I would much prefer to suffer from the clean incision of an honest lancet than from a sweetened poison
~ Mark Twain, Letter to Olivia
Hand in hand with our deceptive combat tactics, our unique "crafting" skills gives us another edge over our adversaries. The rogue is learned in the ways of concocting vile poisons and equally savvy as to how to "deliver" them. Perhaps just as noteworthy, seasoned rogues have picked up a few self-serving tricks of their own in the way of scribing magics.
 As with any of the rogue's abilities, certain playstyles necessitate certain tools. The Poison and Device crafting afforded to rogues is one of these finite areas to personalize your character. There is a variety to choose from for a variety of niche purposes. As a rogue, you can create virile poisons that affect your opponents in myriad ways. There are three major types of items that you can construct using poisons. The first and easiest are poisons vials that can be used to coat your weapons with poison. The second and third are Flechettes and Blow Darts. Flechettes are projectiles that can explode (dealing damage to all nearby), root a crowd of opponents, and more. You use Blow Darts before combat starts, to put opponents to sleep, add delayed effects, and generally gain an advantage over the situation.
This part of the Rogue Guide will walk you through the basics of poison making and device construction. While it is not necessarily complicated, it is rather involved in function. MAny a new rogue have gone mad trying to figure the system out. Since you were saavy enough to seek out the Safehouse, we're here to help you out.
 First and foremost, to begin the art form of toxicology and maiming devices a rogue must have earned some degree of mettle, proving their worth. The poison system is not available to rogues until their 10th level of adventuring. If you are here planning a build for a new character, we can not stress enough to practice your pickpocketing in the first 10 levels. This not only helps by padding your purse to a degree, but it offers the possibility to aquire high end components (including an extremely rare, much sought after four recipe book!) used in assembling premium poison and devices. Also squirrel away a little silver to help bump up your skills when you first initially take on the poison and device crafting skills. More on this later.
Once you've achieved the 10th level, you're ready to begin. The rogue's advancement and mastery of the poison system is based off of three attribute milestones: your adventuring level, your Apply Poison skill, and a series of vendor purchased training books.
 Ultimately, your adventuring level is the long term hurdle in advancing poisons. The reason being, it is the basis for your Apply Poison skill cap which is a further limit on what you know and when. The Apply Poison skill and its level dependent caps are decribed more in the next section.
Since you probably understand how adventuring levels work by now, the following chart shows how your recipes are distributed throughout the remainder of your leveling career. While this information isn't practically useful at first, it does show the acquisition peaks and valleys over your rogue's lifetime.
There are currently 133 known recipes: 69 basic and 64 advanced.
Poisons: 38 Recipes (8 unique lines)
Flechettes: 41 Recipes (6 unique lines)
Darts: 24 Recipes (4 unique lines)
Scrolls: 26 Recipes (8 unique lines)
Miscellaneous: 4 Recipes (1 unique line)
Recipe Drilldown by Level Range
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1-10 |
10* |
10* at level 10 |
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11-15 |
0 |
10 at level 15 |
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16-20 |
8 |
18 at level 20 |
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21-25 |
12 |
30 at level 25 |
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26-30 |
14 |
44 at level 30 |
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31-35 |
14 |
58 at level 35 |
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36-40 |
24 |
82 at level 40 |
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41-45 |
21 |
103 at level 45 |
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46-50 |
30 |
133 at level 50 |
*Assumes "Fun with Lint" recipe book is discovered within this level range. It is an extremely rare item with four recipes that is acquired through pickpocketing.
 Simply put, your Apply Poison skill is a measure of your applied competence in the ability. In much the same way any combat skill would improve, it raises as you make poisons and/or devices. Because rogue recipes are all limited by skill level, Apply Poison restricts what recipes you may purchase.
