Difference between revisions of "Rogue"

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(Reorganized according to Phol ende wodan's proposal and added more strategy material; feel free to correct, improve, et cetera)
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{{otheruses|the player role|the game|Rogue (game)}}
 
{{otheruses|the player role|the game|Rogue (game)}}
  
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The '''Rogue''' is a player [[role]]. Rogues can be [[Human (starting race)|humans]] or [[Orc (starting race)|orcs]], and are always [[chaotic]].  Rogues are skilled thieves. The NetHack [[encyclopedia]] says of them:  
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The '''Rogue''' is a player [[role]].  Rogues are skilled thieves. The NetHack [[encyclopedia]] says of them:  
  
 
{{encyclopedia|
 
{{encyclopedia|
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...and from the [[guidebook]]:
 
...and from the [[guidebook]]:
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              Rogues are agile and stealthy  thieves,  with  knowledge  of
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{{guidebook|Rogues are agile and stealthy  thieves,  with  knowledge  of locks,  traps,  and  poisons.  Their advantage lies in surprise, which they employ to great advantage.}}
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          locks,  traps,  and  poisons.  Their advantage lies in surprise,
+
 
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          which they employ to great advantage.
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Rogues can be [[Human (starting race)|humans]] or [[Orc (starting race)|orcs]], and are always [[chaotic]].  Orcs have a slightly easier early game because of their starting food, poison resistance, [[infravision]], and ability to commit [[cannibalism]] or [[Sacrifice#Sacrificing creatures of same race|same-race sacrifice]] with impunity.  On the other hand, humans have better health and starting weapons, as well as several advantages that become important later in the game: they have slightly better hit point and energy growth than orcs, and their higher intelligence, wisdom, and charisma caps make spellcasting and consorting with foocubi more reliable.
 +
 
 +
Orcish monsters are more likely to be generated peaceful for orcish heroes, while elven monsters (which can be a nuisance because they appear fairly early, in groups, and ignore Elbereth) are likely to be generated peaceful for chaotic humans, but will always be hostile to orcs.
  
 
==Starting equipment==
 
==Starting equipment==
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* 20% chance of a [[blindfold]]
 
* 20% chance of a [[blindfold]]
 
* for orcs, 2 random food items (each of which has the usual chance of being a stack of 2)
 
* for orcs, 2 random food items (each of which has the usual chance of being a stack of 2)
 +
 +
==Intrinsics==
 +
* XL 1: [[Stealth]]
 +
* XL 10: [[Searching]]
  
 
==Skills==
 
==Skills==
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Rogues start with ''Basic'' skill in ''Short sword'' and ''Dagger''.
 
Rogues start with ''Basic'' skill in ''Short sword'' and ''Dagger''.
  
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==Races==
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==Special rules==
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Rogues can only be humans or orcs. The following are advantages that each race has over the other; note that many of the human advantages are not too helpful until later in the game.
+
Rogues get a +1 bonus to [[multishot]] when throwing daggers.
 +
 
 +
Rogues can gain an additional 1d([[experience level|XL]]) "backstab" damage when striking a [[flee]]ing monster and not two-weaponing.  [[Elbereth]], [[scroll of scare monster|scrolls of scare monster]], and [[tooled horn]]s are particularly useful for rogues.
 +
 
 +
== Strategy ==
 +
===Early game===
 +
====Objectives====
 +
Important priorities in the early game are finding food and developing your primary attacks (see "Weapons"). These priorities are weighted differently for humans and orcs. Orcish rogues' starting food items buy them some time to train before they need to start look for food, and once they do need to scavenge for food, they have more options thanks to their poison resistance, which allows them to eat the corpses of poisonous monsters (like kobolds) safely; they are also free to [[Cannibalism|eat their own kind]] without an alignment penalty. Human rogues, however, will need to look for nonpoisonous corpses and (better yet) perma[[food]] on the first few levels of the dungeons.
 +
 
 +
Since rogues start with a relatively low [[strength]], it is a good idea to make an early run for [[Sokoban]] and push boulders to exercise that attribute. This not only increases your carrying capacity but also the damage potential from your thrown daggers, due to the bonus from strength. In addition, the random food items generated in that branch are very welcome to a hungry rogue, and both of the two possible prizes can be useful—a bag of holding helps mitigate your low carrying capacity, while an amulet of reflection can save you from the [[Gnome With the Wand of Death]] or the [[dragon]]s at [[Fort Ludios]].
 +
 
 +
====Weapons====
 +
A rogue's best attack in the early game is a volley of [[throw]]n daggers. Rogues should rely on throwing daggers as much as circumstances and their stock of daggers permit, to raise the dagger skill to Expert before anything else. Having Expert level in the skill, combined with the role's bonus to multishot, allows you to throw up to four daggers at once, and gives each dagger a +2 damage bonus. Be aware, however, that if one of your daggers kills your target, any remaining daggers you threw may fly past the corpse and anger peaceful monsters behind it. Use the [[numeric prefix]] to fire only one dagger at a time when necessary.
 +
 
 +
You may choose to wield one of your daggers in melee as well, instead of your starting short sword, because every bit of dagger training helps. There is little reason to train your short sword skill anyway, since you won't be using it once you get an artifact melee weapon. One dagger can be separated from your starting stack for wielding by [[Name|naming]] the stack, dropping one dagger, renaming the stack, and picking up the dagger again. #Adjusting the stack to a lesser inventory letter will cause any new daggers that merge to be added to the stack rather than the wielded dagger.
 +
 
 +
To increase your supply of ammunition, collect any daggers you find, but curse-test them before wielding any. [[Runed dagger]]s are especially desirable—being made of [[wood]], they cannot [[Erosion|rust or corrode]], so they are good for fighting [[rust monster]]s and [[acid]]ic monsters that would damage iron weapons.
 +
 
 +
[[Missile]]s other than daggers—such as [[dart]]s, [[arrow]]s, [[crossbow bolt]]s, and [[shuriken]]—can be poisoned by #[[dip]]ping them into your starting [[potion of sickness]]. Poisoned weapons do an additional d6 damage to non-resistant monsters and also have a 10% chance of killing the monster outright.
 +
 
