Sk vs rogue

The title is an apples to oranges type question at first glance but this is ONLY in regards to damage output.

My friends and I are Geeking out in discord over which classes we will play on launch. I intended on playing a rogue. I know a monk/ranger does it better but I like rogue.

A friend in the group makes the comment "you may as well just go sk. Same damage as a rogue with superior defense"

Honestly I've never ran parses or seen enough to prove or disprove that claim. After some research it would seem a lot of people share this view.

Can any of the phinny sk/rogue mains weigh in on this being the least biased as possible?

For clarification I'd just like to know the damage comparisons of the two in a tank and spank setting with raid gear/buffs as well as shorter duration group fights.

Am I crazy for thinking rogues would parse higher or is the rogue hate circlejerk way stronger than I realized

Didn't need that part. Also, it's not hate, it's reality.

But to answer your question, Rogues parse higher on average. For raids - SK burn will likely be higher in Kunark and on certain parses in Velious & Luclin. They'll show up behind Rogues otherwise, but be far closer than they should be. This is, assuming, of course, that the SK gears properly for dps. Even in PoP SK's can be only about 20% behind a Rog, this is compared other classes, like Mnk and sometimes Rng which can be 30% ahead. For groups it's usually Rogue ahead, although SK's can do some tap spam if they want. They're probably one of the strongest single mob soloers for most of Agnarr's lifespan with their discs.

Of course, the real question is - is that dmg increase from being rog worth giving up 1) great tanking, 2) good dps, 3) great burn, 4) FD, 5) lifetap, and 6) other spells? On Agnarr? I'd roll a shd over a rog in a heartbeat. SK's are an amazing class. Unless you just really really want to be a rog.

You quoted the absolute most trivial part of the post...for what?

Otherwise excellent feedback. The context of the comparison is indeed for just damaging. The group has a puller/snare set up etc. My job is only to kill stuff.

That's when I decided rogue but the popular opinion was sk does the same dmg making them obsolete.

Are there any sites/threads that you know of off the top of your head that I can see an actual parse posted?

Don't care which era I'm just curious how much is exaggerated if any

I'm not sure if the DPS figures hes quoting is when the SK is running their once every 72mins disc. How is SK dps without running discs, or if your raid is killing 10 bosses in 3 hours? I assume erudite is the best choice for a DPS SK?

Rogues don't see any real DPS jump over other classes until GoD when triple back stab is a thing. So if the server is locking a PoP / LDoN I would recommend not going with a rogue. Enchanter, SK, Monk are some good choices that add value from clasic through PoP and stay relevant.

interesting. i got the general idea that VS other true dps classes the rogue came up short but i didn't know that even sk's are replacing them.

I may just stick with rogue anyways. someone will have to loot the rogue gear that will rot otherwise.

With being unable to get passed locked doors via illusion rogues will be nice to have come Kunark for seb/dok.

For these eras, SKs have two discs - Unholy Aura (spell focus on lifetaps only) for 5 minutes out of every 36 minutes and Leechcurse (lifetap from weapon damage, increase chance to hit) for 42 seconds out of every 67.5 minutes. SK discs have value but aren't incredibly powerful.

It seems from most comments on TLP up to PoP is that rogues are too low compared to everyone else and monks are too high. Rangers supposedly don't really hit stride until Luclin? but otherwise are in line. Bottomline, it is a locked server TLP - play what is fun for you. If anyone turns down a rogue as dps based on their class for a group, you don't want to group with them anyways no matter what class you choose. Same for a raid.

I personally never used or even thought about parsing back in classic. I never, as a Cleric, told a class to beat it because they didn't "parse" higher than another class. Whether it was a Rogue in my group or a SK didn't matter to me as long as stuff died.

Yes I tried to keep my groups balanced but that was it. Things would be much simpler if we ignored the parsing crap and played what was fun and played the role the class was designed for.

Can't comment on Classic or Kunark really.

Velious and beyond a rogue will be way ahead of SKs. Velious is a bit hit or miss depending on which mob you're fighting (Vulak for example has a shitton of AC and so casters do quite well), but rogues can trade parses with most DPS classes.

If you get a bane weapon for VT, I'd say rogues are tied with monks and regularly outparse rangers for the most part.

PoP Rogues and Monks are top, with only the occasional trueshotting ranger showing up.

If you want to play a rogue go for it. Classic won't be very fun times, but once Kunark comes out and you get epic/double backstab, life gets a lot better and only improves from there.

True, things are always simpler when you ignore information and facts.

Simpler does not mean better however

your heart is 100% in the right place but this isn't at all in the context in which the post is about. .i super promise we aren't kicking anyone...i'm just picking a class to main =)

• -We have a premade group and i was planning on playing rogue.
• -Group said sk does rogue dps and has better defense.
• -came here to get more input on how close to rogue dps a sk has in a group setting and in a raid fight setting.

My main was a cleric basically from launch (with a small exception of getting a Ranger to 25 before switching) to the end of PoP and not once did I pick or kick based on a parse. That being said, I personally would choose a Rogue because well, I like them and have played a couple on EQ Progressions (the 1st one way back) and P99. Despite not being super loved I still had no trouble finding groups.

Rogues don't get good until Luclin/PoP. SKs are way better than rogues until this point, and probably still better in those expansions (although no longer better dps).

I mained a dwarf rogue throughout Classic on Phinny and was outdpsing SK's on every raid. Yes, it took some time to get going (especially the first 20 levels), but I never had any issues finding groups.

during classic the sk will likely do at least comparable dps to a rogue in most settings, at least until/if your rogue is able to get a Serpent's Tooth dagger that drops from Yael. its just much easier for SKs to get a good weapon than it is for rogues.

once kunark comes the rogue will pull ahead just about everywhere outside of the SK using his hour+ long cooldowns.

Nickatina plays a Shadowknight. Don't be a clucker.

You were asking for parses which are hard to come by. Here's one of the few sources I've found:

https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq...lasses-through-later-expansions.238686/page-2

Can you go into some detail about how SKs gear for dps? Is it just a matter of slapping on your best haste item, some +atk items, cap str, and toss on your best 2 hander? Do they roll on Improved Damage focus items? Maybe reduced cast time focus?

Two sets of parses is not a good source.