Rogue

There are many reasons one might want to play a rogue. They have many utility skills which make them useful in a variety of situations, namely hide, sneak, instill doubt and safe fall and have the best form of invisibility in the game due to Sneak-Hide. Most importantly, in Everquest, the rogue is capable of doing more melee damage than the other pure melee classes (e.g. warrior, monk), but only with the right equipment and if the rogue doesn't have to face the enemy head-on.

The rogue also gets unique skills, such as Evade, Make Poison, Apply Poison and Pickpockets. The rogue is an auxiliary tank specializing in: complementing the efforts of a tank class (warrior, monk, shadowknight, paladin), effective and deadly scouting, critical corpse recovering, and the deadly art of poisons. In this employ, the rogue can be a significant addition to a smart group.

This is an often debated topic. The general consensus is that dex/agi should be over 100 to keep skills sharp, but that Strength and Armor Class best serve the rogue overall. If you want to do a little more damage, lean towards strength, if you want better defensive capabilities pick armor class.

The current state of the EQ Rogue is a good one. Many players do not realize the value that high melee damage can bring to the group in minimizing downtime and conserving mana. As a Rogue, your principal job will usually be to deal damage--and lots of it.

With one of our special skills called 'evade', we can keep it such that a creature never attacks us, and is always on the high AC, high hit point tank. Not only does this consolidate damage on one target (making the healers life easier), but that tank will take the least amount of damage due to his or her high AC, conserving mana as a whole. You are also the master of corpse recovery, able to pull entire parties out of areas with ease that others could only dream of. Add to this our superior scouting ability and the ability to pick locks in higher level areas, and no group wants to be without a Rogue. With the inclusion of poisons, our utility is even more wide, as we can root, slow, dot, and direct damage an enemy to make encounters that much easier.

Many ideas that Rogues aren't useful stemmed from the initial release of the game where a) we didn't have evade, b) there was no minimum backstab damage, c) we couldn't sneak and hide at the same time, d) our weapons were much more limited, e) and poisons were not in the game. This is no longer the case. Rogues are a wonderful class now.

If you have lots of time and money, it can add a lot of flavor to your experiences as a Rogue. You will be more effective in combat if the effect goes off and does inflicts the target successfully.

After several iterations, poison has finally become a viable resource. Though many disagree with when and how often one would use poison, we all agree that the current crop of poisons are not only one of the best and most interesting trade skills, but probably one of most rewarding as well. Be prepared to spend time gather components, raising your skill, and buying the necessary suspensions however. Like most trade skills, it takes time.

Sneak allows you move behind enemies who would normally attack you. It essentially reduces the radius in which they will attack you. You still should keep your distance, as sneak is by no means equivalent to invisibility, unless you are hiding as well. As a Rogue, it will tell you if you are successful or not ("You are as quiet as a cat stalking its prey"). For most creatures, once you are successfully sneaking, they will "con" (/consider) indifferent. Kunark mobs are notorious for conning as "scowling" (hostile) even with successful sneak though they likely will not attack. Be aware that hide is an invisibility, but sneak is not.

Now comes the best part about sneak. The "secret handshake". If you have bad faction (whether through combat, race, or religion) with a Merchant, you can neutralize the hostility by "Sneaking" behind the merchant. Use Sneak while standing behind the merchant and you will change their hostility level to "Indifferent" and you will be able to make transactions. This works for every vendor though some are more dangerous than others (groupings of Merchants where sneak doesn't affect merchants behind you.)

Hide is like invisibility, but much more reliable, but it doesn't cost any mana either. It most likely won't work reliably until level 10+, and even then there's no guarantee until you've mastered the skill. As a Rogue, the in-game text will tell you if you are successful or not. You can also tell if it worked by considering (/con)an enemy while hidden - if they regard you indifferently, then your hide was successful (though some mobs, mostly in Kunark, may continue to consider as "scowling"). You will remain hidden until you turn Hide off or you move without Sneak. The most reliable method of determining Hide success is to use the F9 key and view yourself using an external, 3rd-person POV camera. With successful hiding, you will not be able to see yourself in 3rd-person point of view.

