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Sunday 18 May 2014

The Aerial Bandits - A PvE Rogue Guide

Can you see sound?
I know what you're thinking... that's ridiculous, right? It is impossible to see the vibration of air with your eyes.
Well, you obviously haven't met... "them" yet. If you were to, you would quickly realize how narrow minded you have been. They are the few masters of movement, those of the Dark Elves who possess physical ability beyond most comprehension, trained vigorously under the code of the Rogue. Even among Rogue's, not all of them will ever attain such power. Only those who strive to surpass imagination and belief. 
The desire for such acute ability must be inherent, it must be something that drives you forward, spiriting you through battle and bloodshed.
An account from a witness to their capabilities reads:"I was taking a moment, listening to the wind blowing through the field, when I was spotted by a small band of Kartels who had camped nearby. I planned to run, but before I could even turn, two crescent shaped silver blades ripped through the night and blurred back and forth across the camp for a matter of seconds. I heard a swift clashing of metal, and saw a faint translucent movement. By the time I could focus my eyes again, the entire camp had been ripped to shreds!"
They are the Silver Moons. Those who move in blinks of an eye.
Again I ask, can you see sound? The answer is yes. As those who have seen a Silver Moon in combat say:
"I was attacked... and defeated... by a living, breathing sound.... I saw it with my own eyes... it had no face... only a sound."

Introduction:


     So you're interested in the Rogue? Here's what you need to know. The rogue is a physical melee class that has excellent mobility both on the ground and in the air. Almost like a jack of all trades she can group and lock down enemies as well as deal damage to both single and multiple targets. Despite this certain classes that specialize in specific fields may out perform her in that role she has the capacity to perform multiple roles at once. Be wary though because although the rogue does well both solo and in parties, to be a strong rogue requires both dedication and time.


Strengths and Weaknesses:

Pros:

  • High mobility (On the ground and in the air)
  • Quick attacks
  • Good range on skills
  • Decent damage output
  • Natural affinity for critical hits
  • Both DPS and burst are decent
  • Non-reliance on cubes
  • Good mobbing
  • Good holding/lock down
  • Grab cannons

Cons:

  • Low defense due to leather armor
  • Lack of buffs (other than Silver stream)
  • Disruptive in parties (with lack of caution)
  • Buggy or clunky skills
  • No invincibility after most or during some grabs
  • Some animations long and unsafe
  • Not great at counter attacking
  • Won't be out-damaging strikers any day of the week
Table of Contents:  Use ctrl + f to search for the tags for the related section

M01 - Important Class Mechanics    Q01 - Quest Points
S00 - Skills Intro                           G00 - Gear Intro
S01 - Common Skills                       G01 - Daggers or Dual Blades?
S02 - Rogue Advancement + Skills    G02 - Weapons
S03 - Awakening                           G03 - Armor
S04 - Ex Actives                            G04 - Accessories
S05 - TP Passives                          G05 - Avatars
S06 - General Skills                       P01 - Creatures
S07 - Builds

T01 - Tricks of the Trade               D01 - Dungeon Specific Help


M01 - Important Class Mechanics:

Contact Points and Hit end




     Upon advancing the thief receives a skill called hit end and a gauge on the UI on the bottom left.  The gauge of orbs measures how many contact points you have available, up to 5.  Contact points are consumed  for the activation of hit end and are gained by performing cancels (which will be elaborated upon in the next sub section).  When hit end is casted all contact points are consumed and an effect will be activated depending on the skill it was casted after.  Skills that interact with hit end are marked with an "H" in the top left corner.  The more contact points consumed the more powerful the hit end effect.

Contact Point Generation


Rising cut       1
Slicer              1
Diving arrow    2
Shining Cut      1
Bandit Cut       1
Double Pierce  1
Chain saw        1
Hurricane         1
Vertical Spiral    1
Lightning Arrow 1
Sonic Assault     1
Excel Strike       2

Cancels

     A cancel is a passive skill that can be bought that allows you to activate the skill the cancel is for during your basic attack string (x attacks by default).  This is a tool available for all classes however it is vital to the rogue due to the nature of contact points.  Skills will generate a contact point upon the successful activation and hit of the cancelled skill (even if the skill shows up as a miss); objects will also count as target-able entities to generate contact points.  Cancelling attacks into skills is a core part of a rogue's game play but the basic attack string itself is not important.  It is good to make a habit of tapping x before casting skills.

Aerial Skills

     Many of the rogue's skills can be casted while jumping or in the air.  This gives her many options even while she is off the ground.  Some skills act differently while casted in the air so one must be aware of how skills change as you jump or stand.  Many of the rogue's skills will take you into the air or launch the enemy, because of this getting used to comboing in the air is a priority especially while soloing.  However in a party keep in mind many classes may not be on equal footing with you in the air and launching enemies to the moon would end up being detrimental.  Knowing when to enter the air or stay on the ground is paramount.  That said, the rogue is generally much more formidable on the ground.

Critical Strikes

     This is another mechanic not limited to rogues but once again, is important for them.  A critical strike will increase the damage of a single hit to 150% at a set chance (critical rate).  Physical and Magical critical rates are separate.  What makes it special to the rogue is the passive bonus from leather armor increases the critical hit damage from 150% to almost 200%.  On top of this, the armor mastery also grants approximately 10% critical chance, and daggers grant another 10% while dual blades grant 5%.  With the use of Quest Points and the physical critical rate general skill you can easily gain up to 30% - 35% critical chance.

S00  Skills

This sections outlines the skills the rogue has at her disposal.  It will go through basic info, which is more or less a reworded in game description and advanced info; being the mechanics and intricacies the skill may possess.  Finally there's synergy, which briefly goes over how the skill can interact with other skills; what skills it can follow and be followed by.

S01 Common Skills

Rising Cut
Basic Info: 15 SP  2 Second CD
The Thief's basic launcher attack.  A super armored upward slash coupled with a controllable hop.  Holding the button will allow for you to jump higher and vice versa.  The hit end for this attack will perform a multi-hitting spinning dagger attack that hits 5 times and grants a buff that increases strength and movement speed for 20 seconds.  Putting points into this skill increases the attack strength, launch strength, and the attack and buff strength of hit end.  The cancel is automatically included with this skill.
Personal Opinion: (1 or max) + cancel
     Although the strength buff if a nice bonus, the skill is not a necessary max.  At max rank with maxed hit end you gain about 130 strength but the launch height can be a tad ridiculous for some classes.  I myself have this skill maxed.

