Finding Your Way Around In Shadows

Amerlise Vinsaile

[Note - if your word processor does not preserve the original formatting of this document, it was written in 10 pt Arial, and setting the entire document to this font should help the tables match up, if they don't.]

Warning - if you have a problem with numbers, stats, optimization, or the idea of planning a character way in advance to create a powerful end result, then delete this file, cause that's what it goes into. That having been said, let's jump right into this...there are a number of different paths a rogue can take. I consider them to be the most flexible and varied profession there is. However, most rogues can be grouped into one of three categories:

1. The pure rogue - learns few or no spells, but might pick up some scroll reading along the way. Concentration is obviously on the physical aspects such as weapons, shields, CM, and picking. Most likely trains with DF redux strongly in mind.

2. The magical rogue - Concentration is on magic and ambush. Learns spells as often as possible, along with scrolls, and most likely some mana share along the way. Tendency to forgo some physical training to acquire spells.

3. The 'hybrid' rogue - Somewhere between the other two. Concentrates on both spells and physical training, but usually to a lesser extent in either than the other two.

Rather than tell how a rogue should be rolled up, I'm simply going to lay out some observations of mine over the course of my experience as a rogue. Bear in mind that all of this assumes a long-term character. If you just want to feel around the profession a little, quick-gen. :)

Stats

For any new character, you of course want a good set of stats, unless you choose to go with the luck of the draw for the sake of RP. While that perhaps has a certain merit of its own, I don't play that way. ;) Stat growth is based on stat value, race, and profession. Here's what mine have done, over the course of 84 years.

Looking at these, you can see certain things. First, physical stats rise much more quickly than mental stats. Reflex and Dexterity rose every other training for me. Secondly, lower stats rise with greater frequency than higher stats. In my first 20 years, Charisma rose 19 times, but only 5 times in the last ten years. The ideal end result is to have all 100s, of course, for the purpose of training points, if nothing else. Therefore, you want to give a lower initial score to stats that are going to rise more quickly, and start the slower stats off high, so they approach 100 at a similar rate. Obviously, I didn't do this very well, since Wisdom has only gone up 19 points in 84 years. I'll be at least 240 trainings before it gets close to maxing out. I tend to lack for mental points, for this reason. Additionally, I should have switched Aura and Discipline to begin with. Obviously, I wanted the high roll in one of these two, since they each provide both physical and mental TPs, but I hadn't anticipated Aura rising so slowly, and Discipline is one of the more useless stats, in my opinion. Because of my lower Aura stat, I have a maximum of 149 mana at 62, whereas a 100 Aura would give me 186 mana. However, nothing comes without tradeoffs, and a character that would be perfect in later years can be extremely hard to start off. Strength and Reflex, especially, can be vital to a young rogue, when your bonuses in those stats can make up half of your AS or DS. This can make it hard to convince yourself to place a low roll there, initially. Constitution can be an easier decision; I should have switched my Constitution and Wisdom in the beginning. CO really counts for little besides affecting how many HP you get by training in Physical Training, and helping you resist certain poisons. However, HP tend to max out at a relatively young age (mid 20s, generally, if not younger), and level matters more than CO bonus in poison resistance. This would be my ideal recommendation for starting stat placement, low to high, and why:

1. AU - Gives both PtP and MtP; mana stat; extremely slow to rise

2. DI - Gives both PtP and MtP; helps determine how much exp you can hold before being fried

3. WI - Extremely slow to rise; Stat bonus adds to picking ability

4. IN - Slow to rise; affects how quickly you absorb exp

5. LO - Slow to rise; affects how much exp you can hold before being fried

6. ST - Affects how much you can carry, and bonus adds directly to AS.

7. CH - Somewhat slow to rise, but faster than other mental stats

8. RE - Bonus adds directly to DS, but raises very quickly, and that initial lack of DS can be made up in other ways. You get an automatic +10 to this roll.

9. DE - Raises very quickly. Helps avoidance of maneuver attacks, but those aren't terribly common until later years. You get an automatic +10 to this roll, too.

10. CO - Pointless. Throw it low. Your HP will catch up eventually, and this stat doesn't do much else.

Training

I strongly believe that race should be a personal choice, but if asked, I generally recommend dark elf or half elf for a rogue. For a purely magical rogue, I recommend dark elves. I chose half elf for Amerlise because of her background (her father was a Faendryl sorcerer and her mother was a human scholar). The core skills for a rogue are as such:

Weapons - I recommend edged in all the cases below, as edged weapons are generally the easiest to come by, and cheapest to train in (except blunts). Always, always, always max out this skill, no matter what path you choose.

Shields - Lots of debate in the past over whether to double in this skill or not. I, myself, choose to double in it, for two reasons. One, every little bit helps. The law of diminishing returns applies here, but hey, returns are returns, and I like my head on my shoulders. Most people point out that you get very little extra defense in an offensive stance by doubling in shields, but when I go full offensive, I generally hope to kill the critter in that shot, and nearly any critter on Teras can kill me if it gets a shot at me in full off. In advancing stance, the defense bonus is more noticeable. The second reason is, if I need an extra few training points from time to time, I can just choose to single in shields that year. Sort of a training point buffer, if you will.

