Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo

capn233
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Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 13, 2018 22:59:48 GMT mousestalker, vertigomez, and 2 more like this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 13, 2018 22:59:48 GMT

"And thus I cloaked my naked villainy."

I almost called this the "DN Strength Rogue Solo Thread of Self Importance," either works. Haven't made a lot of posts in the past year because of commitments in real life, but a couple back I was making threads for solos, partly to ask questions and partly bounce ideas off people. I was recently inspired to play a run in DAO again, and decided to make an verbose thread on it just for the hell of it. I'm actually a week in now so I have some writing to do.

Strength Rogue

Basically when you look at the rogue's talent page you can see exactly what attributes you want for this class, and that is why strength makes so much sense...

Actually, I was thinking about characters and builds I hadn't really tried outside of whim builds for Zevran, so that is how this got started. Initially I was going to just do a standard party game, but the one time I solo'd the Dwarf Noble origin I wasn't completely happy with how it worked out in a spot and wanted to get another crack at it. The plan was then to just solo the origin and go back to party, but I changed my mind again and figured I would just do the whole thing.

So back to strength and rogue. Rogue really only needs Dexterity and Cunning, with enough strength just for armor equips. Even then if you don't mind glitching you can equip any armors you really need without investing anything. Of course if you are an old timer you might remember when dagger attributes were screwed up and only strength contributed to dagger damage. Way back then it made sense if you wanted daggers, but after that was fixed not so much.

Dual Wield talent tree takes dexterity to unlock, and most of the rogue utility and a few damage talents rely on cunning. Additionally, if you take Lethality, you can substitute cunning score for strength for damage calculations. Ignoring what the absolute "best" rogue is for now, you basically can't go wrong if you spend all your attribute points on either dexterity or cunning. Wherever you are on the spectrum from "All Dex" to "All Cunning," the rogue should work pretty well.

What is the appeal of Strength then? As stated, dagger damage depends on dex or strength normally. But full-size weapon damage depends entirely on strength, dex does not add anything whatsover to axe or sword damage outside of attack. This is partly why highest rogue damage is actually achieved with with Rose's Thorn off-hand, but a full-size mainhand (Veshialle and Starfang are extremely close, the latter is better), albeit with maxed out cunning rogue.

The idea therefore will be to create a character that is somewhat similar to a cunning rogue, just with all those points in strength instead of cunning. What's nice is that on the rogue class this should still end up being a relatively decent character with good damage and survivabilty. This isn't like taking a Warrior and dumping everything into cunning where you would just have armor penetration, but crap damage and defense. Or a Mage with everything in dexterity who would have high defense but spells that hit as hard as a light breeze. Put succinctly in a pro and con list:

Pros

-Good weapon damage per hit

-Good attack rating

-Good armor rating

-Stealth

Cons

-Not a mage

-Worse defense than dex based rogue or warrior

-Lower armor penetration than cunning rogue

-Worse cunning based talents/skills compared to cunning rogue (Riposte, Deft Hands, Stealing, Coercion)

-Worse stamina than a warrior

-Does not have access to Knight-Commander plate as does a warrior

KCP is actually quite useful for a solo, and is available very early. Honestly it is why I think warrior is overall a better solo class than rogue, but that is a topic for another thread. Neither are as good as Mage of course.

Other Thoughts

There are a few "rules" I tend to follow for my solos. They are:

-No equipping or selling DLC gear that is in inventory at game start. So that is why you won't see me talk about Battledress, or selling Reaper's Cudgel and being rich right off.*

-When party members are mandatory, they are absolutely not allowed to draw aggro or tank (not allowed to take damage).

-Party members can craft junk for me, and also can unlock chests. The latter is not usually applicable for rogue solo.

-No respec'ing

*The exceptions are that I tend to use the Formari time to get an extra skill. It isn't entirely necessary, but I like to do it. Also, The Edge can be equipped by mid-late game where it is not game-breakingly better than a Crow-Dagger or other things that are available by then.

Be advised, since this is a nightmare solo thread I will of course be mentioning lame tactics and exploits since largely that is the way to get through the game at low level in a Nightmare solo. If that offends your sensibilities, I guess you can stop reading.

I have a few fix-packs, so my combat mechanics are slightly different than the base game, but mostly I would say it is a wash. Will mention if it is pertinent.

tl,dr - There is no tl,dr

Only too long, and probably didn't read.

*** Dwarf Noble Origin ***

Ok, DN is hypothetically the best origin for a melee character since you make the most money later, can start with the most money, and you get dwarf innate 10% spell resist which is very nice. Unfortunately it is probably the hardest origin to solo since you are supposed to have a four person party for a fair amount of it. Mage origin is the easiest if you were wondering, which is mostly because you are a mage.

I wanted to redo this origin chiefly because in my previous attempt as a SnS warrior, I could not prevent the party from taking damage during an ambush and so I allowed them to get killed off while I waited, and then reengaged. This wasn't completely satisfying to me because I am somewhat obsessive, but if I were you I would not worry about that too much.

Character Creation

Attributes - 15 / 16 / 12 / 10 / 14 / 12 (Str / Dex / Will / Mag / Cun / Con)

Skills - Improved Combat Training, Stealing (tome)

Talents - Dual Weapon Training, Dual Weapon Sweep

Yeah, yeah this is a strength rogue, but I don't think dumping everything in str right away is practical, given that we need some unlocks in the DW tree, and that is all dex. Dual Weapon Sweep is the best active talent in the entire tree, so it is nice we can get it right away. As a rogue, we get Dirty Fighting for free.

The plan will be to unlock Momentum basically as soon as possible. Additionally, enough cunning will need to be invested so that post-fade there will be enough to unlock Master Stealth. Probably there will be a slight over-investment in dex due to my desire to get some things before getting to the Fade, oh well.

The point of Stealing here is that I want to get a few extra potions or the like before getting to the harder sections of the origin. It is also necessary in order to unlock all of the Crime Wave side quests later, so might as well go with it. Of course as I mentioned earlier, with low cunning investment, this is going to be somewhat weaker than it could be on a cunning rogue without a lot of skill point investment, but it will work ok very early game.

Orzammar

Ok first order of business was to talk to Gorim, wander around and steal things from random people, and then visit the Merchants. Of note, I managed to pick up two Rock Salves from random people before combat.

I solved the argument between the historian and the minor noble guy, but did not take the route that got me paid. I received the Noble's Dagger from the weapon merchant though, which is nice to have. Took dialogue options throughout that would lead to a confrontation with Trian.

Entered the Provings. There isn't much to say here, use Dirty Fighting when needed and stab. For some enemies it is best to save until they are trying to use an ability that causes a stun. Recall that a stun gives you -1000 penalty to dex.

Visited the party, embarrassed the noble instead of taking the bribe. Met Duncan, etc.

First Mission as Commander - Aeducan Shield

Ok so we end up with a party now. Mostly I will summarize.

Early game you need to separate groups of enemies into manageable sizes, which means you are doing things like pulling with a ranged attack, fighting in corners where more than one or two can't hit you at a time, etc. The bow is helpful on melee characters for this purpose.

There is a Genlock LT level rogue part way through this section that is a bit irritating to fight since he seems to have pretty decent armor. Also he has Dual Weapon Expert apparently, which is fixed in my game and applies DOT correctly. I ended up burning a Rock Salve here IIRC, and some pots. Also I reloaded to see if dual daggers worked better than dagger-sword but it wasn't much different at this level.

Merc Ambush

This is why I wanted to redo this section. I did end up finding a way to keep the party from taking any damage right after the cut-scene, as well as dispatch the mercs relatively painlessly.

Basically I had to move forward slightly with the main character, and I hit a Rock Salve, while I sent the rest of the party running back over the bridge. After tank some shots, I made sure to hit the melee unit that appeared to be following my party with a Dirty Fighting, hit the other two with DWS, and retreated to a corner of the bridge.

Amusingly here it is possible to sit around while the enemy AI parks right next to you or runs around trying to find LOS. I could hit them with DWS without them being able to hit me whatsover. Alternatively, you can try to move slightly and fight one or two. But care must be taken because depending on how you move, you might teleport over the corner sort of into the middle of them.

The movement and allowing the main character to be hit is what seemed to do the trick as far as aggro, as well as making sure I hit the pursuing unit. It would have also been possible to fight the mercs further back in a choke like near the door before the bridge, but it would have cost more potions (that is where my DN SnS had to do it).

Darkspawn Ambush

After getting the shield, you walk outside and are more or less surrounding. Here it was somewhat similar to above. I had to run forward and tank some arrows, while I sent the party to and past the bridge. Then I went to that same corner to kill a few units. Some were more fickle and so I had to leave that spot to stab them.

Hit Level 2 in the middle of the ambush. +3 Dex, Expert Combat Training and Flurry. Flurry is not that great, but is en route to Momentum.

Trian

So this is another one where you are dumped out after a cut-scene. If you immediately retreat all your party, you can string the enemies out. I actually ran everybody back over the bridge from above, which is a bit of a distance. This meant only Trian and two guards ultimately ended up in the area. I used the same corner of the bridge to fight one at a time. Trian seems to have some oddball AI where after you damage him for a while, he will run off. In any case, as with a lot of elites with a slow attack you can use Dirty Fighting and then sweep or stab for a bit, then kite around until DF has refreshed. Slow but it can work.

After killing him, it was back to the original area where there were still four or so archers. Bow pull and stab individually.

Deep Roads

Not much to say here. There is a spot with a lot of deep stalkers where you have to be careful not to aggro too many since their spit is annoying. Make sure to pick up the Superior Dwarven Guard Armor. I did not have enough strength to equip it yet, but it is a very nice chest-piece for early game since it has +1 armor and +10 physical resistance.

And that's pretty much that for the origin.

Last Edit: Aug 14, 2018 3:24:48 GMT by capn233

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 14, 2018 1:51:59 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 14, 2018 1:51:59 GMT

*** Ostagar ***

Level 3 - Dual Weapon Finesse, +3 Dex

The goal before the Wilds was to get a decent sword, get a cheap backpack, maybe some grenades and pots, and then pick up loose cash. Lack of cunning is a problem here as far as stealing checks go, and it doesn't help for persuade checks either. Fortunately you don't need that to get Ser Garlen's sword from Pick, just exhaust the dialogue. That sword has +2 Attack and +10 Physical Resistance, the latter bonus is pretty nice this early since you get a halfway decent chance of resisting shield bash from the low tier mooks in the Wilds. Otherwise the stats are similar to the Fine Dwarven Blade you get at the end of the DN origin.

I killed the Deserter for the key, took care of shopping, started Mabari Hound, and met the other recruits.

Kocari Wilds

Critters and Mooks

I took Davith's longbow so I could have a ranged option. Set all party members to "Cautious" (I have Advanced Tactics, so behaviors are slightly different than in the base game, this is so they never engage) and Hold, as well as switching them to empty weapon sets.

Mostly the Wilds is handled best by any martial class by bow pulling again, and then stabbing. For the most part it is smooth sailing that way, as long as you don't aggro too many at once. Incidentally, it is also probably a little easier in a full party game making the whole team just run bows unless the player is a mage, but YMMV.

One of the fixes I have is for the enemy Howl, so that defense penalty is actually applied. It isn't game-changing, but is annoying when dealing with wolves.

Before you get to the second section past the rickety bridge, the main annoyance is a section to the west of the map, past the area with the wolves near the statues, where there are four Genlock rogues hiding in stealth. It is easy to aggro all of them at once if you walk through too quickly. If that happens you probably have to burn a grenade. But if you stop and retreat as soon as you hear them growl you probably should just have to fight two at once, which is what I did. This is assuming you are going from where you fought the wolves near the statues in sort of a northwest direction.