Slicer
Basic Info: 15 SP  2.5 Second CD
The Thief's dash attack skill.  The follow up to the standard dash attack.  Despite not being a cancel it will generate 1 contact point upon hitting.  Putting points into this skill increases the attack range, and attack strength.

Personal Opinon: 5
     Purely looking from numbers it has decent damage and a low cool down, so why isn't it great?  The main problem is it just doesn't work very well with most other skills.  Spamming only this skill to just keep it off cool down (to get the most out of it) also means you'll end up neglecting other cool downs. You'll need at least 5 as the prerequisite of silver stream.

Diving Arrow
Basic Info:  20 SP  6.5 Second CD
The rogue descends downwards at an angle and repeatedly kicks the first enemy she meets. Pressing "x" causes more kicks. This skill will launch and keep enemies in the air, and the final kick (activated by pressing the button again) will spike them down and bounce them off the ground. Not activating the finisher causes you to flip away.  Putting points into this skill increases launch strength and damage. This attack can only be used in the air.
More Info
Diving arrow moves you to a set location from the enemy once it connects. Since this is not a grab it is escapable, this means that the attack will end prematurely if there is no target to kick (for example if the enemy moves away using super armor) but it will always give you a chance to use the ax kick even if the initial target gets away. Enemies too close to the ground will not be picked up by it. You are in super armor during this attack, not invincible.

If an enemy hits the ground after an air combo, normally gravity intensifies on them heavily making it difficult to continue comboing. However the ground bounce from this skill will reset that property making it great for picking enemies back up off the ground if you let them fall.
Personal Opinion: 5 + Cancel
     The main issue with the skill is that it is inconsistent, as well as being unsafe.  The only reasons you want 5 and the cancel are for lightning arrow, and that it's one of 2 skills that generate 2 contact points (the other being excel strike).

Shining Cut
Basic Info:  15SP  6 Second CD
The rogue dashes a set distance forward cutting all in her path.  This skill deals high damage and produces a large hit stun.  Putting points into this skill increases both the damage and hit stun. Note that you can use this skill to clip over small obstacles (more on this in dungeon specific sections).
Personal Opinion: max + cancel
     This skill deals lots of damage, and the hit stun provides opportunity for just about any follow up. A passive can be received upon advancement to a rogue that enhances the skill further (more on that when we get there).

Shuriken
Basic Info:  15 SP (10 for cancel) 2.5 Second CD
A quick projectile attack that will pierce 8 targets before stopping.  This attack has high hit stun.  Putting points into this skill increases the damage and hit stun.  The cancel is usable in the air.
Personal Opinion: 1
     It functions decently as both an opener or combo ender but rogues have access to plenty of other skills that can do comparable damage.  On top of this, shuriken won't hit enemies that are too close, and being a melee class, that can become an issue.  As stated earlier though, it does it's specific job well, and is a strong poke.  The cancel is mainly used in the air.

Flame Cut
Basic Info:  15 SP 5 Second CD
A magic attack that slashes in front of the rogue with a wave of fire.  Putting points into this skill increases the damage, launch ratio and size.
Landable after: Any Launcher
Leads into: ankle cut
Personal Opinion:
No

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It's slow. It's magic. It ruins combos, birthdays and weddings. It doesn't even call you back.

Transformation: Molting
Basic Info:  15 SP  30 Second CD (rank 1)  18.4 Second CD (max rank)
Causes the rogue to create a clone while teleporting upwards. The clone will taunt enemies, and explode after a certain amount of time or damage. Similar to the mage's phase shift, this skill can be casted while being hit however, it has a cast time and can be interrupted by being hit again. Putting points into this skill increases the damage, taunt range, duration, hp and decrease the cool down. Keep in mind it still has a cast animation and can be interrupted. (Also bugs out and does nothing sometimes)
Personal Opinion: 1
     Too good of a utility to pass up for 15 SP, you should always have atleast 1 point, though more than that may be redundant.

Flying Squirrel
Basic Info:  20 SP  10 Second CD
The rogue leaps forward and delivers a back hand with such force that the target's face combusts with the force of the sun. The resulting explosion launches the target into the air. This skill can be activated multiple times up to a cap. Putting points in this skill increases the damage, number of slaps (and by proxy, launch height), and the size of the explosions.
More Info
The skill does not include the leap if used in the air. If you connect with an enemy the skill will also lift you, but if the launch strength of the skill is too great it may not push you up far enough. If the enemy is too heavy, it may require a launch in order to ensure the second slap hits. If you are too close to the ground when the attack connects, it will not work. In other words, this skill is very inconsistent
Personal Opinion: 0
     I know some rogues like this and make it work but, it's just annoying in parties, and it takes too long to play out the entire skill. It is also terribly inconsistent on different enemies depending on their weight. If you plan on maxing this, use conversion to make it physical.

Dark Soul
Basic Info:  15 SP  3.5 Second CD
The thief fires out a slow moving projectile that lures enemies.  It will seek out and attach to the first enemy it meets and hit multiple times on that target before exploding to deal damage in an area.
Personal Opinion:  0 or 1
     Even if it doesn't really affect any other skills in any way shape for form, it doesn't exactly do much, even with conversion.  Not worth it even as free damage because it practically does no damage. 1 Point could possibly be useful for Delezie (boss of reshpon, which will be elaborated upon later).

 Curse Spear
Basic Info:  20 SP  10 Second CD
The thief points forward to direct multiple dark projectiles forward.  This skill grants super armor for the duration after the initial cast.  Putting points in this skill increases the damage.
Personal Opinion: 0
     This skill is pretty much like dark soul, simply not useful for a rogue.

Bone Shield
Basic Info:  15 SP  30 Second CD
The thief generates multiple bone fragments to shield herself from damage.  Upon being hit a bone fragment will fire out at the attacker to interrupt them.  The shield does not actually absorb damage, but instead increases defensive stats.  The bone shards have very little hit stun.  Putting points into this skill increases the defense and number of bones.

