Completed the game as pure rogue (assassin) for science - it's actually great

[Aramintai]

I was contemplating a lot whether to play as a single class rouge after all the fumblings in the beta, but I'm glad my worries were unfounded. Sneak attack goes to whooping +75% damage at level 20 because it scales with power level and there are plenty of op gear and cool abilities that make a powerful critting machine out of rogue. He can also stay nearly untouchable flying around the battlefield with all those super useful invisibility abilities, they are a much needed addition for the rogue class indeed. It still needs quite a lot of microing but all in all it actually felt better playing as POE2 rogue than POE1.

[Tigranes]

I liked the POE1 rogue, it was plenty powerful and it was easy to set up sneak attacks. How does it feel/play differently here?

[Aramintai]

I liked the POE1 rogue, it was plenty powerful and it was easy to set up sneak attacks. How does it feel/play differently here?

Even better, now there are active and passive abilities that set up sneak attacks like no tomorrow and if you play as Assassin subclass you can get even bigger numbers by going invisible multiple times during combat thanks to several invisibility abilities.

[Maxzero]

I was contemplating a lot whether to play as a single class rouge after all the fumblings in the beta, but I'm glad my worries were unfounded. Sneak attack goes to whooping +75% damage at level 20 because it scales with power level and there are plenty of op gear and cool abilities that make a powerful critting machine out of rogue. He can also stay nearly untouchable flying around the battlefield with all those super useful invisibility abilities, they are a much needed addition for the rogue class indeed. It still needs quite a lot of microing but all in all it actually felt better playing as POE2 rogue than POE1.

Sneak scales off PL or character level?

[Aramintai]

 

I was contemplating a lot whether to play as a single class rouge after all the fumblings in the beta, but I'm glad my worries were unfounded. Sneak attack goes to whooping +75% damage at level 20 because it scales with power level and there are plenty of op gear and cool abilities that make a powerful critting machine out of rogue. He can also stay nearly untouchable flying around the battlefield with all those super useful invisibility abilities, they are a much needed addition for the rogue class indeed. It still needs quite a lot of microing but all in all it actually felt better playing as POE2 rogue than POE1.

Sneak scales off PL or character level?

 

It scales with PL (there is also a 9th level ability that raises PL) so if you wanna maximize it better stay single classed. Single class max PL is 9 (+1 with 9th level ability), multi class max PL is 7.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Aramintai

[Yosharian]

> Sneak attack goes to whooping +75% damage at level 20 because it scales with power level

 

Really?  Wow.

[Aramintai]

> Sneak attack goes to whooping +75% damage at level 20 because it scales with power level

 

Really?  Wow.

Yep:

[dudex]

does deathblow also scale with power level?

[Aramintai]

does deathblow also scale with power level?

No.

[Yosharian]

Hah!  So much for the crying a week ago about Sneak Attack being nerfed!

[MadMatt86]

What difficulty? Thats gonna be a huge factor.

[Ophiuchus]

Sounds really promising. Do you know Sneak Attack's max bonus for multiclass?

[knownastherat]

Sounds really promising. Do you know Sneak Attack's max bonus for multiclass?

 

1.3 + 0.3 -> 60% @ Power Level VII*

 

*can(?) be boosted

[Infiltrator_SF]

So now that we know about the scaling, what multi is actually worth taking over it lol?

[JerekKruger]

So now that we know about the scaling, what multi is actually worth taking over it lol?

 

It's not a multiplicative bonus so there are probably plenty of cases where multiclassing can be worth it. Multiclass with a Cipher for the upgraded damaging whip and you'll probably end up with a bigger bonus (even with lower PL scaling) for example.

[Boeroer]

Right.

 

I assume that stuff like Acute (+1 PL), pet bonus (+1 PL) and Death or Nature Godlike (+3 /+2 PL) also raise Sneak Attack?

[Infiltrator_SF]

 

So now that we know about the scaling, what multi is actually worth taking over it lol?

 

It's not a multiplicative bonus so there are probably plenty of cases where multiclassing can be worth it. Multiclass with a Cipher for the upgraded damaging whip and you'll probably end up with a bigger bonus (even with lower PL scaling) for example.

 

 

Hmm, if that's the case, wouldn't bleak walker come out on top anyway with his bonuses to accuracy, fire and corrosive lash?

Edited May 12, 2018 by Infiltrator_SF

[MadDemiurg]

Nature godlike rogue/monk is probably the highest sustained single target dps.

 

But tbh that doesn't count for much with current balance when you have broken abilities that oneshot the whole screen.

[Aramintai]

What difficulty? Thats gonna be a huge factor.

On Classic. I suppose you'll have to micro him even more to keep him alive on POTD, but that won't affect the damage output.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Aramintai

[cactot]

 

What difficulty? Thats gonna be a huge factor.

On Classic. I suppose you'll have to micro him even more to keep him alive on POTD, but that won't affect the damage output.

Yes it will, +15 to all enemy defenses will reduce the number of hits and crits significantly.

[ppscurry]

Just so people know: rogues have an essentially free PL8 skill that does 160% crit damage, +10 acc, +80(so far) crit chance, full attack as long as you dual wield and spam it while you have high resource points. It's called Gambit

Edited May 12, 2018 by ppscurry

[DigitalDemon]

So now that we know about the scaling, what multi is actually worth taking over it lol?

Swashbuckler remains very attractive IMO. You'll lose out on damage, but the Fighter has sooo many nice buffs, both active and passive. And picking Devoted looks like a no-brainer. But sneak attack scaling definitely makes a case for a single-class Rogue.

[Aramintai]

 

 

What difficulty? Thats gonna be a huge factor.

On Classic. I suppose you'll have to micro him even more to keep him alive on POTD, but that won't affect the damage output.

Yes it will, +15 to all enemy defenses will reduce the number of hits and crits significantly.

 

Well, to be fair all classes will have a harder time penetrating extra defenses. And rogues are far from the bottom of the list of dealing with that considering what abilities they now have. But from what I've heard POTD right now is too easy and its balancing is somewhere in the future plans. So unless you're playing solo without any synergies with the party, I don't think playing as rogue on POTD will be much worse, but you're sure welcome to try it out for science!  All rogue needs is a cannon fodder as a distraction, so if I were to play him on POTD I'd get summoning figurines and trinkets asap, there are plenty of those in POE2, some are very powerful.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Aramintai

[Faytte]

So the difference between multi class and single class rogue is only 15% sneak attack? If so that's nothing. Cipher for soul whip gives you 20% that's active all the time.

[Faytte]

Nature godlike rogue/monk is probably the highest sustained single target dps.

 

But tbh that doesn't count for much with current balance when you have broken abilities that oneshot the whole screen.

Can you expand on this?