Hello everyone! I decided to make this guide in order to help those who may have questions about the Rogue class. This guide will mostly focus on PvE, but I will also cover some aspects of PvP that you may find useful. The best way to start is to go over the basics so let’s begin!
As a Rogue you only have two jobs:
1.) Maximize Attack : Pretty self-explanatory! Your job is to provide the maximum amount of offense.
2.) Survivability : This is the more difficult job. Rogues are frontline offense but lack natural defense and HP which in layman’s terms means that you’re going to get hurt... a lot. In a party, the priest’s main priority is the tank so you will have to fend for yourself. However, rogues benefit greatly from potions and you have several skills in your arsenal for survival making this class ideal for solo players.
________________________________________
There are a plethora of builds for Rogues, but most focus on maximizing STR, or maximizing AGI, or somewhere in-between. While I won’t post any builds, I will help you understand how you can benefit from each stat.
STR: Adds attack and parry rate. This stat is very useful for maximizing Adrenaline Rush which in turn will help you maximize attack.
AGI: Adds Critical and Dodge rate. Critical is vital to this class.
VIT: Adds Health and increases the Healing Rate from Potions. I personally do not think putting stat points toward Vitality is worth it as it raises HP by a very small amount and does not affect your defense. However, the small boost to HP and the boost in Potion effectiveness may be worth it to you so don’t count it out entirely. Also, remember that your HP will mostly come from your equipment so don’t focus too much on Vitality.
INT & WIS: You do not need these Stats.
Other detailed statistics:
Parry: Chance to receive half damage.
Dodge: Chance to dodge attacks.
Vigor: Decreases cooldown on skills.
Haste: Decreases casting time. You don't need this stat.
Most of the rare Rogue equipment (blue, purple) will have vigor/haste so if you want to raise your parry/dodge you can rely on accessories. However, remember that you won’t get any accessories until you reach base level 40.
________________________________________
Like stats, I won’t post particular skill builds but I will list each skill and my experience with them.
Basics: Rogue skills rely on combo points, which are gained from skills such as Double Attack, Dual Stab, and Dark Illusion. Once you rack up 5 Combo Points, you can unleash skills such as Deadly Blowand Moonlight Dance for maximum damage, Crescent Moon to knock down opponents and Gangster’s Paradise to recuperate about 50~60% of your HP.
Offensive Skills
Double Attack: Your bread and butter; you will use this skill all the time. Spam it to build combo points. This skill has no cool down.
Deadly Blow: This is your second core DPS skill; it is usable any time between 0~5 combo points. The more combo points you have the more damage it will do. At 0, it will do about the same amount of damage as Double Attack. There is no cool down on this skill.
Dark Illusion: This skill is incredibly similar to Backstab from the original Ragnarok Online. This skill warps you behind the enemy that unleashes a hit that has 100% critical rate. This skill is a great way to start any battle, as it is only usable when Hiding.
Throw Dagger: This skill is quite useful for luring mobs out of agro fields, and also useful in PvP when players try to run from you.
Meteor Assault: Area of Effect skill that hits 3 enemies around you. I don’t find this skill particularly useful, but it does reveal hidden enemies in PvP if they are hit.
Cross Impact: A skill I find completely useless, doing the exact same thing as Double Attack except it has a 10 second cool down. You do have to waste 1 skill point on it to open the Rogue Branch skills, however.
Dual Stab: Simple attack that gives you 2 Combo Points. It has a ten second cool down so use it when available to build combo points faster.
Rolling Cutter:Another area of effect skill that hits 3 to 10 enemies. Pretty much useless since Rogues are best in 1 on 1 combat but it can be useful for farming crafting materials in lower level areas.
Crescent Moon: A skill that knocks down an opponent for 1 second per Combo Point. Very useful during 1 on 1 combat as it gives you a few seconds to heal and is very useful in advanced parties/raids when you need to immobilize enemies.
Moonlight Dance:This is Ragnarok Online 2’s version of Sonic Blow. It is an awesome skill that requires all 5 combo points to be used and has a 20 second cool down. This is your main DPS skill. The only downside to this is that while you’re using it you can’t move which can break you if you’re being hit by an Area of Effect skill. Edit 8/28 Patch: This skill has been updated to do 150% damage instead of 110%.
Support Skills
Hiding: This skill is very useful in numerous situations! If you use a skill while hiding, it will do twice the damage. Great for skipping through dungeons and for farming materials in agro fields. The higher the level the higher the moving speed!
