How to Kill a Rogue: a Guide!

[Alhuntrazeck]

Hey folks,

Disclaimer: This guide is strictly for those who have trouble killing rogues in 1v1s - so yes, I'm not talking to you, arcane staff users. This guide is more geared towards the half-mythic/non-mythic users. Oh, and the build I use here isn't mine, it's Drgrimmy's with some tweaking of my own.

Now that that's out of the way...

1. There's a Thunderstorm Coming!
This is one of my most favorite builds versus those snipers.

I chose this particular title because in this build, you will hit the rogue with all the elements you see in a thunderstorm!

Here we go...
I. The Skill Build
If you're having trouble using fire, light, shield and heal or whatever killing rogues, then this build below is for you!

Ice: The DoT is necessary. Other than that, it depends on what you like to run with.
Curse: 5/5
Shield: I prefer 4/5 without Displacing Wave.
Lightning: 1,2 and 4 upgrades.

Passives:
Might: 5/5
Agility: 5/5
Knowledge: 5/5
Critical Shot: 5/5

If you have the spare points, invest in damage passive.

However, beware: Damage buffs don't stack. So if you're running with a pet that adds damage %, it will not stack with your passive.

Why this build is useful:

Rogues with HP below 3.5k usually will not attack while they're under curse. Fighting mages with 1 attack skill makes it a breeze to wait till the curse is over, picking up packs when it is necessary.

But now you have two of your hardest hitting attack skills. Which they won't be prepared for. With light and ice bashing them, they'll have no choice but to keep running for packs - and if the rogue has HP below 3k, there is no way they will last.

II. The Gear/Stats

In this era of mythics, you will need mythics to compete - or youll find it very hard indeed. The bare minimum of stats you must have to challenge most rogues are:

3.3k HP
470 damage
1k armor

If you don't have these stats, you'll very likely be walked over by full mythic rogues.

Gear preferred is:

Expedition Rifle of Brutality
Mythic armor & helm/Tarlok's armor & helm
Silver Hoop of Brutality/Ruby Band of Brutality
Lunar Pendant/Tarlok's Heart of Brutality

You should play around with your stats to meet and/or surpass the bare minimum I have given above. If you're lacking in strength, feel free to socket blood gems; this is the wonder of our crafting system!

Now that you've got the gear, it's time to get yourself some good pets!

III. The Pets

I like pets that add lots of STR while not decreasing your damage values too much. Malison is the best choice.
But if you have decent stats, here are pets which I love using with this build:
a. Orion - the chance to panic on AA, good happiness bonus, 10% damage boost (remember, doesn't stack with damage passive!), and debuffs on passive attack make it a great all-round pet. A good alternative to Malison.
b. Ribbit - Not really recommended for this build, but if you can pop it and then charge ice-lightning in quick succession, you'll hit pretty darn hard.
c. Colton - Again, not really recommended; its damage boost is good though.
d. Ethyl - Personal favorite. It adds 15 int and str, 10% damage and 6% crit. Its AA is, however, what you'll be using a lot...read more in the next section.
e. Grimm - If you can afford it, its THE pet to use. Refer next section.

IV. The Fighting

And finally, the fight.

When you and your opponent are assembled in the spawn room, all ready to be off, and the countdown begins (3, 2, 1...GO!) your first move will be to charge forward. In the Charge of the Light Brigade, you must pop your shield and drop lightning on the rogue. If all things work as planned, your rogue will be waiting for you to arrive, with packs dropped neatly around her. Close the distance rapidly and charge ice. The combined effort of your light and ice should be enough to make the rogue run for her first pack. Your ice will have the double benefit of sloooowing the rogue down. Now is the time to unleash curse!

i. Orion: Use its stun immediately after curse is over, but you have to make sure ice and light are ready. Then, if the rogue is stunned, unleash ice and light in quick succession. This should be enough to kill a rogue; curse is essentially a double-shield. If it doesn't though (some rogues have 4k hp D: ) you have to spam ice and lightning and auto attack. Fragile method.

ii. Ethyl: A personal favorite. While the rogue is running to her packs, use Ethyl's arcane ability - this will slow the rogue down so much it'll be unable to reach faraway packs! THIS is the time to stay out of dagger range if mythic/magma daggers and spam ice and charged lightning.

iii. Ribbit: Tap ribbit before using light-ice combo. This can be immediately after popping shield in the Charge.

iv. Grimm: As soon as shield, lightning, ice and curse has been used, use Grimm's AA. It has devastating debuffs - and THAT is when you show the rogue just how hard you can hit.

