Rogue is known in Ragnarok 2 as the class which has the fastest base attack speed in the game and this was proven true by many players who played Rogue in Ro2. In addition to their superb attack speed, I think they will outDPS an Assassin as they have skills like Mark of Genocide and Unstable Doping that adds bonus damage to each of their attack. And lastly, when it comes to survivability, Rogue has an edge over Assassins as they have this skill called Gangster Paradise which virtually gives them percentage of HP every 2 seconds for 20 seconds.
So anyway, if you love those qualities mentioned above, then go for Rogue!
And to help you build up your Rogue correctly, I will be sharing my views on this class in this page. More specifically, we will be discussing on skill builds ,stat builds and bonus features like recommended cards for a Rogue. So without further adieu, here's my guide to Rogue in Ragnarok 2.
First, let's discuss about the different skills of a Rogue and of course, determine which are the ones preferable to get and which are best at level 1 or even not in a build.
Thief Skill Tree
Hiding- This skill is basically use as an initiation skill. Take note that the first attack you will used during hiding state will deal double damage. The trade off however is that your movement speed will be slowed by a certain percentage and, you can't always use hide. In normal cases, you can't often cast this skill as it is unavailable during battle. Use this skill as an initiation only and not for defensive or escaping purposes. And that being said, this skill is best left at level 1.
Dark Illusion- At the early stage as a Thief turn into a Rogue, this skill has benefited me well. The damage is pretty decent as this skill always applies as critical hits to the enemy and, don't forget the fact that it can obtain 1 combo point once used. The only thing which hinders you from using this skill more often is that you need to hide first before you can cast this skill. Do remember that I have said before that you cannot Hide always due to various hindrances. That is why I suggest that you just level this skill to 1.
Additional Details: The skill works well also in late leveling as it makes killing much easier: Tab+Hide+Dark Illusion. In addition to the damage, it transports you also 20 meters however, be careful in using this skill as you might lure a lot of mobs if use in aggro mobs area, or end up in a place you don't want to.
Meteor Assault- I don't know about you but I fin all Rogue AoE skills pretty weak, including this one. Basically, almost every Rogue skills are devised for 1-on-1 combat leaving those AoE skill unnoticed as they have little to none use. Trust me, you will not often use this skill as a Rogue and it's better left to 0 or, to 1 if you decide taking Smoke Bomb as this skill is its prerequisite.
Double Attack- Your bread and butter skill as a Rogue. It can be a good source of DPS as the damage is pretty decent per hit and of course, its ability to obtain 1 combo point per hit makes it a great skill overall. Max this skill no matter what.
Combo Training- At level 2, this skill will give you 10% chance to get bonus combo point, once you have used a skill which acquires combo points. In my personal experience, 10% is enough for this skill as it does procs often at this level.
Genocide Mark- Raid members will be furious if you don't max this skill which I don't agree on doing. This skill doesn't get that much of a benefit to the member in terms of critical as it gives only 2% critical proc rate at max level. They would say that 2% is a must but I would say that it's too little to sacrifice my points on this skill instead of doing more damage with my other skills. Please don't blame Rogues for not having this skill at full level. Instead, blame those other members which has AGI buff and didn't max it. Remember that certain classes rely on AGI for crit and crit damage. In terms of personal use, well, I can say that this skill will also do you no good especially if you have high-end gears already which can increase your critical proc rate and damage. Also as a Rogue, you will be relying most of the time with Unstable Doping. I suggest to leave this skill to 1 for prerequisite.
Cross Impact- This skill is redundant in my opinion. It's merely identical with Double Attack and works pretty the same with the said skill (do damage and obtain combo point). The only difference is, Double Attack does more DPS than this skill as it has faster cooldown than this one. I suggest to just leave this skill to prerequisite.
Deadly Blow- This skill doe pretty decent single hit damage especially when you have lots of combo points stacked. It will play a big part in terms of dealing damage to a target, especially when your Moonlight Dance is on cooldown. Max this skill no matter what.
Dagger Throwing- It may be a good skill to start off: Hide+Dagger Throwing, especially to those range opponents. However, the main purpose of this skill is to lure far away enemies towards you. This skill will make your grinding a bit faster and personally, I just use this skill for that purpose a the damage increment per level isn't that significant. Just level this skill to 1 anyway.
Poisoning Weapon- 10% DoT is enough in my opinion. The points meant to level this skill to 5 and receive 1% increment per level isn't that significant at all and, it's better spent on those skills that can deal damage or help you survive the battlefield.
Important Note: When fighting with bosses, the DoT proc rate doesn't really have a cooldown which means that you can trigger the DoT again and resets the duration.
