Rogue rDPS Builds

I have been struggling to find a good rDPS build for my rogue without much success. I look now to the family for some advice - I've tried a few different sabo specs which start out strong (500-600 DPS against T1 boss) but drop down to a baseline of maybe 250-400 DPS after a very short amount of time.
I tried a Ranger spec that was a little more consistent in the 300-400 DPS range, but it still just seems incredibly low when compared to what others in a group bring.

I'm a little concerned with where I'm at with gear. While I don't have a full list of my stats I do know my hit rating is hovering in the 180-190 range and I rarely miss. What are good targets for T2 in terms of physical crit and attack power? As rDPS will these still be pertinent, or do I focus instead on Dexterity?

Any pointers are very much appreciated.

I have the same question. I stick with Ranger/Marksman because I like the range and the ranger's pet can be pretty effective after you fill the class tree up (bonus's for every point beyond 26 I think it is). I only have Marksman so I can get Deadeye and that skill that ups the damage of several Marksman attacks (making the Deadeye finisher more effective). Don't really know a good third soul, so I usually toss in Bard with 8 skill points for the cadence attack heals. Also builds up Combo Points quick since Ranger gives one automatically after a finisher, Cadence adds 3 while healing others, and then do a simple shot at the baddie with something else. Finish with Deadeye and rinse/repeat. As you said, it's fairly consistent in the 300-400 range by yourself, but then you add the pet (the blood raptor) and it may top it up another lil bit I think. I have the same question for gear. I've been focusing on Dex mainly, but have only just hit level 50 and thus haven't done any expert dungeons yet. Tips from the family?

I run a full Marksman primarily, with 7 points in Ranger for Eagle Eye(5/5), Killing Focus(2/2) and the root ability Predatory Instinct, and 8 points in Nightblade for Blazing Fury(5/5), Coup de Grace(3/5), and this gives me a stealth and 20meter sap for 45 seconds which is just a bonus as I chose these secondary souls for the damage. I've seen and tried other variations of full Marksman and thus far found this one very much to my liking. The Marksman will also be getting buffed in v1.2, as it relies heavily on cooldowns for the big damage. As far as stats go, that usually takes pretty good care of itself by just going with the upgrades. Some people stack physical crit, which can be rewarding, but as I am not a very lucky guy I try not to rely completely on chance for my damage, though just by going with the upgrades I am quite happy with my crit percentage. If I am unsure of which item is better I use a point system which makes it quick and easy: Breaking it down the point system is based around dexterity and how your stats are affected by dexterity. 1 Dex = .5 attack power and 1 physical crit. So I figure .5 attack power must be about as good as 1 physical crit, as they are both vital for dexterity souls. And because I rather work in whole numbers than fractions I make .5 attack power = 1 point, and 1 physical crit = 1 point. Now with that basic idea this is how I rate stats -- +1 Strength = 1 point (each point of strength gives .5 attack power) +1 Dexterity = 2 points (gives .5 attack power and 1 physical crit) +1 Attack Power = 2 points +1 Physical Crit = 1 point I have also observed that two items of equal worth, one centering on attack power, and another on physical crit. The attack power item will generally have half as much bonus to attack power as the physical crit item to physical crit. This is another reason that has lead me to believe .5 attack power is essentially equal to 1 physical crit in the general sense. It is different between souls which is more important. And with some you can go either way. It is really something for you to decide, but if you aren't sure then just go with the item with the larger point value. :) (I hope that was understandable and helpful hah)

For ranged i run a build simular to Eldris, except i use Assassin instead of nightblade. Primarilly for the +5 crit and + physical damage. I do try to stack crit, as i love critical damage. The other reason i prefer MM over Sabo and Ranger is the AoE abilities of MM. To be honest, I did not use this as a leveling spec, but as a instance and PvP spec.

I have found my build to work pretty well. I put enough into Ranger to get up to Rain of Arrows, put a lot into Marksman and stick 5 points into Sab Nimble Hands for Dex bonus. I find I do pretty solid DPS. The biggest tip I can give you is to start stacking Hit 50/100/200.