Personal Opinion:  0
     Although the rogue has low defense, bone shield's minuscule defense bonus does nothing to remedy this.  The hit stun doesn't work on super armored enemies and the damage from the bones are negligible.  Not only that, but the damage is magic damage.

 Shadow Cut
Basic Info:  15 SP  6 Second CD
The thief swipes in front of her, then quickly dashes behind the target hit for a flank.  Putting points into this skill increases the damage and hit stun.
More Info
The teleport has a delay and will begin after the slash animation finishes. This means if an enemy teleports out (phase shift of masakame ice clone) it will teleport to their new location. The teleport will not go off if you're hit before it starts.
Personal Opinion: 0
     The hit stun and teleport are pretty negligible honestly, you'll be in melee range any ways and shining cut delivers the same hit stun.  Not to mention hit stun overwrites not stacks, so you're better off leaving this at 0.

 Eraser
Basic Info:  20 SP  7 Second CD
A single target grab that deals great damage, and adds attacks if used from behind.  The additional stabs do relatively little damage in comparison to the finisher so getting behind the target isn't necessarily a priority.  Putting points into this skill increases its damage.
Mechanics
This skill immediately puts the enemy flat on the ground after use.
Synergy
Landable after: Any launcher, shadow cut, shining cut
Leads into: Shuriken, diving arrow
Personal Opinion: 0 or max
     The skill is single target, much like sonic assault, but the hold time is shorter (less so when used from behind).  It does a good deal of damage on a fairly low CD but the main issue I'd say is that it pretty much is a standalone skill since it will usually prevent you from following up after it.  Shining cut is a good set up for getting behind enemies though due to its high hit stun.  Good for dual blades I hear, not so much for daggers.

Ankle Cut
Basic Info:  15 SP  7 Second CD
A quick leg sweep that cripples the enemy.  The bones in the targets' legs break so hard it causes their fists to swing slower.  Putting points into this skill increases the damage and slow strength.  It's nice to note that it's on the same CD as bandit cut.
Landable after: Bandit cut (and with hit end, or if the enemy is in the air), any launcher, shining cut, lightning arrow, diving arrow, sonic assault, slicer
Leads into: Nothing
Personal Opinion: 1 or Max
     This skill is great for two reasons, it and bandit cut have the most wonderful bromance going, and it also just works after almost every other skill. It's worth maxing just because it's practically free damage, and that's not even accounting for the slow (which slows both move and attack speed.  The main drawback is the range is pretty small and it has no y-axis.

S02 Subclass Advancement

     At level 20 you can advance to a rogue, the advancement quest has apparently changed since previous patches but it still remains simple.  According to the Japanese wiki, it just involves bringing 30 clear cube fragments, then 10 of each colored cube fragment (not including gold), getting 5 money pouches from tower of illusion and clearing golem tower.  Should be pretty simple.

Rogue Skills

Rogue Leather Armor Mastery
Basic Info:
Grants bonus stats for wearing leather armor.  The stats include, strength, attack speed, critical chance and critical damage (the important ones).  The minor stats granted are vitality, spirit, hp, mp and mp per min.
Stats
While fully equipped in leather this mastery provides approximately:
- 1.5 * (30 + item level) Strength
-7% Attack Speed
-10% Critical Chance
-50% Critical Damage
Hit End
Basic Info:  20 SP
This is the rogue's core mechanic. Hit end gives you contact points upon successfully connecting with an attack that was cancelled from a basic attack string. This skill must be used in conjunction with one of the 4 skills that have a hit end finisher avaiable to it, marked by the "H" in the top right corner of the skill.  Putting points into this skill increases the effect of hit end finishers.
Mechanics
When hit end is ready to be activated, an orange circle will flash at the core of your character, activating hit end at this time will cause the finisher. Oddly enough the flash will linger for a moment even if the skill ends, this means if you cancel out of a skill with breaking rush or get hit right as hit end becomes available, your character can snap back into casting hit end, even if you were in hit stun or breaking rush.

The multiplier for the hit end boosts interact with the corresponding stats within the initial skill.
Skill Damage and/or Stat Buff * (hit end ratio/100) * (contact point ratio/100)
Personal Opinion:  1 or Max
     Although technically, the scaling isn't all that amazing rogues have plenty of SP to spend and you'll be using hit end plenty either way.  Hit end is about 20% more effective maxed.

Aerial Jump
Basic Info:  20 SP
Allows the rogue to jump again in the air.
More Info
Although this skill has no cool down, it is limited to one use per instance of entering the air. This can be bypassed by touching the ground with a skill animation that launches you back into the air (rising cut, molting, etc.)
 Dagger Mastery
Basic Info: 20 SP
Increases the rogue's physical and magical attack as well as evasion and hit rate while wielding daggers.  Putting points into this skill increases all of the aforementioned stats.

Dual Blade Mastery
Basic Info: 20 SP
Increases the rogue's physical and magical attack as well as attack speed, hit stun and hit stop (the slow down that one experiences when attacking enemies) while wielding dual blades.  Putting points into this skill increases all of the aforementioned stats.

Personal Opinion:  0 or Max
     It's one or the other mastery, but don't get both.  The gear section will elaborate on the choice.

 Bandit Cut
Basic Info:  20 SP  7 Second CD
A slow overhead swing with great range. It has a chance of stunning on hit. The hit end causes you to dash forward and kick, followed by a spinning blade attack that hits 3 times. The hit end applies an attack speed buff. Putting points into this skill increases its damage and the effectiveness of the stun (level 73 stun at max rank, which means it will stun nearly anything outside of high level ancient dungeons and otherverse).
Personal Opinion:  Max
     This skill although slow is a great poke, and just works very well for ending combos.  On top of this not maxing this skill leaves the stun level low and makes it pretty much useless.

 Double Piercer
Basic Info:  20 SP  7 Second CD
A forward thrust followed by 2 kicks.  Putting points into this skill increases the damage.
More Info
Although it immobilizes enemies and breaks super armor it's not really a grab. If the final hit misses the target will recover right away. You are in super armor for the duration, but otherwise fully vulnerable.
Personal Opinion: 0, 1, (5 + cancel)
     I find this skill to be beyond lacklustre. It's unsafe, the damage is mediocre and it's inconsistent. Some like 1 point to break super armor, some like the cancel for contact point generation but overall it is very redundant.