Some races receive Hide at a "racial skill" level at the start of the game. This means that their Hide ability is 50 (or the equivalent of level 10) and will not improve through use until the player reaches level 11. Races include Dark Elf, Halfling, and Wood-Elf.

Your own party members are the biggest risk here. Any spell cast upon you, beneficial or otherwise will knock you out of hiding. This can be extremely dangerous when scouting. A Bard's songs can be a Rogue's worst enemy when sneaking! When scouting for your party, let your group know to not cast on you or use bard songs.

Looting corpses (even your own) will also knock you out of hiding, so greed can get you killed if the area is not clear. When trying to recover your own corpse, use the /corpse command to drag your body to a safer spot before looting. Dragging corpses will not ruin your hide. Picking Pockets will also ruin your hide, so be careful!

Using sneak and hide at the same time (Sneak-Hide) allows a rogue to move while invisible to most mobs and players! The rogue is "invisible" to most mobs and players with the exception of those that can cast "See Invisible".

Unlike the spell invisibility or invisibility versus undead, sneak hide can be activated at the press of a button, sometimes so fast that a mob at the zone won't see you if you press it immediately. As a Rogue, you are in no risk of your invisibility breaking at a bad time. However, there is a very small chance, rumored to be based on your level, that determines if a mob can see through your invis. Some mobs also just plain see anything.

In addition, sneak and hide succeeds where all magical forms of invisibility fail. Many zones are only safely navigatable by Rogues--all other classes beware. However, it drops when you zone, so be prepared.

Evade is a skill you receive at the same level as Hide that allows the rogue to not be the target of an angry creature. By targeting a creature in combat, shutting off auto-attack and hitting the hide button. This is harder than it sounds: for a successful evade, you must be standing still as well as not attacking. A successful evade will lower the aggression that the creature has towards the rogue. Essentially, the rogue is placed lower on the "Hate List" of the creature targeted. This is commonly used to help shift the attention of the creature from the rogue to the primary tank.

Furthermore, its not as much how you evade as when. Evade takes practice, but an experienced rogue can help spread around the damage to the tanks while minimizing personal damage.

Apparently there is a bug that is expecting the rogue to get picklock skill at level 11, not a level 6. When you first get picklock skill and add a point to it, you get it at your current level (6). Now when you try to pick the door in Befallen, it won't work because you're not at level 11 like the code says you should. Therefore the door does not open nor do you gain experience. You must put at least five (5) practice points into Pick Lock skill to get it up to skill level 11. Once there, the door in Befallen opens like butter!

The only doors you may pick are ones with the message: "This door is locked and you don't have the key." There is no message for failing an attempt, only for succeeding. To attempt to pick a lock, click on your picklocks so that they are now stuck to your cursor. Then click on the door to attempt to open it. Or use your "U" key on your keyboard (or whatever key you've defined as "Use".) This prevents the potential for dropping or accidental trade initiations.

You target an NPC or monster and click the 'pick pockets' skill button. Upon success, you will be given some coinage, or rarely, an item that was in the target's inventory. It is best to use this skill on something you plan to fight anyway. Because if you are detected, the creature will attack you. You can only raise skill or successfully pickpocket humanoid creatures. Animals and skeletons can not be pickpocketed.

The best way to use the skill is to turn your autoattack off briefly, try to pickpocket, then turn autoattack back on until you can pickpocket again. It is best to setup your hotkeys to make it as easy as possible. Also keep in mind that for some players there is a bug in which if your weapon effect goes off at the same time you are toggling skills, it locks up your macro buttons until you zone or relog. For picked coinage, the amount stolen decreases with each successive attempt on a given target, typically by a factor of two with fractions rounded downwards. If you are pickpocketing NPCs, and not killing them, it is not clear when the amount you are able to pick in a given shot goes back up, but it does after a time.

