Created by Gold Zephzellian

Summary

They gonna STAB ya! …or some other sort of murking yah! Rogues excel at taking the advantage and dealing immense damage to foes with only the smallest of openings.

The Rogue excels at Advantage and Critical Hits, making heavy use of Advantage to get Critical Hits more often, and when they do…? They hit hard. Like, really hard. Even when they don’t, so long as they have Advantage, their damage is still highly respectable and accurate. This is a deeply focused Sub-Archetype, however; it lacks any tools beyond its focus on Crits and Advantage, leaving it somewhat stunted in other areas without investment. Additionally, when left without a source of Advantage, they can also really struggle to get anything going.

If you’re okay with that, though, the Rogue will take the smallest advantage and steal your heart!

Sub-Archetype Statistics

Ease of Use – ★★★★★

Offensive Ability – ★★★★★*

• Single Target – ★★★★★
• AOE – ★★★★☆
• Disabling – ★★★☆☆

Defense – ★★☆☆☆

• Passive Defense – ★★☆☆☆
• Active Defense – ★★★☆☆
• Healing – ★★☆☆☆

Support – ★★★☆☆

• Offensive Support – ★★★☆☆
• Defensive Support – ★★☆☆☆
• Miscellaneous Support – ★★★☆☆

Skills – ★★★☆☆

• Social – ★★★☆☆
• Physical – ★★★☆☆
• Mental – ★★★☆☆

*: With Advantage and Critical Hits!

Use this Sub-Archetype if you want to…

– Have reliable damage output so long as you can output Advantage. – You want your highest highs to inflict massive damage. – You like Sneak Attack or similar mechanics in other TTRPGs.

Consider avoiding this Sub-Archetype if…

– You don’t want to be so reliant on Advantage and Critical Hits. – If you really don’t want to focus on getting Advantage all of the time. – If you want solid tools other than damage without significant investment.

Features

Tier 1 – Decisive Strike 

You can add 1d6 to the damage of attacks if you have advantage on them. Your critical hits deal an additional 4 damage.

Your Attack damage is increased by 1d6 if you have Advantage on it. +4 Crit Damage.

The defining feature of the Rogue, Decisive Strike tells you to have Advantage at all costs, as you are rewarded with an incredibly powerful damage additive if you do! 1d6 may not seem like much, but it is influenced by damage multipliers! This is a huge boon, as it means that your damage scales very well with any sort of damage multiplier. Weapon Attacks are probably the easiest way to do this, but various other means exist too; more in Synergies! The only caveat is that you need Advantage for this to function, but with proper forethought, you can absolutely make use of this!

The second part is no less impactful, though! +4 Crit Damage is no small thing, given you are already more likely to land Critical Hits to begin with thanks to Advantage. Speaking of, we should probably discuss Critical Hit Rates with Advantage. Here is a chart for yah:

Number to Roll or Better	% Chance w/ Advantage
20	9.8%
19	19.1%
18	27.8%
17	35.9%
16	43.7%
15	51.0%
14	57.6%
13	63.9%
12	69.8%
11	75.1%

As you can see, Advantage effectively doubles your chance to Crit mathematically by default. That’s crazy, and even a little investment causes it to skyrocket even further. However, do note that you will eventually start to experience diminishing returns on Critical Hit rate investment. In practice, I’d say around 3-5 Critical Hit Range is probably plenty for most practical characters. Critting a lot is fun, but it can be a bit difficult to pull off without sacrificing other important things. You also get another feature later that makes not having the highest critical range not that big a deal. Speaking of good sources of Critical Hit Range, though… 

Tier 2 – Critical Advantage

You roll a critical hit even if you roll 2 lower than needed if you have advantage on the attack.

Your Critical Hit Range increases by 2 if you have Advantage on your attack.

An oldie, but a goodie! Critical Advantage simply just further pushes your Critical Hit Range when you’ve got Advantage! This means that without further investment, you have a 27.8% chance to Critically Hit with Advantage! That’s not too shabby at all, and makes even investment-less criticals quite solid and limits the amount of investment you need quite significantly if you want a little more. Overall, a great feature with good synergy with the rest of the kit.

Tier 3 – Hot Hand

Whenever you land a critical hit with an attack that had advantage during combat, you roll a critical hit even if you roll 1 lower than needed with attacks that have advantage until the end of combat. This feature can stack a number of times equal to your Tier.

Critical Hits while you have Advantage increase your Crit Range with Advantage by 1 until the end of combat. Can stack up to your Tier times.

Old Hot Hand has been moved elsewhere! In its place… I’d say Rogue got something far better. Landing criticals with advantage now causes you to snowball critical hit chance, making you truly monstrous if you have time to snowball. This actually synergizes best with multi-hit Rogues, since they can potentially stack this up really quickly. There are some handy Synergies that allow every Path of Attack or Flash Attack user to benefit, though!

Overall, I really love new Hot Hand, it feels far more cohesive than the old version for Rogue’s particular kit.

Tier 4 – Decisive Finish

You can add an additional 1d6 to the damage of your attacks if you have advantage on them. Your critical hits deal an additional 4 damage.