 +
One strategy is to #untrap [[dart trap]]s, which are fairly common in the upper levels of the Dungeons of Doom, and, having amassed a large stack of darts, to poison them all by dipping the entire stack. Your poisoned darts can then be thrown at tough monsters. Be aware, however, that [[intelligent]] monsters can pick up poisoned weapons and toss them back at you! [[Magic cancellation]] does not protect against poisoning from thrown weapons, so if you do not have poison resistance yet, you will want to get it as soon as possible, and use poisoned missiles cautiously until then. Orcs have an advantage over humans in that they start with poison resistance, making this a much less risky option for them.
 +
 
 +
Rogues can also reach Expert in [[crossbow]]s, so another possibility is to collect [[crossbow bolt|bolt]]s in the [[Mines]] and poison them. Unlike darts, bolts require a launcher, but their damage potential is greater (1d4+1/1d6+1 vs 1d3/1d2). Both kinds of missiles have a chance of [[Projectile#Breakage|breaking]], which can be reduced by enchanting them. Do not advance this skill beyond Basic until you have mastered daggers.
 +
 
 +
====To twoweapon?====
 +
Rogues are one of the few roles who can reach Expert in [[twoweapon]] combat. They also reach Expert in the [[knife]] skill, so they are the role that gets the most effect out of using a [[crysknife]] as a secondary weapon.
 +
 
 +
However, twoweaponing is relatively unpopular with players playing rogues because (1) rogues cannot reach Expert skill in the better artifact weapons (besides [[Magicbane]], which is [[Artifact blast|cross-aligned]]) and (2) rogues cannot [[backstab]] if they are wielding two weapons at once, sacrificing the bonus damage that is one of the most popular features of the role. Because of this, many players do not train the twoweapon skill at all, reserving the skill points for other skills, and using the free hand to augment their [[AC]] with a [[shield]].
 +
 
 +
====Armor====
 +
A Rogue's starting leather armor is not very good past the early game, and can be traded out for almost any noncursed body armor.  Given their restrictions on attack and healing spells, rogues are not likely to rely heavily on magic in the heat of battle for most of the game, so they should not be concerned about spellcasting failure in combat.  They typically start with low strength, however, and encumberment is a serious inconvenience in the early game, so avoid wearing anything you cannot lift without becoming Burdened.
 +
 
 +
[[Mithril coat]]s are ideal for the early game, as they are not only high [[AC]] (and [[MC]]2) but weigh no more than your starting leather armor.  Once you are confident in your fighting skills, fight dwarves and hobbits to relieve them of their mail.
 +
 
 +
In addition, Rogues are one of the classes that lose the least from wearing a shield, since all of their best weapons are one-handed, and they may prefer not to twoweapon so they can use their backstab bonus.  [[Shield of reflection|Shields of reflection]] are the best option, eliminating the need for an [[amulet of reflection]] or [[SDSM]] and freeing up the neck and torso slots for other items, but they are unfortunately rare.
 +
 
 +
Rogues are at a disadvantage when it comes to attempting the [[protection racket]], because while their starting sack is handy for [[shoplifting]] and [[credit cloning]], the [[Mines]] will inevitably be dangerous because dwarves and gnomes alike are hostile to chaotics.  Since armor is less disadvantageous for Rogues than for other roles, racking up early protection points is less urgent for them.
 +
 
 +
====Spells====
 +
Rogues do not start with knowledge of any spells or skill in any spell school, and their starting intelligence (their spellcasting [[attribute]]) and spellcasting power are both low, so spellcasting is not likely to be reliable in the early game. 
 +
 
 +
However, once you have a reliable source of food, and a safe place to read, it may be worthwhile to pick up spellbooks and read them so you can recognize useful spellbooks later.  Spells in the [[divination]], [[escape]], and [[matter]] classes can be trained later; spells outside of your strong schools can be forgotten and cast to confuse yourself later.
  
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===Human advantages===
+
Once you have learned low-level spells in your schools (such as [[detect monsters]] and [[jumping]]) and have at least 5 power points, you can take advantages of lulls in the action to remove interfering armor and practice casting those spells to train the respective skills.  But don't advance those skills yet—use your free skill slots to max out the dagger skill first.
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*Human rogues start with better weapons, including a stack of regular daggers (as opposed to orcish daggers).
 
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*Elven monsters, which can be a nuisance because they appear fairly early, in groups, and ignore Elbereth, will sometimes be peaceful to chaotic, human heroes. They will always be hostile to orcs.
 
−
*Human rogues start with 12 hit points (orcs start with 11), and have slightly better hit point and energy growth than orcs.
 
−
*Human rogues can reach a base strength of 18/**, so they do not need gauntlets of power to obtain the maximum strength damage bonus (+6), unlike orcs, who can only reach a base strength of 18/50 (+3 damage bonus). Throwing large numbers of daggers can be deadly to monsters, but is especially so when it is done by a high-strength rogue.
 
−
*Human rogues have higher maximum intelligence, wisdom and charisma, which is helpful if you eventually want to make your rogue a spellcaster, and for interactions with foocubi.
 
  
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===Orc advantages===
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===Midgame===
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*Orcs start with poison resistance. Not only does this prevent many YASDs, but it is especially useful for rogues, since it allows you to use your starting potion of sickness to create poisoned darts without worrying about the monsters poisoning you by throwing the darts back at you.
+
====Objectives====
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*Orcish rogues start with food, human rogues don't. This makes it safer to play slowly early in the game for an orc than for a human.  
+
The [[Rogue quest]] is a bit tricky.
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*Orcs can also eat food that humans can't eat without penalty (human corpses, cat and dog corpses, tripe), further allowing them to play cautiously in the early game, without having to worry about hunger.
+
* The home level contains several [[chameleon]]s. The longer you spend on this level, the greater the chance that one will turn into a master- or arch-[[lich]], warp to you, and cast a spell that ruins your day.
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*Orcs have infravision. In particular, this makes the mines a little less dangerous for them than for human rogues, although they are still quite dangerous for both races.
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* About 1/7th of generated monsters will be [[nymph]]s, with the corresponding hazards of losing your weapon and armor and having your wands used against you. [[Guardian naga]]s are also quite common, so have either [[MC|MC3]] or a [[ring of free action]] to prevent paralysis.
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*Orcish monsters are sometimes peaceful to orcish heroes, but not to human heroes. As an orc, you don't need to fear large numbers of orcs as much as humans do (again, poison resistance is useful here).
+
* There are three distinct sections of the goal level: one containing the up stairs, one containing the Nemesis, and one containing neither. Because the three segments are partitioned by non-diggable walls and the level is no-teleport, gaining access to the Master Assassin is non-trivial.
−
*Orcs can easily convert any altar via orcish sacrifice.
 
