POLL: Poll: Most and Least Useful Rogue Skill

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Hello All.

I am interested to know your thoughts on which Rogue skill proved to be the most and least useful throughout IWD2.

I left out the dialog based skills, since they are not really needed unless you rogue will act in some part as a leader.

Personally I found no use for the Use Magical Item skill, but found that Picking Pockets could prove somewhat rewarding.

[ October 20, 2002, 04:21: Message edited by: Sylvan ]

Poll Information
This poll contains 2 question(s). 66 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Most and Least Useful Rogue Skill (66 votes.)

Most Useful Rogue Skill (Choose 1)
* Disable Device - 26% (17)
* Hide - 29% (19)
* Move Silently - 3% (2)
* Open Lock - 27% (18)
* Pick Pocket - 8% (5)
* Search - 5% (3)
* Use Magical Device - 3% (2)

Least Useful Rogue Skill (Choose 1)
* Disable Device - 3% (2)
* Hide - 3% (2)
* Move Silently - 3% (2)
* Open Lock - 0% (0)
* Pick Pocket - 12% (8)
* Search - 6% (4)
* Use Magical Device - 73% (48)

 

Use magic device seems to be so useless that it is almost plainly a bug. If my rogue wants to use magical items I'll simply give him a level of Bard or Sorcerer. Why waste time in maxing this skill with max level and still blowing up from a pissy magic missile spell. Let's face it, my sneak attack of 6d6 is way more useful than a single 1d4+1 if I'm lucky magic missile....

 

Is pick pocket useful at all after prologue? Is there any valuable magical items from friendly npcs that justifies maximizing this skill?

 

Pickpocketing is useful for me...Anyone I don't kill gets pinched! Muuwwwaaahhhaahaaa!

 

From what I gather everyone I have talked to has had issues with the Use Magic Device. I thought it was just me. So I would have to say that that is a useless skill.

Sneak attack is second on my list as useless. I can't seem to get it to work consistently when Flanking.

-R-

 

Pickpocket is good since some unique items are on neutral NPCs. Try it in Kuldahar Chapter 5.

Use Magic Device is good...for nothing. Get a spellcaster level.

Sneak attack is great if you can hit and I remember Rogues being such great fighters...Not!

I have a Rogue/Ranger and she can sneak attack, but I reckon without the extra Attack Bonus from Ranger sneak attack would be a decoration.

Rogues and Rangers are so weak in this game, like druids were in BG2.

Rogues and Rangers make me want to puke so I put them together and they are actually reasonable now.

 

Who should we pickpocket in Kuldahar? And what could we get out of it?

 

Pickpocket everybody thats neutral in Kuldahar (just like Khazraj stated) , as in anyone that doesn't attack you. Thats pretty clear I hope. . It's been a while since I was there plus I gave up PP about Chapter 4 (see below), so I can't give you specific items.

Pickpockets is one of the best rogue skills. You can rip off just about everybody in the game for something. I had a pickpocket list working up until Chapter 3. I tried to ripping everybody off, but then I multi-classed my rogue to a mage and concentrated on mage skills from then on, so my PP skill was pretty weak by the time I reached later stages of the game. Well next time through I'll spend more time and points on PP.

I'll agree with the fact that Use magic device SUCKS!!! I can't believe I wasted points on that skill. I gave up, and well you know what I did with my rogue.

Never had a problem with sneak attack. That's a handy little abilty, but I got used to it when I played IWD/HoW so I had practice before hand. It's always worked for me. Then again I always had my rougue/mage hide or cast invisibility on his little halfing ass.

Umm what else can I say...Oh yeah, my dual-wielding ranger kicked some serious ass! He had the most kills by the end of my game and the highest AC (30 without spells*)wearing leather armor and a handful of other items.

*yeah not very impressive but this is my intro to 3E rules. I did play the recent PoR, but that doesn't really count now does it!

 

Ok, so it seems there is near consensus that Use Magic Device is bad. But let's discuss the Most Useful Skill for a bit instead.

Open Lock and Disable Device are classics. Isn't it possible to open locks by other means like bashing or using a spell? How many ways are there to disable traps? Or do you just step right on them and take the punishment - like in BG2 ?

Hide would be nice for Sneak Attacks I guess (bear in mind that I don't have the game yet), but isn't Move Silently also used for Sneak Attacks?

Do you use Search to find traps or is there a spell to do that?

