Assistance in creating a build (Dodge Tank Skill Monkey)

[Belegc]

Hello All,

I've played a bit when it came out and now decided to give it another try. I am very familiar with D&D and Pathfinder, but still not really knowledgeable on RT combat system (which seems a bit unintuitive to me, I admit) and I would appreciate some help.

Since I like to play Jack-of-all-trades which are fairly tanky (can't stand glass canons) I thought of going with Forgeworld Crimelord Operative Assassin and raise INT,PER,AGI.
so far so good, but I don't really know what talents to pick. I want to go Melee but this means I also need to invest in WS.

any suggestions on how to actually build this? it doesn't have to be an offensive monster, but skill monkey and tankiness are important to me. I want Abelard to be the traditional heavy armor tank so no duplicates. I know Heinrix is close but he is not a skill monkey and psykers are a bit different from what I want.

thank you,

Belegc

[Parallaxe]

Hello.

Not to burst your bubble but...

Operative is a bad base class for tanking. Warrior gives you taunt and a lot of defense mechanics and some stuff that interacts nicely with agility. Psyker background is strong choice for melee with Bio and in your case Divination.

You will also meet a companion who is the best skill monkey in the game based on some special traits which you can never hope to match.

Reality is with the current state of the game you just have to go Arch-Militant and go for cautious approach upgrade and you can become near invincible already. Things might change in a few months when the next DLC releases and more balance patches follow.

[Belegc]

Originally posted by Parallaxe:

Hello.

Not to burst your bubble but...

Operative is a bad base class for tanking. Warrior gives you taunt and a lot of defense mechanics and some stuff that interacts nicely with agility. Psyker background is strong choice for melee with Bio and in your case Divination.

You will also meet a companion who is the best skill monkey in the game based on some special traits which you can never hope to match.

Reality is with the current state of the game you just have to go Arch-Militant and go for cautious approach upgrade and you can become near invincible already. Things might change in a few months when the next DLC releases and more balance patches follow.

thank you for answering. it is indeed unfortunate. wanted to play something else for a change but as I've said, not really familiar with the combat system.

[Parallaxe]

Hello.

Currently the Rogue Trader is a bit lacking compared to many companions. The one exception is maybe Psyker stuff or a full on gunner type.

A fun build I was thinking of is a high strength push back build warrior into vanguard. Really good protection and decent damage with a lot of fun pushing enemies around.

[Hidetsugu]

With your parameters:
Forgeworld - Locomotion System, Crimelord, Operative - be able to dodge a lot, be skill monkey (and I added a "be a good melee fighter" on my own)
By memory and experience alone:
I'd invest into INT, AGI, WS. (also moves easy into Assassin archetype)
Yes, PER is an important stat for an Operative, but you can ignore some skills and traits that use it and still be fine, since AGI/2 is added as dodge reduction for melee attacks
Operative skills to pick - Tactical Knowledge, and probably either Intimidate, or Joint Analysis.
With Calculated Relations, you weak skills will be - Awareness, Athletics, Carouse. All others will be pretty high.
I can get into the game after ~5 hours, get into toybox and theorycraft a full build for you to follow if you wish.

[Belegc]

Originally posted by Hidetsugu:

With your parameters:
Forgeworld - Locomotion System, Crimelord, Operative - be able to dodge a lot, be skill monkey (and I added a "be a good melee fighter" on my own)
By memory and experience alone:
I'd invest into INT, AGI, WS. (also moves easy into Assassin archetype)
Yes, PER is an important stat for an Operative, but you can ignore some skills and traits that use it and still be fine, since AGI/2 is added as dodge reduction for melee attacks
Operative skills to pick - Tactical Knowledge, and probably either Intimidate, or Joint Analysis.
With Calculated Relations, you weak skills will be - Awareness, Athletics, Carouse. All others will be pretty high.
I can get into the game after ~5 hours, get into toybox and theorycraft a full build for you to follow if you wish.

wow thank you so much! this is what i had in mind, a melee dodge char that can debuff everything (thus contributing to the tanking as well) together with lots of skills. a jack-of-all-trades.

[Hidetsugu]

Ok, let me see, as I said previously (and keep in mind it is just a theorycraft from experience, not tested ingame how it performs):
Forgeworld - Locomotion System, Crimelord, Operative
Favored weapon type: Power

Operative build:
Stats: INT > AGI > WS
Skills: 1 point in Medicae to be able to use medkits, then your choice either to bolster weak skills, or specialize in strong ones
Abilities: Tactical Knowledge first, then either Intimidation, or Joint Analysis
Traits in order: Offensive pattern prediction, Calculated relations, Comprehensive analysis, Improved tactics, Char training: AGI, Pinnacle of weaponry, Char training: INT, Nimble, Char training: WS

Assassin build:
Stats: AGI > INT > WS
Abilities: Death Whisper > Elusive Shadow > Killing Edge
Traits in order: Professional acumen, Deadly calculation, Lethality heightens, Char training: PER, Perfect opening, Char training: TGH, Killing spree, It will not die, Disarray, Seize the advantage, Killing Plan

[Belegc]

Originally posted by Hidetsugu:

Ok, let me see, as I said previously (and keep in mind it is just a theorycraft from experience, not tested ingame how it performs):
Forgeworld - Locomotion System, Crimelord, Operative
Favored weapon type: Power

Operative build:
Stats: INT > AGI > WS
Skills: 1 point in Medicae to be able to use medkits, then your choice either to bolster weak skills, or specialize in strong ones
Abilities: Tactical Knowledge first, then either Intimidation, or Joint Analysis
Traits in order: Offensive pattern prediction, Calculated relations, Comprehensive analysis, Improved tactics, Char training: AGI, Pinnacle of weaponry, Char training: INT, Nimble, Char training: WS

Assassin build:
Stats: AGI > INT > WS
Abilities: Death Whisper > Elusive Shadow > Killing Edge
Traits in order: Professional acumen, Deadly calculation, Lethality heightens, Char training: PER, Perfect opening, Char training: TGH, Killing spree, It will not die, Disarray, Seize the advantage, Killing Plan

Thank you very much! looks good :)

[Nether]

If it helps, it's pretty point-for-point close to my first character (I went for crits instead of dodge with origin, though).
I can vouch it works at least to normal.
Or at least worked back when I played about a billion patches ago.

[Alkei]

Originally posted by Parallaxe:

Hello.

Currently the Rogue Trader is a bit lacking compared to many companions. The one exception is maybe Psyker stuff or a full on gunner type.

Not true. I tried my old save with the last boss to test recent patch. My RT is Warrior/Archmil and he's still inflicting thousands of the Emperor's grace per swing. With some support he can do dozens of swings per round. So last boss was pathetically KOd in the 1st round.
It is still easier to wreck everyone first turn than bother tanking.