Shine Spark

Basic Info:  50 SP
Adds a second hit to shining cut, doubling it's damage out put.  Also allows for shining cut to be used in the air.  If used in the air you travel diagonally towards the ground with the second slash being the standard shining cut slash.  When used from the ground you use the standard shining cut slash, followed by a diagonal slash that moves upwards slightly.  You can change direction with the second slash.
More Info
Using it too high in the air will eventually cause you to start dropping straight down, although the rogue will not change stance until she hits the ground.
Personal Opinion: Max
     This pretty much goes without saying, it's 1 point and makes your already powerful skill twice as good.

 Chainsaw
Basic Info:  25 SP  8 Second CD
The rogue twirls her blades as she slashes out in front of her.  Hits 3 times per slash with 3 slashes for a total of 9 hits.  The final hit launches.  Putting points into this skill increases the damage and launch strength. Note that this skill launches extremely high, so it can be disruptive in parties.
Personal Opinion: Max + Cancel
     The damage is nice and the launch makes it easy to combo with.  It works well all around in any skill rotation.  Not to mention the range is quite nice.

 Breaking Rush
Basic Info: 25 SP  5 Second CD
This skill causes the rogue to dash forward.  This skill can be used to cancel out of any other rogue skill, including grabs, as long as the rogue is on the ground. Doing so will consume 1 contact point. This skill only has 1 level.
More Info
Since the effect of hit end is on a time limit, it is possible to cancel a skill with breaking rush and then activate hit end quickly. Frame rate lag seems cause this skill to shorten or not dash at all.
Personal Opinion: Max + Cancel
     It's only one point so there's no reason not to get it.  It's free mobility and another skill to use to dodge.

 Side Step
Basic Info:  25 SP 1.2 Second CD
The rogue quickly moves up or down a short distance.

Personal Opinion:  0
     Even though it's another dodge, it's less useful than back step.  It doesn't put you into the air even though it seems to, the travel distance is tiny and the travel speed is about the same as your average dash speed.

 Hurricane
Basic Info: 30 SP  12 Second CD
The rogue spins around rapidly damage and pulling in all nearby enemies. The hit end causes you to leap into the air, launching all enemies caught in it and dealing great damage.  Putting points into this skill increases its damage and launch strength. The cancel cannot be used in the air.
More Info
The vacuum effect will continue to persist after you leave the skill from hit end. This causes the enemies to continue to be drawn to you until they hit the ground and stop bouncing. The vacuum has no effect on enemies with super armor.
Personal Opinion:  Max + Cancel
     Though the scaling seems low you should keep in mind that it hits 10 times, and the hit end does a very large amount of damage (that also scales off of your level of hit end).  The launch can occasionally be a detriment to a party if used poorly but in solos it allows for a breather (and for skills to CD).

 Vertical Spiral
Basic Info:  40 SP  15 Second CD
The most ineptly named skill in the game. If used from the air the rogue spirals horizontally through the air and can crash down with a downward stab that causes a shock wave. Using this skill from the ground causes you to spiral in an arch instead, and the finisher is still available.  Note that you cannot control Y-axis movement in the air if you activate this skill during a back step.
Personal Opinion:  5 or (Max + cancel)
     You'll want at least 5 for the EX active.  The main issue with this skill is that although the damage is decent, the finisher tends to scatter enemies like mad, and it's main use (especially in parties) is to move  enemies around.  Damage is pretty much a secondary function in most cases and you'll probably neglect the finisher (it has a tendency to scatter enemies) more often than not.

 Lightning Arrow
Basic Info: 40 SP  15 Second CD  1 Clear Cube to use
The rogue grabs an enemy in the air and slashes the target 3 times before kicking them towards the ground, creating a shock wave upon landing.  Ungrabbable enemies with only be subjected to a more powerful kick. The shock wave deals more damage the higher up the target.  Putting points into this skill increases the damage, shock wave's size and launch ratio.  The cancel cannot be used it the air.
More Info
This skill won't activate if you hit the ground before it begins. The grab cannon for this skill has a delay, and the target can move freely right when the final kick begins. This skill will drag any enemy caught by the kick downwards and drag them to the final destination. If the enemy is removed from the grab (from an overkill, or the boss dying) before or right as the final kick lands you will cancel out of the skill and drop towards the ground.
Personal Opinion: 1 or Max
     This skill is pretty much to sonic assault like ankle cut is to bandit cut.  It is a bit more inconsistent however and can be very disruptive if used improperly since you can move everything to the other side of the room.  It's also very finicky about when it decides to work, and will occasionally just not activate despite the sound effect going off.  It's also not convenient to get the bonus damage from height in most cases. It will also leave you with little to no combo options after using it.

Sonic Assault
Basic Info:  50 SP  25 Second CD
The rogue thrusts her blades out and dashes forwards (the direction is slightly controllable with the arrow keys). Once she contacts an enemy she will begin barraging them with a flurry of slashes and kicks before launching them into the air.   Pressing the jump button causes you to teleport to a nearby target and leave a clone behind that does half damage. Putting points into this skill increases its damage.
More Info
The direction of the dash cannot be controlled if you cancel this skill from a basic attack string. The grab takes some time to begin once it hits and you'll be vulnerable until the barrage starts. Although it normally grab cannons on ungrabbable enemies if you jump to an ungrabbable target it will proceed as normal. The clones you leave behind will disappear before the shining cut portion of the attack. The clones also continue off from where you left off. There is no post grab invincibility like with most grabs.

Though the skill claims to hit 11 times it hits about 17 times in total. The breakdown is:
0. Rush
1. Slicer (no damage)
2. Basic Attack String 1 (Full Damage)
3. Basic Attack String 2 (Full Damage)
4. Basic Attack String Finisher (Full Damage)
5. Double Pierce Kick 1 (Full Damage)
6. Double Pierce Kick 2 (Full Damage)
7. Bandit Cut (Full Damage)
8. Dash Basic Attack (Full Damage)
9. Slicer (Full Damage)
10. Rising Cut (Full Damage)
11. Diving Arrow Kick (Full Damage)
12. Diving Arrow Kick (Full Damage)
(any extra hits will restart the chain at 2.)
"13". Shining Cut (Half Damage)
14. Shining Cut (Half Damage)
15. Shining Cut (Half Damage)
16. Shining Cut (Half Damage)
17. Finisher
Personal Opinion:  Max + Cancel
     My personal favourite skill.  It offers great hold time and good damage. On top of that, it is easy to combo into and out of, what's there not to love? Well... the lack of invincibility after the grab's over, which is something every other grab has.

