Rogue

A stealth and precision skirmisher who opens from concealment, piles on debuffs and leaves before the fight can turn.

The Rogue fights on its own terms or not at all. You pick a target, watch it, and decide when the fight starts, which is usually while its back is turned. From there the plan is to keep it off balance for as long as it takes to kill it: a silence, a stun, a slowed knee, a face full of dirt, a bleed that ticks while you circle. Rogues do not trade blows well and they do not want to. Everything in the kit is built around controlling whether the enemy gets to swing at all.

Underneath the knifework there is a surprisingly deep utility class. Rogues appraise loot, find and disable traps, map as they walk, bribe and swindle NPCs, palm items out of pockets, listen through walls and forge documents. Plenty of that has nothing to do with combat, and a lot of it is the reason a group wants a rogue along. It is a base class, so you can take it as your first real class, and it is one of the four guilds you can simply walk into and join rather than needing an invitation. The rogue guild is reached from Northmere Woods, and you need to be an Explorer of at least level 10 to be let in. Joining sets you back to level 1 with no experience, which is normal and expected for the Explorer to class transition. Rogue is also the root of a whole branch of the class tree: Thief, Bard and Ranger all list it among their prerequisites.

Resources#

Rogues run on SP, the middle pool shown by score. Every active skill either costs a flat amount of SP or costs nothing at all, and a dash in the tables below means genuinely free. SP regenerates on its own over time, and the Toast skill at level 6 raises party SP regeneration for a while, which is why rogues buy rounds.

The second resource is physical. Several skills consume an item out of a hidden pouch shared with the Thief class, and if the pouch is empty the skill simply will not fire. Check it with supplies and restock at a Rogue Supplies counter using list and buy. Carry caps start small and rise with level, and the Quartermaster passive at 67 raises them by half again while giving a chance to refund the item you just spent.

Pouch item	Feeds
Garrote wire	Garrote
Leather gag	Gag
Disguise kit	Disguise
Tripwire	Tripwire
Smoke bomb	Smoke Bomb, Smoke Cut
Blinding flash	Blinding Flash
Throwing dagger	Thrown attacks
Poison vials	Poison

Rogues wear leather armour. Plate, mail and cloth pieces are barred outright, though any gear with no category on it can be worn by anyone, so a fair amount of ordinary kit is still open to you.

Talent Trees#

Precision#

Assassination and burst. This is where the fight-ending damage lives: Garrote, Kidney Shot, Gut, Flurry, Smoke Cut and the Ambush opener, along with the passives that multiply what those strikes do. Most of it wants the target unaware, behind you, or already hurt, so Precision rewards patience rather than pressing buttons on cooldown.

Dirty Fighting#

Debuff and control brawling. Kneeknock, Dirt Throw, Dirty Trick, Feint, Kneecap and Gag exist to take away a foe's legs, eyes, weapon or voice. Bravado is the odd one out and pulls threat onto you deliberately, and Riposte turns an incoming melee swing into a free hit. This tree is what keeps a rogue alive in a fight it did not start.

Trickery#

Utility, deception and knowledge, and by far the widest branch. It covers trap detection, appraisal, assessing a target's health and intent, mapping, bribing, swindling, disguises, counterfeiting, threats, eavesdropping and weapon poison. Very little of it does damage and almost all of it saves time, coin or a corpse run.

Subterfuge#

Theft and the covert tools. Mug and Palm take things off people, Slip and Attention manipulate who is fighting whom, and Spike and Blinding Flash are the two slow, expensive, high-impact plays in the branch. Note the cast times on Spike and Blinding Flash: they are not instant and you will be stood still while they go off.

Mobility#

Movement, escape and evasion. Shadow and Skulk are the quiet ways to get somewhere, Evasion and the Light Step, Underdog and Second Wind passives are the ways to not be hit when you get there, and Quick Escape, Vault and Shadowstep are how you reposition or leave. A rogue that dies usually died because it stayed.

Stealth#

A single skill, Sneak, but it gates a great deal of the rest of the class. Openers and several control skills want you unseen first, so this is the foundation the Precision tree is built on.

