Goal and Overview of The DW Rogue
I was a big fan of doing nightmare solo runs in DA:O, so after my initial play through of the game on Nightmare I decided to try to recreate the same exhilarating experience in DAII. The Dual Wield Rogue class is a wild single target damage dealer, especially when paired with the Shadow/Assassin combo. From their shadows the rogue can open on almost any elite in the early/mid game and completely and utterly destroy them. While the Duelist specialization offers higher survivability in party situations, I won't be going toe-to-toe with many foes in this play through. I hope you enjoy my videos and I hope to get the community excited about the prospects of rogue solo!
Thoughts on DAII and Nightmare difficulty
As we all know DAII is a completely different game and is built around a
different combat system compared to DA:O. Faster paced combat, multiple
creature waves per battle, and an unforgiving Nightmare mode centered
around lots of pause micro management. To achieve a pure "solo"
experience I've reduced my party size down to one with the DevConsole.
I'm going to try my hardest to do a no-pause playthrough on each boss.
Overview of Videos
Nightmare Solo #1 - Prologue Ogre Battle
Gear: Default starting gear.
Strategy: Kite/joust hurlocks while avoiding the Ogre's rush and boulder attacks. For more fun you can play hurlock bowling with the Ogre's rush attack if timed and lined up correctly. After all hurlocks are dead, joust the Ogre and make sure to avoid the ground slam shockwave.
Nightmare Solo #2 - Act 1: Danzig
Gear: Dagger(s): Arm of Adruil & The Bodice Ripper, Gloves: Bloody Butchers Gloves, Boots: Last Decent Boots, Chestpiece: Flint Company Cuirass, Helm: Cap of the Antivan King
Strategy: Take Danzig out first with an instant Stealth/Ambush > Backstab > Twin Fangs combo. Make sure to have either Debilitating Poison or Crow Venom on your Daggers. Use the upper level to kite/joust all troopers/bruisers and archers. Archers are your first priority whenever they are in range. Just Stealth and burn them down. Keep whittling down all the troopers/bruisers/archers until the only one left is the Slaver Mage. His fireball attack will stun lock you if you don't line of site him often. He also uses multiple Health potions so you will have to Stealth/Ambush > Backstab > Twin Fangs > kite multiple times before he goes down. Don't forget to have plenty of Stamina Potions.
Nightmare Solo #3 - Act 1: Mature Dragon
Gear: Dagger(s): Arm of Adruil & Bloodletter, Gloves: Bloody Butchers Gloves, Boots: Superior Dwarven Leather Boots, Chestpiece: Flint Company Cuirass, Helm: Cap of the Antivan King
Strategy: Circle strafe/joust him and be ready to run out of range of his roar ability on the 4th or 5th attack. Use Stealth/Ambush > Twin Fangs whenever the cooldown is up. Twin Fangs will temporarily stun the Dragon so you can run out of range. There is a very high probability that a normal attack on a joust will stun you momentarily, but I find this only to be true when jousting directly from the front. Always joust him from the flank if possible. If you get knocked down and stun locked spam your Decoy and reposition/drink potions.
Nightmare Solo #4 - Act 1: Monsterous LOLSpider (endcoding video now)
Gear: Dagger(s): Arm of Adruil & Bloodletter, Gloves: Bloody Butchers Gloves, Boots: Superior Dwarven Leather Boots, Chestpiece: Flint Company Cuirass, Helm: Cap of the Antivan King
Strategy: This fight is (in my opinion) extremely broken, and I would consider this encounter to be mostly for laughs. Regardless of the cheese factor to it, Monsterous Spider is a "boss" archtype, so I will include it. After the adds spawn immediatly pop Decoy and then Twin Fangs down one of the Corrupted Spiders. Immediatly pop Stealth and run up the main staircase and hide behind one of the pillars to wait for your Decoy/Stealth cooldowns to reset. Run back down the stairs and pop Decoy again, same strategy as the first and take out the other Corrupted Spider with Twin Fangs. Proceed to kite/joust the remaining adds until Monsterous Spider spawns and then immediatly head for the stairs. Sit at the top and joust him until he's dead. Alternatively you can try and circle strafe him in his little pit but I guarantee you that you will die. The area is too small and he covers too much space for you to maneuver.
Nightmare Solo #5 - Ancient Rock Wraith (encoding video now)
Gear: Dagger(s): Arm of Adruil & Enchanted Dagger, Gloves: Alchemist's Protective Handguards, Boots: Superior Dwarven Leather Boots, Chestpiece: Ancient Leather Cuirass, Helm: Cap of the Antivan King
Strategy: Phase 1: Pop Decoy, wait 2 seconds and then Backstab > Twin Fangs > Evade. Start kiting until Decoy cooldown is up and then rinse & repeat. Alternatively you can joust him through the top-left most pillar without him moving. Every 10th or 12th hit he will do his Rock Stab ability; Evade to....evade.