The Emissary on the bridge can be outranged with a longbow, and in any case he won't pursue you past that bridge. There are some other units in that area that can be dealt with one at a time with the bow.

If you are doing the Chasind Trail Signs quest and head to the area with the reward, there is another Genlock rogue ambush, so retreat to near or past the bridge when you hear the growls.

Gazarath

The best way to solo him is to just retreat to the large statues near where the wolf pack was mentioned above, and hide behind the chest since he cannot hit you there. At least assuming you aren't a Mage with the right spellbook, or a melee character using DLC equipment. I have solo'd him in melee before though without DLC stuff with both DW warrior and DW rogue, and it is extremely tedious. Mostly it involves kiting him around a log or something, using DWS every once in a while, and then blowing health potions.

He likes to aggro on your team at the start of the fight for some reason, it is best to hit him with an attack that draws threat if you don't want the team to tank any hits.

Finishing Up

The last bit has Hurlocks and a Hurlock LT level elite 2H. The 2H also can switch to crossbow. Same old story here, pull with bow and then stab. The elite will probably aggro with the last mook, so try to separate them. The elite is a lot easier to kill as DW if you have Deathroot Extract for some extra stuns, but if not there's always Dirty Fighting, Sweep and run.

Make sure you grabbed the flower if you are doing the hound quest, then grab the scrolls.

I hit Level 4 somewhere in the Wilds and took Momentum as well as Coercion 1, and +2 Dex, +1 Str. Need to start going strength heavy in order to wear the guard armor I have been lugging around. With Momentum unlocked, this is the last dex investment that should be needed.

Ostagar 2

I turned in the flower, talked to Duncan and then went through the Joining.

Level 5 / Joining - Deft Hands, Stealth, +3 Str

Now I had a small amount of rogue stuff going on.

Sold the loot, bought the restocked cheap backpack, and more grenades. Lesser Health Poultices are usually worth buying as well this early since they basically cost as much as it does to craft them.

Tower of Ishal

Approach to Tower

More bow pull and limiting aggro. Non-party NPCs are helpful here.

Probably the worst part here is the Hurlock LT elite at the end, and again he is easiest if you have Deathroot Extract. I did not, so I had to run him back towards where you first engage the enemies in this section and kite him around the crumbled wall. This also helps break LOS with the Genlock archer that is inevitably left when you trigger him.

What's good about fighting him is that he switches to crossbow when you get too far away, but it takes him forever to load a bolt. So all I did was wait for him to switch and start loading, then ran at him and hit DWS. He will then go back to 2H, but since the swing speed is so low you have time to hit him with Dirty Fighting, or simply run out of melee range. Kite him around the wall and repeat until he is dead.

First Floor

The first floor is pretty annoying to me, especially the first room. You can pull one or two archers at a time and then stab them to death. The trickier part is when you have to fight the Genlock Emissary, who likes to spam Drain Life. I was able to aggro him from behind the debris ringing the room where he couldn't hit me with his staff, so he ran towards the area with the trap. At that point I hit him with Dirty Fighting and stabbed. He moved out of range, so you have to do more control over line of sight and try and repeat. Deathroot Extract would again be nice.

The next part is sort of annoying for most melee classes since there are two doors going to adjoining rooms and both tend to empty when you open one door. What's nice is if you have Stealth they will stupidly clump in one spot, making them a nice target for a grenade and DWS. After hitting the clump, I retreated towards a scaffolding and debris near where the Emissary starts before this. Then fought one or two weakened units at a time.

Second Floor

This floor isn't too bad since it has a couple of rooms with only two units, then the large room with the ballistas. You can use those, or just use a bow to pull a few.

Third Floor

The first room is annoying since it is hard not to aggro too many and have at least one unit start attacking the party, which I hide on the stairs by the entrance. There also isn't really a great way to pull them one at a time, so some supplies were blown here.

The next room is the kennel room, and you can just run in and open the cages to make your life easier, but I aggro'd them individually and stabbed them. There is one Genlock Alpha LT level who hits fairly hard.

The next few rooms also all tend to empty when you engage the units in another. Again, you could use the dogs here, or you can cheese them with Stealth. When you open a door most all of them should clump at the edge of the kennel room, making another prime target for grenades. I instead opted to retreat to the kennel room's entrance at the other side, then pull them one by one with the bow.

Level 6 - Stealthy Item Use; Master Combat Training; +2 Str, + 1 Cun, (21 / 24 / 12 / 10 / 15 / 12)

Going past 20 Str let me finally equip the Superior Dwarven Guard Armor. The cunning was to make small progress towards the 22 needed for Master Stealth.

Fourth Floor

I aggro'd the Ogre and then went behind the barrels to pincushion him with arrows. The alternative is to run around in a circle for a long time and use Dirty Fighting and Sweep. You have to stun it if you don't want to be grabbed and killed when fighting in melee.

Dog Encounter

I like to save a few grenades from the Ostagar potion just for this fight, as well as the next. Dog does a decent job of holding the aggro of all the enemy units, but doesn't do much damage. So I like to lob a grenade to weaken the mass of darkspawn. Used a Deathroot Extract on the elite.

*** Lothering ***

Toll Collectors

I intimidate them first for some cash and because it is very annoying to attempt to fight them all while preventing the party from inadvertently tanking. After walking into town and getting the cutscene, you can just remove the party and walk back to pick the fight.

After initiating the fight, I hit Dirty Fighting on the leader as he tends to lead with Shield Pummel and that will probably result in a reload. Then I ran around the cart near some crates and then lobbed a couple grenades (Acid Flask, Soulrot) on the enemies as they ran around. I managed to LOS one archer, but not both, and then had to burn a health poultice and lesser health poultice as well as kill both of the melee and one archer before I was able to damage the leader enough to end the fight. Theoretically you could just end it by fighting the leader, but since I kill them all anyway afterwards it wasn't a huge deal.

Another way to do this is to pull them all down the ramp into the down and retreat past the farmer into that fenced off area. There is a corner near the water where you should only have to fight one at a time + / - an archer taking pot shots at you.

In Town

Sided with the Merchant for the discount, told the elves their loot was safe, did some minor quests (Traps are a Girl's Best Friend, More than Just Plants) and tried to rob some people. Really just targeted refugees since Templar and the Chasind standing around have higher target scores I think. Did manage to steal the crossbow from the Merchant, so that was nice. I used Alistair to make three traps, I just do the quest to do it, don't exploit it for xp or gold.

Leliana tanks a lot in the Tavern Brawl, and I think I only killed one or two mooks before damaging the leader enough that he surrendered. I told him to take a message to Loghain.

Talked to Sten, went to the Chantry and got a couple rewards (for killing the highwaymen, and from the Redcliffe knight) which included Ancient Elven Boots. After recruiting Sten I gained another level.

Level 7 - Duelist, Dueling; + 3 Str

I took Duelist for the damage per hit bonus as well as the few points of Dex. Dueling adds attack right now, although this character shouldn't have too many problems with it. Mostly it is for later levels where I can get Keen Defense and then Pinpoint Strike. An alternative would be to go Assassin for Mark of Death right away, but I wanted the flat damage and bonus attack. Or there is always Bard, but there is only one skill in that tree that is good, albeit one of the best: Song of Courage. The bonuses are still pretty good with base cunning, but the problem is that is a three talent point investment, and the upkeep is higher than Dueling. I didn't really consider Ranger.

Since everybody and their brother knew I was a Warden, I had to fight the desparate refugees. Retreated to the nook at the nearby shack where you should only have to fight two at a time.

Bandits, Bandits Everywhere

More bow - pull and stab. The first two groups aren't really that bad this way. However, I had a little bit of trouble with the leader in the last group. He is a LT level 2H warrior who likes to spam Sunder Arms and Armor non-stop, and he has a decent armor. Felt like I was doing crappy damage. I ended up dumping sustains and chewing some shrooms to mix in more Dirty Fighting. Required more lesser HP's than I would have liked.

Took out the spiders for Poisonous Proposition before heading back.

Last Keepsake, When Bears Attack

Like the above except easier. Turned them in and got Oathkeeper.

Saving Bodahn

All I did here was kite the mooks down and around the ramp so as to fight them in a corner. The Hurlock Alpha LT got stabbed with Deathroot Extract after dealing with the mooks, he tends not to follow down the ramp. Took my reward from Bodahn, and then said "I guess I did and got everything I needed in Lothering," and then went to camp...

...Except that after talking to the party in camp and looking at Bodahn's wares it struck me that I had forgotten all about Thorn of the Dead Gods that you can buy in the tavern. Must have also not even paid attention to it in the list when I bought the stuff to craft. It has +2 damage, so that would have been very nice against the bandit leader. Reloaded the save I made right before leaving the town, went to the bar and picked it up.

Back in camp for the deja vu portion, I switched to TotDG offhand and Oathkeeper mainhand, and had Sandal throw in some low tier lightning rune I picked up. Then it was off to Denerim for gold, and to avoid the Desolate Highway random encounter that is between there and Lake Callenhad.

****

Just to summarize level for the time being:

1 - DWT, DWS; Improved Combat Tr, Stealing (Tome); 15/16/12/10/14/12
2 - Flurry; Expert Combat Tr, +3 Dex
3 - DWF; +3 Dex
4 - Momentum; Coercion; +1 Str, +2 Dex
5 - Stealth, Deft Hands; +3 Str
6 - Stealthy Item Use; Master Combat Tr; +2 Str, +1 Cun
7 - Duelist / Dueling; +3 Str; 24/24/12/10/15/12

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
N4

Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 14, 2018 4:43:17 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 14, 2018 4:43:17 GMT

Didn't say it outright, but during the first camp I didn't end up buying anything from Bodahn. The only thing I would have been interested in buying twice is the Tome of Physical Technique for more talent points. But I don't think it will end up being too big a deal.

On to Denerim

*** Denerim ***

Arrived and talked to some people, including Slim, and then pick-pocketed the first mark. Then I saw my old buddy Gorim. Sold off loot, at which point I had 32g82s52c.

I dueled Ser Landry, which isn't really anything new. Dirty Fighting, DWS, then activate Momentum. I think I used poison. I then went in the bar to activate "Solving Problems." Then it was on to the Pearl to deal with the White Falcons at the behest of Sgt Kylon.

Pearls Before Swine

Told them to vacate in order to force the confrontation. Went to the corner and stabbed the leader. He gave up and I told him to empty his pockets. +2 gold, which effectively doubles the reward for this quest. Picked up the bag to solve that problem, and then left.

Returning to the market got me the confrontation with Cristof and the other Falcons. Although there are a ton of them, Sgt Kylon is on your side and is effectively invincible, so this isn't that bad unless you are trying to save Kylon's men (in which case good luck if you are playing melee). Cristof drops the axe Aodh, which is a pretty decent axe. For whatever reason I didn't decide to equip it just then, partly because I was going to wait to put the lightning rune in it.

Back in the market, I activated Back Alley Justice and Civil War from the Chanter; Blood of Warning, Scrolls of Banastor and Notices of Death from the Mages; and then finished Solving Problems. Took care of the Crimson Oars. After visiting Gorim again I had 41g58s45c

I briefly went back to camp to by the tome. Spent it on Combat Movement so I could unlock Coup de Grace at level 8. Then I opened the map and decided to head for the alleys.

Back Ally Justice

Back Alley Ambush

Got a random map encounter that takes place in the Back Alley. This is the one where there is a trip wire near the start that activates a flame trap, and the enemies are waiting past it. If you go up the ramp on the left you can aggro a few of them with the bow and then fight them on ground level in the corner between the ramp and stone wall to limit exposure.