Your Attack damage is increased by an additional 1d6 if you have Advantage on it. Gain a further +4 Crit Damage.

Oh hey, it’s our friend Decisive Strike again! All I said for that goes for Decisive Finish too, but they stack! That’s a lot of potential damage, and can make your damage very silly. But hey, that’s your job, and by GOD are you good at it, especially now!

Tier 5 – Instant Kill

You can choose to deal additional damage equal twice your Level whenever you do a critical hit (no multiplication). You can use this feature only once per turn.

Once per turn, when you Critically Hit, you may deal twice your Level in extra damage (no multipliers).

A very simple, but brutally effective capstone that just adds on even more damage. You’re the Critical Damage KING baby, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! The fact that it doesn’t multiply makes it quite good for Multi-Attack Rogues, but it’s very good for everyone. Enjoy!

Synergies & Tips

Synergies

• Path of Attack: Biggest YEP for a Path choice. Both Decisive Strike and Decisive Finisher’s extra damage alongside Critical Damage are affected by multipliers, making any sort of multiplication a formidable force multiplier. A top-tier Path option for Rogues.
• Path of Flexible Attack: I’d take this around when you get Hot Hand. Hot Hand has no limit on how many times it can be triggered per turn, so being able to switch between lots of attacks and one BIG one is sweet.
• Critical Hit Range Increases: Like mentioned in Decisive Strike, 3-5 worth of these (including Critical Advantage’s 2!) is probably the sweet spot, providing a good chance of a Critical Hit without sacrificing elsewhere. Hot Hand will help make the consistency better from there!
• Critical Damage Increases: As many as you can muster without sacrificing elsewhere! Alongside Critical Hit Range Increases, these’ll be your best overall source of damage output.
• Piercing Rapier: An especially notable example of a Critical Hit Range Increase. +2 Crit Range is basically unheard of for a single Greater Talent with this low of a requirement; it’s more than feasible to focus on attacking a single target in a turn. Amazing for single attack Rogues, but great for every Rogue.
• Quick Fingers/Raw Force Master: Both of these provide a sweet +10 Crit Damage boost so long as the Weapon or Ability your using keys off Dexterity or Strength, respectively. Quick Fingers Master will probably be the most initially useful, but Raw Force Master can be just as useful with some forethought.
• Unleash Inner Avatar: If you can manage to get your hands on an Avatar Breaker or Smasher, this can allow you to turn your WP into honest to goodness CRITICAL JUICE, providing both Crit Range and Damage per WP spent. Awesome.
• Climb to the Weakpoint: …would you believe me if I told you there was an even more bonkers source of Critical Hit Range than Piercing Rapier? Yes, this does require you to invest in Climbing, but it’s totally worth it, with a significant bonus to BOTH Critical Hit Range AND Damage. If you’re into that concept, this’ll give you a ton of power, even in spite of a recent nerf.
• Assassination Strike: Holy moly Critical Range and Damage, Batman! These benefits are fantastic by Ability standards, but needing to Hide necessitates building around it. If you can, though… hoo boy.
• Sniper Shot: Not as easy to build around as Assassination Strike, as long range is not a guarantee in most campaigns, but if you can, it’s just as good, if not better than it’s cousin.
• Critical Maneuver: A more recent addition to the Critical Maneuvers collection… is a Lesser Talent! This allows you to increase Crit Range for every Damage Maneuver in the game. That’s AWESOME! The WP cost needs to be kept in mind, but this can open up some really fun playstyles.
• Snake Spirit: More Crit Range alongside more damage and Advantage on Stealth? Yes please! Scaling the Crit Range increase is unfortunately a bit cumbersome, but this is still a great buff for Rogues.
• Counter Block: Free crits! ‘Nuff said! While it doesn’t benefit from any multipliers by itself, it more than makes up for it by ensuring you get that Critical Hit so long as you connect your attack.
• Overaim: One of the best Greater Talents in the game! Overaim provides its user the ability to Critically Strike if they roll at least 10 over the target’s Evasion. That. Is. AWESOME. You already sort of go for this with Advantage, and serves as an alternative to when you don’t Crit normally. The catch is that Critical Hits this way only get half the Critical Damage you normally would, but this still comes out on top in comparison to all other generic sources of damage increases. It also counts as a Critical Hit for Hot Hand, making it a lot easier to scale. Seriously! An amazing tool for highly accurate Rogues.
• Lightly Armored Assassin: Wearing Light Armor? This could be a potentially interesting option for you! Every time an enemy misses you, you get Better Crit Range and Damage until the end of your next turn, up to a maximum of three times. There is a very interesting build concept possibly here, which could be worth looking into.
• On Critical Effects: There are a number of effects that trigger when you get a Critical Hit, and you’re one of the most consistent at triggering them. These can be a lot of fun, but one especially notable one is…
• Critical Matter: You didn’t think Weapons were the only Crit machines, did you? This allows you to duplicate your Damage Ability casts and cast them again at no cost on a Critical Hit, albeit dealing half damage. That is still an incredible deal, and makes this worth a look for Rogues going for Ability focused Criticals.
• Spell-Knife T2: Known as Spectral Knife, this Ability allows your DRs to Critically Hit! Admittedly, this is less good for you, who generally relies on having Advantage to get more damage out, but it’s still a great tool to pressure a foe’s low rolls with.
• Executioner: You’re bound to take down or target weakened foes every now and again as a Rogue, and Executioner rewards a wide range of benefits for doing so! From extra Crit Range, to Temporary Vitality, and even a Demoknight-esque HEADS MECHANIC, the Executioner heavily incentivizes you to get in there and get killin’, something you’ll be doing anyways.
• Assassin: Almost just as Critically focused as you are, but with Damage Maneuver Abilities! If you can afford the WP price, Assassin will improve your Crits all around! It even provides a WP discount to make it easier!
• Advantage Sources: Simply put; Rogues need their Advantage. Getting sources of them and making them consistent is key to success. A few of the best are below:
• Dirty Fighter: Probably the cheapest source of Advantage for a Rogue, Dirty Fighter works very well with Cunning’s already great Skill game and converts it into Advantage for you in a myriad of different ways. It also opens up a lot of fun options elsewhere, too, making it a top-tier option for Rogues.
• Shadow T1: Known as Hide in the Shadows, this converts Hide into an immensely effective means of gaining Advantage. Combine with Dirty Fighter and a good Stealth score for best results, and combine with Assassination Strike to truly murder targets. You might also need to take some Vision hate later down the line, depending on what sorts of enemies you are up against.
• Flanker: One of the most straightforward sources of Advantage, and also one of the most affordable to boot! It doesn’t require any checks, just a friend within melee range to your target! That’s really it! All for a single Greater Talent. Delightful!
• Rage Abilities: Oh dear lord… okay, I forgot about these in the initial guide, but these are actually some of the BEST Advantage granters around if you can handle the cost. Does take up your Buff slot AND gives you Disadvantage on other things… but hey, sometimes this is what you need. 
• Strike True: An Ability, but a rather good one, Strike True requires you to wait a bit, but rewards you with not only Advantage, but also double damage and great defenses for the duration! One of the better options, surprisingly!
• Perception Master: A phenomenal means of Disadvantage denial, all but ensuring you get Advantage. Invisibility denial and denying Advantage against you is just icing on the cake!
• Fool’s Luck: An alternative to Perception Master. While it does have a usage limit, it completely turns Disadvantage on its head, making it an ADVANTAGE for you! Again, usage limit, though, so use it wisely!