Apply Poison, like any other character attribute, is "capped." A skill cap is the upper threshold of advancement that is restricted by adventuring level. The cap for Apply Poison can be determined by simple arithmetic:
Level X 10 = Skill Cap
For instance, if you're just starting out your poison at level 10 (like a good rogue should), your Apply Poison maximum (cap) will be 100. Once you ding, the cap (not the actual skill) will rise to 110. Pretty simple, eh? So once you reach those caps, don't knock yourself out trying to raise it further. It is not going to happen unless you gain an adventuring level.
If you haven't closely followed along with the combat spam in your chat windows, you can always find your Apply Poison skill level on your Character Sheet. Simply click the Character Sheet/Equipment button (hotkeyed to C) and click the Skills tab.
So your ready to begin, level ten and just champing at the bit? Get yourself to a rogue vendor of some sort. The vendor sells traing guides that unlock certain ranges of poisons, devices, and scrolls as you go. The guides are level restricted, however, to keep you from getting hold of anything too deadly... too early in your career. The chart below shows what you can get at what level.
Known Rogue Training Guides
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1 |
Fun With Lint |
This little instruction booklet is so rare that many rogues doubt its very existence. It cannot be bought, only "liberated" from the pocket of another. Much like lint. |
4 |
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10 |
Novice Poison Making |
This scroll explains the basics of poison making. |
8 |
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20 |
Expert Poison Making |
This scroll explains advanced poison making. |
48 |
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25 |
A Beginner's Guide to Scroll Making |
This manual explains methods used to forge spell scrolls. |
6 |
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36 |
Darkblade's Guide to Advanced Scroll Forging |
Written by the infamous rogue Nyeru Darkblade, this manual explains methods used to forge advanced spell scrolls. |
12 |
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40 |
Master Poison Making |
This scroll explains the creation of rare poison. |
47 |
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46 |
Manual of Mystic Mimicry |
This mysterious manual contains instructions on forging master-level scrolls. |
8 |
So those are the guides you get to look forward too. Purchase them when you are able. The next step in your training is to actually read the guide. This is as simple as right clicking the guide. You will begin to wave your arms and gesture as you read aloud. A casting timer bar will appear showing your learning progress.
Once it is finished, consider yourself "learned" in the ways of that particular guides poison concepts. This does not mean you have any recipes however! With the exception of the beginners' "Novice Poison Making" scroll, you will need to purchase recipes separately.
M'Kay? So what does that all mean? A lot of numbers and definitions without much coherence. I just want to start making poisons and kill things.
Of course you do! So, to summarize all of this mumbo-jumbo:
STEP ONE: Understand the Relationships Between Level, Apply Poison Skill, and Training Guides
- Your adventuring level limits your Apply Poison skill caps and which training guides you can acquire.
- Your Apply Poison skill limits what recipes you can train and as a result, use.
- Training guides are level restricted and unlock groups of recipes that you may train.
STEP TWO: Acquire and Expend the Appropriate Training Guide for Your Level
- Purchase the training guides at any rogue vendor. Some rogue trainers may also be vendors.
- Read the training guide by right clicking it. In a few seconds, you will be enlightened.
- Note what level requirement is needed for the next training guide.
- Wash/rinse/repeat when necessary.
There! You've learned a bit about the art of toxicology and maiming gadgets. You're now ready to learn some recipes.
The next step would be to pay a visit to your rogue trainer. Most of the trainers in the major cities will be able to teach you recipes.  But some of the random ones out in the wilds may not. In your initial conversation with the trainer you should get multiple options. The one you are looking for is "Do you have any assembly recipes?" Click that selection from the dialog window and the trainer will offer you a list of goodies to choose from.
Remember that what you can purchase is limited by your skill level. If you are just starting out you will only be able to choose the Water of Life I line of poisons (basic and advanced) as it only has a skill level of 1. Highlight what you wish to purchase and click the Train button to learn it. Make a mental note of when the next poison recipe is offered so that you know when to return to train. As an amateur, you'll have a flechette open up to you at an Apply Poison skill level of 50.
