Rogue race and other questions.

[slowpoke68]

Hello all. Played EQ from about a month after launch to Velious, on and off (mostly on, but a month off here and there due to extreme burnout).

Have been on P99 for a few weeks and am having my usual hard time picking a class. Funny when I played EQ originally I rolled a monk because I figured it would be an easy class to gear and learn. Quit at 19 because I figured out I didn't like pulling in dungeons. Rolled a cleric and took him to 50. Easy decision. For some reason, since then I always have class selection issues [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Anyway, I played a rogue on Fippy Darkpaw (way different mechanics from here obviously) and am thinking about one for P99. My rogue on Fippy was a DE, which I thought looked cool but obviously wasn't the best choice stats wise.

Aesthetics are important to me and I have my races narrowed down to Half Elf (like the way they look in banded) and Dwarf (like dwarves). My one concern about Dwarf is how the weapons will look in their hands. I am using classic models and I know with Luclin all weapons look novelty undersized. Can anyone comment on this? Do they look like they fit in the hand properly and are they correct scale?

Also, I am curious about starting stat distribution. I have read a bunch of threads on the topic and consensus seems sta/str or str/sta. Could anyone comment on best place to assign stats on the two races I listed?

Also, I see rogues get crits on throwing. Do you guys find yourselves using that skill a lot?

I read about instill doubt/intimidate and some recent patch. Is this skill worthwhile in its current form? Reviews seemed to be mixed...can it be used in conjunction with backstab now?

I know Rogues are the worst soloers and I will not be twinked. My question is, will I be able to solo blues at all? I want to spend all my time possible grouped, but for those times I can't find one, it would be nice to be able to do something productive while LFG. Doesn't have to fast, just wondering if it is possible as it would only be something to keep me busy while waiting on an invite.

Lastly, what about poisons? Worthwhile or not?

Sorry for all the questions but I always like to know how to play a toon correctly. I figure with the server downtime, might get some really good answers from the experts here!

[nyclin]

Dwarf weapon models look fine to me

For stats do +5 STA and the rest into STR or DEX. If you ever plan on raiding there are lots of proccing weapons in Velious so DEX is very good. Otherwise, STR is fine.

Throwing is only used for pulling really. When you're 60 you will rarely see an assassination from throwing weapons, but otherwise it doesn't do enough damage to be notable

Intimidate works better here than it did on live and is a relatively reliable method of fearing when the skill is maxed. You could probably use it to solo but duoing with someone who can snare/heal is more ideal

You will have trouble soloing anything other than light greens/very low level blues unless you are twinked. Just group.. no group is ever going to turn down a rogue unless they just don't have room. No exp penalty and you bring tons of damage, even untwinked.

Poisons are basically worthless outside of PVP

[Samoht]

Dont listen to that guy. Dump all stats in STA. STR soft cap is like 189. That's easy enough to achieve. Barb is best starting race because most STA and ability to wear tree weave and hero bracers. Followed by dwarf. Looks don't really matter. You can eventually get dark elf, erudite, iksar, high elf masks to pick whichever of those forms suit you. Maybe even dwarf or gnome assuming sleepers doesn't get screwed up too early.

[Cecily]

Do some combination of STR and STA. Anything else is a waste. Race does not make any difference in the end, besides your looks which is ultimately most important.

[anarch]

Dwarves get parkour racial ability. 'Nuff said.

[Madbad]

Gnomes get wall peak

[Nocte Sicarius]

Stay Inky for the rogue experience. Everyone hates you. Ultravision. Innate hide. Race means nothing in the long run except for faction, but good rogues can circumvent that in a hearbeat.

[B4EQWASCOOL]

On a non-twinned rogue, 25 strength/5 dexterity. Barbarian is the best stats by far. Referencing untwinked again... Throwing is garbage because if you are throwing, then you are not meleeing. Melee always does MUCH more dmg than throwing. Stamina is a crap stat for a rogue... You're a damage dealer, the best in the game, and you have the best aggro management tools, go max dmg. ROGUES - NORRATH'S WORST SOLO CLASS! Get soloing out your head if you play a rogue. None. (non-twinked) Source: Played an epic rogue 99-04

[Samoht]

Originally Posted by B4EQWASCOOL [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Stamina is a crap stat for a rogue... You're a damage dealer

How much damage will you do if you're dead? End-game fights have point blank area of affect damage spells that will eat you alive. The only stats that matter then are resists and hit points. With shaman buffs, the unbuffed STR soft cap (the amount that it would no longer be beneficial to pass) is 213. With a bard + a shaman, the amount required is 191. That's a trivial amount (especially if you're playing a barbarian rogue). Starting stats should be put in a full STA dump.

Originally Posted by Nocte Sicarius [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Stay Inky for the rogue experience. Everyone hates you. Ultravision. Innate hide. Race means nothing in the long run except for faction, but good rogues can circumvent that in a hearbeat.

All rogues get hide, lol. And with a Mask of Deception, all rogues can be dark elves, ultimately gaining faction and ultravision advantages of dark elves without the crappy stats.

[Kutsumo]

I put 25str in creation on my barb and I do occasionally wish I'd put into stam instead. I'm constantly trying to find more HP/stam/resist gear to wear in place of str gear because I hit 187 str (where sham can buff you to 255) with only 29 str from gear other than epic.

However, it is very easy to equip my rogue very cheaply, with only HP/resist gear and a cheap offhand, and still perform my function (DPS) to within ~5% of those VP geared guys. It's also easy to swap in a few str pieces, use strength buff on kunark arms, and hit 255 without outside buffing.

Definitely don't put creation points into anything other than str/sta, as Cecily pointed out. That would be wasteful.