A Rogue-storm caller build.

[LairosTall]

Would it work with a bow focus or should I go more with throwing knives?

My rogue is using a bow right now because he's a bit squishy at the moment and has to keep on the run most of the time.

[LairosTall]

I was thinking of getting my Rogue to about lv10 before I start putting points into Storm caller, unless someone has a better idea of a branch point level-wise.

[rulikstanislav]

you´d be forced to use traps/bombs...

throwing knives is the way to go - with mbuti´s advocate(for the study prey)

[LairosTall]

Would the pet be worth using as a secondary damage source if I use the storm enchant?
I've noticed that the enchant adds damage to pets as well as the character but have never used it in a build that included pets.

[ninetales]

The way the game works, you really don't want to do secondary damage types - you can have two primary damage types, but usually only builds stacking lots of -enemy resist can make having a secondary damage type work.

As far as pets go with a sorcerer you can either go 50/50 pets (all pet accessories + the rest is caster/combat gear) or focus on pets. I've seen both builds do OK in legendary.

Personally I think a caster sorcerer would work better than a combat sorcerer.

[LairosTall]

So focus only on weapon actives, spells or pets and generally stay away from what doesn't enhance that focus?
What about builds that have a huge weakness like bleeding or piercing heavy ones? Can a secondary damage type help those, say through a relic or is it best to just deal with the really hard parts?

[ninetales]

Piercing is a major damage type simply because there are far too many ways to enhance it and make sure the damage sticks. Physical and piercing damage also tend to go hand-in-hand, so worse case scenario you can simply switch to a different weapon set (one with higher physical damage ratio) to deal with specific monster types. You can also simply use scrolls.

Bleeding damage is a completely different ballgame. Poison, Bleeding and Damage Reduction damage are more like complementary damage types - these HELP you kill stuff, but you're not supposed to use them as your major damage type unless you have very good in-game knowledge.

[sarcastic_godot]

Secondary damage types can help a lot with your "blind spot"-enemies, but...

...you'll need to carry gear that supports / buffs that damage, too. Like e.g. +Cold / Lightning Dmg and FastCast stuff for your current plan. Also, using both a caster and a melee class means you'll have to decide eventually - INT or STR.

Bleed: When you're a Rogue you get a lot of bleed in-built with your skills So you can pick the buffs for that, too. But rather later than sooner, because Bleeding is mostly effective only against high-HP opponents. Trashmobs will be dead already before the effect does significant damage (different for Hunters thx to scattershot). So it's mostly advantageous when you do boss runs for farming. There you get a good chunk of damage boost for relatively few points. But during leveling it's perfectly OK to just pick those things once to unlock them so you can benefit there from +AllSkills gear.

Poison: If you fancy melee using a Legweaver's Deathtip[www.tq-db.net] (I do) it makes sense to invest some fairly early. If you go for the maxdam oneshotty build or ranged attack less so...

Else I agree with ninetales that it's wise to stick to max two damage types early on. And that'd be Pierce and Poison for me initially (s.a.). But that also depends on what second class you play. If that is Hunter, investing into Bleeding is meaningful rather early on, because that is one thing both classes have. With other class combos it's less meaningful.

But if you're afraid of those undead you encounter, and can relinquish the bow or thrown weapon, Defense is a pretty valid combination. In this game, the shield isn't only for blocking, but also for bashing, and none can do that as well as the Defender. So you can get a lot out of that combo, including the mobility from Shield Rush. Other advantages include the awesome self-heal and -buff from Rally and its children, a good boost to DA, and you can safely go all DEX / STR. And you still got a ranged attack thanks to Throwing Knives. It does synch less well with throwing weapons, though, as the shield damaging passives only work in melee range.

[SilentMeteor]

Rogue is too versatile to determine build before you choose the second mastery.
If you choose Rogue/Storm, the two major builds are:
1. Pet build or mainly trap build, doing very high elemental damage with +pets elemental damage jewels and Eye of the Storm. Yourself simply do all the cc jobs. It's similar to pet Druid
2. Caster, main Storm and Rogue is merely support. However, caster build should eventually evolve into one of the most powerful build in this game: elemental knife thrower. Around three times the damage of ice shard along with high cc and ADCTH.

[LairosTall]

So end game the caster build for this would be the most straight forward?

[ninetales]

Not straightforward, no.
Hardly anything is ever straightforward with Rogue because it's the most item-dependent mastery in the game (tied with Nature), except that with Nature at least you just need to keep in mind that you need pet accessories.

With Rogue you need to know your way around pierce/physical damage ratio (most weapons have this attribute, shown right below its damage values), non-weapon offensive bonuses (for throwing knife), and monster vulnerabilities (so you know when to turn off Blade Honing or switch to a more effective weapon for the job). That's ON TOP of knowing your way around pet accessories if you're going that route too.

It's not an easy mastery to play and its playstyle is usually quite hectic but it's also one of the most rewarding masteries with solid crowd control and debuff options.

[sarcastic_godot]

Plus side of Nature: The stuff you need for that boat to float is easily found at the vendors. Not so much for Rogue. The two of them together, however, are pretty awsome and robust. Let the Plague reign! And your doggies will take care of poison resisters...

[LairosTall]

If I go throwing knife as my main weapon would it help to run Runemaster as my secondary sub class? That is if I go with a caster sub class as my secondary.
Or should I just run with Warfare so that I can boost physical when pierce laggs during a fight?
On the topic of Warfare as a sub class. Warfare can boost attack speed when using throwing axes/hatchets. They have a small piercing % so do they work with certain Rogue skills.

[sarcastic_godot]

Runemaster isn't really caster, rather crossover. Awesome reduction of STR requirement and a long duration self buff with +%STR e.g. make it a nice and flexible class, that can synch with almost everything. And yes, it does include Rogue. Also has +OA, which the Rogue lacks and which is a weak point of Rogue in higher difficulties. And it's perfectly attuned to throwing weapons.

And while the damage types don't really synch, Runemaster offers a wide spectrum - like the "Stone pets" with awesome CC, sweet debuffs and -%toEnemyHealth with Seal of Fate, ability-driven resistances, Runeword: Explode/Burn for a tamed down version of Scattershot, etc. etc.

Also, if you opt for the "backstab" Rogue, maxxing Lethal Strike / Mortal Wound, the STR requirement reduction for weapons gives you access to way more high-damage weapons than with any other class. And hence higher damages...

I haven't played that one into Epic or Legendary yet, but in principle the Trickster looks awesome.

[LairosTall]

How well does Runeword explode and scattershot play off each other? Can scattershot trigger runeword explode when it procs or does explode only trigger off of basic attacks?

I had an idea for a different build but since you mentioned runeword explode I was curious how to work it into a bow specific build, maybe using hunter as my base class.
I am running a Stonespeaker for another character so I have seen the joys of explode with throwing weapons.

[sarcastic_godot]

First thing: I don't remember whether RWExplode procs off Marksmanship. Will look later - just up to playing sth else coop...

Next thing: If you got Ragnarök, you'll find that thrown weapons are superior to bows in all but range. All the Marksmanship procs and the buffs from Wood Lore still work. Thrown weapons offer way faster base attack speed. Some are rather OP. Also, you can use a shield while having all the bow advantages...

third thing: Runemaster works awesome with thrown weapons, and gives you dual throw. Much designed for that...