by Wertaf

Sneaking through towns undetected, stepping silently from shadow to shadow, this is the typical path of the rogue. Appearing when they wish or silently smiling as their group mates forget their presence are the odd joys of this shadowy class.

Rogues defined in simple game terms are light armored with fair hit points and high amounts of damage per second (dps). Their other typical abilities are stealth, stealing, picking locks and of course the backstabbing.  However rogues are not that simple. The reason for this is that they are underdogs who have to make do with what talents they have.

A rogue cannot buff himself before a fight, heal himself during battle or gate when things look bad. They need to rely on stealth, speed and their survival instinct to let them know when to run. From a soloing standpoint rogues can be hard to play resulting in slow experience and plenty of downtime, but in a group they can really shine and make for a fun evening.

The best thing about playing a rogue is the personality that you can give the character. I personally enjoy a mischievous one with a somewhat short attention span (after all rogues don’t need med breaks). Having no need to sit, I may as well wander around and check things out. This has caused some issues resulting in a sit-and-don’t-move order from many a group or raid leader. Not to mention the from-now-on-don’t-touch-anything order as well (hey was it my fault they made it so tempting). Hide and seek is another fun game to play on those unable to see invisible. After all to be a rogue you have to get into some trouble. But when the fun is over and the fighting starts everyone soon realizes why they keep putting up with the rogue!

Playing the rogue from the more serious standpoint of dangerous assassin can be fun. This is needed to get re-invites into groups! Staying hidden and only being visible long enough to end the fight, evading to avoid agro, scouting for new targets and showing the deadly attacks of the rogue typically suffices. If things do go poorly, the stealth works great for the corpse recovery.

Solo time rogues can be entertaining. Whether a group is unavailable, or some time alone is desired many things are possible. Such as exploring zones carefully, making sure not to be seen, looking for that escape route that may be needed in the future. Then there is just stealing from the merchants and guards to see what you can get away with before hightailing it out of town! 

When it comes to Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, I hope to see a few changes in abilities and play design from the EverQuest rogue. The main thing would be to make a rogue more useful and needed to a group. To start with I wouldn’t mind trying to convert the rogue from a solid damage dealing machine to more of a crippling surgeon with precision attacks. For example, rather than a backstabbing for 2,000 hit points, do instead 1000 hit points in backstab and stun the mob for 20 seconds. Another example would be if you hit the leg for 500 hit points, slow the monster by 30% for 60 seconds. These are just some ideas to get away from pure damage dealing.

Here are some added abilities I think would be fun. One would be disguise. It would be handy to start with an elf and be able to turn into a dark elf or human when needed. There would have to be limitations to this depending on race. After all, it would be hard for a halfling to pass as a half giant. However, they could pass for dwarfs or elves with a little work. Another idea is the ability to trick a non player character or monster out of items. This would be interesting and could fit in the diplomacy sphere. After all, rogues should be smooth talkers it helps them get out of trouble!

I hope for more locked doors in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. This is not to make a rogue required for a group heading into a situation where they will be blocked possibly, but to make it more convenient to have a rogue. A warrior can bash a locked door, but a rogue can pick it, allowing the group to possibly remain undetected.

Additionally, I look forward to the possibility of city tracking because; when in a city the rogue has sources of information and contacts that should give him insight to the location of others. As long as I’m wishing I do hope pick pocketing makes it in game by release every rogue needs a little money for ale!

The information I have heard so far from Sigil Games Online sound interesting. The idea of staying in stealth mode until the right time to strike brings the word stalking to mind. That will be just pure fun wait…wait…wait and surprise! It appears rogues will also have the natural ability, or good sense, to size their opponent up and exploit there weakness in the midst of combat. This will only add to the excitement of the rogue and add tremendous value to a group.

With that said, I will play what ever rogue the developers have envisioned for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, give it a personality and find some trouble in Telon!