I've given in and upgraded my oldest existing character to Heroic. Back in 1999, Rogues really didn't have many buttons to press; now they do. I'm looking through my disciplines and had a few questions. First, what's the difference between Pinpoint Weakness/Vitals/Vulnerability? The description for all three is "increases damage from backstabs by 6%." All have a thirty-second duration and a two-minute reuse timer. If the effect is the same, and the duration is the same, and the reuse is the same, and they're all on the same timer, why wouldn't I want to use the lowest level, lowest cost one? Second, why in the world does Spirit of Sloth not stack, and in a related matter ugh poisonmaking goes up slowly. Third, what should I be pairing with Assassin Discipline - Deadly Precision, Twisted Chance or Blinding Speed?
The higher level pinpoint lines should be resisted less on higher level mobs. Since you mentioned poisonmaking in the same line, I'm assuming you are asking why the poison proc slow myrmidon's sloth does not stack with other casted slows. The answer is probably that it is intended to be used only when you have no other slower, because if you do, a different utility poison would be a better choice. This one I don't understand. All of those are disciplines, and as such, you can only use one at time. A more appropriate question would be, what should I pair with rogue's fury? And the answer is usually frenzied stabbing discipline, with rare circumstances making twisted chance better (piercing weak mobs or no access to rear arc). Later, rogue's fury duration is long enough to use both.
Noted, thank you. My complaint about spirit of sloth is that it doesn't stack in your inventory. That makes it always to both use and sell.
Spirit of Sloth is an old-school poison which generally are not stackable in inventory and are single charge. I would look into making Myrmidon's Sloth which you should be able to find Pristine Oleander's for pretty easily -- http://www.eqtraders.com/items/show_item.php?item=32594 .. It's a pretty high trivial but any of these types of poisons made from the dropped plant extracts are good to skill up with. Most people just sell them on to vendors if they aren't the highest level type of plant which are called 'Tainted'. I'm sure there are people who save them; I'd try asking around for lower level poison materials people would offload.. if you're on Xegony I'd have plenty to spare. Items/components to keep an eye out for from drops would be as follows: (The adjective generally dictates what level poison the plant makes, whereas the plant dictates what type of poison is actually made .. some are not so useful but still good for skill ups) Lower level ones not listed but in zones you're hunting in you'll probably find - Fine (70), Quality (75), Superior (80), Pristine (85), Immaculate (90), Flawless (95), Tainted (100) Oleander (makes Myrmidon's Sloth: Slow poison) Laburnum (makes Warlord's Bane: Slightly less effective slow but also gives an ATK debuff) Caladium (makes Fighter's Bane: Attack Debuff) Muscimol (makes Quellious' Trauma: Aggro reduction) Privit (makes Archer's Bane: Accuracy Debuff) also used for other poisons Delphinium (makes Monk's Bane: Avoidance Debuff) also used for other poisons Larkspur (makes Messenger's Bane: Snare poison) You can use 1 of the above listed 'utility poisons', which typically have 100+ chargers per use, as well as 1 damage poison (Bite of the Shissar most commonly) at a time. Additionally, the components Gormar or Nigriventer venom are used to make poisons that can be applied by other classes (Spider's Bite / Scorpion's Agony). While these aren't generally useful for rogues to apply it provides another way to skill-up poison.
Thanks, I appreciate it! It seems like the tradeskill herbs sold to vendors are more expensive than the ingredients for Spirit of Sloth, which trivials at 275, so I think I'll be sticking with the irritation of that for a while longer. I'm only at ~215 poisonmaking at the moment, and it takes forever to level up; I'm going through 40-60 sets of components and getting 1-2 skillups out of it. Are there any stacking issues with the utility poisons, damage poisons - including Bite of the Shissar, but there are other ones, right? - and Rogue abilities like Envenomed Blades or Sleight of Hand? Presumably, third spire is the most useful one. In a full burn, should I be using that in conjunction with Rogue's Furry and Frenzied Stabbing? Or should I be using it some other time or in conjuction with some other set of abilities or disciplines?
AA Activated stuff like Envenomed Blades will stack with anything that it doesn't share a timer with (the only notable one really is Envenomed Blades & Dirty Fighting share a timer (Acc. debuff proc AA). Sleight of Hand stacks with all but Arcane Blade proc (Bard song) For the discipline related stuff here's a link to a thread I put together a rough write-up in.. note that some of the disciplines listed you may not have access to yet so just replace with previous version if applicable (i.e Assassin's (75), Eradicator's (95), Executioner's (100)) -- https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/...uestions-if-anyone-has-the-time-rogue.215232/ Hope that's helpful - and yes, skilling up with Spirit of Sloth is a good cheap option but the lack of stacking can of course be annoying.. just stick to what makes the most sense for you and the amount of plat you want to spend etc. Best of luck.
Thanks, so far so good. WRT poisons, should I be using Bite of the Shissar XYZ or is there another damage poison I should be looking towards for particular situations?
Bite of the Shissar is the best option for damage output + price. At level 100 & 105 respectively there are small upgrades that use expansion wide drops - Etherbrewed Toxin (CoTF) & Mana Poison (TDS). Other damage poisons include Tallon/Vallon's tactic which are generally meant to be used in raid setting as one procs a debuff on a mob that makes the other deal more damage and vice versa (so 2+ rogues using them is ideal). Hero's Toxin is another poison that deals more damage to raid NPC's but I've never really used it much. I'd just stick with Bite of the Shissar until Etherbrewed is more viable for you (level & rarity of the component 'Ethernere Essence' are a factor)