  
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==Intrinsics==
+
If you don't have magic resistance, try to kill the liches fast, and be ready to engrave Elbereth if one does show up. If you have a [[ring of protection from shape changers]], keep it on until you have hunted down all eight chameleons.
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* XL 1: [[Stealth]]
+
 
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* XL 10: [[Searching]]
+
Use your daggers/darts to eliminate the nymphs from a distance, and try to avoid getting surrounded on the locate level. If you have [[polymorph control]], polymorphing into a nymph or succubus will protect you from their theft attacks.
 +
 
 +
On the goal level, there are a number of ways of reaching the Master Assassin:
 +
* [[Dig]]ging down from the previous level and hopefully landing in the region where the quest nemesis is, waking him, and then getting out of the level by [[quaff]]ing a cursed [[potion of gain level]] or by reading a cursed [[scroll of teleportation]] or reading an uncursed scroll of teleportation while [[confusion|confused]]. Once the Master Assassin is awake, he will warp to the up stairs, and you can meet him there by descending the stairs normally. Be prepared to do this multiple times if you land in the section without the Nemesis.
 +
* [[Polymorph]] yourself into a [[xorn]] to be able to [[Phase|walk through walls]] (be sure to remove your cloak and body armor first to avoid destroying them).
 +
* Apply a [[drum of earthquake]]; this may wake up the Master Assassin.
 +
* Use the psychic blast of a tame [[mind flayer]] (or polyself) to alert the Master Assassin of your presence.
 +
 
 +
The Rogue quest artifact is [[the Master Key of Thievery]], a very nice artifact which confers the [[half physical damage]], [[warning]] and [[teleport control]] extrinsics. It can also be #[[invoke]]d to untrap boxes and doors with 100% success, though this is somewhat useless unless you know the door or chest is trapped, something most players don't bother to check.
 +
 
 +
Warning is superseded by [[ESP]], and there are other sources of teleport control, but a quest artifact that grants half physical damage is something that most roles [[wish]] they had. The Master Key does not grant [[magic resistance]], however, so you should be on the lookout for other sources of this extrinsic ([[cloak of magic resistance]], [[Magicbane]], certain [[quest artifacts]] of other roles, et cetera).
 +
 
 +
====Weapons====
 +
Once you have a large supply of daggers, you can start using [[scroll of enchant weapon|scrolls of enchant weapon]] to raise their enchantment, which increases not only their damage potential but their accuracy. If you find a [[ring of increase damage]] with a positive enchantment, wear it when throwing daggers, as the damage bonus applies to each dagger that hits, so the effect is multiplied. [[Scroll of charging|Scrolls of charging]] can be used to raise the ring's enchantment.
 +
 
 +
In the midgame, rogues can look for a powerful [[artifact]] weapon so they can back up their ranged dagger[[storm]] with a strong melee attack that uses their backstab bonus to full effect. [[Sacrifice|Sacrificing]] for an artifact weapon is not terribly useful for rogues, since they do not have a guaranteed sacrifice gift in vanilla and they will have to accept one of the chaotic sacrifice gifts—which, with the exception of [[Stormbringer]], are either very weak or of very narrow utility—before they have any hope of getting one of the more useful (and unaligned) [[Fire and Frost Brand|Brand]]s.
 +
 
 +
Two better options are [[Magicbane]] and [[Grayswandir]]. Magicbane's [[scare]] attack frequently causes monsters to flee, and more importantly, it is an [[athame]], so you can reliably engrave Elbereth. Grayswandir is another worthwhile weapon to consider; rogues can reach Skilled in [[saber]], and Grayswandir's [[double damage]] applies to backstab damage. Both weapons are cross-aligned for chaotic rogues, so you will never receive them as sacrifice gifts; you will either have to use an early [[wish]], or find one in a bones pile (be sure to curse-test before wielding).  Watch out for the (admittedly small) [[Artifact blast|blasting damage]].
 +
 
 +
If you intend to wish for Grayswandir, look for non-artifact [[silver saber]]s so you can train the skill in advance.  The [[watch captain]] in [[Minetown]] often has one.  If he does not (or if Minetown turns out to be [[Orcish town]]), you can look for a saber on a Yendorian army [[captain]], which is likely to be found in [[Fort Ludios]].
 +
 
 +
====Spells====
 +
Rogues can reach Skilled in [[divination spells]] and [[escape spells]], as well as the somewhat less useful [[matter spells]], and [[human]] rogues can reach a respectable 87% success rate without a [[robe]]. You most likely started the game with a mediocre intelligence, so consider collecting any potions you find and performing [[alchemy]] to brew up some [[potion of gain ability|potions of gain ability]].
 +
 
 +
[[Divination spells]] are worth raising to Skilled once you have at least two skill slots free, since several spells in this class ([[detect monsters]], [[detect treasure]], and [[identify]]) have improved effects at this level. [[Identify]] can save you a lot of curse-testing, and [[magic mapping]] is a boon in Gehennom. Advancing [[escape spells]] to Skilled is less important, but can be useful if you want to rely on the [[Spellbook of jumping|jumping]] spell to reach tiles not accessible with [[jumping boots]], or be able to terminate the [[spellbook of levitation|levitation]] spell at will.
 +
 
 +
There is little reason to advance [[matter spells]] far, however, unless you want to use [[spellbook of polymorph|polymorph]] or [[spellbook of cancellation|cancellation]] frequently and do not have enough wands, or want to conserve the wands you have.
 +
 
 +
====Armor====
 +
If you chose to use a shield instead of twoweaponing, and you haven't found a shield of reflection before reaching [[Medusa's Island]], checking [[Perseus]]'s statue for one can be especially rewarding for a rogue, provided you are careful not to get stoned by [[Medusa]].
 +
 
 +
=== Late game ===
 +
====Weapons====
 +
Entering the late game, rogues should continue to refine their primary attacks, enchanting their melee artifact weapon to +5 or +6 and enchanting their missiles as well. Hoard any [[silver dagger]]s you find on your way to Gehennom, canceling and re-enchanting them if their initial enchantments prevent them from stacking. A rogue at Expert level can launch a silver [[storm|daggerstorm]] that can deal 100+ points of damage<ref>Rogues at Expert level can throw up to four daggers in one move. Each dagger deals 1d4 base damage to a medium-sized target, plus 1d20 silver damage, and +2 damage from Expert proficiency. If all four daggers hit their mark, this adds up to 4d4 + 4d20 + 4(2) = 16-104 damage. This does not count bonuses from high strength, enchantment, and rings of increase damage, which would raise the maximum even further.</ref> to a silver-hating target in a single move. If you do not have at least four silver daggers, you may choose to use the [[wand of wishing]] at the [[Castle]] to wish for two or three more.
 +
 
 +
If you choose to try twoweaponing despite forfeiting the backstab bonus, good secondary weapon choices for rogues are crysknives, silver sabers, and elven broadswords. Crysknives pair well with Magicbane, since you can train both weapon classes to Expert for the lowest to-hit and damage penalty.  If you have Grayswandir or Stormbringer, you may prefer using secondary weapons from the same classes so you do not have to train a second weapon skill.
  
