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.

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 50 raises them by half again while giving a one in four chance to refund the item you just spent.

Pouch item	Feeds
Garrote wire	Garrote
Leather gag	Gag
Disguise kit	Disguise
Smoke bomb	Smoke Bomb
Blinding flash	Blinding Flash
Throwing dagger	Spinkick
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 and Smoke Cut, 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 passes an item to someone unseen or sets it down quietly, Attention widens your senses so you catch what is said around you, 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	5 SP	60s	An opening strike only, usable out of combat on an unwounded target, and it spends a garrote wire. The wire strangles for three to six rounds of blunt damage, neither of you can swing while it is on, and each round carries a very small chance of breaking the neck outright.
11	Kidney Shot	Combat	5 SP	15s	A crippling strike that stuns the target for 2 seconds, 3 from level 50.
12	Gut	Combat	5 SP	120s	Piercing strike that leaves a bleed, after a 4 second cast.
22	Spinkick	Combat	5 SP	8s	Spinning kick for blunt damage and a 2 second daze. Spends a throwing dagger.
30	Marked Eye	Passive	-	-	Multiplies the duration of Study Foe and Case by six.
38	Flurry	Combat	10 SP	30s	A rapid combo of three weapon swings, rising to five at high level.
46	Study Foe	Utility	-	-	Analyse a creature for 10% more damage against it for 60 seconds.
56	Smoke Cut	Combat	10 SP	45s	Snap a smoke pellet at your feet and cut from the haze. It makes its own cover, so it needs no smoke bomb.
60	Curtain Call	Combat	15 SP	1800s	Execution blow against a target below a quarter health.
90	Killing Momentum	Passive	-	-	Meant to open a short damage and critical window after a stealth opener, but the opener it waits on is not in the game, so it does not currently fire.

Dirty Fighting#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
2	Kneeknock	Combat	5 SP	12s	Strike the knee for a quick burst of blunt damage, with no slow attached.
5	Dirt Throw	Combat	5 SP	60s	Throw dirt in the eyes for a 4 second blind.
16	Dirty Trick	Combat	5 SP	20s	Improvised debris to the face for a brief blind and a damage penalty.
27	Feint	Combat	5 SP	15s	Fake an attack to open a hole in the target's defence.
39	Bravado	Utility	5 SP	60s	Out of combat only, and against NPCs only. On a level based roll the target is rattled for 20 seconds, losing 5 to 10 percent of its damage and 5 percent of its hit chance. On a failure it attacks you at once.
41	Gag	Utility	10 SP	120s	Spends a leather gag. On a dexterity and sleight roll the target cannot speak, shout, tell or use channels for 30 to 120 seconds.
45	Vendetta	Combat	10 SP	120s	Mark one foe with murderous focus for 30 seconds. Killing it while the mark holds resets the cooldown so you can declare the next one at once.
47	Riposte	Combat	10 SP	60s	Bank counter-strike charges, four at level 47 rising to nine at 100, and each combat round has an 80 percent chance to spend one on a free extra weapon swing.
51	Kneecap	Combat	10 SP	45s	Halve a target's movement and dodge for 10 seconds.

Trickery#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
4	Toast	Utility	-	60s	Buy a round, drinking an alcoholic item from your inventory if you carry one. You and any party members in the room gain the Toasted buff for two minutes, which is what switches on Drunken Luck.
6	Detect Traps	Utility	-	15s	Reveal whether the current room holds traps.
13	Appraise	Utility	5 SP	15s	Read an item or NPC's rough value and quality.
17	Detect Trap	Utility	5 SP	30s	Inspect one specific spot for a hidden trap.
19	Assess	Utility	5 SP	10s	Reveal a target's health, current ability and recent intent.
20	Bribe	Utility	-	60s	Pay a non-hostile NPC at least 5 silver per level of the target to send it wandering off for 60 seconds. A failed roll leaves it holding the coin and suspicious of you for 5 minutes.
23	Distract	Utility	5 SP	300s	A short, loud taunt that pulls a creature's attention onto you and breaks a cast at the same time.
24	Swindle	Utility	-	300s	Hand a target coin while quietly keeping a share of it that grows with your level and sleight, up to half. They are told they received the full sum.
25	Map	Utility	-	60s	Add your surroundings to your personal map.
28	Misdirect	Utility	5 SP	60s	Dump all the threat your enemies hold on you onto another creature in the room. Half of that threat returns to you after 10 seconds.
29	Poison	Utility	5 SP	60s	Coat your weapon so hits inflict poison over time. Spends a poison vial.
30	Disarm	Utility	5 SP	30s	Two skills on one verb. Disarm a detected trap by its number, or knock an opponent's weapon out of their hands so it falls at their feet, where for the next hour nobody but the two of you can pick it up. Landing it or fluffing it both start a fight.
33	Disguise	Utility	5 SP	300s	Pass as an ordinary traveller until you attack. Spends a disguise kit.
40	Drunken Luck	Passive	-	-	While Toasted is running, gain 5% critical hit chance.
42	Threaten	Utility	5 SP	60s	Guild scouts deliver a note you write to a target anywhere in the world, anonymously if your sleight roll holds.
43	Counterfeit	Utility	5 SP	300s	Forge a document or coin that must be seen through on inspection.
48	Smoke Bomb	Utility	5 SP	60s	Area concealment that breaks line of sight. Spends a smoke bomb.
50	Quartermaster	Passive	-	-	Supply caps rise by half and spent supplies are refunded one time in four.
54	Eavesdrop	Utility	20 SP	60s	Listen to an adjacent room for one to ten minutes depending on your skill.
58	Commandeer	Utility	10 SP	1800s	Wrench a wielded weapon or worn item away from a target after a 2 second warning, on a roll against its level, dexterity and the item's weight. It starts a fight whether it lands or not.
60	Blind Fighting	Passive	-	-	Halves the penalty for being blinded or fighting the unseen.