Genocide Mark: This is a Critical Rate party buff. It raises Critical rate anywhere from 0.4% ~ 2% depending on its skill level. This skill is more useful to your party than for you, since your critical rate will mostly come from your other skills. This skill lasts for 30 minutes.
Poisoning Weapon: This skill is a self-buff that lasts for 30 minutes and gives you the chance to poison the enemy and drain a certain percentage (depending on the skill level) of HP every 2 seconds. Always a nice skill to have!
Smoke Bomb: This skill instantly ends battle mode and makes you go into hiding, resetting your threat meter and making it extremely useful in PvP. It has a 3 minute cool down and for each skill level the cool down I lowered by one minute.
Dirty Plan: Automatically gain 5 combo points and resets cool down for all skills. This skill is useful in situations where you need to heal yourself and are still waiting on gangster’s paradise cool down.
Gangster’s Paradise: This is your core survival skill! This will heal around 50~60% of HP within 10 seconds. Make sure not to use it when you have less than 10% HP because it may not be able to out heal the damage you receive.
Unstoppable Doping: This skill is your core buff! This skill is extremely useful because at its maximum level it has a chance (depending on the level of the skill) to activate a buff that raises either 20% ATK OR 20% CRIT that will last 30 seconds. Additionally, every time you use a healing potion, Adrenaline Rush activates which grants you an ATK buff based on a small percentage of the total amount healed by the potion, capping at 30% of your own base attack damage. This buff lasts 30 minutes.
* Note that Adrenaline Rush itself lasts only 3 minutes, but using any Healing Potion (both Red and Purple) will refresh the timer. Note that refreshing the buff will retain the current bonus, regardless of which Potion you use. Therefore, I suggest using a high level Potions (such as Red Potion V) to activate Adrenaline Rush, then maintain it by using low level Potions (Such as Red Potion I) to keep it.
Mark of Death: This is your core debuff skill against bosses. It raises damage inflicted by 10% (at level 5) to the target, and lasts 30 seconds with a 2 minute cool down. This can make a huge difference in battle. Edit 8/28 Patch: This skill has been updated and now it works for the whole party. Your party with do 10% more damage to the target and you will do 20% more.
Passive skills ( I highly recommend you max both of these )
Combo Training: Depending on level, there is 5~15% chance to gain an extra combo point from skills that give them.
Combo Mastery: Depending on its level, it gives a 3~9% chance to activate a skill such as Deadly Blow, and Moonlight Dance, without the use of combo points. You are also able to use Gangster’s Paradise and Crescent Moon.
________________________________________
Basic Attack Sequence:
Hiding > Dark Illusion - To start off, then proceed to:
Dual Stab > Double Attack > Moonlight Dance > Double Attack > Deadly Blow > Repeat.
* Using Moonlight Dance and Deadly Blow only applies when having 5 combo points available. One thing that I’d like to point out is that since all your equipment mostly revolves around Vigor, your cool down for skills will greatly decrease. So, for example, if you manage to reach a Vigor Rate of 25% your Moonlight Dance will only take 15 seconds to cool down rather than the original 20. Be sure to keep this in mind.
________________________________________
For cards, simply focus on anything that gives you STR, AGI, and VIT. Once you hit level 50 you should hunt for Scratch Thief Cards which give 6 STR, 6 AGI, and 18 VIT (if you’re feeling adventurous, you can also try into making a Scratch Thief Card [Normal+] which gives 8 STR, 8 AGI, and 21 VIT). These cards are great for the extra Health, especially if you have 5 of them. Of course, once you do more advanced raids you might find Boss cards that are even more use to you.
There isn’t much to talk about in terms of equipment. Make sure you’re always updated and if you find blue equipment from dungeons, you can probably use it for about 5 to 10 levels because of the extra Vigor/Haste that these give. If you’re an Artisan, you can also make your own equipment too. Here's a sample chart of what you should aim in getting as soon as you hit level 50:
The Desperate Apostle Dual Dagger.
I'm including this in the guide is because this Dagger can be relatively easy (but perhaps expensive) to acquire.
First of all, this Dagger can only be crafted by a Blacksmith that has found the Recipe. If you manage to find someone crafting it for the right price, then these are the materials you will need:
Gold Ingot (x 78) : The Blacksmith Proffesion can farm boulders these in fields such as Road of Bless, and Sograt Desert.
Dazzling Trace Crystals (x 24) : Either Alchemists or Artisans can craft these, they require 3x Spirit of Ruin(I) per crystal. Easily farmable in low level areas such as Mt. Mjolnir.
Magical Red Feather Pieces (x12) : You can get these from Hard Dungeon Bosses, Old Blue Boxes, or from the Alberta Union Merchant, which require 14 Union Points per feather.
