There are some mods and a hotfix that i use to play. They will make a big difference in how the rogue plays for you. The first is the dexterity fix. This repairs the broken dexterity bug. You can get that file and its details here: http://dragonage.gul...ity_hotfix_101.
The no auto level followers mod. This gives you control over how a follwer levels up, by not spending the points into their skill/attributes/talents. Now you get to decide how they level up. You can find that file here:
http://www.damods.co...sa=view;down=19
The No starting ability mod. This zeroes out your character when you start a new game. No talents/Attrib/skills assigned. This is so you can adjust how YOU think your origin should affect your starting abilities. You can find that here http://www.damods.co...sa=view;down=20
These are not absolutely needed, but can add some degree of personalization to your party.
ATTRIBUTES
Strength) Get this to 20 asap. 20 gives you just what you need to wear the best light armor. After you have the Lethality talent, you get more out of your DEX and CUN that you will from strength.
Dexterity) Get this to 28 after you have your strength. This unlock the requirements for the dagger on honneleath and :the edge". 2 good early game daggers with 2 enchantment slots each. High Dexterity also gives armor penetration, physical resistance bonus, defense bonus, attack bonus, and damage with bows and daggers. This is the most important stat for your rogue.
Cunning) Once you get STR and DEX in place, its time to start splitting your level up points to this. I find 2 dex, 1 cun works well into late game. Throw points here early if you can;t wait to have that higher level skill. This stat isn;t important early on, which is why i suggest waining til Dex is up, but after the Lethality talent, you get half you hit bonus from this stat. Cunning also modifies nearly all your rogue talents somehow. Ill explain where in the talents section.
Willpower) My rule of thumb for this stat is simple. When you find that you are always hurting for that extra stamina or you have none left after your buffs, its time to raise it 5 points.
Constitution) No increase. You may be shaking your head right now, but be patient. By mid game, no one is going to land a successful hit on your rogue anyway.
Magic) No increase. No point.
TALENTS
Through your campaign, you going to have around 25-30 points to put here, including all the possible bonuses. Even so, you still have to be carfeul how you distribute them. That is not alot of points. Rogues NEED talents much more than a mage or a warrior. This is the way i would build up my rogue, were i to play a solo through hard or nightmare.
EARLY GAME TALENTS TO HAVE
Dual-weapon Training - Having this skill early gives you a decent offensive edge by lifting the penalty on off hand weapon use a bit.
Riposte - You hit the target with your first weapon, stunning it. Then hit with the second for an Auto-Critical.
Dirty Fighting - Throw some dirt in your opponents eyes and stun them. Good setup for Coup de Grace below.
Combat Movement - Increases the angle for flanking from 120 degrees to 180 degrees, and increses backstab damage from +15 to +20. Adds + 2 to critical chance.
*For more on flanking see this article http://dragonage.gul...ng_and_backstab .
Coup de Grace - This is where our rogue become a ninja. You get an automatic backstab vs and paralyzed or stunned target, backstab damage increses to 150% of normal weapons damage, and + 1 critical chance. Riposte, Dirty fighting, captivating song(bard), distraction(bard), all cause stuns. You don;t need to be behind your target for the backstab if their paralyzed/stunned.
Lethality - +10 Critical chance, and you now use CUN/DEX to damage rather than DEX/STR. Adds an additional bonus to backstab damage based on your CUN stat.
The above is the early game setup. You may wonder at the talents i didnt mention. Below the belt, Deadly strike and dual strike. The reson i failed to add them is becuse they are a drain on the early rogue. Below the belt and deadly strike cost mana to have a strike that does less than backstab damage. Dual strike remove ability ti cause crits and backstab.
MIDDLE GAME TALENTS
Stealth - First level lets you cloak. Always do this before a battle, get behind a target (the mage of the group or lightly armored archers) and strike to initiate combat. Auto Crit.
Second level lets you use items while cloaked. Lay traps, drink potions.
Third rank lets you stealth in the middle of combat. This is the rest of your ninja here. Stealth takes 10 seconds to recharge, so thats one critical strike every ten seconds. When you stealth, all enemies acquire new targets and forget about you. When you stelath, if you have in combat regen for anything, you can regen from safety, they cant see you.
Fourth rank makes it even harder to see you.
Evasion - I told you that at higher levels, you won't get hit right? Here you go. Evasion gives 20% chance to avoid physical damage, stuns, and knockdown attacks (like dragons do). There is a belt that adds 10%, boots for another 10%, a ring for 10%, a dagger for 10%, and an amulet for 10%. Add it up, and feel the ninja coming on.
ASSASSIN
Time to discuss the first specialization. In my play time i used the assassin talents all the time, for they have excellent synergy with backstab attacks. The others ill discuss in late game section.
Mark of Death - This give all your party members a bonus to damage the target, based on your cunning.
Exploit Weakness - As if your backstabs weren't bad enough, this gives you an additional bonus to damage based on cunning. At this point, your backstabs are out damaging your tank.
Lacerate - Modifies backstab attack again, causing a DOT (damage over time) wound.
Feast of the Fallen - When you kill on a backstab, and you will be one shotting most creatures by now, you get a stamina increase. Time to use those talents youve got!
LATE GAME
Dual weapon Finesse - Bonus to attack and defense.