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==Quest==
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====Armor====
−
{{main|Rogue quest}}
+
Since rogues can use shields of reflection comfortably, they do not need [[silver dragon scale mail]], which decides the [[GDSM versus SDSM]] debate in favor of [[gray dragon scale mail]] for this role. GDSM supplies the [[magic resistance]] that your quest artifact lacks, and frees the neck and cloak slots for other items. Alternately, you may choose SDSM if you have another source of magic resistance and you prefer not to wear a shield.
−
The Rogue quest sees you fighting the [[Master Assassin]] for [[The Master Key of Thievery]]. Inspired by the profession you have chosen, there are lots of stealing monsters, traps, shapeshifters and challenges to even access the quest nemesis!
 
  
 
==Rank titles==
 
==Rank titles==
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*XL 30: Thief
 
*XL 30: Thief
  
 +
==Quest==
 +
{{main|Rogue quest}}
 +
The Rogue quest sees you fighting the [[Master Assassin]] for [[The Master Key of Thievery]]. Inspired by the profession you have chosen, there are lots of stealing monsters, traps, shapeshifters and challenges even to access the quest nemesis!
  
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== Strategy ==
+
==Variants==
−
* Rogues are better suited to fighting with ranged attacks, like [[dagger]]s, [[crossbow]]s, [[dart]]s, and [[knife|knives]]. However, later in the game when one's AC is sufficiently negative, melee combat with an artifact weapon is common.
+
In versions of NetHack prior to 3.6.0 and some variants (including SLASH'EM) based on these versions, rogues could also get backstab damage with thrown weapons for each hit. This was considered unbalancing and removed in 3.6.0. {{refsrc|uhitm.c|648|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}
−
* Rogues can get to expert skill in [[twoweaponing]] as well, but they cannot become expert in the better artifact weapons (besides [[Magicbane]]) and cannot get [[backstab]] damage while twoweaponing, so this may not be the best use of skill points.
 
−
* Rogues should throw their starting daggers as their primary attack in the early game. The skill should be raised to expert before anything else, because this allows up to 4 daggers to be thrown at once, as well as 2 extra damage per dagger. It should be noted that rogues also get an additional +1 multishot when throwing daggers. Because of the potential for shooting peaceful monsters behind your intended target, rogues should use the shot limitation prefix to fire only one dagger at a time when necessary.
 
−
* A ring of increase damage is a very nice item for rogues, as the damage bonus applies to each dagger thrown.
 
−
* Rogues start with a potion of sickness. This can be used to make poisoned weapons by #dipping the stack of weapons into the potion. Poisoned weapons do an additional d6 damage to non-resistant monsters and also have a 10% chance of killing the monster outright. Unfortunately daggers cannot be poisoned, so you will need to pick another weapon like darts to poison and use on tough monsters. Fortunately, dart traps are fairly common, and #untrapping one will usually yield a good number of darts. Finally, be careful that an intelligent monster does not pick up a poisoned weapon and toss it back at you if you don't yet have poison resistance! Orcs start with poison resistance and thus are immune to this problem. (Note that [[magic cancellation]] does not protect against thrown poisoned weapons, as was previously noted here.)
 
−
* Using a dagger instead of your short sword as your melee weapon will help you to raise your dagger skill faster (you won't be using short sword skill once you get an artifact anyway). One dagger can be separated from your starting stack for wielding by naming the stack, dropping one dagger, renaming the stack, and picking up the dagger again. #Adjusting the stack to a lesser inventory letter will cause any new daggers that merge to be added to the stack rather than the wielded dagger.
 
−
* Because Rogues tend to use low damage weapons which hit often, strength is an especially important attribute. Early [[boulder]] pushing may be in order, and gauntlets of power are good candidates for wishing if you are playing an orc and thus can't get up to 18/** strength naturally.
 
−
* Runed daggers are wooden and thus not affected by acid and rust, so it's a good idea to pick up a couple of these to use against monsters that would otherwise damage your weapon. If you're playing Slash'EM, try to get the Great Dagger of Glaurgnaa (chaotic Necromancer great dagger) if you can, because can drain levels from monsters and gives you magic resistance when carried.
 
−
* Rogues can gain an additional 1d([[experience level|XL]]) "backstab" damage when striking a [[flee]]ing monster and not two-weaponing. Because of this, [[Elbereth]], [[scroll of scare monster|scrolls of scare monster]], and [[tooled horn]]s are particularly useful for rogues. Rogues might consider wishing for [[Magicbane]] (or they might find it in the bones file of a Wizard)--its [[scare]] attack can often cause monsters to flee, and more importantly, it is an [[athame]], so you can engrave Elbereth even more effectively.  However, Magicbane is not a chaotic artifact, so watch out for the (admittedly small) [[Artifact blast|blasting damage]]. [[Grayswandir]] is another worthwhile weapon to consider; Rogues can reach Skilled in [[saber]], and backstab damage can be doubled by artifacts with double damage, including Grayswandir. In versions of NetHack prior to 3.6.0 and variants, Rogues could also get backstab damage with thrown weapons for each hit. This was removed in 3.6.0 for being too powerful. {{refsrc|uhitm.c|648|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}
 
−
* Rogues are one of the classes that lose the least from wearing a shield, as it doesn't block backstabbing and the spells they are good at are non-combat. Checking [[Perseus]]'s statue for a shield of reflection can be especially rewarding for a rogue, provided you are careful not to get stoned by [[Medusa]].
 
−
* The [[Rogue quest]] is a bit tricky.
 