After killing those units, I dropped out of combat which meant I could activate Stealth. Then I ran through the trap, and if you do so without stopping you shouldn't get hit by the flames. Amusingly, setting that off while stealthed makes the remaining enemies clump up next to the trap, at which point I was able to hit nearly all of them with DWS. Then I stabbed them all to death. Used Dirty Fighting when it looked like one might get clever and try an ability. Mostly these are low tier enemies, so they took a lot of damage from the first sweep anyway.

Dirty Back Alley

This is the first part of the actual quest. It takes place in basically the same place as the above random encounter, but there is no trip wire. It isn't really too bad, the enemies are mostly fairly weak (critter tier actually) with an LT level leader. Dirty Fighting prevented Shield Pummel, as I fought the aggro'd melee units in the same corner as in the above encounter. I then finished straggler archers and delivered a death note.

Dark Alley

This is the one to the south where the leader is a 2H with a maul. You start out of combat and trigger them by moving forward.

Basically I stealthed and then fired an arrow to aggro the enemy. Unfortunately that draws everyone in. Like with nearly everything before, I went to a corner to limit exposure. The spot I used is to the right of the starting point with some stacked crates, and can be seen here. You move left and right so that when you move towards the open corner, you fight one melee at a time, or move behind the crates to prevent archers from getting a shot when they reposition. The enemy 2H LT is not too bad if you can keep him stunned, but he hits hard when they land.

Since only one melee can fight you at a time there, the AI tends to clump the rest a little ways off from the crates, but still within grenade range. I lobbed one on the mob in order to weaken them. So this fight cost me an Acid Flask and a couple poultices.

Run Down Back Street

This is the more western location where the leader is an elite woman SnS.

Once the mini-cutscene ended, I ran back into the corner to the right and behind the start position. It is a nook with stone walls and some scaffolding, and can be seen here. Only one enemy at a time can go very far into the nook, and no enemy will hit you if you go behind the scaffolding. So somewhat similarly to the previous area, I moved out to fight one at a time in melee, and then moved behind the scaffold if I needed to break archer LOS.

I hit Level 8 here. Took Poison 2 and Coup de Grace, as well as +2 Str and +1 Cunning. One additional point in Cunning will be needed later in order to hit 22 after the 5 fade bonuses in order to unlock Master Stealth.

Coup de Grace is helpful in a solo since it is hard to actually backstab, but it isn't so hard to stun or paralyze. That is why I took it relatively early.

Got back to the Market and claimed my rewards. Then it was off to Honnleath for a ring and a helmet.

*** Honnleath ***

I almost went directly to the Circle Tower, but thought better of it. That and I was saving an Acid Flask all throughout the back alleys just for Kitty's little friends. The Civil War quest is on the way to Sulcher's Pass, so I figured I might as well go through it. Got the star metal encounter en route.

Civil War

Just back stab, there are enough friendly npcs here that it really isn't taxing.

Bloody Plains

This random encounter seriously sucks, at least this early. It is the one where you are facing a LT Hurlock Alpha, a Hurlock Emissary, two Genlock archers, and two Hurlock melee enemies. And there are 12 leghold traps scattered around... And there is no good place to hide...

The one good thing is that rogues can travel down the road with Stealth activated. My low cunning / disarm score meant I could only partially make out the traps, but I sort of know where they are anyway.

Although I did not have a Deathroot Extract left, I did have a flask and there is one deathroot plant growing behind the emmissary so I picked it and created it all in stealth.

First order of business was taking out the emissary so as to not catch a Curse of Mortality. Backstab, Dirty Fighting, stab... The Hurlock Alpha moved over and I hit him and the emissary with DWS, killing the emissary. DRE and a Swift Salve was then activated and the elite was targeted while the other melee mooks moved in and I was getting pincushioned by the archers.

As such this was an expensive encounter. Other than the poison and salve I ended up burning one Greater HP, two HPs, and five lesser HPs.

The real mistake was made in Denerim where I didn't activate a few of the side quests that occur as random encounters that are easier. Oh well, at least I won't get that one again.

Honnleath

After Sulcher's Pass, I got Gentle Path, and then arrived in town. Amusingly, even though I saved an Acid Flask just for this quest, three units ended up dropping them for me here. Also had a few lesser cold and warmth salves/balms.

The bulk of this is just bow pull and stab. Outside and inside.

Ash Wraith and Friends

The room past the barrier with the Ash Wraith and three shades can be a bit tricky. It is a little easier with Stealth since I was able to go in cloaked, and then pull the Wraith with the bow without the attendant shades even moving out. After killing it, I was able to go back in and stab all the shades. You get the Harvest Festival ring here with +2 Dex, +2 Str and +4 attack.

Kitty

As soon as it started, I activated a lesser cold and warm resist, then ran back up the steps. The idea here is to get the rages to clump so I could hit them with an acid flask. They seem susceptible to nature damage, so they will be nearly dead after that hit. Unfortunately for me they didn't clump all that well and I had to use two flasks. Kitty likes to spam cold spells, so be prepared. It is helpful to burn pots in case you get frozen. I ended up spending the two Acid Flasks, one health poultice, and a lesser health poultice here.

Equipped all my new, great gear, activated Shale, and then left. The next order of business was preparing for the Circle Tower.

Strange Wood

This is a very rare world map encounter that gives Axameter, a very good axe. I thought this might be karma rewarding me for doing Bloody Plains, but it was just that I didn't remove a mod that increases the chance for rare encounters. As such, I decided I would not equip it yet.

Dalish Camp

Mostly just talked to Zathrien, and then to Varathorn. Picked up some toxin extract, deathroot, and swift salve. Made 16 deathroot extracts for the Circle Tower, and headed out.

Last Edit: Aug 14, 2018 20:41:48 GMT by capn233

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
N4

Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 15, 2018 0:20:39 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 15, 2018 0:20:39 GMT

*** Circle Tower ***

Swung by Denerim to turn in the toxin extracts, grab flasks, etc. Had 42g50s42c.

Went to Lake Callenhad, and into The Spoiled Princess (giggity). I bought a Swift Salve and two Incenses of Awareness.

In the tower I bought a back pack from the Quartermaster. In retrospect, I should have bought all the grenades from both of them, as well as another cold resist from the QM.

Build Note

The main goal of this quest is to get enough cunning points from The Fade so that Combat and Master Stealth can be acquired. Fade supplies 5 cunning points, so attribute investment had to be to 17 cunning in order to hit the 22.

I made something of a wish list for abilities, and maxing the Stealth tree was on there, but so was maxing the Deft Hands line. The plan was to spend the L9 point on Improved Tools, then grab Combat Stealth at L10.

What I was leaving off my list was Riposte, not because it is a bad talent, the opposite is the case. But it is stuck behind Dual Striking, and that is something of a wasted talent on anything but a late game warrior. The Deft Hands investment could have certainly been switched out for it with very little difference in loot or xp here since my overall lockpicking score was low and I hadn’t really unlocked many crates.

In a party game it might make sense to get Riposte before going through Combat Movement and Coup de Grace, but in solo it is hard to flank for backstab damage.

Circle Tower Floors 1 – 4

I’m not going to be as verbose here. Will mention a few annoying fights. I skipped the Revenant for the time being, but fought all the other enemies in the quest.

Level 9 – Improved Tools; +2 Str, +1 Cun

Desire Demon with multiple Templars on 3rd Floor

This is a “stealth and pull in small groups with bow” encounter, unless you have extra grenades. I did try it by stealthing into the room and initiating the fight at melee range, but that was going to end up being way too expensive. Too many enemies, not enough spell resist, etc.

Boss level Abomination, Undead, Shades end of 3rd Floor

What works best for me is retreating so as to attempt to string the enemies out into small clumps. Fighting all of them at once just results in a lot of potion use.

Desire Demon with Bewitched Templar and Corpses on 4th Floor

Another spot where you have to get dropped into near melee range after a cutscene. This whole encounter is optional, so it is possible to just go to the Fade and then do it, but I like to try and take care of it before.

Immediately threw a shock bomb, then a frost, and then an acid. Used Dirty Fighting to stun the Templar, hit DWS, and then tried to stab the DD to death before the Templar and corpses could get to me. This mostly worked, and then I retreated to a corner to limit them. The number of enemies made this something of a battle of attrition. Besides the bombs, I ended up burning a Swift Salve, Deathroot Extract, and 3 HP’s. I had used my cold resist on the earlier DD, and managed to forget to equip Shiver for this room, and I should have used SS earlier. Ah well.

Fade: Lost In Dreams

Not much to say, the bulk of it is just like a regular team game. I didn’t have too much trouble here.

Sloth

The two forms that are the worst are the first and last, the Ogre and Arcane Horror.

Typically I use Golem for the Ogre (Slam should hit before a Ram can be used, and Quake stuns), but with Dirty Fighting and DWS I just did it without a form. The Rage form was done mostly with Burning Man and the rest with Golem.

Since dwarves can’t use the lyrium, it is worthwhile to hop between forms for healing. I think that is covered somewhere in the wiki. The gist of it is that when you switch to Golem, you still have the same fraction of hit points, but when switching back, you have the same number you did as Golem (Golem has larger health pool).

I made sure to go formless to pop a lesser spirit resist before I finished the second to last form, as well as trying to conserve stamina so I could interrupt the Arcane Horror form if it was going to cast something significant.

Back in the Tower

Level 10 – Combat Stealth; Coercion 2; +3 Str

Getting there. Attributes look like this: 35 / 28 / 16 / 12 / 22 / 14

Use the Littany against the demons you have to fight, even if they aren’t stunned they should take some spirit damage.

Uldred

This is an attrition fight when you have mediocre armor rating and defense.

I hit lesser spirit resist, and then swift salve right away with pauses thrown in. Ran towards Uldred as you need to be in melee range so he won’t cast Crushing Prison, which is probably going to be a reload. Activated Insense and a DR Extract and killed the Abominations first. I only had a single Acid Flask and did not use it because they are immune to nature damage, (but not stun from DRE).

The Littany will stun and do damage to the Aboms, but care must be taken not to put it on cooldown before Uldred decides to attempt to summon more.

Anyway, Uldred will do a Massive Attack every once and a while if you are fighting him with a melee weapon*, and since this is telegraphed it is possible to evade them by running out of the way (generally in a slightly eccentric circle counterclockwise around him), without getting too far away such that he casts Crushing Prison.

Without any health regen, all his hits added up over time, and I ended up spending 1 GrHP, 8 HP, and 3 LHP’s. Might as well use them if you have them I guess.

This should be the tipping point where the game starts to get a good deal easier. I will need to return to the tower to do some more side-quest stuff, open crates, and activate Five Pages Four Mages.

Zevran Ambush

Got this on the way to Denerim to sell loot and turn in a couple side quests. With Combat Stealth this encounter is very manageable. The one annoyance is that the mage was somehow resistant to Dirty Fighting. That caused a reload, and I really don’t remember that being a thing before. On the next try I instead lobbed a grenade from stealth and then stabbed with Deathroot active.

Denerim

Sold loot and was at 63g 88s 97c, with 42g 18s 70c spent (106g 07s 67c accumulated). Turned in Friend of Red Jenny (+3g), Herbal Magic (+1) and then left for Frostback Mountains.

Careless Accusations

This encounter popped up traveling. With Combat Stealth it is not horrible, you just have to make sure you don’t get stunned.

Frostback Mountains

I snuck past the bounty hunters, because it was late and I wasn’t interested in fighting them. Went to the door and was identified as kinslayer. Then it was time to teach Imiric a lesson. Combat Stealth makes it possible to cheese. Killed the mage first. Then the melees individually.

Was let into Orzammar and stopped for the night.

Plan and Goals

The bare minimum goal is to pick up Key to the City ring for +2 attributes, but I will also try to do Precious Metals. It is nice to be able to pick-pocket Rogek and then persuade for a bigger payout, but I am not sure this will all be successful.