Pick Pocket has never appealed to me although I know it could be nifty in BG2. In all honesty it was more of a "fun" skill, not a bread&butter skill like Open Locks and Disarm Traps.

 

You know what's missing?

Set traps.

Whatever happened to that? They could have toned them down if they thought them too powerful or they could have programmed potential enemies not to sit idly by while you set traps within ten feet of them.

 

Earl you bring up some great point(s). Since you don't have the game yet as well as other folks out there in the world there are some MAJOR SPOILERS ahead. I see these as spoilers so you know the drill.... DO NOT READ ANYMORE UNLESS WANT TO BE SPOILED...like the head of lettuce in my refer... er...um...I mean my fridge
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SPOILERS:


I meant that.

IWDII truly makes you think about your party formation. My keys, have your weak characters such as mages, rouges and bards spend points in hide and MS, or keep them guared via party formation. Unlike previous IE gams, your party will end up in situations when the back line will have to throw down.

Never really had a problem with traps. There are a few nasty ones outside Dragons Eye as well as inside, but those can be tripped and over with before much damamge is inflicted. I thought they were weak, even later on. I had my ranger scouting and tripping traps through the later stages of the game. There are a few harsh ones towards the end of the game, but nothing you realy need to worry about.

One more tib bit, knock will come in handy. Don't waste a whole bunch of points on open locks when you can learn knock. Knock is the **** aka the crap. You get the point. Open locks is handy at the begining of the game, but later on it's a waste of skill points. Once you have a mage that has learned knock, your all good. There are plenty of places to rest and memorizize knock, then re-rest again.

 

Can you have a fighter bash locks? In the NWN SP campaign that works just fine. In BG2 it was not so good.

 

Yeah you can still bash. I did so a few times in the prolouge when my open locks skill wasn't high enough.

 

With both Bash and Knock I think putting points into Open Lock is a waste. In fact, unless Sneak Attack is as good as it is in NWN I see little reason to have a Rogue. Don't you think a Rogue-4/Wizard-x will fulfill all your roguish needs in a party?

@Thorongil
Just edit your last post to remove all text and replace it with:
"Double Post. Moderator please remove"

[ October 26, 2002, 16:47: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]

 

Well, I've always thought Searching for Traps to be the most valuable to me. But, it appears, that once again, in Chapter 6, that skill is waning....works sometimes (very slowly -- have to stand in a spot forever) or not all. My party has taken some pretty bad hits because of it.

 

I gotta go with Hide, although I'm not sure how move silently affects your hiding in shadows... Main reason: enemy spellcasters! Using the rogue to scout ahead, I play more realistically (vice bumping into a bunch of wizards, getting squashed, and reloading). My favorite tactic is to use the rogue and the ranger (this is the only reason I have a ranger ) to sneak behind enemy spellcasters before I march in with the troops ==> saves a ton of heart-ache with the enemy spellcasters out of the way. Also, I've learned to put the rogue behind the enemy wiz/soc and the ranger behind the enemy prst/drd because a) the rogue can often slow (hamstring) or kill the wiz/soc on the backstab and the wiz/soc gets spells off much faster than the prst/drd, and b) I give my ranger the heretics bane feat... If there are too many spellcasters, sometimes I'll just do mass-invisibility and get everyone right next to each spellcaster before I attack them. Also, I put my wiz's extra skill points into hide/move-silent for the same reason in reverse, I'll sneak my wiz to the best defensive position before she opens up with a spell ...

 

My rogue is my favorite character. She does a lot. Scout, decoy as well as the rogue skills. She doesn't get credit for her worth. But i wasted points on 'use magical device'. I'll probable use Dalekeeper to change her if I play again. Yes, what happen to set traps? I'd rather have that option then "use magical device",

 

Search is the most useful since no one shall disable who has not first searched

Hide and move silently - rather useful, but it's not all that exclusive, rangers have it too.

Pickpocket is useless for me, I never use it in 2E and never take it in 3E. Use Magic device is useless because there's very few wands in the game and scrolls are scarce. Plus, it takes a skill point per level, which means +2 to int and -2 to some other stat. And your charisma shouldn't suck... So, too much trouble around this skill.

 

I hate the use magic items skill. Why would I want my theaf the be able to do that? Thats what I have Wizards for. The most useful would defenitly (sp?) be hide in shadows/move quietly, my theifs are always the scouts and the talkers.