Dual weapon Expert - Critical chance +2.5, chance to inflict bleeding wounds (DOT). Damage stacks with Lacerate.
Punisher - You make four strikes against the target, first two normal, third a critical, last is a knockdown. Whether target makes his KD save or not, he get a penalty to Attack and defense. Use this with riposte against elites, there wont be much left of them if they survived the opening backstab.
Flurry - Dish out three normal strikes in quick succession.
Momentum - A useful talents once you have Feast of the fallen. It constantly drains stamina but, you get a 140% move speed, 30% increse to attack speed that stacks with other bonuses to same.
Last Specializtion. This depends on how youre playing the game. If you are the ghost who attacks from stealth, and are seldom hit, go Ranger. For the person who is getting hit alot due to bad luck or trouble finding good gear, go Duelist. For the solo rogue, Ranger, Ranger, Ranger! Here's why. I will only mention the talents important to the build.
Option 1 Duelist
Dueling - Adds bonus to attack chance.
Keen Defense - Adds bonus to defense.
Pinpoint strikes - The prize of this art. For 15 seconds, every attack you make is considered a backstab with all the relevant benefits, no matter the angle.
Option 2 Ranger
First 3 levels give you a wolf, a spider, and a bear. The pet is 75% of your level.
Fourth rank changes your pets to a Blight wolf, Poisonous Spider, and a Bereskarn. The pets are 90% your level and get new talents like overwhelm.(hint: web is good for backstabbing, roar and howl stun)
These pets can tank for you very well, have their own talent, and create great havoc. Besides, as long as the enemy is looking at the huge teeth of a bereskarn, and not me sneaking up behind him, im happy as a clam.
Possible option 3 Bard
The bard is a party support character. If you are soloing, avoid this. For others, the usefulness is less than the other specializations. You have a song that bolsters attack, damage, and crit chance. A song that inreases stamina/mana regen for party. These two song eat massive stamina, and have to be maintained. The last song, stuns all enemies, but you cant move. For the ninja rogue, thats painful to watch all those juicy targets get taken out by everyone else. Lastly, the distraction talent, like waking nightmare, it confuses a target, but only one. Your choice.
TRAPS AND POISON
Traps, ok, the rogue is nasty in combat without these things, and as you can see from my build, backstabbing is the way to success. Since youre going to be unchivalrous, you might as well go all the way. Traps offer you more strategic options. Place several holding/stunning traps around while stealthed. This can help in tough fights against bosses and elites. These traps open chances for your backstabs, since they cannot move or attack. Freezing traps, have you or a warrior crit him, shatter, instant death. Mage's cone of cold, petrify, and blizzard work too. Some people say it take too long to setup the battlefield first and that backstab/stealth attacks will work faster. Try it out and see for yourself, it can be tedious, but on hard battle, well worth the time.
Poisons, they only last 60 seconds, so make em count. Not much to say here, use it, get extra damage. There are also poisons that have chance to paralyze, which means what? Backstabs!
TACTICS
No use having all those skills if you can't use them properly. The biggest tactical error a new play makes with the rogue, is to treat them like an additional warrior. You will be hit, alot, and you will die, alot, if you do this. Go into stealth before combat, use traps, load up poison, get behind a nice soft target like a mage, rush the rest of your party in to draw attention, then hit for your first crit. Your backstabs will auto kill mages and archers once you have assassin. Stun next target with dirty trick, and whack him for the free backstab from coup de grace, go back into stealth. Shake it up with your multi strike abilities like riposte, which also stuns, the backstab. Playing a rogue, is like dancing in combat. In later game stages if you have a stun skill charged up, use it first, save your stealth to lose aggro. Always keep a pet out, if one dies, move to the next. and Backstab, Backstab, Backstab!!
Back stab attack fully modded
+13 critical chance
Bonus from cunning (rogue)
Bonus from cunning (assassin)
+ 150% damage
Auto success vs. paralyzed/stunned targets. (this will cause a shatter effect on frozen targets)
180 degree flanking angle
Damage over time wound
Stamina gain on kill
Party tactics. Know your stuns. Warrior has warcries, and shield stuns. Mages have paralyze, mass paralyze, waking nightmare, mind blast, and glyphs. Pertrify and freeze set you up for a shatter on backstab attack. Play the game as if, the party is there to support you. Warrior or shale draws the aggro from you, mages freeze and stun, other rogues play bard songs, or stun, dog and summons draw mroe aggro, and stun. Before you know it, you are not even noticed on a battlefield.
Enchant your weapons. Paralyze runes dont stack, but you can put one in EACH weapon you wield, giving you twice the chance to paralyze. put a damage rune in the other slot, it factors into your backstab damage bonuses. Nothing better than hitting a target out of cloak, and paralyzing for the last 5 seconds of its life while you auto crit him with every hit.
Dog has a howl talents that stuns all nearby enemies. Open season for you.
FINAL REASON FOR PLAYING A NINJA ROGUE
You get cool final blow death scenes to see. Like jumping on the ogres shoulder, slashing his throat, and staying on for the ride as he falls, then make him eat that dagger!!!!
You look cool in leather!!!
By level 20, the darkspawn can only dream of hitting you.
One shot kills non elite mages and archers, 2nd shot kill the rest.
Having the highest percentage of damage done for your party.
Having fun!
Take care all. Im here to help.
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