−
** The home level contains several [[chameleon]]s. The longer you spend on this level, the greater the chance that one will turn into a master- or arch-[[lich]], warp to you, and cast a spell that ruins your day. If you don't have magic resistance, try to kill them fast, and be ready to engrave Elbereth if one does show up. If you have a [[ring of protection from shape changers]], keep it on until you have hunted down all eight chameleons.
 
−
** About 1/7th of generated monsters will be [[nymph]]s, with the corresponding hazards of losing your weapon and armor and having your wands used against you.  Use your daggers/darts to eliminate them from a distance, and try to avoid getting surrounded on the locate level. If you have polymorph control, polymorphing into a nymph or succubus will protect you from their theft attacks. Guardian nagas are also quite common, so have either [[MC|MC3]] or a [[ring of free action]] to prevent paralysis.
 
−
** There are three distinct sections of the goal level: one containing the up stairs, one containing the Nemesis, and one containing neither.  Because the three segments are partitioned by non-diggable walls and the level is no-teleport, gaining access to the Master Assassin is non-trivial. One can overcome this in a few ways:
 
−
*** Digging down from the previous level and hopefully landing in the region where the quest nemesis is, waking him, and then getting out of the level by [[quaff]]ing a cursed [[potion of gain level]] or by reading a cursed [[scroll of teleportation]] or reading an uncursed scroll of teleportation while [[confusion|confused]]. Once the Master Assassin is awake, he will warp to the up stairs, and you can meet him there by descending the stairs normally. Be prepared to do this multiple times if you land in the section without the Nemesis.
 
−
*** Polymorphing oneself into a [[xorn]] to be able to walk through walls (be sure to remove your cloak and body armor first to avoid destroying them).
 
−
*** Applying a drum of earthquake may wake up the Master Assassin..
 
−
*** Using the psychic blast of a tame mind flayer (or polyself) to alert the Master Assassin of your presence.
 
−
* The Rogue quest artifact is [[the Master Key of Thievery]], a very nice artifact which confers the [[half physical damage]], [[warning]] and [[teleport control]] extrinsics. It can also be #[[invoke]]d to untrap boxes and doors with 100% success, though this is somewhat useless unless you know the door or chest is trapped, something most players don't bother to check.
 
−
* Don't neglect your spells! Rogues can reach Skilled in [[divination spells]] and [[escape spells]], as well as the somewhat less useful [[matter spells]], and [[human]] rogues can reach a respectable 87% success rate without a [[robe]]. You most likely started the game with a mediocre intelligence, so consider performing [[alchemy]] to brew up some [[potion of gain ability|potions of gain ability]].
 
−
* Human rogues do not start with food or poison resistance, so they can starve fairly easily. Orcish rogues do not have these problems, so are a good choice for new players.
 
  
−
== Weapon Choice ==
+
===SLASH'EM===
−
Rogues are good twoweaponers but better missile users. Thrown weapons will often make sense at all ranges. Note that twoweaponing removes backstab damage, so it's not always the best choice.
 
−
 
 
−
Damage of selected weapons versus small targets with only skill +damage.  Daggers thrown except as noted.
 
−
{| class="prettytable striped"
 
−
!| weapon
 
−
!| skill(s)
 
−
!| base
 
−
!| per hit
 
−
!| #attacks (avg)
 
−
!| total damage
 
−
!| notes
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Crossbow || E||2.5||8.0||1-3(2)||16|| +d6 poison
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dart || E||2.0||7.5 ||1-3(2)||15.0 || +d6 poison
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenDagger || E||3.0||5.0||1-4(2.5)||12.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenShort+ElvenBroad || E/E||4.5/6.0||5.5/7.0(t)||2||12.5||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| OrcishDagger || E||2.0||4.0||1-4(2.5)||10.0||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger || E||2.5||4.5||1-4(2.5)||11.25||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenDagger+ElvenBroad || E/E||3.0/6.0||4.0/7.0(t)||2||11||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenShortx2 || E/E||4.5||5.5(t)||2||11.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Katana x2 || S/S||5.5||5.5(t)||2||11.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Crossbow || S||2.5||7.0||1-2(1.5)||10.5|| +d6 poison
 
−
|-
 
−
|| DwarfShortx2 || E/E||4.0||5.0(t)||2||10.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dart || S||2.0||6.5 ||1-2(1.5)||9.75 || +d6 poison
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenDagger+LongSword || E/E||3.0/4.5||4.0/5.5(t)||2||9.5||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| LongSword x2 || S/S||4.5||4.5(t)||2||9.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger || S||2.5||3.5||1-3(2)||7.0||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Crossbow || B||2.5||6.0||1||6.0|| +d6 poison
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Broadsword || S||5.0||6.0||1||6.0||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dart || B||2.0||5.5||1||5.5|| +d6 poison
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Longsword || S||4.5||5.5||1||5.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Halberd || B||5.5||5.5||1||5.5 ||two handed, ranged
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Spetum || B||4.5||4.5||1||4.5 ||two handed,ranged
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger(wielded) || E||2.5||4.5||1||4.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger  || B||2.5||2.5||1-2(1.5)||3.75||
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
Damage versus small targets with +3 damage from strength and
 
−
a +3 damage from enchantment.
 
−
{| class="prettytable striped"
 
−
!| weapon
 
−
!| skill
 
−
!| base
 
−
!| per hit
 
−
!| #attacks (avg)
 
−
!| total damage
 
−
!| notes
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenDagger || E||3.0||11.0||1-4(2.5)||27.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dart || E||2.0|| 13.5 ||1-3(2)||27.0 || +d6 poison
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger || E||2.5||10.5||1-4(2.5)||26.25||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| OrcishDagger || E||2.0||10.0||1-4(2.5)||25.0||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenShort+ElvenBroad || E/E||4.5+6.0||11.5+13(t)||2||24.5||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenBroadx2 || S/S||6.0||12.0(t)||2||24.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenDagger+ElvenBroad || E/E||3.0+6.0||10.0+13(t)||2||23.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Katana x2 || S/S||5.5||11.5(t)||2||23.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Crossbow || E||2.5||11.0||1-3(2)||22.0|| +d6 poison, no strength bonus
 
−
|-
 
−
|| LongSword x2 || S/S||4.5||10.5(t)||2||21.0||two handed
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger || S||2.5||9.5||1-3(2)||19.0||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Broadsword || S||5.0||12.0||1||12.0||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Longsword || S||4.5||11.5||1||11.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Halberd || B||5.5||11.5||1||11.5 ||two handed, ranged
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Spetum || B||4.5||10.5||1||10.5 ||two handed,ranged
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger(wielded) || E||2.5||10.5||1||10.5||
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
Damage vs. demons in the late game, blessed +7 weapons, XL30, 18/**-25 strength, with backstab for non-twoweapons:
 
−
(assumes demon is large, fire resistant, drain resistant, poison resistant, hates silver, and is fleeing):
 
−
As you can see, due to the double backstab damage, Grayswandir by itself beats Grayswandir and a silver saber twoweaponed--against a non-silver-hating monster, where the silver damage doesn't help, the effect would be even more dramatic.
 
