No replies to this topic

[CLime]

Choosing between the three modes in the Specialist tree seems like a high priority in building a foundation for DA2 rogue theorycraft.

Heuristically, it seems obvious that Speed is not the best choice.  Regardless of whether it increases attack rate or reduces attack cooldown (a difference of less than 3% attack rate with the upgrade), at face value it compares unfavorably to Precision.  I don't know the exact formula for calculating glancing blows, but 20% accuracy by itself seems like it would outstrip 10% speed.  This is especially true on Hard or Nightmare where maxing out normal accuracy is decidely non-trivial, but even on Normal it may not be pratical to shoot for 100% baseline vs. Lieutenants or Bosses.  The critical bonus and lower upkeep are just gravy.  With current information, I'm content to say that Precision is the best for pure damage.

Power is a little harder to assess.  Without knowing the actual attack speed of rogues, whether there's a cap for speec modifiers, whether the stun works on bosses, it's difficult to estimate its usefulness.  On Hard and above, my instinct says it's inferior to Precision, assuming you can't get stuns on glancing blows, but that's mostly hand-waving.

There's also the question of whether Harmony is worthwhile.  If you're planning on using one of the three modes exclusively, I find it difficult to justify spending three talent points for Harmony alone.  If it turns out that, say, Precision is the best in most situations but Power is awesome for shutting down mages, then it may be worth a second look.