Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Help/Tips/Tricks Rogue or Shadowblade for Scoundrel+Poly?

i want to play a "rogue" type of class, so i was going to make a rogue but i saw that Shadowblade already starts with the Scoundrel+Poly preset, so i came here to ask this question. whats the main differences between Rogues and Shadow blades and wich one is better for this combination?

Rogue

• Rogues start with two daggers, dual-wielded.
• Rogues start with +1 CON.
• Rogues start with the Pawn Talent.
• Rogues start with Dual Wielding and Sneak. (I recommend changing Sneak to Thievery.)
• Rogues start out with Throwing Knife and Adrenaline

Shadowblade

• Shadowblades start with one dagger.
• Shadowblades start with +2 WIT.
• Shadowblades start with Guerrilla. (It is BAD. Change that immediately!)
• Shadowblades start with Polymorph and Thievery (Thievery is better as the first Civil skill.)
• Shadowblades start out with Chameleon Cloak and Chicken Claw.

Both of them start with +2 FIN, Scoundrel, and Backlash.


Either way, you should probably change something. Sneak is not that useful, and if you really want both, you can be a (living) Dwarf Rogue. The Guerrilla Talent on Shadowblade is very bad and pretty much no one should take it. The Pawn is better.

I honestly don't really see much advantage to starting out as a Shadowblade. You get fewer daggers and no weapon skill, which means less damage, which means that it'll be harder to chip away at enemy armor to make use of Chicken Claw.

If you want Polymorph, you can start as a Rogue and spec into that before you ever really need Invisibility, and missing out on Adrenaline would be a mistake. (Throwing Knife you can take or leave.)

I noticed that when i start as rogue i cant choose both Poly and Scoundrel, why is that?

Starting as rogue could you give me quick guide on how to proceed and a start build? (if its not asking to o much (im really new to the game))

I would actually recommend Elf or Undead for Polydrel

On the boat you get a head from the investigator which when consumed gives you Adrenaline. If you go Throwing Knife, Backlash, and Chicken claw, you almost immediately get Adrenaline free as long as you have enough memory.

That being said, I would take Mnemonic as a talent over The Pawn. Having +3 to Memory is a huge boon at any phase of the game and being able to consume body parts for multiple skills is important. Most of the time you should be maxing Scoundrel and backlashing from enemy to enemy and ending turns out of sight cones for free turns, so The Pawn doesn't really do much for you. You should have excellent movement already.

If you can swing Undead/Undead Elf and manage poison well, using the mask to go into human or dwarf roles for high range fights (dwarf for Sturdy:Gives you +10% max Vitality and +5% Dodging.) or melee fights (human for Ingenious:Rewards you with +2 Initiative and +5% Critical Chance.) That way you can manage sticking chicken claw effectively to targets that carry knockdown/ram or use your passive dodge to avoid ranged attacks.

If you play in a team of players, you don't want the highest initiative/wits since you want to stick throwing dagger to targets that already have no phys armor.

If you play solo, mnemonic is irrelevant and you should take Lone Wolf.

I understand that but i really want to play as a human. Any suggestions on how to get the better of it.

Also, my last question. I dont understant why i cant start with poly and scoundrel and dont know exacly wich talents and abilities i should start with.

Here's a basic build:

Human - Shadowblade Preset
-Wits (You get initiative racial which is why)
+Finesse

1 Thievery
2 Scoundrel

Skills: Backlash, Throwing Knife, Adrenaline

Talents:
Parry Master(1), Torturer(3), Mnemonic(8), Walk It Off (13), personal choices afterwards.

Abilities level ups:
Poly 2 by level 7 at the latest to start using "spread your wings". You really want it earlier, probably around level 5-6 since it makes fights in the catacombs much easier. This is where that extra memory comes into play at level 8. Only really need Poly 3 for skin graft and vitality global skills by late game, otherwise just pump Scoundrel to max.

The reason why Torturer and Walk It Off are in here is because your whole kit is about statuses, and you will want to avoid being stun-locked in shocking blood pools as often as possible. If you're not in sneak, your dodge % is what saves your bacon. With the right gear and talents, getting 30%+ in the early game is not impossible and really turns fights around when it seems hopeless.

You will buy your core kit, chicken claw/wings/chameleon and later get skin graft and other status fists.

Uhh, im sorry. You got me confused. I tought you guys said that it was better start as a rogue instead of shadowblade...

Interesting. I think I've muddled my own build a bit too much. Well... actually I want to muddle it.

I went as Beast as a Rogue, and took Parry Master as the level 3 Talent, but I also took Chameleon Skin and later Chicken Claw. But what I want to do is to be a Positioning Master Rogue focusing on dodge above maximizing damage.

That would mean taking Aero 2 and I am reluctant to spend Attribute points on all the Memory slots I'd need to have Scoundrel, Poly AND Aero skills. Perhaps I'll spec out of Polymorph and into Aero later... or pick up Aero anyway and Memnonic for the extra memory.




There are a lot of ways to build Rogue-type characters.

You should be able to take both Scoundrel and Poly if you remove the point from Dual Wielding.

You change it all. Go into Attributes, and hit "Edit" and just change what skill lines you're spec'd into. Take it out of Poly and put it into scoundrel again or vice versa. Almost everything can be changed during character creation.

I personally play the following for my own rogue:

Elf Shadowblade

Default Attribs

Mnemonic level 1

1 Scoundrel
1 Poly
1 Sneaking

Then I pick the rest of my talents as I go. I go into thievery after character creation because sneaking lets me blitz the boat and shore drivel. Once I start source blast scene, I grab the hunk of leg and get adrenaline. So I start off with the 4 skills and go fast.