−
 
 
−
{| class="prettytable striped"
 
−
!| weapon
 
−
!| skill
 
−
!| base average
 
−
!| per hit
 
−
!| #attacks (avg)
 
−
!| total damage
 
−
!| notes
 
−
|-
 
−
|| SilverDagger || E||2.0||45.5||1-4(2.5)||113.75|| silver
 
−
|-
 
−
|| ElvenDagger || E||2.0||35.0 ||1-4(2.5)||87.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dagger || E||2.0||35.0 ||1-4(2.5)||87.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| OrcishDagger || E||2.0||35.0 ||1-4(2.5)||87.5||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Grayswandir || S||4.5||74.0||1||74.0 || silver
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Grayswandir+Saber ||S||4.5+4.5||42.0+30.5||2||72.5|| silver
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Dart || E||1.5||34.5 ||1-3(2)||69.0 ||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| SilverDaggerx2(wielded) || S||2.0+2.0||28.0+28.0||2||56.0 || silver
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Silver Saber || S||4.5||47.0||1||47.0 || silver
 
−
|-
 
−
|| SilverDagger(wielded) || E||2.0||45.5||1||45.5 || silver
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Magicbane(wielded) || E||2.0||38.8975||1||38.8975 ||
 
−
|-
 
−
|| Barehanded w/ silver ring || E||1.5||20.0 ||1||20.0 || silver
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
==SLASH'EM==
 
 
In [[SLASH'EM]], rogues can be [[Doppelganger (starting race)|doppelgangers]], [[human]]s, [[orc]]s, or [[Vampire (starting race in SLASH'EM)|vampires]], and are always [[chaotic]].
 
In [[SLASH'EM]], rogues can be [[Doppelganger (starting race)|doppelgangers]], [[human]]s, [[orc]]s, or [[Vampire (starting race in SLASH'EM)|vampires]], and are always [[chaotic]].
  
−
===Starting equipment===
+
====Starting equipment====
 
Rogues start with the following equipment:
 
Rogues start with the following equipment:
 
*1500-1999 [[gold]] pieces
 
*1500-1999 [[gold]] pieces
Line 261: Line 176:
 
*20% chance of [[blindfold]]
 
*20% chance of [[blindfold]]
  
−
===Skills===
+
====Skills====
 
{{Rogue skill table (SLASH'EM)}}
 
{{Rogue skill table (SLASH'EM)}}
  
−
===Techniques===
+
====Techniques====
 
Rogues gain the following techniques:
 
Rogues gain the following techniques:
 
{|class="prettytable"
 
{|class="prettytable"
Line 277: Line 192:
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
===Other abilities===
+
====Other abilities====
 
Rogues can steal gold from monsters with the #[[borrow]] command. This is not terribly useful, as at low levels where gold matters there are much more efficient ways of getting it (e.g. credit cloning with your [[oilskin sack]]), and the amount of gold stolen is only your level x 25-50. Finally, it has a chance of angering peacefuls, most of whom are dangerous in the early game.
 
Rogues can steal gold from monsters with the #[[borrow]] command. This is not terribly useful, as at low levels where gold matters there are much more efficient ways of getting it (e.g. credit cloning with your [[oilskin sack]]), and the amount of gold stolen is only your level x 25-50. Finally, it has a chance of angering peacefuls, most of whom are dangerous in the early game.
  
−
===Strategy===
+
====Strategy====
 +
If you're playing Slash'EM, try to get the Great Dagger of Glaurgnaa (chaotic Necromancer great dagger) if you can, because can drain levels from monsters and gives you magic resistance when carried.
 +
 
 
The early game for [[SLASH'EM]] rogues is about finding an altar and doing a sac-fest for the [[Bat from Hell]]. Once you have this item, you will be very strong in melee through the end game. Additionally, Rogues start with a lot of gold, which can be used to run the protection racket or buy some decent equipment in [[Minetown]] or the [[Mall]] (though Rogues will pay a markup of 3x the normal rate). Other than that, the early game is played much the same as in Vanilla ... acquire daggers in the [[Gnomish Mines]], advance skill to expert, pummel foes from range as they approach. This is slightly more difficult if you start with the pistol and bullets instead of daggers, but a careful approach to fighting weaker foes should allow you to get a stack of daggers and decent dagger skill relatively quickly. Use a [[scroll of teleportation]] to get out of scrapes, and poison your stack of daggers with your [[potion of sickness]] for maximum effectiveness.
 
The early game for [[SLASH'EM]] rogues is about finding an altar and doing a sac-fest for the [[Bat from Hell]]. Once you have this item, you will be very strong in melee through the end game. Additionally, Rogues start with a lot of gold, which can be used to run the protection racket or buy some decent equipment in [[Minetown]] or the [[Mall]] (though Rogues will pay a markup of 3x the normal rate). Other than that, the early game is played much the same as in Vanilla ... acquire daggers in the [[Gnomish Mines]], advance skill to expert, pummel foes from range as they approach. This is slightly more difficult if you start with the pistol and bullets instead of daggers, but a careful approach to fighting weaker foes should allow you to get a stack of daggers and decent dagger skill relatively quickly. Use a [[scroll of teleportation]] to get out of scrapes, and poison your stack of daggers with your [[potion of sickness]] for maximum effectiveness.
  
Line 305: Line 222:
 
**An [[amulet of life saving]] or [[amulet of flying|flying]]
 
**An [[amulet of life saving]] or [[amulet of flying|flying]]
 
*...plus all the other standard ascension kit items
 
*...plus all the other standard ascension kit items
−
 
−
== SporkHack ==
 
−
In [[SporkHack]] ranged attacks do not backstab, which wipes out the 4d30 nuclear ranged option. Elbereth is also less effective, but Magicbane is still worthwhile because it can cause fear (even against monsters which ignore Elbereth) and grants magic resistance (especially useful because reflection is less useful).
 
