How do Rogues work?

[EZ_Sneakster Shenanigans]

I am still a HUGE newbie when it comes to NwN. I want to play a rogue simply because they were great in EQ and I want to stay a part of this great Rogue community. However, I am not sure how to play them in NwN. I have made several Halfling Rogues. The one I am playing now is a level 3 Rogue Swashbuckler. I have the Ambidexterity feat and dual wield a Short Sword in primary and a dagger in secondary.

I am confused as to the role I play in this game (I am currently trying out mobs online). I can't solo very well, and while my damage improved at 3, I still can't help but notice that big fat Half-Orc slashing for 23 next to me. I don't stand up very long in 1 on 1 combat.

Sneak attack is best used when in stealth mode, right? Any suggestions you can give meon playing a NwN rogue would be appreeciated, since I can't really find anything online.

Thanks a lot,
Sneakster Shenanigans

[Kroe]

ahh see the problem is you're looking at a D&D game from a EQ perspective.

it's all about stealth, and patience.
hiding until a single creature is seperated from the rest and hitting it with a sneak attack to quickly kill it, retreat and prepare to continue doing so. You aren't a combat god in D&D. Mostly you are actualy an ancillary character who can do everything.

pick locks, disarm traps, pick pockets, sneak in and scout, you can even use magic items if you take that skill.

While a well played rogue can be combat effective it won't be from standing in the middle of a fight.

if you have a henchman or other party members in multiplay than flank your opponent. any time the target wouldn't have there dex bonus you can sneak attack them. 1 Crow bad news
2 Crows myrth
3 Crows a wedding
4 Crows a birth
5 Crows for riches
6 Crows a thief

[EZ_Hummerlein]

also, the game gets alot easier once you get past level 3. stuff can beat you up then, especially the boss guys that keep the waterdhavian creatures.

i'm playing it as a wizard now and i can REALLY feel the beat-uppage. pretty much what i'm doing is standing back while my dire tiger, familiar and hireling beat stuff up. just ONE ice cone from meldanen killed me

if you want to be able to fight a bit better you might want to consider taking up a few levels of fighter or barbarian or something. fighter if you want extra feats, barbarian if you want the HP.

agreeing with kroe though, rogues are straight up regular fighters, you actually have to be sneaky now. one thing i liked about rogues is killing things way way higher than you being quick with sneaking and setting traps. i killed kluath, and the snow globe dragon (both were con: impossible) with just a few deadly frost, acid blob, electricity traps. it was awesome

anyway...just do what kroe said

[Kroe]

DOH! thanks Hummerlein I completely forgot to tell him to pick your battles with traps.

set a trap hide and sneak so it is between you and your bad guy of coice. shoot bad guy with a bow making him run at you tripping the trap. it's highly entertaining.

[EZ_TheCountofThree]

My favorite trick is to set traps 2 deep near an exit and pull harder creatures through them. My rogue is also a wizard, so letting my hellhound (Good ol Pink Eye and his flamey breath) wait for me there and then firing the crossbow or a few magic missiles works wonders.

In parties youre mainly responsible for finding traps (I still havent figured out how to disable them.. I must not have enough skill or something) opening doors and hopping in for a quick sneak attack and hopping out again. If you use a crossbow like my half-drow halfling wizard/rogue, just run behind the mobs and sneak attack with your ranged weapon.

Gaining a level or two of wizard helps a lot in the single player as well, get a hell hound familiar for his flame breath and mem some burning hands spells and youre gonna make short work of the legions of undead.

Gotta love familiar for scouting too, sneak in as far as you can with the rogue, then summon and possess your familiar and run by what you cant sneak past. If he buys it you can always rest and summon another when you get back to the group.

Lastly, for those times when you just feel like humbling uber-boy and his custom made +5 vorpal longswords, pick pocket works great.

I was playing my female assassin (11 fighter/4 rogue) and this female elf (pc) picked a fight with me. We took it outside and I killed her and 2 of her 3 friends. She kept respawning and they ganged up on me so I started pickpocketing and I stole her custom made "undergarments" and even a special sexy red pair she had made. They had the effect of time stop so I used it and killed her.