Stab the scared magister for first kill, 12 wits gives me the initiative over the other magister.. adren+sac and unload skills for untouchable kills in the beginning. Same thing with the cockroaches but use chicken claw since they lack armor. By the time i'm in town I've done the card table aggressive method and gotten quick level 2. Then I talk to elodi, get the huntsman skill from the head piece and loot the caves but dont do the frogs. Use the restore scroll from the boat on the sick dude for his stuff then take the mushroom from healer, make potion, then go from there. I usually will try to clear first fire slug from dug up entrance by migo and then scout out the first part of prison for loot at the waypoint. By then I backtrack, do crocs for the gloves, do frogs, teleport the chest for more loot, and do the rest of the fort in order that tickles my fancy. After level 4, rogue is stupidly easy. massacre the townsfolk by the cook and get all the gear... arena is a walk in the park after that.

What you guys think about this for starting:

Human - Rogue
Finesse +2
Constitution +1 (Should it stay that way or do i put it in Fin?)

1 Thievery
1 Scoundrel
1 Poly

Skills: Backlash, Chicken, Cammeleon

Talents:
Parry Master(1)


And then follow what skupers said before...

imo that 10% dodging isn't gonna be THAT helpful early on, but that's just me.

Can go for another talent, like Pawn for free movement, which ends up being huge, or even Pet Pal for more dialogue and quest (even better if this talent is on the guy you're gonna have persuasion on, so you can just lead the whole party with that companion and he'll do all the talking).

you can start with poly and scoundrel. I did and it was not an issue at all.

the reason why human is bad for scoundrel though is because that 5% crit chance is wasted. as rogue you should always backstab which means you'll have 100% crit anyway. the racial boons aren't that important though. so go for the human if you must :P

the reason shadow blade starts with only one dagger is to use sucker punch. I think people kinda misunderstand the role of the SB. The initial design means for it to be a trickfull disrupter not a burst damage dealer like the rogue.

completely different role. ofc the rogue will end up getting cameleon cloak asap too but that won't be necessary untill lvl 4 or 5.

honestly though. Go for whatever you like. The only rules that you really need to follow for a beginner:
- invest every 2nd level or so into constitution.
- to keep yourself well geared spend that one point extra into str and int whenever gear requires it.
- primary damage combat stat for physical daggers is warfare! not scoundrel not dual wield. scoundrel is for utility and learnign the skills from the schools whiel dual wield you pick as a more defensive option if you decide to stack evasion.
- 1 poly for chameleon cloak + chicken is usually enough
- for a physical rogue 2 points in necro are basically a must

talents in no particular order: the pawn, living armor, what a rush, (choose one: picture of health, parry master, stench)

must have skills: whirlwind, crippling blow, challenge, backlash, cloak and dagger, sawtooth blade, rupture tendon, mortal blow, chameleon cloak, chicken touch, decaying touch, shackles of pain, bone cage, living on the edge and death wish
this build needs 18 total memory slots.

this basic outline will give you a very simple but effective scoundrel. you won't need as much memory.
a lot of people will tell you to get 1 point in fire for clear mind and haste. I need to stress that this is not necessarily worth it unless you want to run a solo lone wolf build. if you need it instead let one of your mage companions pick it up. Spreading your points thin just makes you trade one kind of damage buff for base stats that would achieve the same in terms of simply scoring the kill.

important things to note:
- whirlwind can backstab
- when using rupture tendon + chicken claw you can apply massive piercing damage to a target but make sure you position yourself in a way that the enemy has space to run far away
- living on the edge + deathwish + what a rush have beautiful synergy
- picture of health becomes a great talent later on, as you start speccing heavily into warfare once your first 8 points are spent(1 poly, 2 necro, 5 scoundrel)
- decaying touch is a great kill saver though don't use if you know the enemy has fortify ready.
- save chameleon cloak for when you needed to use living on the edge and it ran out.
- with picture of health, living armor , challenge, shackles of pain and bone armor you have a very sturdy little killing machine.focus down the mages with no phys armor first and benefit from their death. killing is literately what will keep your armor full :P thank god you will be great at it.


some advanced things:
depending on your team your scoundrel might not want to focus on physical damage.
3 fire, 3 geomancer, 1hydro rest scoundrel instead of 2 necro and warfare stack is the short answer to this .
The long answer: Firebrand, venom coating, siphon poison, ele damage rune will make it so that your skills deal more elemental damage than physical damage. lvl 1 geo venom coating alone enhances your damage by roughly 30 ~ 50% on physical damage stacked builds that is! So the damage boost is massive. one fun fact saw tooth blade converts all the elemental damage into piercing damage ^_^, thus prepare for some huge crits going straight to their lifes with it.
you can replace chicken claw with terrifying cruelty for the same effect but instead checking on magic armor.
chloroform and gag order become very attractive options too
1 hydro gives you access to vampiric hunger + 50% life steal which you will need with this kind of build. sparking swings I haven't tested yet but it might be worth a shot too ^_^
because you now mix 3 damage types scaling crit damage suddenly becomes the best option in order to scale your damage - you could also sit at 5 scoundrel and instead spec into dual wield for more evasion

Wait, backstab is always a crit ? Even with auto attack ? That would surprise me, I am pretty sure I already did not critical damage backstabs.

And Andmann, I always like your maths, but what do you mean by Venom Coating is roughly 30-50% more dmg ?

Backstabs always do same damage as critical hit would do. ESPECIALLY with autoattacks, as many skills dont work on backstab.