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
 
* [[Rogue (player monster)]]
 
* [[Rogue (player monster)]]
 +
 +
==References==
 +
<references />
  
 
{{nethack-343}}
 
{{nethack-343}}
 
[[Category:Roles]]
 
[[Category:Roles]]

Revision as of 19:58, 1 April 2017

Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about:
This article is about the player role. For the game, see Rogue (game).

The Rogue is a player role. Rogues are skilled thieves. The NetHack encyclopedia says of them:

I understand the business, I hear it: to have an open ear, a
quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cut-purse; a
good nose is requisite also, to smell out work for the other
senses. I see this is the time that the unjust man doth
thrive. <...> The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity,
stealing away from his father with his clog at his heels: if
I thought it were a piece of honesty to acquaint the king
withal, I would not do't: I hold it the more knavery to
conceal it; and therein am I constant to my profession.

[ Autolycus the Rogue, from The Winter's Tale by
                William Shakespeare ]

...and from the guidebook:

Rogues are agile and stealthy thieves, with knowledge of locks, traps, and poisons. Their advantage lies in surprise, which they employ to great advantage.


Rogues can be humans or orcs, and are always chaotic. Orcs have a slightly easier early game because of their starting food, poison resistance, infravision, and ability to commit cannibalism or same-race sacrifice with impunity. On the other hand, humans have better health and starting weapons, as well as several advantages that become important later in the game: they have slightly better hit point and energy growth than orcs, and their higher intelligence, wisdom, and charisma caps make spellcasting and consorting with foocubi more reliable.

Orcish monsters are more likely to be generated peaceful for orcish heroes, while elven monsters (which can be a nuisance because they appear fairly early, in groups, and ignore Elbereth) are likely to be generated peaceful for chaotic humans, but will always be hostile to orcs.

Starting equipment

Intrinsics

Skills

Rogue skills
Max Skills
Basic
Skilled
Expert

Rogues start with Basic skill in Short sword and Dagger.

Special rules

Rogues get a +1 bonus to multishot when throwing daggers.

Rogues can gain an additional 1d(XL) "backstab" damage when striking a fleeing monster and not two-weaponing. Elbereth, scrolls of scare monster, and tooled horns are particularly useful for rogues.

Strategy

Early game

Objectives

Important priorities in the early game are finding food and developing your primary attacks (see "Weapons"). These priorities are weighted differently for humans and orcs. Orcish rogues' starting food items buy them some time to train before they need to start look for food, and once they do need to scavenge for food, they have more options thanks to their poison resistance, which allows them to eat the corpses of poisonous monsters (like kobolds) safely; they are also free to eat their own kind without an alignment penalty. Human rogues, however, will need to look for nonpoisonous corpses and (better yet) permafood on the first few levels of the dungeons.

Since rogues start with a relatively low strength, it is a good idea to make an early run for Sokoban and push boulders to exercise that attribute. This not only increases your carrying capacity but also the damage potential from your thrown daggers, due to the bonus from strength. In addition, the random food items generated in that branch are very welcome to a hungry rogue, and both of the two possible prizes can be useful—a bag of holding helps mitigate your low carrying capacity, while an amulet of reflection can save you from the Gnome With the Wand of Death or the dragons at Fort Ludios.

Weapons

A rogue's best attack in the early game is a volley of thrown daggers. Rogues should rely on throwing daggers as much as circumstances and their stock of daggers permit, to raise the dagger skill to Expert before anything else. Having Expert level in the skill, combined with the role's bonus to multishot, allows you to throw up to four daggers at once, and gives each dagger a +2 damage bonus. Be aware, however, that if one of your daggers kills your target, any remaining daggers you threw may fly past the corpse and anger peaceful monsters behind it. Use the numeric prefix to fire only one dagger at a time when necessary.

You may choose to wield one of your daggers in melee as well, instead of your starting short sword, because every bit of dagger training helps. There is little reason to train your short sword skill anyway, since you won't be using it once you get an artifact melee weapon. One dagger can be separated from your starting stack for wielding by naming the stack, dropping one dagger, renaming the stack, and picking up the dagger again. #Adjusting the stack to a lesser inventory letter will cause any new daggers that merge to be added to the stack rather than the wielded dagger.

To increase your supply of ammunition, collect any daggers you find, but curse-test them before wielding any. Runed daggers are especially desirable—being made of wood, they cannot rust or corrode, so they are good for fighting rust monsters and acidic monsters that would damage iron weapons.

Missiles other than daggers—such as darts, arrows, crossbow bolts, and shuriken—can be poisoned by #dipping them into your starting potion of sickness. Poisoned weapons do an additional d6 damage to non-resistant monsters and also have a 10% chance of killing the monster outright.

One strategy is to #untrap dart traps, which are fairly common in the upper levels of the Dungeons of Doom, and, having amassed a large stack of darts, to poison them all by dipping the entire stack. Your poisoned darts can then be thrown at tough monsters. Be aware, however, that intelligent monsters can pick up poisoned weapons and toss them back at you! Magic cancellation does not protect against poisoning from thrown weapons, so if you do not have poison resistance yet, you will want to get it as soon as possible, and use poisoned missiles cautiously until then. Orcs have an advantage over humans in that they start with poison resistance, making this a much less risky option for them.

Rogues can also reach Expert in crossbows, so another possibility is to collect bolts in the Mines and poison them. Unlike darts, bolts require a launcher, but their damage potential is greater (1d4+1/1d6+1 vs 1d3/1d2). Both kinds of missiles have a chance of breaking, which can be reduced by enchanting them. Do not advance this skill beyond Basic until you have mastered daggers.

To twoweapon?

Rogues are one of the few roles who can reach Expert in twoweapon combat. They also reach Expert in the knife skill, so they are the role that gets the most effect out of using a crysknife as a secondary weapon.

However, twoweaponing is relatively unpopular with players playing rogues because (1) rogues cannot reach Expert skill in the better artifact weapons (besides Magicbane, which is cross-aligned) and (2) rogues cannot backstab if they are wielding two weapons at once, sacrificing the bonus damage that is one of the most popular features of the role. Because of this, many players do not train the twoweapon skill at all, reserving the skill points for other skills, and using the free hand to augment their AC with a shield.

