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