 Excel Strike
Basic Info: 60 SP  45 Second CD
The rogue dashes across the ground picking up enemies as she moves.  She then dashes diagonally into the air towards her origin, striking and pushing enemies as she moves. She strikes a third time pushing all the targets towards the direction she came from before dashing past them to meet them for a final strike.  Using hit end adds a final strike in which she bounces them across the ground back towards the origin and spikes them down wards for tons of damage (read: TONS OF DAMAGE). Putting points into this skill increases its damage.
More Info
Despite looking like it should, this skill does not hit off the ground. This skill doesn't technically count as a grab since enemies with break aways can escape. If you catch ungrabbable enemies with grabbable enemies you will proceed as if every enemy caught was grabbable and the ungrabbable enemies will take full damage. This grab hit checks (checks to see if the skill has hit or not) right when your character crouches.

Missing any targets entirely (this includes attacks showing up as a miss) causes you to slide across the ground instead of returning to the origin point. Killing all the enemies early will leave you where the next strike would've been in a neutral state. Ending this skill with hit end near the corner will immediately put you on the ground. There is no after grab immunity. The rogue is protected only by super armor but you are otherwise vulnerable during hit end.
Personal Opinion: Max + Cancel
     This skill is an multi target grab that is going to ruin the day of whatever it touches.  The cancel gives you 2 contact points.  Keep in mind though a 3rd of the damage comes from the hit end.

S03 Awakening

At level 50 you gain access to your awaken, your ultimate or core skill. Luckily unlike most classes the rogue has both great active and passive awakening skills.

The awakening quest involves: getting 10 of 2 different colored cubes (along with other assorted materials), completing 30 floors of tower of the dead and defeating Albert in the Moonlight Arena dungeon.

Awakening Skills

Silver Stream
Basic Info:  80 SP  180 Second CD
The rogue activates oily cleavage mode, increasing her stats dramatically and causing her basic attacks to all hit twice. This skill increases strength while active but upon gaining contact points can apply a buff that can stack up to 2 times that increases critical damage and  attack and movement speed.  Activating this skill again causes the rogue to perform three large charging attacks (once forward, then upwards and back, then a final one backwards towards the ground) while gathering enemies in the center, firing clones into them and finishing with a final slash. This skill lasts 40 seconds and the finisher will activate at the end of the skill (whether it's due to time out or manual activation).
Mechanics
The finisher from this skill will not gather ungrabbable targets and because of this, some of the finisher hits may miss. The clones only hit one target, and will seek out the target with the highest HP remaining. The clones will only appear if there are enemies left caught by the finisher. While performing the finisher you are protected only by super armor, which begins after the first slash. The finisher will only activate if you are in a neutral state on the ground. Keep in mind that the strength buff will run out even if you keep silver stream up after the duration ends.
Personal Opinion: 0, 1 or Max
   This skill provides a huge boost in power for 40 seconds and the finisher is both an amazing mobbing and holding tool.  This skill is too good to pass up.

Moon Arc
Basic Info:  30 SP
Whenever the rogue gains contact points, there is a chance a buff will be applied that increases the rogue's critical chance, accuracy and evasion rate. Putting points into this skill increases the chance the buff will be applied as well as the effectiveness and duration of the buff.  A new instance of the buff overwrites the old one.

Personal Opinon: Max
     It's a passive so you don't have to worry about casting it.  On top of that it activates on something you'll be doing constantly, what's not to love about free stats?

S04 Ex Actives

Chainsaw Rush
Basic Info:  80 SP  30 Second CD
The rogue throws out her blades which stop at the first target they meet, then jumps to catch them and  cut enemies as she falls to produce a shock wave.  The cancel for chainsaw is available for this skill.

Personal Opinion: 0, 1 or Max
     Honestly this skill is mediocre at best.  The cool down is pretty long considering you could probably hit harder with hurricane + hit end with a decently reinforced weapon.  Not only that but if the chainsaw misses (whether you whiff it or the game rolls a miss) it won't stop meaning you might not even hit with the finisher.

Aslant Spiral
Basic Info:  120 SP  50 Second CD
The rogue jumps in the air and spirals downwards causing a large shock wave upon landing.  The cancel for vertical spiral is available for this skill.

Personal Opinion: Max
     It's a 1 point skill and it's burst damage is very high.  You might not consistently hit with all of the spiral but the shock wave alone is good damage (although it's fixed damage).

S05 General Skills

I skipped some of the general skills (mainly the magic ones) because they don't have any relevance to the rogue.

Leap
Basic Info:  20 SP  25 Second CD
Increases the caster's jump strength by 20% for the duration.  Putting points into this skill increases the duration.

Personal Opinion:  0 or 1
     You can put a point into this but I wouldn't recommend it since we have double jump.  Yes this affects aerial jump.

Indomitable spirit
Basic Info:  25 SP  30 Second CD
Gives a chance for the character to cast skills uninterrupted even when being hit.  Putting points into this skill increases the chance and duration.

Personal Opinion: 0
     Sounds great but it only works for spells and only takes affect during cast bars; rogues have no spells and therefore no spells with cast bars.

Throw Mastery
Basic Info:  25 SP
Increases the damage of throwing items by 10%.

Personal opinion:  0
     Sadly throwing items are limited to the consumables so this is useless even if you maxed shuriken.  The cancel works the same way.

Physical Critical Hit
Basic Info:  20 SP
Increases physical critical rate by 1% per level.

Personal Opinion:  Max
     A free 10% critical rate is very nice, there's very few reasons to pass it up, but it can be dropped if need be due to SP constraints.

Physical Rear Attack
Basic Info:  20 SP
Increases the critical chance of back attacks by 1.5% per level.

Personal Opinion:  0
     Although it's more extra critical chance the rogue is not very good at getting back attacks to the the multi hitting nature of their skills.