I need to make some coin so I can start on the big ticket purchases. I will probably go for Lifegiver first, since it has large bonuses. I would need to more than double my cash to get Rose’s Thorn this early.

Spellward might not be a horrible choice, but usually can be put off later. Andruil’s will be last.

As for armor, if I was a Warrior I would have Knight Commander’s Plate which works pretty well for most situations, even if it isn’t as good as Evon’s. I might do one or both of Return to Ostagar or Soldier’s Peak before the next treaty quest, not sure. Can get some armor there.

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 16, 2018 0:36:27 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 16, 2018 0:36:27 GMT

** Orzammar **

Didn't do a whole lot yesterday. But did make a little progress in Orzammar.

Talked to some people, robbed some people, started the quest line for Bhelen and Harrowmont. Went to Dust Town, fought the thugs, fought the theif from the Shaperate, and then started Precious Metals. With Stealth 3 and Stealing 1 I was able to steal the 20g from Rogek to make the buy in cheaper.

In the proving area I was able to steal the love letters, then charge the fighter for returning them. Killed the guys with the book from the Shaperate, but then sold it for some more gold. Rounded up nugs, argued for opening a Chantry, talked to my baby-mama, and to Dagna. Acquired Key to the City (+2 attributes, 4% spell resist, oh yeah). Went outside and killed the Blackstone deserters.

On the way to Lake Callenhad, had the "Have You Seen Me" encounter. Needed a health pot and DRE to beat the abomination. At the lake I killed the deserters there, and turned in the previous quest to the Mage.

In the tower, I talked to Irving on Dagna's behalf, then went to see Godwin. I sold him the lyrium, then black mailed him for a few gold more. There is supposed to be a bug where you can sell the lyrium to a merchant and then also to Godwin, but I have never tried that.

I also fought Sha Ward for "Watchguard of the Reaching." That took a lesser fire resist as well as a health pot. I took more damage from the "friendly" mages than from the demon. They lobbed three damn fireballs a rage demon... no wonder the Circle was overrun, the mages were incompetent.

Level 11 - Mechanical Expertise, +3 Str

At this point I had 137g75s45c, which means I can go back and get Lifegiver.

Roadmap

Ok so here is the talent order so far:

1 - Dual Weapon Training, Dual Weapon Sweep
2 - Flurry
3 - Dual Weapon Finesse
4 - Momentum
5 - Stealth
Joining - Deft Hands
6 - Stealthy Item Use
7 - Duelist / Dueling
Tome - Combat Movement
8 - Coup de Grace
9 - Improved Tools
10 - Combat Stealth
11 - Mechanical Expertise

The plan was to take Master Stealth at 12 and then finish the Deft Hands line at 13, followed by Duelist talents Upset Balance and Keen Defense at 14 and 15 respectively. Not so sure if I will actually do that though.

I'm considering working in Dual Striking and Riposte earlier for an extra stun, but still haven't decided since really it is just the latter I want and it is effectively two talent points. I could buy another Tome of Physical Technique since I have decent money, but that delays either Spellward, magic resist runes or Rose's Thorn by a slight amount.

Whatever the case, I don't think I will be investing in many Dual Weapon tree actives whatseover since I want more "utility," and because dual weapons are usually better auto-attacking than talent spammming, especially on rogue where stamina is more limited than on a warrior.

As far as attributes go, these were all supposed to be dumped in strength post fade, but again I am not sure if I want to put a few more pity points in cunning to boost lockpick / trap scores. The smart move would be to just wait for more + cunning gear but to be honest I am getting a little impatient.

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
N4

Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 16, 2018 23:54:07 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 16, 2018 23:54:07 GMT

** Gearing Up **

Went back to Orzammar and bought Lifegiver. +10 Constitution and +3 Combat Health Regen is a large part of why constitution isn’t worth investing in, even in a solo.

Went to camp to talk to party members and to switch around gear. None of them are particularly well equipped, but they aren’t naked.

I also decided to switch Aodh out for Axameter, complete with the +2 and +1 lightning runes I have. Gear looks like this:

Axameter / Thorn of the Dead Gods (T2)

Helm of Honnleath
Heavy Chainmail Gloves (T2)
Superior Dwarven Guard Armor (T2)
Ancient Elven Boots

Apprentice Amulet
Key to the City
Lifegiver

Denerim

Back Alley Random with Black Vials Revenant

Not much to say about the human targets here. The Revenant took some pots though, specifically a Rock Salve, one GHP, two HP, and 2 LHP’s. Aura of Weakness sucks. I don’t really have any debuffs to lower enemy defense.

The Pearl and Paedan

I like taking him out before starting Trial of Crows just for the interaction. Stealth cheesed to split them up a little. Used some Deathroot Extract.

Market District

Back to the Market where I robbed Ser Nancine, Tilver, and Howe’s silver stash. Started Crows, and bought 25 flasks and 5 distillation agents at the bar. Turned in Untraceable and Notices of Termination.

This gave me enough cash to go back to Camp and buy Spellward. Basically I figured Thorn and Axameter were doing ok damage, and so I could delay Rose’s Thorn a bit more. Also there aren’t really any armors in the stores worth buying yet, and I might be able to just get them from the DLC quests. In any case, 30% spell resist and 10% dodge will be helpful in the meantime.

Dalish Camp and Brecilian Forest

Headed over to buy some supplies, knock out some quests, and pick up a little cunning boost. Solved Cammen’s problem, and bought a couple more deathroots. Crafted some Concentrated Deathroot and then a few more Deathroot Extracts. Had flasks left and burned them on LHP’s so I could do Restocking the Guild.

Went into the forest and waded through the random mooks. Knocked out Sign of Safe Passage. Grabbed the Ironbark, and headed over to the next section where I just stopped by to talk to Danyla.

More mooks going back through the last section, talked to the Oak, then killed the Shade nearby to pick up Dusk Ring, which I will mostly just put on when I need to unlock chests.

Found Degan and looted his supplies, and then took him back to camp. Returned his whatever it was but kept his boots. Talked to Athras and got his pendant (had to put in some party members to keep it from bugging). Returned the Ironbark and just took Varathorn’s Amulet (20% nature resist). Would have probably made more sense to take the armor, whatever. I’m so generous.

Back to Denerim

Desolate Highway

Had enough trap score to see and disarm all the traps. In any case, there are spots at the edge, near large boulders, where you can only fight one or two wolves at a time, which is really the only way to do it if you get this one earlier in the game.

Kadan-Fe Merc Company

Split them up to take them all down. Fought the last three “all at once,” of course I was actually using Combat Stealth when off cooldown so I could stab one at a time in reality. I think I used a Deathroot Extract too.

Denerim

Turned in Sign of Safe Passage and Restocking the Guild.

What Next?

If I was a warrior or a different character who had less money, I might have done the blood mage hideout to get Magister’s Shield. But since I have Spellward now and only mediocre defense rating, I don’t think it will be very helpful. Might just wait till I have near 100% spell resist to laugh at them all.

I don’t want to do Redcliffe until I am past Level 12 and the militia has Scattershot so as to make the nightfall attack easier to win with all militia alive (although still extremely tedious).

Not sure Traps is going to help me there, I tried that my first rogue solo and it didn't work, they seemingly took too long to setup.

And while I was originally not going to help Bhelen, I remembered that you have to if you want to take out the Ambassador now rather than at the end of the game.

Probably will head to either Ostagar or Soldier's Peak for DLC gear and more money.

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
N4

Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 17, 2018 23:59:56 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 17, 2018 23:59:56 GMT

I get paid by the word so here's some more.

** Soldier's Peak **

Decided to just knock this out so I could get Starfang as well as some more armor. Hit Level 12 near the beginning of it.

Level 12 - Device Mastery, Coercion 3, +3 Str (yeah I type these all backwards from how you choose them...)

I almost took Combat Stealth here, but decided to go with the lockpicking score. Not that either even matter. There was still the thought in the back of my mind to just get Upset Balance or even Dual Striking instead but I didn't.

There isn't much to say for here. I had some lesser cold and fire resists so those are helpful. Used the one acid flask I had to nuke the rage demons and arcane horror at the beginning.

The most dangerous part was when I screwed up the dialogue with Sophia and chose to go along with her instead of just killing her then. That meant I fought her with Avernus, who hit me with Fireballs three times in a row. I killed Sophia and then got dropped into the last area with slightly less than 50% health, which was so nice.

My near 50% spell resist paid dividends there though. I was on a lucky streak where I was resisting spells left and right, although the Desire Demon form landed a Cone of Cold and hit me with a couple Winter's Grasps for damage.

Went back and picked up the Warden Commander set and equipped it all. Strange being a rogue in massive armor, but the stat bumps are nice.

Roadside Post-Circle Mage Encounter

This is the one with the three mages and a horde of darkspawn. The mage pupils are suicidal and like to just run off to get themselves killed. The senior mage can probably solo this whole thing by himself, but it is worth taking out the Hurlock Alpha elite.

Orzammar

Told Dagna she was accepted at the Circle, and got the Master Dweomer Rune (+8 spell resist).

Aeducan Thaig

I wanted to kill the Ambassador, so I had to play along with Bhelen. Went to Aeducan Thaig to find Lord Dace, and with Combat Stealth I did enough damage to kill the Emissaries before they came out of Dirty Fighting, more or less. Picked up the bag for Asunder, killed some deepstalkers, and asked Lord Dace for the favor. Went back to Orzammar.

Ambassador

This went down without any real issues. Did abuse the doorway though.

Proving

Still open if you haven't gone to the Carta Hideout.

The only thing worth mentioning is the last fight where Piotin has a full team with him. Used Rock Armor, Conc DR, focused down the DW guy, then the shield guy (his Rally is really annoying), and then killed Piotin while the archer kept hitting me for 1 damage. Piotin does a ton of damage when a hit connects, but strangely doesn't seem to actually really run Indomitable much, since he can be stunned pretty easily.

Shifting Alliances

Went to Tapsters to talk to Dulin and double cross Bhelen. Just mentioning it because screw Bhelen.

At this point I had 42g 75s 75c (310g 93s 45c accumulated) and decided I was going to buy the Tome of Physical Technique from the twitchy merchant and just get Dual Striking so I could have Riposte next level. But right after I bought it I waffled so it is still sitting in inventory.

Denerim

Headed back to Denerim by way of Soldier's Peak so I could pick up Starfang. If I get bored tomorrow I might play around with the numbers to compare Starfang with Veshialle on a strength rogue. I know on Cunning they are very close, but Veshialle is slightly better backstabbing late game. Somewhat related, lot of times people reference dagger-dagger as highest dps on rogue, but it is really dagger-fullsize on a late game cunning rogue. Dex is like 20dps lower before anyone mentions them (that is accounting for difference in attack too), at least for mundane or high armor targets... they do a little more dps to high defense targets.

Trial of Crows

Went to the exchange, the crow allies were wiped out nearly immediately, but with Combat Stealth it is just a question of cheesing them properly. Enemy archers have Scattershot now, which meant trying to fight them with face-tanking wasn't really practical. Hit Level 13 in that fight.

Level 13 - Master Stealth, +3 Str

Again, I was about to just burn the tome and take the two points needed for Riposte, but I have been getting away with just Dirty Fighting and poisons well enough so far. I might just burn it on Upset Balance so I can get Keen Defense at 15 (will probably take Mark of Death at 14). Of course I do want to knock out Redcliffe soon and the second stun would be helpful against the undead if I want to keep the militia alive (I usually do sadly).