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Runed Vial |
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Crystal Bulb |
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Sharpened Dart |
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Hide Parchment |
Now that you know how to make your poisons, you must go about the business of collecting the ingredients. These ingredients normally require a method of delivery (vials, bulbs, darts, and parchments), a reagent (various weeds, inks, and elixirs), and a noxious dust. Most of these ingredients may be found on your rogue vendors throughout telon. Many can be found by picking the hapless mark's pockets, including the rare delivery components required for the advanced versions of recipes.
Keep an eye out for these advanced components while you are out adventuring. They are reasonably rare and make for an improved end product. They can only be acquired through pickpocketing or looting dead creatures.
Okay, I need to know stuff and buy stuff... I just want to start making poisons and kill things.
Of course you still do! So, to summarize:
STEP THREE: Purchase your Rogue Recipes
- Most rogue trainers in major cities can train you in assembly recipes. Find one and buy the ones you can
- Note what skill level is required for the next available recipe.
- Note what ingredients the recipes you purchased require.
STEP FOUR: Acquire and/or Purchase Ingredients
- Most recipes require a method of delivery, a reagent, and a dust.
- Most components are available at rogue vendors.
- Some components and advanced components are available through pickpocket.
- Some components and advanced components are available through regular loot pools.
 The moment of truth! Do you know your stuff? Don't sweat it! It's a fairly automated process that you can't really muck up.
- Open your assembly window. This is done by clicking the abilities button (hotkeyed to P).
- Click the Crafting tab along the bottom (marked A).
- Click the Assembly tab along the top (marked B).
- Select Rogue from the Assembly Type drop menu (marked C).
- Select your poison type from the Poison Type drop menu (marked D). This will normally be Poison, Device, or Scroll.
- Select your device type from the Device Type drop menu (Marked E). If you chose a poison or scroll type, this field will default to Weapon for poisons or Scroll for scrolls. If a device was chosen, your options will normally be Flechette or Dart.
- Finally, select your desired recipe from the Recipe drop menu (Marked F).
 The recipe will then display its final icon, yield, name, and required components in the window below the drop menus. Now if you were paying attention, you should have all the components necessary to concoct the potion, assemble the device, or scribe the scroll. If you are missing something, the component will appear dimmed out.
The poison assembly procedure automatically fills your components as you combine them, expediting things rather than have you drag and drop required ingredients. So if you have everything (i.e. none of the component icons are "dimmed"), simply click the Assemble button. On the rare occassion that the assembly fails, you do not "lose" your components. It was simply a failure and you will need to click the Assemble button again to retry.
 If the assembly was successful you will have earned Poison Assembly skill points which is broadcast in your chat window. A loot window will open with your assembled items inside. Depending on what you selected, your reward will be several poisons, a flechette, several darts, or a scroll. Loot away!
You'll then be prompted that the item is soulbound. You will need to confirm this before the poison or device is deposited into your inventory. That's it. You've made your first poison!
As mentioned before, each advanced recipe has a rare item required to make the assembly. Generally, the benefit of Advanced over Basic recipes are:
- Greater yield. i.e. 10 poisons rather than 7.
- Longer duration or shorter cast times.
- Increased output, be it buff, debuff, or damage.
- Increased range or targets.
Also consider that these components are rare to come by. Don't necessarily whip up an advanced recipe just because you can. You may want to save it for something more potent later on.
The clever rogues of the Safehouse have whipped up a mass production macro that will lessen clicks and keep RSS/CTS at bay. You can create a bank of buttons to create your recipes rather, than popping open the assembly window everytime. The basic syntax is as follows.
/assemblyaddingredient "delivery method"
/assemblyaddingredient "reagent"
/assemblyaddingredient "dust"
/assemble
So to assemble Water of Life I through a user-defined button, the commands would appear as:
/assemblyaddingredient "Vial"
/assemblyaddingredient "Effusion of Doomweed"
/assemble
Now when this button is clicked, you will be prompted with the loot menu IF you had the necessary components somewhere in your inventory. Several of these buttons with your more heavily used recipes will do your sanity some good.
Caution: It has been reported that cutting and pasting text from message boards and websites may render the macro unusable as it doean't carry over the character strings correctly. Manually type them out, and you should be good to go. Don't forget the quotation marks!