Quick Rebound
Basic Info:  10 SP  5 Second CD
Can only be used when knocked down on the ground.  When casted the user immediately recovers into a crouching stance and gains invulnerability for the duration of the skill (up to 3 seconds).  After the skill ends the user is granted 0.3 seconds of super armor.  The skill can be held down to extend the effect.

Personal Opinion:  Max
     It's only 1 point and will save you in many situations.  You also need this for many end game dungeons.

S06 TP Passives

There's a lot of irrelevant passive so in the interest of not wasting your time I'll cut out any completely irrelevant ones.


Basic Training
1 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the damage of basic attacks by 10% per level.

Personal Opinion: 0
    I wouldn't recommend any of this because rogues don't generally go past the first hit of their basic attack string.  You'll just be tapping "X" for the cancel.

 Shuriken Upgrade
2 TP     Max Level: 1
Throws an additional shuriken and decreases the damage of shuriken by 30%


Personal Opinion: 0
     If you max shuriken then you should max this, otherwise it's worthless.

Flame Cut Upgrade
1 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the damage and range of flame cut by 10% per level.

Personal Opinion:  à² _ಠ
No.

Eraser Upgrade
2 TP  Max Level: 1
Increases the amount of stabs by 1.

Personal Opinion: 0
   Great if you have eraser since it doesn't have the usual drawback of decreasing damage in exchange for the increased hits but otherwise useless.


Ankle Cut Upgrade
1 TP  Max Level: 3
Increases the damage by 10% and the slow level by 1 per level.

Personal Opinion: 0 or Max
     It's a very nice upgrade but not really mandatory, very much a luxury.

Shining Cut Upgrade
1 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the damage and decreases the travel distance of shining cut by 10% per level.

Personal Opinion:  Max
     This helps shining cut hit even harder, and the distance decrease isn't really that bad.  Although the shorter dash can prevent some wall clipping overall it makes it easier to not overshoot your target.

Diving Arrow Upgrade
1 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the number of hits from the kick barrage by 1 per level.

Personal Opinion:  0
     You probably won't even have enough points into diving arrow for this and diving arrow was never really used for damage.


Rising Cut Upgrade
1 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the damage by 10% per level.

Personal Opinion: 0
     Rising cut isn't really for the damage, so this is redundant.

Slicer Upgrade
1 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the damage and range by 10% per level.


Personal Opinion: 0
     This doesn't do so much to help slicer be good.

Double Percer Upgrade
2 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the damage by 12% and the area damage ratio by 5% per level.

Personal Opinion: 0
     Double piercer is weak for reasons other than damage and this doesn't do much to alleviate those problems.

Hit End Upgrade
2 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the effectiveness of hit end by 7% per level.

Personal Opinion: 0 or Max
     Oddly enough even though it says it only increases damage it seems to increase the effectiveness of hit end buffs as well.  Max this if you max hit end.

Bandit Cut Upgrade
2 TP     Max Level:  3
Increases the damage, buff duration and buff effectiveness by 12% per level.

Personal Opinion: 0
     All you'll be getting out of it is the damage increase and there are better places to look for a damage increase.  The buff isn't really that important.

Chainsaw Upgrade
4 TP     Max Level: 1
Adds one more hit to every hit of chainsaw.

Personal Opinion: 0
     This uses way too much TP.  Oddly enough the tool tip says it only increases the amount of hits for the last attack, but I've heard otherwise.

Vertical Spiral Upgrade
2 TP     Max Level: 2
Increases the amount of hits while traveling by 1 per level.

Personal Opinion: 0 or Max
     Worth it if you plan on maxing vertical spiral but as a mobbing tool this upgrade is useless.

Lightning Arrow Upgrade
2 TP     Max Level: 3
Increases the damage of lightning arrow's shock wave by 12% per level.

Personal Opinion: 0 or Max
     Nice if you have max lightning arrow but since the upgrade only affects the damage of the shock wave it's more for increasing lightning arrow's multi target damage potential, not single target potential.

Sonic Assault Upgrade
4 TP     Max Level: 1
Increases the hit count of sonic assault by 3.

Personal Opinion:  Max
     Great boost for sonic assault, and increases the hold time as well.  Sadly this passive is useless if you grab a target that's ungrabbable.

Excel Strike Upgrade
2 TP     Max Level: 2
Increases the damage of the hit end by 12% per level.

Personal Opinion:  0 or Max
     This will increase the burst damage of the skill significantly against grabbable targets but be worthless against anything ungrabbable.  If you're maxing this you should probably max hit end upgrade.

S07 Builds

This is probably what most people are here for, so without further adieu:


     The bare bones of any rogue build.  Pick one mastery of your choice and from there pick out the skills you like.  Keep in mind physical critical is mainly a luxury and can be dropped.


     A dagger build that focuses on the cycling of low CD skills and comboing.  Well rounded overall, providing good options for most situations.  Much of the TP is used in both excel strike and sonic assault, which only affect either skill if they connect with a grabbable enemy.  This can be a problem in a few end game dungeons with ungrabbable bosses. Potentially lacking burst outside of long CD cube skills.

     This build probably works just as well with dual blades.


     I'll be honest here, I don't have much first hand experience with dual blade builds but this build revolves around being able to do good damage whether through comboing or isolated uses of skills.  Your CDs will be 10% higher than normal (in contrast to dagger's 10% lower CDs) but your damage per skill will be higher.

     Lightning arrow can be dropped in favor of other skills if you don't like it, but it's very strong.  Chainsaw and Vertical Spiral are also good options.  An actual experienced dual blade user would give better advice than myself in this situation.


     Pretty much the same as my own build except it drops ankle cut for lightning arrow.  This build can easy keep a target in a multitude of holds for a good period of time.  Daggers lower the CDs of all your skills so that you can afford to be more lenient with them and keep them grabbed as much as possible.  This build focuses more on party utility than damage.

     The single point into double piercer can be dropped.


     This is more or less a variant of the above build.  It drops chainsaw for eraser since eraser provides a high amount of burst damage on a single target. Chainsaw could potentially have issues with dual blades when used against large groups of enemies due to hit stop (but I never noticed such problems) so it's dropped.

     Eraser and it's EX passive can be dropped if you don't feel the need for more single target burst, especially since it'll end combos.  Double piercer can also be dropped fully.

