Rogues are one of the playable classes in Pillars of Eternity.
Description
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 skullduggery 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.[1]
Rogues gain a starting skill bonus to Mechanics and Stealth and are the only class to get a bonus to both of those skills.[2] Rogues have the highest single target damage and they have abilities that can dramatically increase their damage for a short duration.[3] The rogue can use most of his abilities with ranged weapons, but he needs to be relatively close to the target to use them.[4]
Attributes
Highly Recommended:
Recommended:
Abilities
Select one ability on each odd level. Sneak Attack is learnt automatically by all rogues at level 1.
| Ability | Acquirable at level |
Activation | Speed | Duration | Effects | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Sneak Attack | 1 (automatic) |
Passive |
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Uses the rogue's ability to approach unseen, adding weapon damage to their attacks when the target is Blinded, Flanked, Hobbled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Stuck, Stunned, or Weakened, as well as when any target is struck within two seconds of combat starting. | ||
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Blinding Strike | 1 | Active (1 per Encounter) |
Average | 10.0 seconds |
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A dirty attack that makes the opponent unable to see. Inflicts extra damage and Blinds the target. |
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Crippling Strike | 1 | Active (2 per Encounter) |
Average | 10.0 seconds |
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The rogue attacks his or her enemy's ability to move around effectively, inflicting extra damage to and Hobbling any enemy successfully hit. |
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Dirty Fighting | 3 | Passive | The rogue employs a variety of underhanded tactics, turning some of their Hits into Critical Hits. | |||
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Escape | 3 | Active (1 per Encounter) |
Fast | 10.0 seconds |
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Allows the rogue to break Engagement and expertly avoid the next attack, diving out of range to a specific location and granting a temporary defense bonus. |
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Reckless Assault | 3 | Modal | Instant |
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Causes the rogue to dive into battle without a second thought, lowering his or her Deflection but increasing Accuracy and weapon damage. | |
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Deep Wounds | 5 | Passive | 10.0 seconds |
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Expertise in the art of pain leads all Slash, Pierce, and Crush damage caused by the rogue to also do Raw Damage over time. | |
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Finishing Blow | 5 | Active (2 per Rest) |
Average |
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The rogue looks to finish off an injured opponent with a precise, deadly strike that increases in damage the less Endurance the target has. | |
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Riposte | 5 | Passive |
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The rogue looks for openings to counterattack in combat. Incoming melee attacks that target Deflection and Miss or Graze have a chance of allowing an instant Full Attack Riposte. Only active with melee weapons equipped. | ||
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Adept Evasion | 7 | Passive | The rogue becomes especially skillful at dodging attacks, converting many Reflex Hits to Grazes. | |||
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Coordinated Positioning | 7 | Active (2 per Encounter) |
Fast |
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In one quick move, the rogue instantly switches positions with one nearby target, canceling Engagement if in effect. Automatic when targeting an ally, otherwise must Hit vs. an enemy's Reflex. | |
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Persistent Distraction [WM2] | 7 | Passive |
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Whenever the rogue is contributing to the Flanked affliction on a target, the victim is also Distracted. | ||
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Fearsome Strike | 9 | Active (1 per Rest) |
Average | 15.0 seconds |
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The rogue attempts to greatly hinder an opponent by targeting areas crucially important to their ability to fight, inflicting extra damage as well as Weakening and Hobbling the target. |
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Withering Strike | 9 | Active (1 per Encounter) |
Average | 10.0 seconds |
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The rogue aims for a vital area, inflicting extra damage and Weakening the target. |
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Deathblows | 11 | Passive |
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Allows the rogue to size up a target's battlefield position, making Sneak Attack more effective when the target is afflicted by two or more conditions that allow a Sneak Attack. | ||
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Smoke Cloud [WM1] | 11 | Active (1 per Encounter) |
Fast | 12.0 seconds |
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The rogue creates a small cloud of smoke that leaves adjacent enemies Distracted for a short duration. |
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Sap [WM1] | 13 | Active (2 per Encounter) |
Average | 5.0 seconds |
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The rogue performs a Primary Attack that does additional damage and can leave the target Stunned. |
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Shadow Step [WM2] | 13 | Modal | Average | 6.0 seconds |
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By stepping through the Between, a rogue is able to seemingly teleport across the battlefield for a few moments, returning to his or her starting position when the effect is ended. |
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Feign Death [WM2] | 15 | Active (1 per Encounter) |
Instant | 10.0 seconds |
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The rogue collapses to the ground and pretends to be out of a fight, regaining Endurance and biding his or her time until the moment is right to return to battle. When the rogue stands up, he or she becomes invisible for a short period of time. |
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
Related Items
Notable characters
References
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