Skills#

Precision#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
1	Garrote	Combat	20 SP	60s	Strangle from behind for heavy piercing damage and a 4 second silence.
18	Kidney Shot	Combat	25 SP	15s	A crippling strike that stuns the target for 6 seconds.
35	Spinkick	Combat	40 SP	8s	Spinning kick for blunt damage and a 2 second daze.
40	Gut	Combat	80 SP	120s	Piercing strike that leaves a bleed, after a 4 second cast.
50	Marked Eye	Passive	-	-	Multiplies the duration of Study Foe and Case by six.
60	Flurry	Combat	50 SP	30s	A four hit combo where each blow is small but they add up.
74	Study Foe	Utility	-	-	Analyse a creature for 10% more damage against it for 60 seconds.
85	Killing Momentum	Passive	-	-	A landed Ambush grants 6 seconds of 20% more damage and doubled crit.
89	Smoke Cut	Combat	60 SP	45s	Strike from behind a smoke bomb for a guaranteed critical hit.
96	Curtain Call	Combat	250 SP	1800s	Execution blow against a target below a quarter health.
97	Ambush	Combat	60 SP	90s	Heavy opening strike from stealth that restores stealth on success.

Dirty Fighting#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
3	Kneeknock	Combat	15 SP	12s	Strike the knee to slow the target by half for 6 seconds.
8	Dirt Throw	Combat	25 SP	60s	Throw dirt in the eyes for a 4 second blind.
25	Dirty Trick	Combat	30 SP	20s	Improvised debris to the face for a brief blind and a damage penalty.
43	Feint	Combat	25 SP	15s	Fake an attack to open a hole in the target's defence.
58	Tripwire	Utility	40 SP	120s	Set a wire that trips the target and briefly disarms it.
62	Bravado	Utility	30 SP	60s	Taunt a target into attacking only you.
65	Gag	Utility	200 SP	120s	Silence a target for 6 seconds, from a stealth opener.
72	Vendetta	Combat	60 SP	120s	Mark a foe so damage in both directions is doubled for you.
75	Riposte	Combat	35 SP	60s	Counter the next melee attack on you with a guaranteed strike.
82	Kneecap	Combat	60 SP	45s	Halve a target's movement and dodge for 10 seconds.

Trickery#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
6	Toast	Utility	-	60s	Buy a round to lift party morale and SP regeneration.
9	Detect Traps	Utility	-	15s	Reveal whether the current room holds traps.
20	Map	Utility	-	60s	Add your surroundings to your personal map.
21	Appraise	Utility	20 SP	15s	Read an item or NPC's rough value and quality.
26	Detect Trap	Utility	20 SP	30s	Inspect one specific spot for a hidden trap.
30	Assess	Utility	50 SP	10s	Reveal a target's health, current ability and recent intent.
31	Bribe	Utility	-	60s	Pay an NPC off to soften it or open new dialogue.
33	Drunken Luck	Passive	-	-	While Toasted is running, gain 5% critical hit chance.
36	Distract	Utility	30 SP	300s	Pull a target's attention off whatever it is focused on.
38	Swindle	Utility	-	300s	Talk a merchant or NPC out of small valuables on a skill check.
45	Misdirect	Utility	40 SP	60s	Redirect a target's attack onto a different foe.
47	Poison	Utility	50 SP	60s	Coat your weapon so hits inflict poison over time.
48	Disarm	Utility	50 SP	30s	Knock a target's weapon away for 4 seconds.
53	Disguise	Utility	40 SP	300s	Pass as an ordinary traveller until you attack.
67	Quartermaster	Passive	-	-	Supply caps rise by half and spent supplies are sometimes refunded.
69	Counterfeit	Utility	50 SP	300s	Forge a document or coin that must be seen through on inspection.
70	Threaten	Utility	20 SP	60s	Cut a target's damage by a quarter and possibly send it running.
77	Smoke Bomb	Utility	40 SP	60s	Area concealment that breaks line of sight.
87	Eavesdrop	Utility	20 SP + 5 per round	60s	Listen to conversation and fighting in adjacent rooms.
92	Commandeer	Utility	200 SP	1800s	Press an NPC into a short task, after a 2 second cast.
99	Blind Fighting	Passive	-	-	Halves the penalty for being blinded or fighting the unseen.

