Dragon Age: Rogue Melee
February 23rd, 2010 by Samodean

(For a full listing of Character Guides, please go here)

Melee Rogues are very misunderstood in Dragon Age. Zevran is probably the worst companion to bring with you. The AI just doesn’t use them properly, and constantly micromanaging isn’t fun. In addition, their stats can be very confusing to figure out.

Melee Rogues actually have two completely different builds that work well; a Strength-based build with swords and axes, as well as a Cunning-based build with daggers. Cunning builds COULD use swords and axes, but the extra strength required to equip them will draw points away from your Cunning score.

Essentially, it all comes down to playstyle preference. If you want big weapons, go Strength. If you want a more traditional Rogue, go Cunning. The Cunning build does offer slightly higher damage potential, but reduced accuracy due to minimal amounts of Strength and Dexterity.

Party Members

Zevran is tailor-made for this, as either a Strength or Cunning build.
Leliana starts with some Archery skills, but can be made into a strong Cunning Rogue.

Either way, because of the AI not positioning your companions for Backstabs, a melee Rogue is best suited for your main character.

Stats

First, the Strength-based version of the build:
Strength: Maximum – You need a decent amount of Strength to equip the best weapons, so you may as well go all the way.
Dexterity: 36 – This is the minimum necessary for all the Dual Weapon talents.
Willpower: 20 – You’ll need some extra Stamina for all those fun Rogue skills.
Magic: Minimum – Nearly useless
Cunning: 30 – With Device Mastery, this will allow you to pick any lock in the game
Constitution: 15 – Just enough to take a hit or two. If you’re getting hit more, you’re doing something wrong.

Cunning Build:
Strength: 20 – Minimum to equip the best Light Armor in the game. While Lethality bases your attack damage off your Cunning score, you still need Strength for equipment.
Dexterity: 30 – Without taking the Dual Weapon tree all the way to Dual Weapon mastery, this is the minimum amount of Dexterity you will need for the best gear available. Yes, Dexterity does increase the damage of daggers, but not as much as the equivalent amount of Cunning will.
Willpower: 20 – You’ll need some extra Stamina for all those fun Rogue skills.
Magic: Minimum – Nearly useless
Cunning: Max – This is your main damage stat. Note that every 25 points of Cunning equals one rank of Coercion. So, you may only want to invest 2 or 3 points there.
Constitution: 15 – Just enough to take a hit or two. If you’re getting hit more, you’re doing something wrong.

Specializations

Assassin: The best specialization, hands-down. mark of Death is invaluable against tough foes.
Bard: Bard songs scale off Cunning, so this is a phenomenal choice for a Cunning Rogue. Still decent for Strength Rogues.
Ranger: Doesn’t really lend much to the build.
Duelist: It’s a toss up between this or Bard for Strength Rogues. It’s a choice between damage and utility.

Talents

Instead of listing EVERY talent, I will just point out the important ones, both good and bad.

Dirty Fighting: A solid stun, great for taking out Mages. Works perfectly with Coup de Grace.
Lethality: Obviously, this should be the priority of every Cunning Rogue. Your combat damage will be modified by your Cunning score instead of Strength. The extra crit damage is nice for Strength builds, but you’ll have to drop points into two weak talents to get here.
Deft Hands – Device Mastery: These are not necessary, but most players go insane not being able to pick locks. Every rank of this talent is equivalent to 10 points of Cunning. Strength Rogues need to go all the way to Device Mastery, while Cunning Rogues can get by with less. With a Cunning score of 70, you will need no points in this talent to pick even the hardest locks in the game.
Stealth: The Stealth tree is incredibly useful at higher difficulty levels. Your Rogue can sneak in and take out those pesky Mages early in the fight. Also, the ability to set traps across the battlefield before engaging can turn the tide in your favor.
Dual Weapon Expert or Dual Weapon Mastery: Strength Rogues need to go all the way to Mastery, while Cunning Rogues gain no bonus beyond Expert.
Riposite and Cripple: Prototypical Rogue skills. Will score critical hits with high frequency.
Momentum: Another talent to get ASAP. Activate this in between cooldowns for maximum effect.

Tags: character, DPS, Rogue