Armor - This, you will eventually stop in, but not for quite some time. However, the penalties for wearing double leather are nearly insignificant, and you will be able to wear brigandine by age 30 if you single. I'd go for brig, at the lightest, even if you use spells constantly in combat, such as estrike or dispel. At least one older rogue, Rayzor, has gone all the way to full plate.

Combat Maneuvers - This is another point of debate. This skill aids you in avoiding maneuver attacks, but not all of them, and to a limited degree. However, it -does- help. More noticeably, perhaps, it adds +1 to your AS for each two ranks of CM. While this seems rather small for the costs, if you look at it extremely long term, it can make a huge difference. Place two 50th level rogues side by side, identical in every aspect, except that one has singled CM, and one has doubled. The rogue who has doubled will have gained +1 AS from CM every training, thereby having +25 AS higher than the one who singled. As good as permanent Elemental Targeting (True Strike). In the past, some rogues would single CM to obtain Elemental Targeting, when the spell added +1 AS for each training of the caster. Doing so at the cost of singling instead of doubling CM is a hindrance to your AS, now. I was already well down this path when the spell was changed, and yes, it threw my plans all out of whack and annoyed me to no end.

Picking - This is pretty easy. Do you want to be a great picker, a decent picker, or do you not want to pick? If you want to be able to pick soul golem boxes while you're still young enough to learn from them, triple. Always. If you just want to be a decent picker, you can get away with doubling. If you don't really care if you can pick or not, then I wouldn't. Skip it, and leave it to the pros. I, myself, opted to double, and I haven't even done that consistently. Consequently, I can kill a pyrothag without any trouble, but I sometimes have trouble with their boxes.

Disarm - Whether you pick locks or not, I'd double in this for at least 50 years. Traps have been toughened significantly, recently, and I can no longer manually disarm the high end traps, even with my self cast lore. Why? I doubled till 20 then quit. Silly me. This skill can and will save your life, and besides, it's a nice way to learn, later in life.

Hiding - This should be obvious. I don't recommend tripling, but some rogues do. Doubling seems sufficient, to me, unless you just have the points to waste. Simply doubling is enough to hide from just about any critter, unless it auto-sniffs. Pyrothags are an exception. I understand a fully tripled hider of the same age can hide from a pyrothag with decent success, but, as I don't know any of those, I can't test it.

Ambush - Double. Always. It's been said SO many times that training in ambush doesn't help past 50 ranks, or 80 ranks, or some such, but with all the tweaks the gods do, who can tell what the future holds? This skill is the backbone of any real rogue's hunting style, so keep it up.

Perception - This is just handy to have. Helps you spot traps, helps you spot people. Some say it helps determine what sort and how much treasure you find on critters, but I think that's a load of...well, I don't believe it. I'd alternate singling and doubling, unless you just feel like doubling. There are also areas in the game that you'll have a hard time accessing without a decent amount of perception. It's a cheap skill, anyway.

Brawling - While I don't consider Brawling a core skill, it's useful in a couple of ways. Voln Fu, of course, utilizes this skill, and it makes field picking oh-so-much safer, unless the critters in the area use bolt attacks.

A few skills you might notice as missing, Climbing, Swimming, Physical Training, and First Aid are skills that most people see as having a definite stopping point. Best to just train in these when you can spare the points, as you will eventually stop them altogether. Some people choose to not even train FA, relying on societal skills or herbs to prevent bleeding. I recommend training in it to at least a skill of 50 (10 ranks) so you can utilize the <diagnose full> verb. But that's just me. Additionally, I left out Pickpocketing because it's an extremely cheap skill, so anyone should be able to at least single in it if they so choose. I trained now and again in it, and quit a number of years ago.

Okay, first, the pure rogue. This is, in my opinion, the most straightforward to train, but bear in mind, I am not, nor ever have been, a pure rogue. Simply train to be the very best physical rogue you can. You will quite possibly have to adjust the stat placement some to be able to do this, but you won't need the mental points for spells, so that should be okay. Perhaps AU, DI, ST, WI, RE, DE, CO, IN, LO, CH would work. Remember, too, that a low Charisma bonus is said to improve hiding ability. I would recommend these skills every level, without fail.

Skill Total Cost

1x Armor 3/0

2x Edged 9/3

2x Shields 9/0

2x Combat Maneuvers 12/15

3x Picking 7/7

2x Disarm 3/3

2x Hiding 3/3

1x Perception 0/1

2x Ambush 3/6

Total per level 49/38

This, of course, is simply how I would train my pure rogue. There are a few things to consider, however. If your rogue is going to be in Voln, you will most likely want to double brawling. This might require singling in CM, instead of doubling. Also, wherever possible, pick up ranks of Climbing and Swimming, as these will help add to your redux. Additionally, even some (otherwise) pure rogues will save up enough points eventually to get locklore and traplore.