Can anybody who regularly does T2 (and gets invited back - ie: you feel good about your DPS) comment on what your total 'points' are? My totals are: 373 Attack Power 447 Physical Crit 1193 total 'points' (these numbers are from the character sheet and already reflect the bonus from Str & Dex) I don't normally min/max very much but I find myself very unhappy with my damage output. I'm trying to find out if it's gear, specs, rotations, ping, or just plain bad luck. The best way for me to do that is to minimize the variables involved.

Ahh Myth, sorry for logging before I could talk to you like I promised. It totally slipped my mind after we finished the T2, tanking drains me hah. Anyways if you are on today I should be able to help you. Also I do T2s about everyday and am pretty happy with my DPS, here are my stats: 522 Attack Power 690 Physical Crit EDIT: Also I've only used the point system to compare 2 pieces of equipment but I suppose it can be used to compare total stats as well :P 1734 total points

» Edited on: 2011-05-04 08:11:10

I don't have any practical experience in Tier fights as I am still leveling Qaedor, however there are a few discussions on Rogue DPS that I've been following. Aozu's PvE Ranger Guide Seems to be a pretty solid discussion, perhaps it will lend some insight.

Ah - looks like a gearing issue for me then. I've got several pieces I want to replace (and the shoulders I ordered from Gathisa last night should help a bit) but I seem to have a tough time finding a T1 group. It's like a Catch 22 - I'm not geared well for T1 so people dont want me as DPS, and the only way to gear for T1 is to run T1 (or grind faction for a few weeks - something I'm not willing to do).

There is a third way to gear up, the rare crafted gear is very good. Right now i am using a mix of crafted and PvP gear until i can afford the T2 gear. for example, Nahli can make the leather chest (+tough) Finnian can make the mask (+Hit) Someone else can make the shoulders. The down side of this is that the mats are expensive or hard to get (Minor Catalyst) (Eternal Planer Dust)

Like Hygeliac, I also did the purple crafted gear and PvP gear route. But just be ready to provide some mats for your crated gear, or at least provide the Minor Catalyst, because they're hard to come by. PvP gear can be acquired quickly (yet painfully because you'll lose a lot and suffer annoying taunts from Lotham Defiants and QQ of other Guardian players). But I reached Prestige 2 rank within 2 weeks and got a purple helm, boots, amulet and gloves.

I was actually one step ahead of you on the purple crafted gear - I've got the mask, shoulders, and chest (thanks very much to the various crafters that all made it possible!). The gear that I'm unhappy with are my boots, gloves, ring, and weapons. Even so - I strongly suspect that a lot of the problems I was having before were attributable to a bad ranged build. I won't hit the 1k DPS numbers that I dream of until I'm well and truly geared for T2/GSB/RoS, but I think I'm happy with the ~500-600 numbers I can pull off right now. Thanks very much for all of the tips!

Just did my first T1 (FC) and did OK. http://unstablerift.com/?q=node/433 was the spec I used (mostly, went bard for Queen). Current stats: STR 186 DEX 310 AP 273 Crit 485 Hit 153 Endurance 208 Armor 1740 Dodge 310 Parry 186 So rather undergeared, except for hit which ended up too high from some nice drops that also had more crit/dex than the items I previously had in those slots. Clearly suboptimal for a T1 though. RJ parser says the following about the boss fights: 407 dps on Krasmir. 138 on Sparkwing (Pat came, got 1-shot by wrath while moving out of the way.) 297 on Countess (died again :() 411 on Verosa. 282 on Tephra (died twice. Silly rogue, watch your back!) 387 on first attempt at queen. Too many adds, group wiped. Went bard for second attempt so the off-healer could go dps/aoe spec (cleric). Killed boss. So it worked out. I'll have to see how it does as I gear up more. Also, I'm working on figuring out exactly how AP & crit work. How much crit is 1 ap? From some basic (5 min parse) tests on dungeon dummies 1 crit ~= 4 ap. With my spec, etc. I'll try to get a general system for stat equivalency ironed out over the next few days. (Aspecially since Trion costs gear at 1 ap = 2 crit...! From every test I've seen it seems crit is very undercosted.)