main-character paladins or priests it doesn't matter. Except that every priest "subclass" has a different set of favored weapons. It's a talent that you can pick if you want a preist who also attacks with weapons and gives you +10 accuracy with two favored weapons of the god (kind of). You can look those up in the wiki. They are listed on the priest page.

 

Hope that helps - I did a much moire detailed thing but it got lost when I send the answer - stupid forum - this is the somewhat shorter answer. If I should elaborate on points please let me know.

 

One last thing: please give your paladin the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer and Forgemaster Gloves and then melt everything with Firebrand + Flames of Devotion + Intense Flames + Scion of Flame.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Boeroer