Q01 About Quest Points

     I mostly assigned them automatically during the build section but didn't explain them much. They're pretty straight forward regardless but there are a few options a person has to consider.



Strength, Hit rate, and Physical critical rate are all a must.

     Extra points can be tossed into:  Vitality or Spirit, Elemental Attack, HP or MP regen and move speed. I myself perfer vitality, hp regen, elemental attack and move speed because I rarely have MP issues as a rogue. Keep in mind elemental attack requires an elemental weapon.

     The only stat bonuses you should really avoid are magic oriented stats like intelligence or magical critical rate.  Base damage also doesn't help either since it only affects fixed damage and rogues are all percent damage.  Elemental resistance is decent at best but not exactly worth the QP (then again neither is hp regen in a lot of cases).

G00 Gear

     Though rogues have uses outside of just damage it's generally accepted that rogues do require a certain level of equipment to be effective (especially while soloing).  While choosing what equipment to use (and what to strive for) keep in mind the stats the rogue will want are as following (in no particular order):

Physical Attack, Piercing Attack (upgrades), Critical Damage, Elemental Attack, Strength, Critical Rate, Attack Speed.

G01 Daggers or Dual Blades?

     Simply put, if you could attack a single target, with no fear of retaliation or the target escaping (or dying) both weapons have relatively similar DPS.  Of course, this doesn't take into account things like Scramo Boos' +30% damage, or Assassin's Greeting's similar weapon effect.

     Honestly, daggers are usable mainly because Assassin's Greeting (and to some extent, Aqua Sideros) exists.  The general consensus is that if you plan on going dagger, if you can't afford a +12 Assassin's Greeting you're much better off going with dual blades.  In many cases, the extra damage helps more since you can't just constantly attack in the field.  In many cases (looking at you Ozma) fights will involve very much waiting for the target to become vulnerable in the first place, so doing as much damage in a small time frame is as you might imagine, a big deal.

     In the end though, the choice is mainly up to you, I can afford it, but I personally like daggers because I like being more lenient with cool downs, and I like being fast, but this doesn't mean they're the best.  For the most part I'd recommend dual blades as they're usually cheaper and burst damage usually outshines raw DPS.

G02 Weapons

Daggers

Lvl 40 Suita Biq
Inflicts water damage

     Obvious this dagger isn't for damage.  It's here just because you'll want one if you ever plan on doing Altar of Ascension.

Lvl 55 Scramo Boos
Melee Attacks deal an additional 20% damage

     The bare minimum if you want to go dagger.  Even at +13 it's not amazing since it's so low leveled.

Lvl 60 Assassin's Greeting
Melee Attacks deal an addition 10% damage
Critical damage increased by 10%

     This dagger can only be obtained through Gabriel making it expensive.  Though if you're serious about using daggers, this is what you want. 

Lvl 65 Aqua Sideros
Inflicts water damage
Increases water damage 10 (give or take depending on the quality)
Attack with a 2% chance of freezing the enemy

     Although the dagger is relatively high leveled, it's not that amazing mostly because fire damage is a bit more desirable (elemental weaknesses, burning corpses in Reshpon).  On top of that, the freeze proc ends up being a pain to deal with.

Lvl 68 Filthy Holdout Dagger
Increases back attack damage by 20%
Increases back attack counter damage by 50%

     Seeing as rogue's use both multi hit (which means the enemy will turn around after the 1st hit) and grabs, we aren't exactly proficient at abusing the effects.  Decent for stats alone.

Lvl 65 Steel Flame Dagger
Inflict fire damage
Attack with a 30% chance of dealing an additional 17% damage.

     One of the better daggers, just as good as Assassin's greeting I'd say since you can use a physical damage enchant on it instead of a fire damage one.  Not to mention the nice proc and higher level.

Lvl 65 Silver Flash
Increases the duration of Silver Stream by 10 seconds.

     This weapon is really just something to swap to but it is an epic so it does have nicer stats.

Lvl 65 Corrupt Blood Ritual Knife
+15 strength upon landing rising cut.
+35 strength upon landing shining cut.
+40 strength upon landing bandit cut.
(All buffs last 10 seconds but stack otherwise)

     It's a great dagger, but not one you should expect to come across which is a problem considering you'll want a well reinforced weapon.

Dual Blades

Lvl 65 - 70 Magic Sealed Dual Blades

Now with the advent of magic sealed equipment this is a good choice.  The more desirable effects are:
Inflict elemental (mainly fire or light) damage  
Deal increased damage with attacks (added onto the current number)
Attack to deal additional damage (extra number)
Attack to break enemy's equipment

Lvl 65 Flaming Egyptian Dual Blades
Inflicts fire damage
+0.5% attack speed

     One of the reasons that dual blades are cheap, even at +10 this weapon is nice.

Lvl 64 Militia Captain's Dual Blades
Attack with a 3% chance of increasing your physical attack and defence by 20% and summoning 3 Dark Elf Militia Men by consuming 5% of your HP

     The Noire Ferra unique dagger.  It's very strong and also very hard to get, it can also potentially kill you but hopefully not.

Lvl 65 Gold Blitz
+2% attack speed
Attack with a 3% chance of casting a thunder bolt
Attack with a 3% chance of electrocuting the target
Deal 10% increased damage to electrocuted targets

     Standard pink dual blade for anyone going down that route.  I believe the thunder bolt can electrocute itself (and can also proc more on hits).

Lvl 55 Extreme One's Dual Blades
Attack with a 5% chance to increase physical attack by 30% for 30 seconds
Attack with a 2% chance to destroy the target's equipment

     Very nice dual blade but don't get your hopes up, being an epic means you'll be doing plenty of hell modes before you can even get one of these.  Some people use it simply as a swap after the proc goes off.

G03 Armor

     Sadly, rogue's don't have any unique or set armor that really stands out that isn't available to everybody else.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing but armor shouldn't be too high of a priority especially considering everything else that's important.

Lvl 65-70 Magic Sealed Set

     This is likely what you'll end up wearing.  The stats you'll be aiming for a straight forward:

-Strength (and/or aura)
-Physical crit (and/or aura)

Lvl 60-65 Legacy: Vulcan Set

     Nice for free stats and a feel levels into skills, but anything you can grind for will probably be better.