Last Edit: Aug 25, 2018 1:18:36 GMT by capn233

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
N4

Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 20, 2018 1:22:28 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 20, 2018 1:22:28 GMT

Denerim

Turned in Crows, got the Red Jenny Seekers (+15% crit dmg) although I didn't equip them for some reason. Also turned in Deserter's to the Blackstone Irregulars. I decided to burn some cash on an Expert Paralysis rune (5%) from Wonders, and then bought the GM Dweomer (+10% spell resist) from Cesar since his special stock was available. I didn't bother to buy the GM Paralysis because it costs four times as much as the Expert for another 5% chance at paralysis. In any case this was supposed to help me with Attack at Nightfall since I decided I was in fact going to Redcliffe next.

** Redcliffe **

Traveled to Redcliffe, put Alistair in my party just to get the dialogue as you arrive and fortunately didn't get a random encounter on the way. Added Wynne and Leliana just to get some approval for them running around town.

Agreed to help with the undead, turned in the box to Jetta, gave a notice of death, and then agreed to find the lost little kid. Talked to Murdock, then got Owen and Dwyn to help out. Became the proud new owner of the tavern, got the militia some ale, hit on Bella, and then intimidated Berwick into fighting. Took care of the holy protection for Ser Perth, decided the oil was a bad idea, and then it was time to wait for nightfall after removing everyone from the party.

Attack at Nightfall

This is where I realized I forgot to actually put the paralysis run into my weapons, and that I should have bought a swift salve and perhaps more grenades. Friday night margaritas strike. Ah well. Time to keep all these mediocre NPCs alive.

The first section isn't too bad since you have the knights, Dwyn and thugs, and Berwick. They aren't incompetent, unless you use the oil, and so do a decent job here.

The fight in front of the Chantry with the militia is another matter. The good news was that since I waited until after Level 12, the militia had Scattershot which helps immensely. Other than that, what you basically have to do is try to CC any undead that are attacking militia members with low health. Helps to pause a lot. The damn undead like to run around and sometimes target switch.

As you arrive down the hill, there is some luck involved as to how much damage various militiamen have taken due to when they might have used Scattershot, how many undead attacked the same target, where the two yellow LT undead are, etc.

In any case, it took me a fair number of attempts. You can quick save running down the hill, which helps. I had to keep Concentrated Deathroot active nearly the whole time since I only had Dirty Fighting as a stun. As I mentioned earlier, my job wasn't so much to kill the undead, as to try and stun and weaken those that got into melee range with militia, prioritizing ones attacking militia who were already wounded.

Of course the question is whether or not this is worth it. You get Helm of the Red for your efforts, but on the other hand if Owen upgraded their gear dead militia drop somewhat valuable loot that will make you a fair amount of money if you let them all get killed.

Aftermath

Dawn arrived and everyone was still standing, yey! Wait a second, I forgot to go get the little kid... whoops. Hopefully he and his sister didn't get killed (I'm sure they did).

Anyway, went to Camp and put the runes I bought into Starfang, used the Tome I was lugging around for Upset Balance, and then returned to Redcliffe.

Redcliffe Castle

Before getting too much into the mission, since my strength is somewhat decent now, I went to my second weapon set and switched it out for... Yusaris! One of the amusing things you can do with a strength rogue is attack with a 2H out of stealth for the automatic crit. Hit a couple around 92 with it (Starfang 1H was more like in the 60's). I would switch immediately back to dual after that crit though. Really didn't make the fights any faster, but it was sort of funny.

There are just a couple spots here that are worth mentioning.

Mabari

Probably the biggest PITA here really. Have to abuse Stealth, and make sure to kill the white tier ones first one by one. Otherwise grenades or a lot of potion drinking are going to be required.

Courtyard

With Stealth this isn't a big deal. You can kill half the undead without aggroing the Revenant, which means you don't get Pulled for damage over and over.

Teagan

Go in and out of Stealth and make sure not to take a Shield Pummel

Suits of Armor

The problem with this one if you try to do it "straight up" is the 6 overlapping Rallies + War Cry, which is pretty substantial. You can fight them one at a time in a corner, and they aren't too bad that way. Each subsequent one is easier to kill than the last as you remove a Rally from the field.

Level 14 - Assassin, Mark of Death; +3 Str.

Fade

I just solve this with the happy resolution most of the time. Went to Denerim first to sell loot, then swung by the Circle Tower. Took Alistair, Morrigan and Leliana back to the castle and then thought "I guess I will take Morrigan since she has Cone of Cold and Walking Bomb." Was breezing through the Fade when I realized "hey, she is going to screw up my contribution to party damage." So I reloaded and took Jowan instead.

Jowan isn't horrible though, he has ok powers. Just crap gear and no potions. It really only matters in the final fight, where you have to be somewhat careful.

Mission Accomplished

Back in Redcliffe, turned in Skin Deep, talked to Owen so I could get Shielded Dwarven Armor (+4 spell resist for an antimagic setup), and then headed off to Bann Loren's lands to knock out RtO.

** Return to Ostagar **

Although it is optional I fought Bann Loren's men. Need to abuse stealth, and stunning poisons help a lot.

In Ostagar proper, it was more of the same. Stealth and stab, use poison when needed. Mages were priority targets.

Really the most annoying part to me is the underground section with the spiders. I chewed (I guess) Lifestones for nature resist, and tried to break them up in groups. These spiders will overwhelm at relatively high target health, but Lifegiver and halfway decent armor means that isn't too horrible.

For the final fight, as soon as it started I just retreated slightly to move the Ogre back towards the entrance. Used Dirty Fighting to stun, then stabbed. Popped a Concentrated Deathroot before he was awake and basically kept him locked down until he was dead. Then just activated Stealth and walked up to the mage and stabbed it to death. The end, didn't have to fight any adds.

Loot

Cailan's Gauntlets are like the armored version of Red Jenny Seekers with +15% crit damage. His boots have absurd 20% dodge, which I was tempted to equip. I ended up putting the set on Alistair though.

Duncan's Dagger dropped as a Tier 5. Ever since Lothering I have been running the Tier 2 Thorn of the Dead Gods as my off-hand dagger, and finally I have something that can probably compete.

After putting Cailan on the pyre, I went to Denerim to sell off loot. Had 151g 29s 18c so could afford Rose's Thorn. Now the real question.... is it worth it?

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
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Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 20, 2018 2:31:24 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 20, 2018 2:31:24 GMT

Level 14 Rogue Damage Calculations

Before the old forums went defunct, dainbramage posted his damage spreadsheet and I modified it for this character just for the hell of it. So thanks to him.

Dagger - Sword

The question of "what is the best weapon for this" was always an interesting one in this game, and for the most part the real answer was "it depends" on what character it was going on, what enemy are you fighting, and importantly what stage of the game are you at. For instance, Starfang (2h) is largely better than CGM for most of the game, and retains an advantage against high defense targets even into the late teens.

One of the big exceptions is daggers. The question at the end of the previous post was facetious. Rose's Thorn is the best dagger in DAO by a fairly wide margin. At least if you can crit or backstab. Now whether or not it is really worth it to me to buy now has nothing to do with damage and more to do with whether or not I should focus on putting together a near total spell immunity gear set for the end of the Dalish and Urn quests.

Some other things to keep in mind. Enchantments on one weapon work for both when dual wielding. That makes +damage enchantments pretty powerful. The other thing is that damage rolls are somewhat randomized, which is why you see different numbers floating around for each attack. Also, on Hard and Nightmare enemies have base elemental resist, which is why elemental damage runes don't quite do listed damage.

In any case here are the daggers I have available to pair with Starfang (1h):

Thorn of the Dead Gods (T2)

Damage - 4.4

Crit Chance - 3.3%

AP - 4.6

Enchant - +2 Damage, +2 AP

Duncan's Dagger (T5)

Damage - 5.6
Crit Chance - 4.2%
AP - 6.4
Enchant - +4 dex, +10% crit dmg

Crow Dagger (T3)

Damage - 4.8
Crit Chance - 3.6%
AP - 5.2
Enchant - +15% crit dmg

The Edge (T6)

Damage - 6
Crit Chance - 4.5%
AP - 7
Enchant - +5 damage(!), +3% crit chance, +4 attack

*using this one is against the rules for this solo since it was starting DLC equipment, here for illustration

The Rose's Thorn (T7)

Damage - 6.4
Crit Chance - 4.8%
AP - 8
Enchant - +2 dex, +3 damage, +5% crit chance, +30% crit dmg (!!!)

*haven't bought yet, but will eventually

Level 14 Rogue

Str 47

Dex 32

Cun 22

Helm of Honnleath (+2 stats)

Warden Commander's Armor (+15% crit dmg)

Red Jenny Seekers (+15% crit dmg)

Key to the City (+2 stats)

Duelist (+10 attack, +2 dex, +1 dmg)

Assassin (+2 dex, +2.5% crit chance)

Tainted Blade

No runes

Ok so hopefully I typed all the crap into the formulas correctly... fixed

Starfang – Thorn of the Dead Gods (T2)

Frontal DPS – 50.54
vs 30 armor – 33.50
vs 100 defense – 28.30

Backstab DPS – 71.18
vs 30 armor – 54.14
vs 100 defense – 54.10

Attack 102

Starfang - Rose's Thorn

Frontal DPS – 56.17
vs 30 armor – 38.78
vs 100 defense – 32.02

Backstab DPS – 84.38
vs 30 armor – 66.98
vs 100 defense – 64.97

Attack 103

Pretty dramatic boost to backstab / crit damage with the best dagger in the game. The frontal DPS change is a little more modest, but it is still better.

Starfang – Duncan's Dagger (T5)

Frontal DPS – 49.88
vs 30 armor – 31.53
vs 100 defense – 28.93

Backstab DPS – 74.04
vs 30 armor – 55.69
vs 100 defense – 57.75

Attack 104

And now you can see just how powerful the little +2 dmg enchantment on the tier 2 TotDG bought in Lothering really is. The frontal DPS of Duncan's T5 is actually lower against mundane and high armor enemies due to TotDG boosting the damage and AP of Starfang.

Duncan's is better for backstab, and with damage runes it should pull ahead of TotDG, but I have gotten my money's worth out of that 2 gold dagger.

Starfang – Crow (T3)

Frontal DPS – 48.89
vs 30 armor – 29.83
vs 100 defense – 27.38

Backstab DPS – 73.62
vs 30 armor – 54.56
vs 100 defense – 55.95

Attack 102

To be fair, this is only Tier 3, but on the other hand people tend to overrate the Crow Dagger anyway. It is respectable for crit or backstab damage, but generally the player character has better options, at least if you have DLC.

Starfang – The Edge (T6)

Frontal DPS – 56.21
vs 30 armor – 38.21
vs 100 defense – 33.73

Backstab DPS – 76.89
vs 30 armor – 58.90
vs 100 defense – 61.51

Attack 106

Dun dun dun.... The Edge actually edges out Rose's Thorn for frontal dps on mundane and high defense targets because of the +5 dmg enchantment and bonus attack. Also damn close for frontal damage against high armor targets. But it can't keep up on backstabs due to Rose's absurd crit damage bonus.

***

This applies to my current character with Starfang mainhand. It is conceivable that it would shift around with a different mainhand, especially with different enchantments, but this was mostly just an exercise for fun anyway.

But wait a second... maybe I have been doing it wrong all along and should have been running Dagger – Dagger....

Duncan's – TotDG

Frontal DPS – 47.47
vs 30 armor – 25.02
vs 100 defense – 26.82

Backstab DPS – 69.41
vs 30 armor – 46.96
vs 100 defense – 53.10

Attack 102.5

Rose's Thorn – Duncan's

Frontal DPS – 53.74
vs 30 armor – 30.87
vs 100 defense – 30.90

Backstab DPS – 83.57
vs 30 armor – 60.69
vs 100 defense – 64.76

Attack 103.5

This is just an illustration, the top with daggers I actually have, and the bottom with the two that should be more or less the best. You can see that basically dagger - dagger is a little worse on auto-attack, nevermind the Dual Weapon Sweep. It is close though, partly because I still only have a relatively modest split between dex and str. Rose's and Duncan's is a little better for backstabs and crits than some of the above Sword-Dagger setups (due to very large crit damage bonus), but importantly not better than Starfang - Rose's overall. The disparity will grow as I continue to invest in Str. This is not unlike a min-maxed Cunning rogue who will eventually do more damage with Dagger-Axe/Sword than Dagger-Dagger.