Subterfuge#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
11	Mug	Combat	60 SP	600s	Attack with a chance to take coin on the hit.
13	Slip	Utility	-	20s	Break off from combat with a small movement bonus.
15	Palm	Utility	-	20s	Lift a small item from a target's pockets or visible carry.
28	Attention	Utility	30 SP	90s	Pull a target's focus onto you deliberately.
52	Spike	Utility	80 SP	600s	Drive in a hidden spike for a bleed, after a 6 second cast.
64	Blinding Flash	Utility	90 SP	240s	Blind everything in a small radius, after a 2 second cast.

Mobility#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
16	Light Step	Passive	-	-	A flat dodge bonus growing by roughly 1% every five levels.
23	Shadow	Utility	-	300s	Slip into shadow and stay invisible while you do not attack.
42	Skulk	Utility	30 SP	60s	Move at half pace but in total silence.
55	Evasion	Combat	60 SP	-	Gain 40% dodge chance for 6 seconds.
57	Quick Escape	Utility	40 SP	120s	Leave combat instantly for a safe nearby room.
79	Underdog	Passive	-	-	Take 15% less damage with two or more foes in melee with you.
80	Vault	Combat	45 SP	45s	Leap a short distance over obstacles or enemies.
84	Second Wind	Passive	-	-	Falling under a quarter health grants 3 seconds of 50% dodge, once a fight.
91	Scout	Utility	15 SP	20s	Reveal who is in adjacent rooms without entering them.
94	Shadowstep	Utility	40 SP	120s	Short range teleport to behind a target.

Stealth#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
4	Sneak	Utility	-	180s	Move silently and undetectable by sound until you attack.

Playing a Rogue#

The first ten levels are ordinary. You have Garrote at level 1 and Kneeknock at 3, and Garrote wants you behind the target, so the honest early rotation is to open with Garrote where you can, apply Kneeknock so nothing escapes, and finish with normal attacks. Pick up Sneak at 4 and start using it before you enter a room rather than after. Toast at 6 and Detect Traps at 9 are the first hints that a lot of your value is going to come from outside the damage log.

The class turns a corner in the twenties. Kidney Shot at 18 gives you a real six second stun, and once you have Shadow at 23 you can approach anything unseen, break stealth on your terms and have a stun ready when the target reacts. The shape of a rogue fight from here on is: open from concealment, silence or stun immediately, apply a slow so it cannot run or chase, then spend the window on damage. Kneeknock, Dirt Throw and later Dirty Trick and Kneecap are the window. Garrote, Kidney Shot, Spinkick and Flurry are what you do inside it.

Watch your exits. Rogues have no healing and thin armour, and the single most common way to lose a character is to keep swinging in a fight that has stopped going your way. Slip at 13 is your first out and it is cheap. Quick Escape at 57 is the proper one. Evasion at 55 buys six seconds if you would rather stand and finish the job. Treat all three as part of the rotation rather than as failures.

In a group, do not expect to hold anything. Warriors and paladins tank; you are there for single target damage, for taking a dangerous caster out of the fight with Gag or Threaten, and for the utility nobody else has. Being the one who spots the trap, appraises the drop, assesses the boss before the pull and scouts the corridor is worth as much as your damage. Bravado and Attention exist for the moments when you do need to grab something off a squishier ally, but they are emergency tools rather than a job.

Late on the kit stops being about a single opener and starts chaining. Ambush at 97 restores your stealth when it lands, Killing Momentum at 85 turns that into a damage window, and Smoke Bomb into Smoke Cut is a guaranteed critical hit on demand. Curtain Call at 96 is a half hour cooldown that exists for one purpose, which is to end a target sitting below a quarter health that you cannot afford to let live.