Character Creation – Part 3 (Rogues)

Rogues

The rogue classes are the non magical DPS branch of the classes. They do their damage with the good old and reliable steel. True to their name they are masters of the hiding skill and get a skill that increases their speed while in hiding mode. They are also the only class to move at walking speed in hide and not use any stamina to move whilst in hide. All the rogue classes get at least two stances to choose from, the ranger gets 4 but must feat into them. Overall these classes were meant to come close to the damage of mages while being more survivable and not reliant on a mana bar. In their general tree the rogue gets natural stamina regen and also abilites that lets them break Roots, Snares, Fears, Charms, and resist Knockbacks. Also the general tree grants them a 50% chance to return to life when dieing.

Assassins

Gameplay: Assassins are by far the squishiest class in the entire game. They get as much HP as mages, but no mage shield (the mage shield absorbs a very noticeable amount of every hit), they also wear cloth armor and are melee sorta like the HoX, but with no mage shield. Assassins end up relying on evasion for survival and stealth to get kills. There is no class in the game that is better at hiding than an assassin, fact is even barbs are at a slight disadvantage to them. However Assassins need to get the first hit in or else its going to be a tough fight. Due to their lack of armor and lack of CC Assassins end up being very challenging to play in PvE and have to use their stealth attacks to their advantage as much as possible. This same ability to sneak around and choose their fights leaves the Assassin in a very good spot PvP wise. However due to broken offhand mechanics (if you don’t finish your combo you don’t get a chance to do offhand, also the chance of an offhand proc is much lower than said before) they suffer at times DPS wise, also the fact that daggers do less damage than the axes and swords Barbarians can dual wield leaves them far behind on the DPS meters at raids. Overall this class is an interesting and unique one despite its many weaknesses.

Intended Role: Melee DPS stealth based

Actual Role: Stealth based Melee

Barbarian

Gameplay: The Barbarian is the typical representative of the Rogue category, he wears light leather armor and swings either giant two handed weapons or two lesser ones. The barbarian also gets a great amount of CC at his disposal if he is invested in the Beserker tree and wields a two handed weapon, that same tree gives him the ability to break any CC on himself, an ability which no their classes poses. The barbarian gets, like all rogues, two stances to choose from both of which end up increasing his damage. Additionally the barbarian has a passive proc that activates when he lands a critical hit. Every ciritcal hit increases his damage by 2% and the buff lasts 15 seconds. PvP wise the Barbarian is just as good as the assassin at picking his fights, and unlike the Assassin the Barbarian can stand toe to toe with melee classes due to his evasion, light armor, and CC abilities. In PvE the Barbarian is better off than the Assassin because he can unleash CC effects on a whole crowd of enemies allowing him to stand unharmed and unleash his primal rage on the meat bags unfortunate enough to have met him.

Intended Role: Melee DPS

Actual Role: Melee DPS

Ranger

Gameplay: In the Funcom spirit of making a game balanced the ranger is the most survivable of the rogue classes. The ranger gets Medium armor, gets to use a shield, and true to his name stays at range for most of the fight. Also the ranger is the only class that can approach the DPS potential of the mage classes. Just like the other rogues the Ranger gets to pick and choose his fights from stealth, but in addition to that he also doesn’t have to be in melee range. Often in PvP a ranger will pop out of stealth with a pair of quick attacks that will have most classes at near 60% health, then the ranger can snare their target and just fire away from a safe distance. If the target does manage to close the gap, the ranger can always take out his trust sword and shield set to make himself more survivable. With that sword the ranger can yet again snare the target or knock them back or can just do damage to them with combos like Shield Bash. The ranger is the only class in the game that gets both ranged and melee ranged combos, also the ranger gets the most different snares than any other class they also get a pair of knockbacks but no stun. Unlike the other Rogue classes the Ranger has to feat into his stances, or live without them. As a final precaution rangers were given traps that can be set down and will root whoever passes over them. Overall this class is great for PvP and PvE at all levels and stands out as the shining star amongst the rogue classes.

Intended Role: Ranged DPS

Actual Role: Ranged DPS with great survival