Last Edit: Aug 28, 2018 1:32:21 GMT by capn233

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
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Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 25, 2018 1:17:50 GMT Element Zero likes this

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Post by capn233 on Aug 25, 2018 1:17:50 GMT

Back to regularly scheduled blogging…

*** Spell Resist ***

Denerim

Took care of Alistair’s Family quest, then decided to go for max spell resist instead of Rose’s Thorn immediately. Generally a rogue spell resist setup looks something like this:

Shielded Dwarven Armor – 4%
Ancient Elven Gloves – 4%
Antivan Leather Boots – 4%
Spellward – 30%
Key to the City – 4%
Boatload of Dweomer Runes – 10, 8, 8, 8, 6, 4

Headed over to Wonders and bought the Master Dweomer (+8%), and then talked to Weylon to start on the Urn quest in order to get the above gloves and boots (in the Temple and Haven respectively).

Lake Callenhad

En route got The Low Road (not to be confused with Low Road) encounter (some blight wolves and a berserkarn). Took care of Skinny Frank (False Witness), hit the Dead Drop, then talked to the innkeeper. Killed the Cultists, one of whom was kind enough to drop a Paralysis rune.

Circle Tower

Bought some lyrium dust to take care of Gift of Silence, as well as an Expert Dweomer rune. Then I went up through the tower to kill the Black Vials revenant, unlock some chests (up to 50xp variants… there is only one 60 in the tower), and enable the Five Pages Four Mages quest.

Level 15 – Keen Defense, +3 Str

On the way out I finally took care of Summoning Sciences.

Haven

Basically rolled through town where I grabbed the Antivan Boots from the chest in the store, then through the Temple far enough to pick up the Ancient Elven Gloves. Not much to say here, the most annoying encounter with this quest line is a ways further.

Denerim

Went back to Denerim by way of Soldier’s Peak, where I “upgraded” a Crow Dagger to a three rune version to be used as off-hand in the spell resist setup. I went with Axameter for the main-hand in this set, even though it is only T6 with two rune slots. I didn’t have quite enough runes at the time to get to 100% anyway, and it was the highest damage full size I had other than Starfang.

Gorim paid me for the junk I collected, and I turned in the Forgotten Verses. At that point I had 193g 01s 05c (521g 30s 55c total accumulated), so Rose’s Thorn wasn’t delayed all that long. Figured I would try to knock out a few things on the way to Orzammar.

Gift of Silence

Five Pages Four Mages

This random encounter is pretty irritating if you get it right after Broken Circle as a melee character, which is why I do the lame thing and purposely leave it unactivated. With high enough Stealth it is funny though. You just hit Stealth and go stab the mage on the hill. After that it is mundane stabbing.

Hillside Path (Wynne Encounter 1)

I knock out the companion story stuff, even though you have to bring them and leave them held somewhere. This one is a pain to keep her from taking any damage, you have to back her up and hope that the arrows hit you, and you are quick enough to stun / sweep the units going after Wynne to aggro them before they hit her. This will probably involve some potion drinking because the initial portion nearly requires you to stay in the middle taking pot shots on purpose.

If you don’t care if Wynne takes a shot or two, it is cheaper.

Orzammar

Talked to Rogek (Precious Metals) and intimidated him for a little extra gold. Then I bought The Rose’s Thorn. Once I get around to it, might run the numbers on Starfang vs Veshialle paired with Rose’s Thorn for this character near my level, but I don’t really plan to spend the money on Veshialle until I buy most everything else anyway.

Since I was planning to finish off the Dalish / Werewolf questline, I decided to drop in and buy the blueprints for the Large Claw Trap and Large Shrapnel Trap. Of course you probably are thinking “didn’t you only have basic trap-making?” Yes, so I couldn’t build either of those yet, but that was soon to be remedied.

Did some more running around, knocking out companion and other mundane tasks.

Low Road (Wynne Encounter 2)

This is the one where she summons the spirit.

It isn’t a whole lot different from the previous one, except that there is a boss Hurlock Omega mage instead of the Hurlock Alpha, so I ran my spell resist setup (which was a total of 92% at that point) and tank some magic. The Omega likes to throw Fireballs, which clears out some of the riff-raff.

Unintended Consequences

Stealthed, killed the mage form first, then just focused down the main Trickster Whim.

Bounty Hunters (Frostback Mountains)

Finally took care of these guys, it cost a Concentrated Deathroot.

Sten’s Sword

Talked to Faryn about Sten’s sword, then headed to Redcliffe where Dwyn was nice enough to hand it over. Dropped into Owen’s shop to buy the Grandmaster Hale Rune (+25 Phys Resist) and Boots of Diligence (good armor rating, lower fatigue than Warden Commander).

Now in retrospect it might have been a slight waste of gold to buy those boots since I lost the stamina bonus from WC boots, and really it would make the most sense to run Cailan’s for the huge 20% dodge. At least I wasn’t losing the set bonus since I already lost it when I equipped Red Jenny Seekers… which amusingly is another piece I could have replaced with Cailan’s instead.

I got the Gentle Path encounter en route to Redcliffe and bought the Tome of Skill and Sundry as well as Blue Satin Shoes. Used the tome for Improved Trap-making, and the shoes for improved love-making. In camp I bought the GM Lightning rune and replaced one of the +2’s in Starfang. Made sure in my travels to pick up some metal and triggers to make a few traps.

Brothers and Sons

Stabbed all the things.

Refugees

This is an irritating solo mission. Need to run spell resist, so armor rating and damage is lower, and you have to make sure the Emissary doesn’t drop a fireball on you while you are near the refugees… at least if you are interested in saving any of them.

If I had some Nature Resist potions, that would have been the time to use them since the Emissary will take pot shots basically the whole time, and that staff damage adds up. But once I cleared out the riff-raff, I stabbed him with some Concentrated Deathroot. Ended up saving a whole 1 refugee.

Caravan Down

Running spell resist gear still, went in with Stealth and killed the first Emissary, then the second. After that it was stealth again where I could switch back to higher armor and damage. Used a Deathroot on the yellow genlock.

Brecilian Forest

River Crossing

This one always pops up, but it could be worse (SnS and DW Warrior have a harder time with this one). Hit stealth, killed an archer, then LOS’d the other two by going behind a tree where I was able to deal with the melee guys. Then it was stab time for the other archers.

Forest

Waded through some mooks to the East where I planned to start up the Mage’s Treasure quest by pissing off the first Revenant. Hit level 16 before getting to that gravestone.

Level 16 – Pinpoint Strike, +3 Str

E Brecilian Revenant (N Gravestone)

This was pretty straightforward at this level. I hit the tombstone, then used a pillar to prevent the Revenant’s pull from launching me across the map. I then focused down the skeleton’s first, and engaged the Revenant last. Stealth mixed in when off cooldown, was able to make some decent use out of Pinpoint Strike here. Upset Balance reduced the Revenant’s defense.

Of note is that these Revenants are weak to electric damage, which is why I bothered to buy the GM Lightning rune earlier.

Mad Hermit

Headed down the path to the Hermit, where I traded the book I got from Cammen to him for the acorn. I forgot what I did with Athras’s Pendant, and Deygan’s Boots were on Zevran, so that was the only trade I could make. Decided to go ahead and rummage in the stump to piss him off and force a confrontation.

The fight was mildly annoying though, and might have been less so if I bothered to activate some fire resist. Was running spell resist set, but still was hit with a few things. I focused the Greater Rage demons first, then took care of the Hermit.

E Brecilian Revenant (S Gravestone)

This one went pretty much like the previous one, except the skeleton mooks seem weaker. And Upset Balance was sadly resisted.

Ruins

The sections with Poisonous Spiders are somewhat annoying, I did use a lesser nature resist. With high armor rating they don’t do much damage, even if you catch a web. I bought the GM Hale rune in part for fighting them since it reduces the length of time in Web (and similarly reduces the length of other effects like Shattering Shot). It was installed in Rose’s Thorn with the two paralysis runes.

Dragon

This not-so-high-dragon is actually easily cheesed, but I fought it straight up. It can be stunned and paralyzed so it is possible to keep it locked down for most of your stabs.

There is a lot of loot in this section, so I took the time to leave the ruins so I could clear inventory for later. That traveling wasn’t very interesting.

Arcane Horror

This is really the only other thing worth mentioning in the ruins section. Since it teleports around, the best thing to do is just range it down with a bow, at least in solo. Falon’Din’s Reach is handy for that.

I did try see if I could lure it up the steps so I could stab it, and managed to do it once… but I couldn’t figure out why that worked and couldn’t repeat it.

Lair of the Werewolves

Shadows and Overwhelm

Since Shadow wolves are annoying, I like to have some fun with traps here. I set 5 large shrapnel, 5 large claw, and a shock trap near the first door. Opened it up and then backed away. The result is here.

There are a few more after that, and if you proceed slowly you shouldn’t aggro them all at once in which case it is relatively easy since you should be able to survive an Overwhelm. I managed to get a Dirty Fighting in on the first one so I stabbed it to death, but I messed up my pacing and just barely survived the second’s overwhelm since I aggrod a few regular ones too. Hit Stealth than an HP, and it was back to stabbing.

Zathrien

I usually end up fighting him.

This fight is not particularly hard with high spell resist, and really isn’t very notable if you have that as well as Stealth. I didn’t bother to kill any enemies except for Zathrien. Concentrated Deathroot and Parlysis runes almost made the spell resist superfluous.

Revenants

There are a couple more Black Vials Revenants in the ruins and the Lair but they just die to stabs. They go a little faster if Upset Balance actually works, but it was resisted by both of them IIRC.

Dark Forest

Heading back to the Dalish Camp I picked this up. It is the encounter with a zillion spiders, but with decent armor and physical resist it isn’t bad.

Dalish Camp

Level 17 – Dual Weapon Expert, +3 Str

I have a fix for DWE, so that is why it is worth taking. I almost went for the next Assassin skill, but I will get that next most likely.

Bought another backpack, then another Tome of Skill and Sundry. Used it for Poison 3.

Forest Stream (Leliana’s Encounter)

Leliana had Combat Stealth now (really should have just bee-lined to it for her since she doesn’t do anything else anyway), so I took her with me to trigger this.

I decided to just make it quick, so after we both stealthed, I just walked up to the leader and stabbed him until he gave up.

After that I turned in Son’s and Brothers in Redcliffe.

Denerim

Sold off more loot. 156g 14s 90c (699g 98s 30c accumulated). I decided against doing the Marjolaine encounter, but talked to Leliana by accident and for some reason she wasn’t too happy I spent the night with Morrigan. She was of course mistaken since I actually spent many nights with Morrigan.

Rocky Road

Post Dalish encounter. Actually had to use an HP since I was tanking like all the arrows in order to save the Dalish. Managed to keep a whole two alive.

Circle Tower

Bought Andruil’s Blessing. Now I had enough cunning w/ Dusk Ring to unlock any crate.

Forest Again

Took care of the maleficar for Thy Brother’s Killer, had to wade through a zillion bandits since I killed the Hermit, and then finished Wynne’s Regret.