 Rather than place this at the end of the guide like I originally planned, I figured this was a good a place as any. This is how you advance poisons... you make them. You make a LOT of them. As mentioned before successful assembly is all that is required to advance in skill. Keep plugging away as you level and check back with your trainers when you can.
Some rogues wait until they are of at least level 20 to begin their poison making careers. Some as late as 25 as that is the first level for scroll acquisition. What these rogues have recommended is just sit down and mass produce Water of Life I until you max out your skill level to 200 (or 250 if level 25). Then you can just purchase a whole slew of recipes at once (14 recipes at level 20, or 26 recipes at level 25). Once that threshold has been reached, the recipes start becoming more available every couple of levels.
It's all in your playstyle though. My experience as a casual player has been that consistently using poisons from 10 to 20 will skill you up accordingly, with maybe minimal poison grinding at the end.
Okay, I need to know stuff, buy stuff, and squoosh them together... When can I kill things?!
Soon! To summarize assembly:
STEP FOUR: Flip Through your Recipe Cookbook
- Identify the poison you want to make in the assembly window.
- Identify needed components and purchase/acquire if needed.
STEP FOUR: Assemble
- Assemble the recipe.
- Failures don't cost you.
- Poisons and devices require looting them as soulbound items.
- Successful assembly will give you Apply Poison skill ups.
You have your new toys and gadgets to play with, let's get to it. Go kill stuff!
For the most part everything you make is activated by right clicking it from your inventory. They can me "macroed" as well by dragging them to a hot bar. They are succeptable to a cast time in most cases where a caster bar will show your progress.
Poisons are applied to your weapon(s) and have a duration, much like a buff. When applied, you will recieve an icon in your buff window that counts down the time left on the poison.
Other devices may require a target (such as flechettes or darts). Be sure you have a mob targeted when you activate the device. Even the AoE devices will require a target to take the initial heat.
Scrolls (and some flechettes) work similar to buff spells. You'll recieve an appropriate buff icon with a countdown timer for the duration of the spell.
Along the top of this article (and all pages within this "Poison & Devices" section of the Rogue Guide) you will find several links. These read Master List, Poisons, Flechettes, Darts, Scrolls, Misc, and Components. They link to our compiled database of known roguely recipes. Once you understand the principles of training and assembly, that should be your next stop to discover the true end products of this sinister little side activity.
Master List:This is the master list of all known poisons and devices. They are listed from skill level 1 to 500. The list includes details as to what they do, when they are acquired, and link to the individual poison/device line pages that give more details, including necessary components.
Poisons:This is an alphabetical listing of all known poison recipes. This is the master list of all known poisons and devices. They are listed from skill level 1 to 500. The list includes details as to what they do, when they are acquired, and link to the individual poison/device line pages that give more details, including necessary components.
Flechettes:This is an alphabetical listing of all known flechette recipes. This is the master list of all known poisons and devices. They are listed from skill level 1 to 500. The list includes details as to what they do, when they are acquired, and link to the individual poison/device line pages that give more details, including necessary components.
Darts:This is an alphabetical listing of all known dart recipes. This is the master list of all known poisons and devices. They are listed from skill level 1 to 500. The list includes details as to what they do, when they are acquired, and link to the individual poison/device line pages that give more details, including necessary components.
Scrolls:This is an alphabetical listing of all known scroll recipes. This is the master list of all known poisons and devices. They are listed from skill level 1 to 500. The list includes details as to what they do, when they are acquired, and link to the individual poison/device line pages that give more details, including necessary components.
Misc:This is an alphabetical listing of all known miscellaneous recipes, such as Fun with Lint. This is the master list of all known poisons and devices. They are listed from skill level 1 to 500. The list includes details as to what they do, when they are acquired, and link to the individual poison/device line pages that give more details, including necessary components.
Components: This is the master list for all known rogue recipe components. The list details their associated recipes and links to the poison/device lines. The list also lists where they may be acquired.
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