Also, it should be noted that humanoid mobs (humans, orcs, etc.) will shout "Stop thief!" if you fail your pickpocket attempt badly enough. This will alert anyone within hearing distance that you are pickpocketing the mob. In other words, some players may take offense to this. Pickpocketing guards as you run past them out of town can be a profitable hobby as well. Be sure you are ready to run however!

Merchants carry no special loot, and at the level where you could successfully pick their pockets, the several platinum, or few gold they have (just like normal mobs their level) will be of no interest to you. Merchants do not have the money that other players have spent buying their wares.

An extra attack the rogue gains at level 10. To backstab, a piercing weapon must be equipped as the primary melee weapon. Thus, all rogues should try to have piercing skill maxed by level 10.

To backstab, simply target an enemy, get behind it and click the backstab button. You will hit for damage times a multiplier based on your backstab skill. Keep in mind your damage will be much lower (on average) against difficult targets (yellow and red cons). Regardless if you hit or miss, the backstab works like a taunt, and the target often will turn it's attention to you. If you use the backstab attack from the front, it counts as an extra, normal pierce attack, but it will not trigger double attack and/or dual wield. You also will not gain skill points in backstab using it from the front. The skill is fairly hard to raise unless you group constantly.

Nothing is official, but the general belief is that at low levels, it works something like this: Assuming that you are using a weapon deemed 'acceptable' for your level (i.e. not too powerful [some players report getting very high level weapons at lower levels and not getting the damage they were supposed to until they leveled some more]), max damage is calculated as: (DMG * 2) + 1 + ((level - 25)/3) + ((STR+SKILL)/100) Backstab simply multiplies this by a constant factor. We approximate this factor to be:

So a maxed level 10 rogue has a backstab multiplier of (55 / 25) = 2.2x. Assuming he's using a giant snake fang (DMG 5, so max damage (5 * 2) + 1 = 11), his level 10 max backstab will be (11 * 2.2x) = 24. Backstab damage caps at 25 * DMG at level 50. Towards level 20, these numbers skew. Backstab seems to top out for a time, and then go up rapidly in the higher 20s. Strength effects how often you hit for max damage, so be sure to have STR enhancing equip and/or STR buffs on you as often as possible.

At 51st, the new minimum backstab damage is Level*3/2, rounded down. 76 is the least you will hit for at 51st, and it goes up. At 60th, the minimum backstab is Level*2 (120).

Train an initial point in it upon reaching the necessary level, and then run up and down a steep slope at the zone wall. You will often gain two or more points in one single run down the slope. Other common places to train this skill are at the bases of the wizard teleportation spires, by running off of the top level of a multilevel boat, or Oasis, South Ro, and Northern Ro with their rolling desert hills.

Dual wield allows you to equip a second melee weapon in your other hand. Each time you attack, a roll is made based on your dual wield skill, and you may or may not get an extra attack. The first training point will boost the skill to 16 (or 15, unconfirmed), and successive points will aid in speeding up skill advancement. The level bonus present in damage over level 25 only occurs on attacks performed with your primary weapon.

The delay of your primary weapon does not factor into your dual wield chances. Every time your secondary weapon would swing due to its delay, you will automatically check versus your dual wield skill. A success will activate dual wield and you will swing your secondary hand. Consequently, equipping a fast weapon in your secondary hand will lead to more checks versus your dual wield skill.

A: Double attack gives you a chance to get an extra attack in with your primary weapon. Its activation is automatic. This skill starts at level 16 when the first point is put in. Once you get several points into it, it will increase rapidly on its own through combat. The level bonus present in damage over level 25 occurs on attacks performed with your primary weapon, so successful double attacks with the primary weapon will reflect the level bonus.

By right clicking on a poison vial, you will automatically sit and apply the poison to your primary weapon slot. Applying poison takes roughly 7 seconds. You cannot poison any weapon type other than Piercing.

You will need to have a mortar and pestle to combine the components in. For EACH vial of poison you will need: A suspension fluid (three different types), various poison components (dropped off Norrathian creatures or, for some components, purchased from poison vendors), and a vial (regular, lined, or sealed) purchased from one of the above mentioned vendors or made via the pottery skill. The poison book will have the recipes, but be sure to check the Safehouse Library forum for all the information.

