Where to start, where to begin?!
To sum it up rather swiftlike.....We kill single targets very, very well. Its pretty much the main function of the MI EXE TR.
TR's have good, consistent damage, and an arsenal of very useful tools to do it with. We also possess one of the best Dodge Mechanics in the game, allowing for complete immunity while dodging.
We also have Stealth. Stealth. That nasty mechanic that allows us to just simply vanish into nothingness. Very useful for so many things! More later.
Rolling:
Race: I reccomend any race that gives +2 DEX, or a choice of +2 DEX. A TR has no better friend than DEX. Popular choices are Drow, Half-Orc, and Halfling. The Menzo Renegade (A paid for Drow) and the Dragonborn are also solid choices.
Drow: +2 DEX, +2 to either CHA or WIS. Take the CHA
Half-Orc: +2 DEX, =2 to eithe STR or CON. Go with STR
Halfling: +2 DEX, choice of +2 CHA or CON. Again Choose CHA.
OK, TBH, I had a lengthy write up prepared, but decided that a more direct approach would suffice. Any questions may be directed to me in this thread. Please feel free to comment, suggest, or anything that comes to mind regarding the Trickster Rouge.
Ok, the goods: John Rain in a nutshell...
Feats:
You'll notice that I do not have any points in Dethknell, Executioner, bottom row, third in from the left. Deathknell and Last Moments (right next to it) do stack, but I prefer shorter cooldowns, so I put five points into Shady Preparations from the Sab tree instead. This because when you are buffed, some encounter powers may become like At-Wills.
Imagine firing off Smoke Bomb every five seconds....Or a seemingly endless charge of Wicked Reminder.
Powers:
My Bar:
At Wills: Sly Flourish. Last hit applies Armor Breaker, enemies take 5% more damage from all sources for 6 seconds, plus its Feated by the artifact weapons feat.
Duelist Flurry: Slice and dice multiplied; Can include a bleed effect that stacks 10 times and you have a super high deflect rating while in the flurry. However, once DF is locked in, you will follow the enemy wherever they go, this includes over the edge of cliffs and ravines. If your in a party of knock around happy Pally/GF/Sunbursting DC's, please keep this in mind.
Encounters:
Smoke Bomb, Wicked Remnder, Impossible to Catch.
Smoke Bomb: Dazes and damages enemies. Stealthed adds a slow effect. Very useful, unless someone knocks the baddies out of the area of effect.
Wicked Reminder: Lowers targets damage resistance, stacks up to three times. While in Stealth it will apply the three stacks at once. Damage is respectable and affects up to 5 targets in a cone.
Impossible to Catch: Your friend, and oftentimes your savior, ITC is not a joke. Break free of most control effects (the Rangers rooting in the WoD, Dragons screaming that freezes you), once in ITC you are immune to ALL control effects and deflect all incoming attacks. When fired from stealth, YOU ARE UNTOUCHABLE! For six seconds at least:)
Note on the Deflection: This is tied into a TR's deflection severity, which is 75%. You will take damage, but it will be reduced to just 25% of that attacks damage. However, an ITC launched while in Stealth gives you complete immunity, not because of deflection, but because they just simply cannot hit you. Another note, after the second hit of Duelist Flurry, you take on an ITC like phase where you deflect all incoming damage until the attack is over.
Other notable powers:
Lashing Blade: The TR's IBS. Hard Hitting, very hard hitting encounter. Launched from stealth, a LB can hit super hard. I mean like 300K+ hard.
Dazing Strike: A great Daze effect, good damage, and while stealthed dazes and damages everything in a wide cone. Possible to oneshot groups of enemies with this .
Deft Strike: Teleport, and stab the enemy in the back, Grants combat advantage, and fired off from Stealth allows you to target friendlies. I run this in VT, CC, and any situation where following the boss is nice. Also useful for escaping a situation by teleporting out of danger. Not always possible, so its best to respect the RED.
I have been playing around with Blade Flurry but have yet to form an opinion.
Other TR powers like Path of the Blade and Impact Shot are meh, as far as I'm concerned. For PvE purposes at least. PvP is a different story altogether and I may do a write up based off of kalissa, my PvP TR if there is enough interest.
Lastly, my companions:
I run a Stone of Allure and the Archons as you can see. The stone gives me stats and the bonding runestones give me more stats. No companions gift as the stones are stingy and feel that they've given you enough already! The archons work in concert to increase damage output.
My playstyle is rather aggressive. I have made timing mistakes and as a result have been picked up off the floor a few times, but for the most part, this build seems to work for me and I am satisfied with it for now.
Any questions, comments, suggestions, what-have-you, please go ahead and place in this thread. I will be happy to explain my choices, powers and feats, and playstyle, and I am also willing to learn from those.
Thank you for reading,
Rain
OOOH! I said more on Stealth later, didn't I? So here it is.....
Stealth. Singlehandedly the best Mechanic in the game, it allows TR's to strike with 100% Critical Strike chance. You can drop unwanted aggro with it! Now some enemies can 'see' you while stealthed, but the benefits of stealth still apply.
Stealth makes your Powers more effective, and even changes how they work.
Happy hunting my friends!
And I forgot the Boons! And my Dailies!!
Sharandar: Dark Fey Hunter, Fey Precision, Feywilds Fortitude, Elven Ferocity, Fey Thistle
Dread: Conjurers Gambit, Illusion Shimmer, Illusory Regen, Enraged Regrowth, Augmented Thayan Bastion
IWD: Encroaching Tactics, Rapid Thaw, Refreshing Chill, Cold Shoulder, Avalanche
TOD: Dragons Claws, Dragons Gaze, Dragon Scale Defense, Dragons Blood, Dragons Fury
Underdark: Primordial Might, Primordial Focus, Drow Ambush Tactics.
Still waiting on the books for the last two boons
The Dailies: I run with Courage Breaker and Whirlwind of Blades. CB for the multiple hits, plus the slow it applies as well as the defense lowering. WoB for the AoE, no target limit, your in range, your getting hit thing.
This brings us to Shocking Execution: The end all. This may cause many a discussion, debate, what have you, but this is single handedly the absolute best Daily in this game. It really is.
Shocking Execution has Piercing Damage (ignores all armor) which means it hits absurdly hard, and if landed on a debuffed enemy, spells certain doom. There was a time where ShockEx ignored Tenacity in PvP and TR's would oneshot opposing players, it was fixed to an extent, but the piercing damage alone makes this very, very deadly. I do slot ShockEx in runs like VT, MC, and a select few other runs where we are primarily dealing with a single target.
This has been the the target of the Nerf bat more than anything in this game, damage reduced, and reduced, once to the point where ShockEX wasn't even a choice when slotting powers! Then came Piercing Damage and the resurgence of ShockEx returned.