Lvl 68 Black Plague Set

     The set that many people would (like to) grind for.  It's a very generous amount of free stats on top of decent procs per piece and good procs in the set effect.

Lvl 70 Chronicle Set

     I'd say this is probably what people should be aiming for.  You may not get the raw stats of a legacy or black plague set, but you can modify your skills to make up for that.  Lots of fun things are possible for a chronicle set, such as an effective cool down of 0 on skills such as hurricane or sonic assault.

     If this is your goal, gather some friends because you'll be running more Otherverse 3 than you'll ever want to.

G04 Accessories

Lvl 65 - 70 Magic Sealed Set
You'll be aiming for the same thing as you would be with armor.

Lvl 70 Chronical Set
See section on armor.

Necklaces

Lvl 58 Necklace of Deadly Screams
8% more damage with attacks

     Decent necklace, but the main issue is that it doesn't stack with Assassin's Greeting (or Scramo Boos)

Lvl 55 Pel Los Glory
Attack with 5% chance of increasing strength by 11% for 30%

     The standard necklace of many physical classes.  The proc has an internal cool down of 20 seconds so it's possible to stack it twice.

Lvl 55 Soul Chaser
Consumes a spirit crystal every 60 seconds to increase damage by 20% for 60 seconds.

     The best necklace in the game; I wouldn't even worry about the spirit crystal cost because if you have this you're probably rich or insanely lucky.

Rings 


Lvl 50 Elemental Spirit Rings
Increases (corresponding) elemental damage by 16 (more or less depending on quality)

     If you want one of these, pick the corresponding one to your element.  Luckily they're buy able from Grandis for Radiant Demon Eyes.

Lvl 55 Krazy Ivan's Explosives
Increases fire damage by 18 (more or less depending on quality)

     I like this more than the fire spirit ring because it can be easier to get.  Obviously only useful if you have a fire damage weapon.

Lvl 55 Banishing Finger
Deal 30% more damage to demons

     A solid choice in select dungeons since many enemies are demon types.

Bracelets

Lvl 55 Holy Mithril Relic
Attack with a 3% chance for your weapon to deal light damage for 30 seconds
Take 5% less damage

     Not the best of choices but there really isn't much to put into this slot.  Most people would be better off with a chronicle or magic sealed bracelet.

G05Avatars

     The stats for a set of rogue avatars are very straight forward, we more or less aim for what we can get on regular armor.

Hat/Hair: Spirit or MP regeneration
Face/Torso:  Attack Speed or Abnormal status tolerance
Top:  Mastery of choice or Sonic assault/Excel strike*
Bottom: HP or Physical defense
Waist: Evasion
Shoes: Strength
Skin: Physical damage reduction

Spirit?

     Spirit grants max MP, magic defense and small amounts of regeneration, but obviously MP regen gives much more regeneration.

Abnormal status tolerance?

     Attack speed can get redundant after a point, and many end game area will inflict multiple abnormal statuses on you, making this a very nice luxury.

More cube skill levels?

     An option, but I wouldn't recommend it.  Technically, you get slightly more damage with an additional level of a skill, even before piercing is involved but unless you have an insane amount (as in 1k+) you're likely better off with just getting mastery.

HP or Physical defense?

     HP is obviously a good choice all around but since rogues have such low armor naturally, physical defense can likely give you more effective hp due to mitigation.  However not all (though a majority of) monsters deal physical damage so it can potentially be useless.

P01 Creatures

     Most creatures aren't really worth mentioning since they honestly don't do much.  Many players will end up just using a creature purely for their passive stat bonus.  In some end game areas though creatures can be an invaluable extra skill.

Marbas

5% increased MP
2% Physical and Magical critical chance
Skill: Throws light grenade
Overskill:  Increases damage by a percentage

Most people like this pet, though keep in mind it will take forever for the skill to actually charge.  The nice thing about the regular skill though is that it deals light damage.

Canoneer Askah

5% increased MP
15 Strength
20 Exorcism Parameter
3% all Speed
Skill: Fires a laser that deals light damage and electrocutes
Overskill: Fires a bigger laser that deals more light damage and electrocutes

This pet is mainly used for the exorcism parameter in Otherverse.

Belz

5% increased MP
3% cast speed
Skills change throughout levels

The only real reason to use this is Reshpon, otherwise it's not worth mentioning.

Haagenti

10% increased MP
Skill: Passive MP regeneration increase
Overskill: Acid Rain

Pretty much the same as Belz except that you get more MP regeneration.

Summonable Pets

There are various pets that fit into this category but they all have the same practical use.  Many areas are much easier (or require) extra bodies, and these creatures provide just that.  Keep in mind you're likely not going to summon them to do anything other than die, so most people keep them as extras for swapping.

T01 Tricks of the Trade

     This is just a small section on how to use a few quirks in a few of the rogue's skills.

Breaking Rush into Hit End

     Since Hit End is available for a set time after a skill (with Hit End available) is cast, you can actually use breaking rush to reposition yourself then activate the Hit End.  Obviously this means that at most you'll get only a 4-CP Hit End but it can be useful for catching one last enemy in Hurricane Hit End for example.

Extending Silver Stream

     Silver Stream will only end if you are in a neutral (not attacking or in hit stun) state on the ground, so if you want to extend the duration of Silver Stream for any reason you can do so by remaining in the air using rising cut, hurricane or vertical spiral (or all of them in combination).  This is more useful for saving the finisher than getting extra damage out of the buff.

Full Effect Sonic Assault/Excel Strike on Ungrabbable Enemies

     Normally using either of the two grabs on ungrabbable targets results in a grab cannon like attack, however it is possible to get around those limitations.  For Sonic Assault, using the jump function to move to another target will cause you to perform the grab regularly even on targets that cannot be grabbed.  For Excel Strike, as long as you hit one grabbable enemy along with the ungrabbable enemy Excel strike will play out in full on all enemies (damage, hold and all).

D01 Dungeon Specific Help

Ancient Dungeons

King's Relic

Room 1:  

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This site is a collection of up-to-date guides, maintained by some of the most dedicated players of various classes in DFO.
While articles may contain the personal opinions of the writers, they are opinions based on hundreds of hours of gameplay and the general consensus of their respective communities.