Phase 2: Please refer to the image below. As soon as Rock Wraith comes out of his core phase at the end of phase 1, move to the southwest pillar and Stealth. Let your timer run out while you regen stamina. As soon as you come out of Stealth run to your left between the two west pillars and pop Decoy inbetween the two. Make your way around the northwest pillar, cycle around behind the Rock Wraith and Backstab or Twin Fangs while it is preoccupied with the Decoy. Immediately Stealth behind the southwest pillar, rinse and repeat. If you are running low on stamina, you can substitute a normal lunge attack for a Backstab or Twin Fangs, but it will take twice as long. At level 12 with 10% stamina regen accessories this phase takes over an hour.
Phase 3-4: The worst of the fight is now over and you can relax a little. Keep him at range like in phase 1 kiting around pillars when necessary. As soon as he goes into his Dust Storm (black hole) mode just let it draw you in and Twin Fang > Backstab > Evade combo. Rinse and repeat until he is dead.
Specialization (In Level Order)(Current level is 12)
Abilities/Specializations were chosen based on a number of factors, mainly my own personal playstyle, effectiveness vs. specific encounters and fun! Having played a fully spec'd Duelist/Assassin rogue in my first play through, I feel that Shadow/Assassin Specialization will be more beneficial for a solo run due to improved Stealth and Decoy for survivability. Along with the Shadow/Subterfuge tree, maximizing critical damage/chance will be the main focus for mid/end game strategy. Early in the game with jousting and kiting, the Dual Wield tree will be your bread and butter to whittle down enemies and stealth for protection when ranged mobs come into the foray.
As far as Atrributes go pump Dexterity/Cunning to meet minimum gear/chest requirements until 42 Dexterity and the rest into Cunning. The main stats to look for in gear are +attack, +critical damage% , +attack speed and +critical chance%. Critical chance% doesn't play as large in mid/end game because most of your upgraded abilities from Assassin/Shadow already have 100% Critical Chance.
Miasma Flask: The rogue lobs an explosive flask into a group of enemies, briefly stunning them.(Default) replace this skill at level 5 with Lacerate by using a Maker's Sigh potion.
Backstab: The lightning-quick rogue vanishes in a smoke screen and reappears behind the enemy with a fierce strike to the back. 
Unforgiving Chain: For a short time, every basic melee attack the rogue executes in rapid succession increases the chance to score a critical hit. Activating any
other talent cancels the effect, but Explosive Strike can exploit the
chain for extra damage
Stealth: The rogue fades from view, stalking the battlefield. Enemies immediatelycease attacking the stealthed rogue, although any action beyond
movement will break the cover.
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Twin Fangs: The rogue slashes at a target with both weapons, dealing an automatic critical hit with each blade. Lacerate: While this mode is active, the rogue's deadly blades have a chance to inflict bleeding wounds that continue to cause damage for a short time. (Maker's Sigh potion) 1
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Evade: The rogue leaps backward. Enemies within melee range will often seek an easier target instead. Ambush: The rogue executes an automatic critical hit if striking from stealth. This ability also combines with other talents, such as Hail of Arrows or Backstab.(Tome of Technique) 22 
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Shadow Specialization: Shadow rogues employ misdirection and an unassuming façade to waylay their opponents with devastating attacks with +3% stealth chance when Hawke takes damage. Pinpoint Precision: The shadow is adept at finding the enemy's weak spots. Consequently, critical hits inflict more damage. (Specialization Point)
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Precision: While this mode is active, the rogue focuses on accuracy in order to gain bonuses to critical hits and attack. (This mode cannot be used at
the same time as Speed or Power.) Camouflage: The rogue now stays hidden for longer, and dropping into stealth is less tiring. (Elixer of Physical Technique) 27
Inconspicuous: For a short time, the shadow assumes a misleading stance that attracts little attention, creating room to strike fast and hard without being swarmed by enemies. Upon activating this talent, the shadow also sheds the threat accumulated from previous attacks.
Decoy: The shadow is a master of misdirection, creating a personal decoy that keeps enemies occupied for a short time while the rogue escapes in stealth.
Disorienting Criticals: While obscured, the shadow gains a considerable bonus to critical damage. In addition, any critical hits the shadow lands while obscured automatically DISORIENT enemies, leaving them vulnerable to further harm from a warrior or Will be updating this frequently so stay tuned
Modifié par coreywaslegend, 18 mars 2011 - 03:21 .
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Maybe after my first solo playthrough - it'd definetly be a bit easier with 2HD Vanguard than DW Rogue thats for sure.
![=]](https://lvlt.forum.bioware.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sideways.png)
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