Each application is for one use only. If you zone without the poison effect going off, you also will lose it. Upon the first hit with your piercing weapon, the poison effect will go off. There is a chance the mob will resist the poison. Backstab will not activate poison. Note also that you must use a piercing weapon for poison.

There are only a handful of traps in a couple dungeons in Norrath. One in particular is in Paw that looks really neat. But when it goes off, it does no damage to you whatsoever. Even if it did, there is a deactivation switch nearby. So far there are no significant traps that do anything besides the ones known as "false floors" where you fall into a pit usually filled with nasty critters. Unfortunately, the skill Sense Trap does not sense false floors. It's really easy to train Sense Traps, just use it all the time.

Click on a moving trap to disarm it, and it will stop moving for a brief period of time if you are successful in disarming it. This is actually helpful when navigating a dungeon with traps (e.g. Solusek A or Infected Paw) because traps, while unable to do damage to you, WILL break your Sneak-Hide. Once you have disarmed the trap, you can move by it.

Instill doubt causes the rogue to go through several combat animations, and on success, will attempt a kick, which if successful will send the enemy running a la the fear effect. It can not be relied on as an escape ability, because success is fairly rare. Also be very cautious in areas where trains start easily (e.g. Guk, Solusek B). If the skill does happen to work while fighting indoors, the creature may run off and come back with the entire zone which won't make you or your group very happy. On the other hand, it is useful as an auxiliary fearing method when fighting out of doors.

Yes. When walking through a zone, target a player, a corpse, an NPC or any creature, and repeatedly hit instill as you walk across the zone. If you are lucky, you'll gain a point. However, no effect will be caused on the target in question unless you happen to be within melee distance.

Disarm causes the enemy's weapon to be removed from their hand and either into their inventory (PCs) or onto the ground (NPCs) on a successful roll. Disarm also has a small taunt effect built into it.

They are higher level rogue skills that enable a rogue to utilize a "special effect" for a short period of time. The reset time to reuse these abilities is varies by discipline with 30-60 minutes being the initial time and decreasing in length as a rogue gains levels. To use a discipline type "/discipline [name of discipline]". Only one discipline may be used at a time.

Counterattack (Level 53): 9 seconds of 100% riposte to targets in your forward arc. You become a porcupine of death when this is in effect, and cannot be touched by any foe facing you. You may have seen this in effect on higher-level mobs, with the warrior version of this discipline.

Kinesthetics (Level 57): 18 seconds of 100% dual wield/double attack (which applies to the double backstab check as well). Not overpowering, but it does add to the damage potential.

Rogues are at their best in a support tank role, best used in conjunction with a traditional tank (warrior, monk, paladin, shadowknight) on a single difficult enemy. Always be behind the enemy, and if the enemy is facing you, attempt to Evade or back off until the enemy is angrier at the main tank than it is at you. Smart group members will taunt the creature off of the rogue.

Magical piercing weapons are hard to come by, but they are usually quite quick. Also several weapons have special attacks (e.g. Bloodclaw) to help you do more damage. Backstabs will range from your level in damage up to 200 or more, but generally speaking you will be doing less than 100 until you get some very good equip.

All three pure melee classes get a new damage table at 51st, and continue to get better tables as they level. This table is not shared with Hybrids, and means that at a given level and skill, a pure melee class will out damage a hybrid with the same weapon.

Yes. Assuming of course that both your hands are wielding weapons of equal delay. Since the two hands are not coupled to each other, your dual wields and double attacks are not synchronized.

Yes . In a PvP situation, rogues and monks can currently disarm any weapon wielded by the opposing player. The weapon in question is dropped into the inventory of the disarmed player, or, if no slots are available, is placed on the cursor of the disarmed player.

The Rogue's class specific armor is Ravenscale, found in Cazic Thule. It is black and one of the rogue's pride and joys. Because it is dropped and not quested for like other class armor, most rogues either save all their money for Ravenscale or go to Cazic-Thule in their mid 20's-early 30's