Subterfuge#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
7	Mug	Combat	5 SP	600s	Attack with a chance to take coin on the hit.
8	Slip	Utility	-	20s	Pass an item to someone in the room, or set it down on the floor, without anyone seeing it happen.
18	Attention	Utility	5 SP	90s	Sharpen your hearing so that any tell sent to or by someone in your room is leaked to you, for 30 seconds at unlock rising to 90 seconds at level 100.
32	Spike	Utility	5 SP	600s	Drive an iron spike into a moored ship's hull from the water beside it, after a 6 second cast, so it takes on water ten times faster for two minutes. Being spotted by the crew aborts the attempt.
34	Palm	Utility	-	20s	Lift a small item from a target's pockets or visible carry.
40	Blinding Flash	Utility	5 SP	240s	Blind everything in a small radius, after a 2 second cast. Spends a blinding flash.

Mobility#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
9	Evasion	Buff	15 SP	-	A toggle lasting five minutes at low level and ten at 100. While it is up, roughly four hits in five are partly slipped, for 30 to 40 percent less damage.
14	Shadow	Utility	-	300s	Slip into shadow and stay invisible while you do not attack.
20	Light Step	Passive	-	-	A flat dodge bonus growing by roughly 1% every five levels.
26	Skulk	Utility	5 SP	60s	Move at half pace but in total silence.
36	Quick Escape	Utility	5 SP	120s	Leave combat instantly for a safe nearby room.
49	Vault	Combat	10 SP	45s	Leap a short distance over obstacles or enemies.
57	Scout	Utility	5 SP	20s	Reveal who is in adjacent rooms without entering them.
59	Shadowstep	Utility	5 SP	120s	Short range teleport to behind a target.
70	Underdog	Passive	-	-	Take 15% less damage with two or more foes in melee with you.
80	Second Wind	Passive	-	-	Falling under a quarter health grants 3 seconds of 50% dodge, once a fight.

Stealth#

Level	Skill	Type	Cost	Cooldown	Effect
3	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 2, and Garrote only works as an opener on an unwounded target before the fight starts, 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 3 and start using it before you enter a room rather than after. Toast at 4 and Detect Traps at 6 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 11 gives you a two second stun, three from level 50, and once you have Shadow at 14 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. Kidney Shot, Spinkick and Flurry are what you do inside it, with Garrote reserved for starting the next fight rather than continuing this one.

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. Quick Escape at 36 is your way out of a losing fight. Evasion at 9 is the other answer, a five to ten minute toggle that slips a large part of the damage coming at you, and it is worth keeping up as a habit rather than saving for emergencies. Slip is not an escape at all, despite the name: it is how you pass an item to an ally or put it down unseen.

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. If something does get onto a squishier ally, Distract is the tool: a short, loud taunt that yanks a creature onto you and breaks its cast at the same time. Misdirect does the reverse, shovelling the threat you have built onto someone sturdier, with half of it drifting back after ten seconds. Bravado is an out of combat softener that only works on a creature not yet fighting, and Attention is your quiet way of hearing what is being said around you.

Late on the kit leans on the strikes you can take from concealment. Smoke Cut at 56 supplies its own cover, so it is a hit you can land out of the haze on a 45 second cooldown without spending a smoke bomb. Killing Momentum at 90 is a passive still waiting on an opener that is not in the game, so do not plan around it. Curtain Call at 60 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.