Now, the magical rogue. This is actually as straightforward as the pure rogue, in its own way. Spells. Spells, spells, spells. To be honest, I'd consider being a ranger or bard, if this is your cup of tea. However, the minor spirit and elemental spells lists are both excellent lists, and that's what makes this choice worthwhile. Training recommendations for the truly serious magical rogue:

Skill Total Cost

1x Armor 3/0

2x Edged 9/3

1x Shields 3/0

1x Combat Maneuvers 4/5

2x Disarm 3/3

2x Hiding 3/3

1x Perception 0/1

2x Ambush 3/6

Total per level 28/21

Obviously, the goal here is to get a spell every second training. With the stat placement above, you should be able to do this from day one, with a decent set of rolls, occasionally saving up enough for mana share, and/or scrolls. I'll go into spell choices in a moment.

Finally, the hybrid. This is what I consider myself, and this can be the most difficult path to find the training points for. The object is to be the best physical rogue you can be, while getting spells as often as possible, and being a decent picker, to boot. There are a number of different ways to train this, and I'd give it some consideration before deciding on a path. In fact, I'd give it a lot of consideration, decide exactly what you want to do, and stick with it as closely as possible. I didn't, and wish I had. ;)

Skill Total Cost

1x Armor 3/0

2x Edged 9/3

2x Shields 9/0

1x Combat Maneuvers 4/5

2x Picking 3/3

2x Disarm 3/3

2x Hiding 3/3

1x Perception 0/1

2x Ambush 3/6

Total per level 37/24

Ideally, you would double in CM, but if you want a spell every second training, this is prohibitive until you are fairly old, unless you have amazing stats. You might not be able to get a spell every second training until you have finished training in Armor, Physical Training, and some others. You might find yourself forced to choose between doubling in Ambush or Shields, or getting a nifty new spell that training. This path requires a lot of discipline to adhere to your set course, when you find yourself only a few points shy of getting that next spell.

Spells

Okay, you've decided to go for spells. Now, which ones? Most rogues seem to follow one of a few certain paths. I went straight up the elemental circle, going for True Strike (425) and Guards True (430). This is the most common path, to my knowledge. Others have gone to 404, 406, or 410, then switched to the spirit circle to get 101, 102, and 103, all nice defensive spells, before going back to the elemental spells. I know of at least one rogue who has gone straight up the spirit circle, going for 117 (Spirit Strike, or Guidance). A rogue really doesn't use mana for much while hunting, so it's not inconceivable to be able to use the spell on nearly every swing. My personal recommendation, however, is to go straight up the elemental circle until you get Guards True, before switching over to the spirit circle. If you're really in need of that extra +75 that Guidance gives you, there's always blue crystals, and it's castable on you by others around you, while True Strike is self-cast only, and not imbeddable.

My training, or what not to do.

Over the course of 84 years, I've probably changed my training plan 71 times, resulting in quite the mish-mash of training. Anything fully singled would be at a 185 skill, and anything fully doubled would be at 270. As you can see, I forgot to double in edged weapons one training. ;)

Skill Bonus Rank

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Armor Use : 134 (37)

Shield Use : 245 (145)

Combat Maneuvers : 190 (90)

Edged Weapons : 269 (169)

Climbing : 86 (19)

Swimming : 86 (19)

Disarm Traps : 179 (79)

Pick Locks : 225 (125)

Stalking & Hiding : 232 (132)

Perception : 170 (70)

Scroll Reading : 99 (23)

Magic Item Use : 20 (4)

Mana Sharing : 35 (7)

Ambush : 219 (119)

Physical Training : 105 (25)

First Aid : 50 (10)

Trading : 5 (1)

Picking Pockets : 102 (24)

Brawling : 20 (4)

I have spells 401 - 430 and 101, and can read spells through 19th level from scrolls. Were I given the opportunity to reallocate my skills, or had I planned better from the beginning, I would look like this:

Skill Bonus Rank

-------------------------------------------------------------

Armor Use : 180 (80)

Shield Use : 270 (170)

Combat Maneuvers : 270 (170)

Edged Weapons : 270 (170)

Climbing : 90 (20)

Swimming : 90 (20)

Disarm Traps : 185 (85)

Pick Locks : 270 (170)

Stalking & Hiding : 270 (170)

Perception : 185 (85)

Scroll Reading : 102 (24)

Magic Item Use : 50 (10)

Mana Sharing : 35 (7)

Ambush : 270 (170)

Physical Training : 105 (25)

First Aid : 50 (10)

Picking Pockets : 102 (24)

Brawling : 185 (85)

Whatever would be left over would be put into spells, as I now know that, eventually, enough points will be saved for them, anyway, so it's not worth sacrificing the other skills to get them. But I'm impatient, so I've gotten them as quickly as possible, while attempting to maintain some semblance of upkeep with respect to other skills. To be perfectly honest, I'm quite pleased with Amerlise, despite her training mistakes. Above all, remember, who you are is more important than what you are. Create a character you enjoy playing, whose personality and history far outweigh their skills and stats, and you'll have achieved more success than any training pattern or guide can give you.

Hope some of this was useful. Any questions, comments, etc, can be directed to me in-game (unless I'm in the middle of something), or e-mailed to andelas@boone.net.

~Amerlise Vinsaile