Tips

• As mentioned above, having a consistent source of Advantage is very important, but so is being able to deny any Disadvantage against you. Doing so is in your best interest to avoid losing out on your best tools.
• Working with your party can make Rogue significantly more effective than it would be otherwise. They can help provide you Advantage, crucial for your best tools, and buffs to your damage, making you even more of a menace than usual. Every Sub-Archetype benefits from this, obviously, but Rogue benefits from it more than most.
• Critical Damage can be a bit confusing if you don’t understand it’s moving parts. Any Crit Damage Sources that affects Weapon Damage directly or is generic are affected by multipliers. The initial 6 Critical Damage counts for this! Ability-based Critical Damage, on the other hand, is not affected by multipliers, including the initial 3 Critical Damage per Tier of Ability cast. Keep this in mind when building your Rogue, as it’ll be crucial to your damage output.

Sub-Archetype Build Showcase

Simple Build

A simpler Rogue, this build is quite traditional. With quite good bulk and a good mix of critical range and damage, this Rogue can get scrappy, throwing themselves into fights. With Flanker to provide straightforward, but good Advantage, this build can easily deal 60+ damage on Critical Hits (which happen on 15+!), and that’s before Physical Weapon, which can easily pump it to 70+, or even 80+! All of this is packed in a well-rounded kit with reasonable damage outside of Critical Hits as well, alongside good accuracy with Precision Attack and One-Handed Precision. 

This build’s biggest downside is a lack of innate healing, which means they’ll have to work with their team to get that. If that’s okay, though, this Rogue is straightforward, but effective!

Experimental Build

Remember Critical Matter? Well, this build takes advantage of that little Greater Talent and RUNS with it! By sacrificing its bulk and skills, it gains an impressive caster kit, built around Strike True, Multi-Physical Bolt, and Lucky Streak. In short, this build uses Strike True on turn one to prepare to just LAY IN to a target with Multi-Physical Bolt, and hope for crits! Each Critical Hit will build Lucky Charges for Lucky Streak, allowing a transition into Physical Bolt to deal bigger hits instead. Chosen One on Prodigy T1 enables rerolls in case this goes somewhat poorly, making it easy to get online. Once online, you got access to healing as well from Battle Medic, making you a surprisingly decent healer.

What you lack in exchange for all these cool tricks is a lack of Skills and Bulk. You definitely have Ability based bulk in Parry and Resist, but those can only take you so far, especially without any source of Temporary Vitality. It can be a dangerous game… but a fun one.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Rogue is a monster of Critical Hits and Advantage both, and is capable of nuking whatever you point it at. Thanks for reading! If you have any fun builds that could help show off Rogue more, feel free to send them to me on Discord at goldzephzellian!