Rogue

Rogues are one of the playable classes in and.

Background
Contrary to what their name might imply, rogues come from many walks of life. They are cutpurses, thugs, and courtesans but also aristocrats, diplomats, and personal guards. Often separated by station in life, they are united by their reliance on wits, speed, and subterfuge to achieve their goals. The way of the rogue is not to stand toe-to-toe with the biggest brute in the room and exchange body blows, but to glance away in feigned confusion and slip an unseen blade between the brute's ribs as he turns his attention. When a room explodes in a storm of fire, the fighters grit their teeth, the priests pray for salvation, and the wizards fumble to find a spell to protect them, but the rogues just... disappear. They excel at being in the one place where no one's looking, at kicking people when they're down, at taunting a foe into turning its back on the rogue's ally while he or she nimbly skips away, and at being just too damned slippery to pin down.

Whether they pack a pair of daggers, a fine rapier, a slim bow, a stubby pistol, or a brutish club, rogues haul a carnival of pain with them wherever they go. If their natural tendencies weren't dangerous enough, their affinity for skulduggery allows some talented rogues to tap into their souls to perform amazing stunts: fading from view in plain sight, briefly cloaking their allies in a veil of shadow, imbuing their weapons with a soul-eating venom, or even becoming so insubstantial that blades barely hurt them.

While rogues are known for their stealthy nature both in and out of battle, many of them are quite talented with machines and contraptions of all sorts. High-born rogues are often very knowledgeable about esoteric matters, while many low-born rogues are well-equipped to survive in the wild.

Rogues gain a starting skill bonus to Mechanics and Stealth and are the only class to get a bonus to both of those skills. Rogues have the highest single target damage and they have abilities that can dramatically increase their damage for a short duration. The rogue can use most of his abilities with ranged weapons, but he needs to be relatively close to the target to use them.

List of abilities

 * Rogue abilities (in )
 * Rogue abilities and passives (in )

Guile
Guile is an additional "power pool" resource added in. Rogues begin combat with full Guile (the amount of which is relative to their current level) and spend points to cast certain abilities, with more powerful abilities costing more points. After an encounter, Guile is replenished.

Talents

 * Deflecting Assault – Increases the rogue's ability to concentrate, reducing the Deflection penalty when using Reckless Assault.
 * Devastating Blow – Broadens the rogue's knowledge of critical anatomy, increasing the damage done by Finishing Blow.
 * Vicious Fighting – Improves the rogue's skill with devious maneuvers, increasing the percentage of the rogue's hits that are converted to Critical Hits when using Dirty Fighting.
 * Shadowing Beyond – Allows the character to temporarily turn invisible. Enemies cannot detect invisible characters and attacks made from invisibility automatically count as a Sneak Attack. Attacking, casting a spell, using a special ability, or using an item will end the invisible state.
 * Backstab – Dramatically increases melee damage done from Invisibility.

In

 * At character creation, rogues automatically learn the passive ability Sneak Attack.
 * Rogues are able to select one ability at every odd level (1, 3, 5, etc.).
 * At every odd level (1, 3, 5, etc.), the next tier of abilities are unlocked.
 * As with other classes, rogues learn one talent at every even level (2, 4, 6, etc.).
 * Rogue abilities specify their own max uses and restoration type, independent of the rogue's level.

In

 * At character creation, rogues select one 1st level ability (active only), and automatically learn the passive ability Sneak Attack. This does not change for multiclass characters.
 * As with other classes, rogues pick 2 abilities at every level where a new power level is unlocked excluding the first (3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 19), and one ability at all other levels (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20). Ability points may be spent on active or passive abilities, and on any currently-unlocked power levels.
 * Multiclass characters pick 1 ability from either the rogue ability tree or the other class tree at all levels where a new power level isn't unlocked, and 1 ability for both classes at all levels where a new power level is unlocked (1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19).
 * Rogues use Guile (a power pool resource) to cast abilities. As with other power pool resources, the rogue starts with a pool of 3 Guile, which is increased by 1 at every power level, capping out at 11.
 * As with other classes, new ability power levels are learned every second level from level 1 (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13), then every third level from level 13 (16, 19). Multiclass characters may only learn up to (and including) power level 7 abilities, and unlock a new power level every third level from level 1 (1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19).

Subclasses
Rogues in are able to choose between four subclasses (or no subclass): Assassin, Streetfighter, Trickster, and Debonaire.

Suggestions
Rogues excel at laying out mass amounts of damaging punishment to your opposition. They fare well either in ranged combat or on the front line, and their inflicted de-buffs make taking out an enemy progressively easier over time. As a solo class, a Rogue presents all the tools you need to take out a single opponent of equal standing. One of this type does not perform well at all though when presented first among an opposing crowd. You either need some one to take the heat of initial aggression or use a defensive tool of some sort to thin out the crowd. You must focus your Rogue build on applying several de-buffs over the progression of battle. They automatically do this through their Weapon attack abilities, but it's still necessary to select some ability in your character's growth that actually does such. A few will allow you to apply some de-buffs with out the need for attacking, but it takes time to acquire that level of proficiency.

Stealth and Mechanics as skills tends to go naturally together, but it's important to focus on Stealth first. Mechanics can come as a secondary focus. If you favor keeping them nearly balanced, then Stealth should remain slightly higher than Mechanics. This value remains important in both games.

One of the Rogue's strongest benefits comes in its bewildering ability to Multi Class practically well with any other class. In Deadfire, Rogue (Assassin) / Fighter (Devoted) strings out the highest damage in the game. However, you'll want to focus upon one weapon only with this combination. A Great swords (Deadfire) makes the best choice in this case, but you may find it difficult early on to find a decent magical version. Hunting Bows are likely to be the best default ranged weapon for any Rogue, but that might change, depending on your multiclass and subclass choices. Swords and estocs should in theory work out well, but they actually don't. You will consistently find your self on the receiving end of critical damage much more often.

Notable characters
Category:Pillars of Eternity s, 3 Category:The White March - Part I s, 3 Category:Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire s, 3