***

Build Order Recap

1 - Dual Weapon Training, Dual Weapon Sweep
2 - Flurry
3 - Dual Weapon Finesse
4 - Momentum
5 - Stealth
Joining - Deft Hands
6 - Stealthy Item Use
7 - Duelist / Dueling
Tome - Combat Movement
8 - Coup de Grace
9 - Improved Tools
10 - Combat Stealth
11 - Mechanical Expertise
12 – Device Mastery
13 – Master Stealth
Tome – Upset Balance
14 – Assassin / Mark of Death
15 – Keen Defense
16 – Pinpoint Strike
17 – Dual Weapon Expert

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
N4

Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 28, 2018 2:31:25 GMT

Quote

Post by capn233 on Aug 28, 2018 2:31:25 GMT

*** More Theorycrafting ***

“Ok so hopefully I typed all the crap into the formulas correctly...”

I was starting to calculate the difference between Starfang, Veshialle and some other miscellaneous full-size weapons when I noticed I did not in fact type all the crap in correctly for the Level 14 comparisons. Actually I misremembered the format of the formula on the sheet, so attributes were listed as in game instead of with 10 subtracted. Mostly what that did was inflate the DPS for each setup, but I have gone back and fixed it.

Decided to compare at Level 19, which is a couple levels in the future. Will pick up Exploit Weakness and Lacerate, and keep pumping Str. Gear will be a little different.

Level 19 Dwarf Rogue

Str 70

Dex 50

Cun 28

Helm of Honnleath (+2 stats)

Warden Commander Armor (+15% backstab / crit dmg)

Red Jenny Seekers (+15% backstab / crit dmg)

Andruil's Blessing (+2 stats)

Key to the City (+2 stats)

Harvest Festival Ring (+2 str, +2 dex, +4 attack)

Starfang - Rose's Thorn

Frontal DPS - 70.68

vs 30 armor - 53.62

vs 100 defense - 52.45

Backstab DPS - 112.56

vs 30 armor - 95.50

vs 100 defense - 104.81

What I am running now. Get some extra damage out DWE, Exploit Weakness, and Lacerate. Did not have any of those skills at Level 14. Cunning rogue would have a sizeable dps advantage here, even without taking Bard for SOC.

Veshialle - Rose's Thorn

Frontal DPS - 69.76
vs 30 armor - 49.61
vs 100 defense - 51.46

Backstab DPS - 113.58
vs 30 armor - 93.43
vs 100 defense - 105.25

As expected, these two are very close. Veshialle is a little better at backstabs, while Starfang is better at frontal damage and against armor in general.

Biteback - Rose's Thorn

Frontal DPS - 64.21
vs 30 armor - 45.54
vs 100 defense - 46.86

Backstab DPS - 109.26
vs 30 armor - 90.60
vs 100 defense - 100.27

Biteback's only a Tier 6 so it can't keep up with the above. Too bad you get it at the end of the game.

Axameter - Rose's Thorn

Frontal DPS - 67.51
vs 30 armor - 47.06
vs 100 defense - 49.21

Backstab DPS - 111.00
vs 30 armor - 90.54
vs 100 defense - 101.83

Another T6 axe, but this one is theoretically available much earlier, although the encounter has a very low chance of triggering in the base game. Axameter has better enchantments than Biteback, with a +2 damage and the same critical damage bonus.

Blightblood - Rose's Thorn

Frontal DPS - 67.99
vs 30 armor - 47.83
vs 100 defense - 50.81

Backstab DPS - 110.97
vs 30 armor - 90.81
vs 100 defense - 103.86

I did this one mostly because it was on the sheet already. Not too bad considering it is available in Korcari. I won't be equipping it though.

Rose's Thorn - Duncan's (T5)

Frontal DPS - 68.34
vs 30 armor - 45.88
vs 100 defense - 51.08

Backstab DPS - 109.24
vs 30 armor - 86.77
vs 100 defense - 102.13

For fun, dagger-dagger.

Felon's Coat vs Warden Commander

Let's take a look at the top two setups above with the chest switched out for Felon's coat:

Starfang - Rose's Thorn (Felon's)

Frontal DPS - 70.42
vs 30 armor - 53.363
vs 100 defense - 54.24

Backstab DPS - 107.86
vs 30 armor - 90.80
vs 100 defense - 103.40

Veshialle - Rose's Thorn (Felon's)

Frontal DPS - 69.35
vs 30 armor - 49.20
vs 100 defense - 53.11

Backstab DPS - 109.05
vs 30 armor - 88.90
vs 100 defense - 104.05

Turns out 15% backstab / crit damage is better than 6 dex. So amusingly, if not ironically, the heavier armor piece is better offensively, while the light piece is arguably better defensively.

***

I did the above without damage runes again. Throwing in six +5 elemental runes would up the dps by about 18. That means this character could do around 130 dps backstabbing. Not setting any world records.

Cunning rogue with similar equipment will be doing a lot more dps. Dex dagger-dagger with similar equipment and build will be doing similar dps.

Anyway, might buy Veshialle when I get the money and use it for the alternate weapon set (magic resist) and keep Starfang - Rose's as the main set. Probably won't bother to buy Felon's coat just because I have Warden's (and actually I just upgraded it to T7). I am slightly tempted to buy Evon the Great's mail for when I want max defense, but fully decided on that.

Last Edit: Aug 28, 2018 2:32:03 GMT by capn233

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
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Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Aug 28, 2018 2:55:21 GMT

Quote

Post by capn233 on Aug 28, 2018 2:55:21 GMT

*** More Side Quests ***

Ok back down to Level 17.

Denerim

Grease the Wheels

Visited as many hooded couriers as I could at this point.

Last Request

With a high level rogue with high level spell resist and ability to see all the traps, this mission isn't really that bad. I decided I would do the three mage room without pulling, which ended up costing me a HP, LHP, and a Deathroot Extract.

The final room went quickly enough with a Concentrated Deathroot Extract. Stealthed, targeted the lower tier support mage first, and stealthed again. Targeted the mage boss, and then took out the melee's.

Dead Drops

Armed the last trap, turned it in, and activated New Ground

False Witnesses

Killed the last witness and turned it in.

Unbound

I was thinking "gee, I have 100% spell resist, so I should just kill Gaxkang and use Keening Blade for my spell resist setup." Went to camp and put all my dweomer runes in Rose's Thorn and Starfang for more DPS. Then I headed back into Denerim towards the hovel.

First up I got an ambush from the New Ground quest. Dealt with that, and headed onward.

Although Gaxkang couldn't hit me with any spells, the Revenant form certainly could hit me with a sword and the spell resist set doesn't have that great an armor rating. I was not going to switch sets back and forth in the fight. I think I used a health pot and a lesser pot.

So then I get Keening Blade and of course it says "Restriction: Warrior," which I had forgotten for some reason. Oh well.

Soldier's Peak

Headed over and decided to exploit Michael to upgrade the Warden Commander chest and Duncan's Sword to dragonbone. That ended up costing about 25g.

To Do List

Was busy with family stuff over the weekend so I didn't play much. But I will get back to it this week.

I need to finish the Urn quest. Will do that next. Generally I run through that and get the drake scales, then head to Wade to get him started, and return for the Dragon. Then I will take care of Flemmeth. After that it is off to Orzammar.

Talent wise I already mentioned that I will pick up Exploit Weakness and Lacerate for the next two levels. There isn't a whole lot left worth getting after that, but I may head for Lethality just for the critical chance increase. Attributes have been all strength for a while, and that will continue.

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
N4

Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 1,708 Likes: 2,711

Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Sept 5, 2018 1:14:18 GMT

Quote

Post by capn233 on Sept 5, 2018 1:14:18 GMT

Urn of Sacred Ashes

For the most part will stick to highlights from here on out.

Drakes

For the three drake room, I put down 5 large shrapnel traps since I had them left over in inventory. Activated the drakes, and when they set off the traps one was killed outright, one was damaged fairly substantially, and one somehow managed to avoid nearly all the damage. Went near the cage close to the entrance where you can fight one at a time. The remaining two died fairly quickly to stabs.

The room with the AW where you fight two drakes went fairly unremarkably since you can split them. The last room with a drake was likewise split up with stealth.

Level 18 – Exploit Weakness, Master Poison, +3 Str

Kolgrim

I considered fighting him on the mountaintop, but ended up just forcing the fight in the first encounter. Spell resist setup initially to kill the two mages, then melee lackeys, then Kolgrim. Used stunning poison of course, switched armor after mages were dead.

Denerim, Camp

Went back to Denerim to sell loot, give Wade scales and 10g for drake armor, bought Evon’s just because I thought I might use it, and then killed Marjolaine. Got my reward from Genitivi.

Switched Axameter for Duncan’s Sword and runed it up. Dweomer runes were thus 10, 8, 8, 8, 8, 6 for the two weapons, which meant I could drop Shielded Dwarven Armor from the spell resist setup, retaining WC chest for both.

Traveled around to buy ingredients and recipes (Swift Salve, Fleshrot) as well as the GM Paralyze rune. Went through the Twisted Path encounter (incompetent bandits – killed them all).

Dragon Hunting

First order of business was to put all the paralyze runes into Starfang (mainhand) because Combat Movement makes the flanking angle so wide off-hand runes were going to be nearly useless.

High Dragon

I wanted to do this without any health pots, but that ended up not being in the cards. Used Swift Salve x 4, Greater Warm resist, HP x 2, and Acid Coating x 2 (for the hell of it). I didn’t micro well enough so got too many Fire Spits, and didn’t have much rng luck with the paralyze runes until the very end where I might have actually been able to save an HP. Ah well.

Flemmeth

Flemmeth is a lot easier since she doesn’t hop around. Used two Swift Salves, Soulrot, Concentrated Deathroot, and Lesser Warm resist.

Throne Room Dragon

On the way to Orz, got the Forest Clearing encounter (werewolves). This dragon can’t resist stun, so it was toast.

Carta

I thought about trying to compare my WC/backstab damage armor set with a high dodge set (basically Cailan’s boots and Evon’s) to see if I could notice a difference in durability, but it felt like I was practically invincible in my backstab set so I didn’t bother to redo it. Armor rating was 38, Defense 104, Attack 120 with backstab set.

I have the DWE fix, so most of the rogues throughout would put their DOT on me, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Jarvia

Used two Concentrated Deathroots for this encounter, and that was it. Stealth helps, but stunning is even better.

Level 19 – Lacerate, +3 Str

Paragon of Her Kind

Caradin’s Cross

The most notable thing here was that I started to wonder what was going on with enemy damage since health was dropping somewhat noticeably here, although I didn’t need to use health pots even against the Black Vials Revenant. The Ogre Alpha can be stunned so he wasn’t a threat. Anyway figured out the health thing a bit later…

Ortan Thaig

Managed to get killed at the second Emissary with spiders before the queen after I was chain overwhelmed. Also happened to notice at this point that I was running Dusk Ring instead of Lifegiver, since I equipped it for lockpicking. Woops.

Spider Queen

If you aren’t aware, there is an issue with DOT in this game where applying a new DOT before an old one expires will cause the total damage to scale higher than it is supposed to. This is very beneficial to mage wardens, but it works both ways. The Corrupted Spider Queen is the enemy who abuses it the most with her poison spit though. Thus you either have to LOS her or keep her in melee range (which isn’t always practical).

Anyway I did it with Swift Salve x 2, Soulrot, Concentrated Deathroot, Greater Nature Resist and an Acid Flask.

May have been forgotten, but I had the GM Hale rune in one of my rune slots, so that reduces the likelihood that webs by mook spiders will be applied, and if they are reduces the time in the web (similarly, high physical resist reduces length of sunders).

Level 20 – Below the Belt, Survival 2, +3 Str

The point of investing here was to get to Lethality for the 10% critical chance bonus.

Broodmother

Swift Salve, Dealthroot (for mooks mostly), Lesser Nature resist, Acidic Coating. Dodge the slaps, stab.