Panic pets are of course great.

An important thing to watch out for are rogues who charge SP. They can cancel your curse so be careful!

V. Pro Tips
A traditional rogue starts a fight using two ways. They are:



The PACKS way and
The BOW way.

I. The PACKS way:



In this method, the rogue begins by dropping her packs. What you want to do here is run forward, delaying shield as much as you can - that is, as soon as the rogue drops the packs, pop it. This makes whatever she hits you with null and void.

Then follow the guide.

II. The BOW Way:



In this method, the rogue begins with a charged bow. Now, you must pop your shield as soon as the rogue gets near enough for her bow to hit you - shorter than aimed shot's distance; it'll take practice to recognize the distance changes. Then follow the guide.

It is imperative to NOT delay shield, because a rogue's charged bow stuns and those with fast fingers follow up with an aimed and nox combo - instant death.

As you can see, both methods vary in looks, so its pretty easy to know when to use what.

Always let the rogue charge her skills first.

Below's a video showing how to use this tactic in a fight.



I'm sorry about the bad quality! I have a bad screen recording software.

2. Outdamaging the Damage Class
The title here is very relevant, because in this build you're going to make most of the rogue's weaknesses in a special build below.

The gear and stats remain same as above, although pets differ...

I. Pets:
i. Shadowlurk: The optimum pet for this build. 20% damage and 20% crit? Puh-leez. Them roguesies don't stand a chance.
ii. Grimm: Its my second choice in this; the debuffs on AA make finishing the rogue off easy.
iii. Ribbit
iv. Colton

'Nuff said. On to the skills...

II. The Skills
The build you're going to use here is:

Fireball: 4/5, except Scorch
Ice: As in the previous guide, whatever works for you. I choose the original upgrade, Shiver and Jagged Ice.
Lightning: 3/5, except Electrical Discharge and Shock.
Shield: 4/5, except knockback.

Passives:
INT: 5/5
STR: 5/5
DEX: 5/5
Now, if you're using Shadowlurk, get crit passive. Ribbit? Damage passive.

On to the battle!

II. The Fight
As before, you need to watch the way the rogue starts. If she starts with packs, you're going to go this way:
Shadowlurk: Use shadow's AA, charge FB, while the rogue's stunned, charge lightning, tap ice, shield, follow up with fire-ice-light combos.
Grimm: Charge FB, lightning, ice, shield, follow up with combos.
For Ribbit and Colton, do the same as Shadowlurk.

If the rogue starts with bow, do the same except while starting with shield.

3. Bomb Disposal
This section shows ya how to fight those out-of-the-box rogues with Veil.

First thing I thought of when I first fought my first veil rogue (Zeus) I thought, "Okay, so curse will suck here." Reason? Veil raises a rogue's stats by 20% armor and 15% damage - curse's debuffs will not be much use here. #2, rogues with veil typically use AS, sp, veil, packs. No nox = no crippling a rogue by making it use 2 skills alone.

Finally I came up with this build:

I. The Skills:
Ice: original upgrade, Shiver and Jagged Ice.
Lightning:3/5, except Electrical Discharge and Shock.
Shield: 4/5, except knockback.
Lifegiver: 2/5, original upgrade and mana (though you don't need to get the mana upgrade for this 1v1, you WILL need it in clashes. Don't use this upgrade if you're using this build just for this 1v1, though.

Passives:
INT: 5/5
DEX: 5/5
STR: 5/5
DMG: 5/5

II. Pets
Pets you use here are Grimm, Slag, Malison, perhaps Shadowlurk and Ribbit - though I don't recommend it, especially with 2 attack skills.

Onto the battle.

III. The Battle
Good thing about this build is the rogue'll have to use both veil and packs, giving you time to begin with ice and lightning. Playing this is relatively simple; you stay out of the veil no matter what, and spam ice and lightning. One handy trick is to use Grimm's AA just before an ice-lightning combo; the veil's effects are reduced for a short time. Keep in mind Grimm's passive procs pretty frequently, and is an added bonus.
Whenever possible, try and lure the rogue outside her veil and bombard her.
Heal at 30-40%. That's it You either win this, or lose this. Its a bit tricky.

Key to mastering the above guides is timing, skill and practice, practice and more practice. Know your skill's range. Know your stun time. Adapt to your opponent's moves.

That brings us to the end of this lil guide.

Hope y'all can now kill those pesky snipers! With this guide, even non-mythic mages can easily challenge mythic rogues - I have killed several using this method.