Rogue noob questions,

[|Nick]

So, I think i want to go with a rogue (a rapier as weapon) meele as my main, but I'm a beginner and I'm not sure if this is a good idea. To be honest, I have no really idea what I'm doing. I just like the idea of being a versatile class that can do stuff like finding and disarming traps, open chests etc.

Is wisdom good to find traps?
How should I play this rogue? Am I able to survive on normal difficulty in meele combat or do I die after taking 2 hits?
Is eldritch scoundrel useful?
Which feats are useful?

Should I take a fighter as main, because my idea of a rogue build is stupid?

[DJLovely]

Rogue is pretty versatile but you know who is more versatile? Bards, they can do everything! Albeit, not as good as everybody but they can do everything but I digressed.

Anyways, Wisdom is tied to Lore and Perception so yes having higher wisdom will help but rogue important stats is Dexterity as it helps with being sneaky and helps with the unlocking and the flipping and the hitting. Rogues should be the last to enter combat as being targeted means a really dead rogue as they usually don't have high AC so they get hit pretty often compared to a heavily armoured fighter. (Use greater invisibility when you have it)

Plenty of useful feats for rogues > Weapon Focus, Improve initiative, iron will, two-weapon-fighting, just depends on what you want. Don't pick ranged feats if you aren't going range, don't pick power attack or double slice if you're going dex and dumping strength.

Fighters are generally good picks as they have tons of feat to make them into killing machines just be a two-handed fighter and pick the recommended feats. Don't forget power attack and cleave.

The biggest tips I can give you is to read everything before picking and remember attack =/= damage rolls. High Ac means you don't get hit as much. Some enemies are weak to a certain type of damage and some can only be killed by it. Dying is okay, restarting is fine and blood for Gorum.

[|Nick]

Thanks.
AC means armor ...?
Can I do both, ranged and meele, dependent on the situation(I thought having a crossbow beside a melee weapon would by nice aswell)? Or should I specialise?

Greater invisibility, is this a rogue talent or a spell?

[Ace490]

I'm playing a dual-wielding knifemaster/duelist as main character myself so I highly recommend it :-) Important point from my experience is that the rogue becomes playable as a melee fighter (on higher difficulties) only later in the game. Early on you have too low health, too low damage output and generally too low AC to go into melee and survive against stronger foes (unless you dump a lot of points into constitution and get stronger armor proficiencies both of which is rather unusual for a rogue build). Therefore, I would recommend to start with a bow (don't invest any feats in it if you plan to go melee later) and slowly train him or her in the respective melee feats and traits. Around lvl 7 or 8 you will be strong enough to switch and go melee. At this point you should be able to deal more damage than the heavy hitters if you go dual-wielding. In any case, toughness is a necessity if you plan to make a melee fighter unless you have heavily invested in constitution (which I don't really recommend for a rogue).

[|Nick]

My idea was:
Strength 9
Dex 18
con 16
the rest 12

[Ace490]

I would put a few of these constitution points into strength because if it is too low you automatically get overencumbered (even if you only use light gear there are a lot of different gear slots, big problem for Linzi later on) which conversely limits the dex bonus you can get (which obviously is very important for many of the rogue's combat calculations). I would recommend at least 11, better 12, points in strength.

[|Nick]

thats a lot of points into strenght. is this really neccessary? it feels like beeing too balanced with a 12 in everything beside con and dex, which is higher. i dont' want to go below dex 14, and now i "only have strength 18 or 19 if I go for 12 strength.

[|Nick]

other option would be 11 strenght, 20 dex, 14 con, 12 int and 10 wisdom and 10 charisma.

[|Nick]

dont i get ability points at some level ups, which should fix the encoumbered thing if put into strenght?

[Ace490]

Well, the critical point is that overencumbrance radically limits your dex bonus. I think it is 5 for light and 3 for medium encumbrance. This means that your 18 (or later even over 20 dex) become largely meaningless because the encumbrance penalty locks it at a level that you reach with 14 or so points in dex. 9 strength is really low and doesn't allow you to carry much gear. I think Linzi has 8 and all she can carry before getting lightly encumbered is a very light armor (15 pd), a heavy crossbow, two rings, a belt and a cape or hat. If you want to make use of as much equipment as possible (and the best light armor) you have to go above ten points otherwise you can only use the lightest stuff you can find (which doesn't offer much use for a melee fighter). For a ranged-only rogue 9 points in strength might be enough but it is borderline and you might have to use a belt to increasing your strength.

[Ace490]

Yeah, you get additional ability points but these should be focussed on high level skills since you will only need one to raise them (while higher levels cost you more points during character creation). Therefore, it is more useful to raise weaker stats during character creation and higher stats through the additional points you get through leveling.

[|Nick]

so i went with 11 strenght, 20 dex, 14 con, 12 int and 10 wisdom and 10 charisma.
should i lower the dex to 18 and buff other stats and raise dex with the ability points i get from the level ups?
going from 20 to 18 dex gfrees 7 ability points. where should i spend them

I thought I had a good build, but it feels like starting all over again
do i really need charisma and wisdom?
how would you spec my rogue?

[Ilfiriel]

I went pure glass canon for mine. Went high mobility (with all the mobility feats), dual wielding and decent intelligence and Charisma for skills. (Elf) Str: 10 Dex: 19 Con: 10 Int: 14 Wis: 13 Cha: 14. I basically jump last in fights and just blitz targets, but also escape the minute I get targetted. At level 10, I don't wear armour, just the +5 bracers of armor and my AC is 28 (30 with the combat expertise feat). I am pondering if I should go Duelist but I am scared of loosing my sneak attacks gains from the last 10 levels for AC benefits tradeoffs.

[|Nick]

so u did take knive master instead of rogue? I'm not sure which one to take.
I don't plan to go the full fps route.

[Ace490]

Wisdom is largely expendable for a rogue (unless you want to go arcane trickster) since it basically determines your ability to cast spells and overcome the respective defenses (conversely your rogue will be a bit more susceptible to will checks but you can buff this through equipment and feats). Charisma also has limited use in fighting (paladins get some abilities to add their charisma to fighting skill checks but rogues seldom need it). All in all your stats look good to me (I put more points in charisma and intelligence to be able to do most of the skill checks with my main character but you can easily do them with your team members too). You might perhaps lower dex by one point if this allows you to raise strength and/or constitution by two points (or each by one point) but some purists will argue that it is more important to raise your primary stat than any other skill so it is up to you.

[|Nick]

You helped me alot, thanks.
13 strenght, 18 dex, 14 con, 14 int and 10 wisdom and 12 charisma are my stats now