Anvil of the Void

I forgot that in the second wave of Darkspawn while Branka is pontificating that there is an Emissary, so I caught a Crushing Prison. Amusingly I didn’t die because I was behind a rock and the other units didn’t hit me, so I was able to stealth and use a LHP with a sliver of health.

Branka

Like I said a million times, one of the most irritating things about soloing this fight is keeping Ogren from taking any damage since he is mandatory. Mostly when Branka decides to split. Grenades and lucky positioning help.

The way I do it is generally like this:

I ran Ogren towards the Anvil at the start, then used Dirty Fighting to stop Branka from running after him. Mark of Death on the nearest yellow tier Golem, then attempted to kill all the Golems. Branka attacked me after becoming un-stunned, so the idea was to periodically stun her, while focusing on Golems.

She has a lot of bs abilities, one of which I guess is more or less like Aura of Pain. I ended up needing a HP right before the last Golem was killed due to earlier Hurl and her aura or whatever it is. Threw a grenade on the clump of Brankas and then attempted to hit them while running Ogren around so he wouldn’t get hit.

Total spent was a HP, two Swift Salves, Fleshrot, Deathroot and an Acid Flash.

Back to the Assembly

Killed Bhelen. Turned in Dead Caste, Shaper’s Life, Lost to the Memories, Golem Registry.

Shale

Went to Denerim to sell loot, and picked up Winding Road on the way. Had 306g 38s 29c (1139g 69s 59c accumulated) after selling.

Then it was back to the Deep Roads to knock out Shale’s quest, mostly so I could get the Stompers. The Ogre Alpha at the end took two Swift Salves and two Concentrated Deathroots.

Switched out Boots of Diligence for Cadash Stompers, since they have offensive bonuses despite offering a little less defense.

Went back to camp and ended up buying Veshialle. Replaced Duncan’s Sword with it in my spell resist weapon set. I’ll probably leave it that way since they are so close and Starfang is largely better against higher tier units.

Prep for Landsmeet

Decided to finally turn in the Ashes.

Level 21 – Deadly Strike, Survival 3, +3 Str

Survival 3 was from the Skill point granted when the Arl is cured. Wish I got a talent point like a Warrior. I had been leveling Survival just for the trivial nature resist.

Like Below the Belt, this was just taken to get to Lethality. Neither is on my bar since neither is worth the stamina really.

Got the Roadside Field encounter traveling around. Did not start the Landsmeet since I wanted to try to get more ingredients and deal with whatever might be left.

Took care of Proving After Dark in Orzammar, then bought a Tome of the Mortal Ripoff so that I could get one extra strength point that would drastically increase my damage.

Went back to Denerim and finished New Ground, then activated the Landsmeet.

Rescue the Queen

I hadn’t bothered to buy any grenade recipes, nor did I leave Cailan’s armor pieces in inventory (they were put back on Alistair) and I somewhat regretted that here. On the way I got Zevran’s back alley encounter, which isn’t too bad with Stealth and stun poison.

Howe

This encounter usually isn’t too bad, you just need to prioritize the mages. Used a single Concentrated Deathroot.

Cauthrien

What’s nice is that she hits for like 110 damage through your armor, and if she misses too much she activates Perfect Striking.

Anyway, prebuffed with Swift Salve, Incense of Awareness, and Fleshrot. Called Anora a bitch, then immediately ran towards the door and mage. Stabbed the mage a few times and when the nearby mooks started to group, moved towards the vase that was to the right of the door, hit Rock Salve, and lobbed an Acid Flask, Soulrot Bomb and Shock Bomb on the group. The mage was killed and several mooks also died. Unfortunately a few were left and had to be stabbed.

Tried to lock down Cauthrien with Dirty Fighting and this was where I finally regretted not having Riposte. Hoped to do this encounter without any healing pots, but ended up using two HP. After Cauthrien was down, I could use Stealth so the rest wasn’t too bad.

I have done this fight in the room without pots using a couple different characters. I think this guy might have been able to do it with more grenades to kill all the mooks off right away, or maybe with higher percent dodge from DLC win gear, or maybe with Riposte. But as it was I tried it five or six times and didn’t get it without healing pots.

Last Edit: Sept 5, 2018 1:17:05 GMT by capn233

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
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Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Sept 8, 2018 1:15:32 GMT

Quote

Post by capn233 on Sept 8, 2018 1:15:32 GMT

*** Wrapping Up ***

In all honesty I get demotivated after calling the Landsmeet, but I slogged through the rest. It helps that the characters are so powerful this late.

Crime Wave

Stole Loghain's crown. Went into the ambush at the estate. Not much noteworthy here.

Alienage

Tagged the hooded courier and the random conscript on the way in for the Irregulars, then killed any Tevinter I saw. This area was practically unremarkable.

Calandrius

I was hoping he would drop a GM Dweomer, but he didn't. The only point of that would be dropping another 4% resist armor piece so it wasn't a big deal. Anyway with 100% spell resist the only way to die here is to let him shoot you with the staff too much. I do sort of like the dialogue with Calandrius since he sort of over-acts.

Something Wicked

Honestly the boss fight here may be harder than the rest of the stuff in the Alienage, but I had a Greater Warm Balm (or 3 I think).

Tome of Skill and Sundry - Survival 4. Didn't need to but I was rich so I started blowing money on random things.

Level 22 - Lethality, Master Coercion, +3 Str

Turned in some quests

Taoran

For Change in Leadership. Used a DRE and a CDR. Stealth and Stun and Stab.

Ran around a bit after this buying ingredients and more recipes. Also bought another Tome of the Mortal Ripoff for 1 Str.

Landsmeet

If you get this far, Loghain is simple.

Landsmeet - Dual Striking

Crime Wave

Killed everyone, got the Tears.

Somewhere in here I picked up another Paralyze rune. Ended up dropping my GM lightning out of Starfang for it. So in the damage weapon set I had 3 paralyze runes in Rose's and 2 in Starfang along with a GM Hale. I should have looked closely at my physical resist without the GM Hale, but 4 lighting damage a hit isn't a big loss.

Redcliffe

Used stun poisons on things that needed it (Fleshrot for Ogre Alpha). Most mooks are critter tier here so they die to one stab.

Tome of Physical Technique - Riposte

Level 23 - Feast of the Fallen, +3 Str

Unlocked a crate that pushed me to 23.

Battle of Denerim

Market District

Got Riposte right in time. Used it on the white level ogres and saved Dirty Fighting for the yellow. Pulled the ogres one or two at a time. Assassinated the emissary somewhere in there. Used Concentrated Soldier's Bane on the general since he is resistant to stuns (but not paralysis runes...).

Alienage

This part is a lot more annoying to me since you have to wade through so many mooks. Killed the ogre, then the genlock lieutenant while using spell resist set. Then I stabbed the mage general to death. Threw a few Acid Flasks in there. Used stun poison.

Gates

It put Alistair, Ogren, Shale and Morrigan into the controllable team. So just blanked their tactics, set Cautious and Hold. The others took care of the gates with the Dalish army to speed it up. That way nobody was robbing party damage from me.

Palace District

Lot of emissaries here, so had to run spell resist nearly the whole time. It is nice when one will help you out by dropping a Fireball on the darkspawn that are attacking you. I was close to needing to use a poultice near the very last section since I didn't pay enough attention to a genlock LT who hit me with an Arrow of Slaying or two apparently.

Fort Drakon

Steps

This part is generally one of the worst in the endgame sequence potentially, but I had a good run here. First dropped an Acid Flask on the three archers to the left. The Dragon was aggrod, so I hit a fire resist and then stabbed it to death. Stealthed and went with spell resist set. For some reason there were three emissaries on the other end, I thought it was just two for some reason. Focus was for the emissaries and the token genlock LT who spams archer talents.

Conjurer

I triggered the enemies, then backed out so I could focus on just the Shades. I think I used Demonic Poison for them. For the Conjurer himself, it was Fleshrot.

Master Assassin

Threw and Acid Flask at the door when I heard them, used Fleshrot and a Swift Salve. He had numbers with his lackeys, but I had paralyze runes.

Archdemon

I didn't want to use any health pots since I hadn't since Cauthrien, so I figured I would try it first using my standard gear and Greater Spirit resist instead of Corruption helmet. Swift Salve, Quiet Death (just for nature damage), Mark of Death, Stab. Paralyze runes had decent procs, and I could use a single balista the entire time the AD was in the unreachable portion. Hit Incense of Awareness when it came back and had mook support. It was over only shortly after that.

Coronation

Total coin was 1593g 25s 36c (486g 91s 36c current, 1106g 34s 00c spent) and could have been a little higher since I didn't sell exclusively to Gorim and still had various crap in inventory and party chest, not to mention all squad mates were equipped. I was not in the lyrium crafting business. It really helps to be DN.

I ended the game with 4 potent, 26 greater, 35 regular, and 71 lesser health poultices. I didn't craft any except for Restocking the Guild, and maybe a few more lessers around there for the hell of it.

Oh, when I hit Level 24 I just put that worthless point in Cripple, but didn't use it. +3 Str of course.

Also, the friendly fire damage was a result of my traps used against the drakes in Urn of Sacred Ashes. If I had noticed it at the time, I would have reloaded then. I have a fix for the party damage contribution that does not count FF as negative.

Last Edit: Sept 8, 2018 1:17:22 GMT by capn233

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

capn233
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Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Sept 8, 2018 1:30:16 GMT

Quote

Post by capn233 on Sept 8, 2018 1:30:16 GMT

Build Order

1 - Dual Weapon Training, Dual Weapon Sweep
2 - Flurry
3 - Dual Weapon Finesse
4 - Momentum
5 - Stealth
Joining - Deft Hands
6 - Stealthy Item Use
7 - Duelist / Dueling
Tome - Combat Movement
8 - Coup de Grace
9 - Improved Tools
10 - Combat Stealth
11 - Mechanical Expertise
12 – Device Mastery
13 – Master Stealth
Tome – Upset Balance
14 – Assassin / Mark of Death
15 – Keen Defense
16 – Pinpoint Strike
17 – Dual Weapon Expert
18 – Exploit Weakness
19 – Lacerate
20 – Below the Belt
21 – Deadly Strike
22 – Lethality
Landsmeet – Dual Striking
Tome – Riposte
23 – Feast of the Fallen

24 – Cripple

This probably wasn't quite the optimal order, and it certainly isn't quite what I would recommend in a party game. For the most part that has to do with blowing the four talent points on the Deft Hands line to unlock and disarm.

Riposte was taken extremely late. I didn't have a huge problem with skipping it since I tried to keep stun poisons in inventory, but it might have been a little cheaper and easier with it earlier. Like I said before, it costs effectively two points though since Dual Striking probably isn't worth using much at all. In a party game I would have replaced the first two points in Deft Hands line with DS and Riposte most likely.

I could have fit it by 18 by delaying DWE and the two Assassin talents that all just add incremental damage. If you don't have fixes for DWE or Lacerate, those may not be worth getting.

The Below the Belt line for Lethality was a big point hog for only 10% melee crit chance. I could have probably skipped that whole line since I was mostly relying on Coup de Grace for crits/backstabs.

I did not miss any of the other active talents in the DW tree.

"Are all people from your galaxy loud-mouthed braggarts?"
"Nope. Just me, baby. Just me."

ergates
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Ballad of the DN Strength Rogue Solo Nov 12, 2018 10:40:28 GMT

Quote

Post by ergates on Nov 12, 2018 10:40:28 GMT

Interesting.

Last character I made was actually a +strength Rogue, and by the three-quarter mark I had him equipped with Wade's Superior Dragonbone Armor plus two swords.

I ended up with a largely unkillable character capable of tanking pretty-much anything and taking virtually no damage, who did moderately good DPS with a fairly low critical strike output. It made certain fights such as Branka and Jarvia an absolute breeze.

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