If I didnt have a bit of rogue in me, I could never have killed someone with their own underwear.

[Kroe]

to disable a trap you need to have the disable device skill. right click the trap once you find it and select the traps icon, from there you can either flag it so others see it, disable it, or if it is a trap you set you can recover it.

oh and killing someone with there own underwear.... scary

[EZ_TheCountofThree]

I have 5 or so skill points in disable traps, maxed out set traps (for synergy bonus) and when I right click it the flag/recover/disable icons are all grayed out.

Disable Device for NWN is broken down into set traps and disable traps (according to the manual)

[Kroe]

when you right click on a trap that's been detected all your options are greyed out?? ummmm I dunno, you're part wizzy right? so now armor problem I assume. I dunno mate.

[EZ_Holtsville]

I've gone straight rogue so far, and I recently hit level 9. Now, my two starting feats were ambidexterity and two handed fighting. My base attack bonus is +10/+5 for my mainhand and +10 for my offhand, so I have all the prerequisites for improved two-weapon fighting, but it wasn't a choice for my new feat. Any ideas why?

[Kroe]

your base attack has to be plus 9 but it doesn't include the str bonuses or anything else. your base attack from class levels must be plus 9 or greater.

[EZ_Vaclav Romanov]

It's Base Attack Bonus +9 that you need...

For pure rogue that's not until 12-13 I think...

[Elerion]

*cringe*

*mutteractionroguesmutter*

*walks away*

[EZ_Kintire]

Rogues don't work.

If I wanted to WORK, I'd be a farmer!

[Dragynphyre]

Yes, D&D rogues are quite different from EQ rogues. Took me a while to go from D&D rogue to EQ rogue...I can see your dilemma going the other way around.

D&D rogues tend to be the masters of stealth, cunning, and devious measures...

Some DEX-based skills most rogues should definitely have some training in (forgive me if I use the 2nd ed. names for 'em, only been playing 3rd ed. sporadically over the last year):

pick locks
disarm traps (and it's opposite, set traps)
move silently (and it's opposite, listen)
hide (and it's opposite, spot)

I don't know how effective some of the CHA-based skills like intimidate, etc. work within NWN, not having had a chance to goof around with that yet. I have a feeling that it would have more of a use in a player-run mod, rather than the 'out of the box' game.
Delissandra Splitshadow - Half-Elven Assassin - "Far Seekers" - The Rathe
So do I feel superior to any druid-twinked post-Kunark still-sucking-at-his-mother's-teat rogue?
You better believe I do!!

[EZ_Master Pugs]

about rogues not being straight up fighters... well, really they aren't supposed to be, but in the single player game you can forge those dazing and stunning weapons very early(I did the prison first, and right after I beat it I took the fairy dust and the +1 shortsword that I got there and had it forged into the fayduster) and turn them into machines of destruction.

For example, once you have the dazing/stunning weapons, after the enemy is stunned, every hit you make will be a sneak attack. Make sure you use 2 weapons otherwise this won't help much early on(at the beginning you'll only have 1 attack per around and won't take advantage of the stuns well).

For me, i'm using 2 faydusters(causes daze), at level 14(10 rogue, 4 fighter) I have 5 attacks a round(6 with haste). As soon as my enemies are dazed I follow up with a flurry of sneak attacks.

In multiplayer, where you might not have your stunning/dazing weapons, you could use a trap that causes a stun(I believe that's sonic traps).

As for disarming traps, I have found that when I keep my disable device skill maxed out, I can disable all traps on chests and doors, and any trap I find on the floor I can actually recover instead of disarming(thus I don't actually but traps, I just reuse the enemies traps).

I'd really invest in the weapon finess feat, unless you're gonna go crazy and make a very strong rogue(no need since you're actual damage doesn't matter as much, all sneak attacks anyways).

[EZ_Kintire]

The charisma based skills are superb, especially taunt. Persuade is very handy too, but taunt is just awesome