Rogue Skill Tree
Smoke Bomb- In PvP, this skill is pretty useful as it allows you to disengage in a fight and allows you to be at hidden state after that. However in PvE, this skill is rather buggy. Once you activate this skill while you are standing still near the mobs, they will still detect and attack you and cancel the hidden state. Adding more points on this skill is rather a bad idea so I just recommend getting this skill at level 1.
Combo Mastery- Max this skill. Actually, this skill will give you a 10 seconds buff which has the effect that your next skill won't require any combo points and as if you have 5 combo points at hand. At max level, the skill procs a lot which really makes it worth maxing out.
Dual Stab- Basically, you just include this skill in your rotation for the purpose of gaining that 2 combo points instantly. Personally, I just level this skill to 1.
Gangster Paradise- This is why Rogues are considered to have an edge in terms of survivability than Assassins. It heals your HP for a certain percentage (60% at max) every 2 seconds and, the duration of this skill will be longer if you have lots of combo points stacked (2 seconds duration per combo point). Max this skill no matter what.
Important Note: Try not to cast this skill when you are in hot water already. Instead, cast this skill when you are in the middle or at the very start of the battle. Just be sure that you can survive for 40 seconds and then use this skill again.
Rolling Cutter- Don't bother getting this skill. As I have said before, AoE skills of a Rogue is terrible and this skill is one of them. Skip this skill.
Crescent Moon- For PvP junkies, you will definitely love and max this skill. This skill will basically stun an enemy for 1 second but, if you have lots of combo points stacked, then that duration will be prolonged. Do remember that this skill has this effect that extends the duration for 1 second for each combo points consumed. You can either max this skill or just leave it to 1. Depending on your preference. Just remember that maxing this skill reduces its cooldown to 20 seconds at max level.
Mark of Death- Personally, I can say that this skill is the best debuff in the game. This is the reason why you are considered in Raids as it will increase the attack of all attacking players by 10% (max level) for 30 seconds. However, the cooldown is pretty long which is why I recommend that you use it wisely. Despite of the long cooldown still, max this skill.
Moonlight Dance- This is the new Sonic Blow! It does 110% damage but the real damage % it does is different since the first 7-8(?) hits has it’s own % modifier than the final hit. Max this skill no matter what as this will be your main skill to inflict a lot of damage to the enemy.
Unstable Doping- I can say that this skill is a God's gift. Why? Because this skill gives you the either have a 20% critical increase or 20% physical damage for 30 seconds. Once you get the one of the two possible buffs, you will get a debuff that lasts for as long as the buff’s duration and will prevent you from triggering the other buff, hence there can only be one Unstable Doping buff active at any given time.
But that’s not the cool thing about this skill. While you have Unsable Doping is in effect, whenever you use pots, you’ll get a certain amount of the recovered HP added to your damage and is stackable up to 30% of your total base damage. This buff will show as a yellowish up arrow icon that lasts for 3 minutes and the duration will be reset everytime you use a hp potion. Basically, this skill gives you the additional damage you need to inflict more hurt to the enemies.
Dirty Plan- Personally I level this skill to 2. Why? So I can use my Mark of Death effectively. The reason why I have Dirty Plan at Lv 2 is so that Mark of Death will go out of cooldown first before Dirty Plan does. After the third Mark of Death duration runs out, Dirty Plan should be at 10 seconds left before it’s out of cooldown, and once it does, use it and cast Mark of Death again. Rinse and repeat. My raid party always kills the boss after the third to fourth Mark of Death when I follow this cycle.
If you max Dirty Plan, it will be out of cd 30s earlier than MoD cd after the second Mark of death runs out, but the 30 seconds that has elapsed from Mark of Death’s cooldown by this time will go to waste if you use Dirty Plan first.
So now, let's see my skill build for Rogue in Ragnarok 2.
Now, let's proceed to the Stat Build...
Str, Agi, and some Vit. You can balance out the Str and Agi or even put more Str than Agi.
TIP: Never add more than 8 stat points on Vit. Why? Because it's useless to Rogues. Why again? Because it only gives a "LITTLE" amount of HP. It is really a waste of stat points to put more than 8 on it. Basically, you can go with 45 STR, 30 AGI and 8 VIT.
The last thing you should know is the what cards you should get as a Rogue. I strongly suggest that you get these cards:
Scratch Raider Card / Normal +: +6 str +6 agi +6 int +6 wis +17 vit /+8 str +8 agi +8 int +8 wis +21 vitGarbong Card / Normal +: +9 str +9 agi +6 int +3 wis +9 vit / +11 str +11 agi +8 int +4 wis +12 vitYou might also want to check the Recommended Stat Build for this class page.
For comments and suggestions, please do share your thoughts on the comment box below.