Cursed Mark of Immortality : You can get this from Old Blue Boxes, and I believe a Hard Dungeon Boss drops it, although not sure which at this moment.
Mysterious Crystals (x95) : Break away level 50 equipment using Fairy Stones, and you'll get a good chunk of these per equipment.
Diamond Anvils (x26) : Buy these from the Blacksmith NPC.
Happy Shopping! ...now on to armors!
If you're unfamiliar with the Raiding system in ROII, the Bosses drop colored Tokens, the Rogue's token is colored Red, which is shared among Warriors, Beastmasters, and Wizards.
* Tip: If you're looking to buy equipment from the Auction House located in Alberta and Prontera, every Rogue piece will have the name "Tunic" in it, despite level or type of equipment, such as on the chart above. Ex: Tunic Helmet of Resignation, Heart of Black Wind Tunic Helmet, and Einherjar Tunic Helmet.
________________________________________
As a Rogue, you can get to 50 solo without a single issue. But when it comes to teamwork, it’s different. Here are some tips that will help you and your parties. These are listed in numerical order but are all equally important.
1. Keep in mind that since you are a close-range DPS, Area of Effect skills will always hit you. If your threat level is high enough, the boss will attack and it is very possible that the priests won’t notice because they’re busy healing the tank which is completely understandable. That being said, always pay attention to your Health and never let it fall beneath 25~50%; you never know when a boss might get a critical hit off on you. If you die, it’s usually because you were careless. Accept this, and grow from it. You have more than enough support skills to survive on your own.
2. Don’t ignore the Boss’s adds. The sooner you get rid of them, the sooner you can return to attacking the boss. Don’t let those classes with Area of Effect skills handle them on their own, because you’ll survive much longer if you help. Just because you don’t use Area of Effect skills doesn’t mean your sole focus should be the boss. But don’t forget that your party/raid leader may feel differently, and if they’re confident in the group’s ability to handle the adds without you then you should listen. Always listen.
3. While running any dungeon, make sure you always have Adrenaline Rush maximized. You want to always be doing the highest damage possible.
4. Know the best time to utilize Moonlight Dance. If you know that the bosses have strong Area of Effect skills that require high mobility, avoid using Moonlight Dance and instead focus on using Deadly Blow. You don’t want to die because you were stuck in the skill’s animation and unable to move away.
5. Mark of Death, Mark of Death, Mark of Death. The extra 20% damage on a boss will help immensely and can make a huge difference in battle. Some Rogues like to combo this with Dirty Plan, so they can use it once again when it wears out.
6. Hidden Combo. If by any chance you did decide to put skill points into Smoke Bomb, then I have great news for you! Prepare to unleash your strongest attack! When Combo Mastery activates Moonlight Dance, you can also use Smoke Bomb to go into Hiding and unleash a Moonlight Dance that will do twice the damage. This also applies to Deadly Blow.
7. Hidden Combo (The Sequel) Another very useful combo is the Throw Dagger + Dark Illusion Combo. While hiding, If standing away from your target at about 15~19m, you can use Throw Dagger, and immediately use Dark Illusion, making you warp behind your target before the Throw Dagger connects, and use Dark Illusion at the same time! However, This doesn't usually work if you are lagging though! Credits to User Shine for this tip.
8. Always be aware of your threat level. Although rarely, you might run into situations where you out damage the main tank, which means that the boss/enemies will target you instead. This is bad news for you, so slow down and allow for the tank to regain back control. Remember that Smoke Bomb resets your theat!
9. Plan carefully when allocating your skill points. Remember that in this game, you can keep all unused skill points even after switching jobs. Meaning that all your unused Thief points can be put toward Rogue skills!
10. Always remember that while it is not specifically stated, Combo Mastery also applies to Gangster’s Paradise and Crescent Moon. I mentioned this earlier, but would just like to reinforce this. When Combo Mastery activates, it usually displays the icon for Moonlight Dance, or Deadly Blow (if Moonlight Dance is still cooling down) but you’re still able to use Gangster’s Paradise and Crescent Moon regardless of what the icon says.
________________________________________
Edit 4/18/13: Added level 50 Equipment Chart, Added Desperate Apostle Dual Dagger guide.
Edit 6/06/13: Added Throw Dagger + Dark Illusion Tip, Corrected crafting jobs for Dazzling Crystal.
Edit 8/28/13: Added patch notes for skill changes [ Moonlight Dance + Mark of Death]
Edited by KIyde, 29 August 2013 - 07:25 AM.