Armor

A Rogue's starting leather armor is not very good past the early game, and can be traded out for almost any noncursed body armor. Given their restrictions on attack and healing spells, rogues are not likely to rely heavily on magic in the heat of battle for most of the game, so they should not be concerned about spellcasting failure in combat. They typically start with low strength, however, and encumberment is a serious inconvenience in the early game, so avoid wearing anything you cannot lift without becoming Burdened.

Mithril coats are ideal for the early game, as they are not only high AC (and MC2) but weigh no more than your starting leather armor. Once you are confident in your fighting skills, fight dwarves and hobbits to relieve them of their mail.

In addition, Rogues are one of the classes that lose the least from wearing a shield, since all of their best weapons are one-handed, and they may prefer not to twoweapon so they can use their backstab bonus. Shields of reflection are the best option, eliminating the need for an amulet of reflection or SDSM and freeing up the neck and torso slots for other items, but they are unfortunately rare.

Rogues are at a disadvantage when it comes to attempting the protection racket, because while their starting sack is handy for shoplifting and credit cloning, the Mines will inevitably be dangerous because dwarves and gnomes alike are hostile to chaotics. Since armor is less disadvantageous for Rogues than for other roles, racking up early protection points is less urgent for them.

Spells

Rogues do not start with knowledge of any spells or skill in any spell school, and their starting intelligence (their spellcasting attribute) and spellcasting power are both low, so spellcasting is not likely to be reliable in the early game.

However, once you have a reliable source of food, and a safe place to read, it may be worthwhile to pick up spellbooks and read them so you can recognize useful spellbooks later. Spells in the divination, escape, and matter classes can be trained later; spells outside of your strong schools can be forgotten and cast to confuse yourself later.

Once you have learned low-level spells in your schools (such as detect monsters and jumping) and have at least 5 power points, you can take advantages of lulls in the action to remove interfering armor and practice casting those spells to train the respective skills. But don't advance those skills yet—use your free skill slots to max out the dagger skill first.

Midgame

Objectives

The Rogue quest is a bit tricky.

  • The home level contains several chameleons. The longer you spend on this level, the greater the chance that one will turn into a master- or arch-lich, warp to you, and cast a spell that ruins your day.
  • About 1/7th of generated monsters will be nymphs, with the corresponding hazards of losing your weapon and armor and having your wands used against you. Guardian nagas are also quite common, so have either MC3 or a ring of free action to prevent paralysis.
  • There are three distinct sections of the goal level: one containing the up stairs, one containing the Nemesis, and one containing neither. Because the three segments are partitioned by non-diggable walls and the level is no-teleport, gaining access to the Master Assassin is non-trivial.

If you don't have magic resistance, try to kill the liches fast, and be ready to engrave Elbereth if one does show up. If you have a ring of protection from shape changers, keep it on until you have hunted down all eight chameleons.

Use your daggers/darts to eliminate the nymphs from a distance, and try to avoid getting surrounded on the locate level. If you have polymorph control, polymorphing into a nymph or succubus will protect you from their theft attacks.

On the goal level, there are a number of ways of reaching the Master Assassin:

  • Digging down from the previous level and hopefully landing in the region where the quest nemesis is, waking him, and then getting out of the level by quaffing a cursed potion of gain level or by reading a cursed scroll of teleportation or reading an uncursed scroll of teleportation while confused. Once the Master Assassin is awake, he will warp to the up stairs, and you can meet him there by descending the stairs normally. Be prepared to do this multiple times if you land in the section without the Nemesis.
  • Polymorph yourself into a xorn to be able to walk through walls (be sure to remove your cloak and body armor first to avoid destroying them).
  • Apply a drum of earthquake; this may wake up the Master Assassin.
  • Use the psychic blast of a tame mind flayer (or polyself) to alert the Master Assassin of your presence.

The Rogue quest artifact is the Master Key of Thievery, a very nice artifact which confers the half physical damage, warning and teleport control extrinsics. It can also be #invoked to untrap boxes and doors with 100% success, though this is somewhat useless unless you know the door or chest is trapped, something most players don't bother to check.

Warning is superseded by ESP, and there are other sources of teleport control, but a quest artifact that grants half physical damage is something that most roles wish they had. The Master Key does not grant magic resistance, however, so you should be on the lookout for other sources of this extrinsic (cloak of magic resistance, Magicbane, certain quest artifacts of other roles, et cetera).

Weapons

Once you have a large supply of daggers, you can start using scrolls of enchant weapon to raise their enchantment, which increases not only their damage potential but their accuracy. If you find a ring of increase damage with a positive enchantment, wear it when throwing daggers, as the damage bonus applies to each dagger that hits, so the effect is multiplied. Scrolls of charging can be used to raise the ring's enchantment.

In the midgame, rogues can look for a powerful artifact weapon so they can back up their ranged daggerstorm with a strong melee attack that uses their backstab bonus to full effect. Sacrificing for an artifact weapon is not terribly useful for rogues, since they do not have a guaranteed sacrifice gift in vanilla and they will have to accept one of the chaotic sacrifice gifts—which, with the exception of Stormbringer, are either very weak or of very narrow utility—before they have any hope of getting one of the more useful (and unaligned) Brands.

Two better options are Magicbane and Grayswandir. Magicbane's scare attack frequently causes monsters to flee, and more importantly, it is an athame, so you can reliably engrave Elbereth. Grayswandir is another worthwhile weapon to consider; rogues can reach Skilled in saber, and Grayswandir's double damage applies to backstab damage. Both weapons are cross-aligned for chaotic rogues, so you will never receive them as sacrifice gifts; you will either have to use an early wish, or find one in a bones pile (be sure to curse-test before wielding). Watch out for the (admittedly small) blasting damage.

If you intend to wish for Grayswandir, look for non-artifact silver sabers so you can train the skill in advance. The watch captain in Minetown often has one. If he does not (or if Minetown turns out to be Orcish town), you can look for a saber on a Yendorian army captain, which is likely to be found in Fort Ludios.

Spells

Rogues can reach Skilled in divination spells and escape spells, as well as the somewhat less useful matter spells, and human rogues can reach a respectable 87% success rate without a robe. You most likely started the game with a mediocre intelligence, so consider collecting any potions you find and performing alchemy to brew up some potions of gain ability.

Divination spells are worth raising to Skilled once you have at least two skill slots free, since several spells in this class (detect monsters, detect treasure, and identify) have improved effects at this level. Identify can save you a lot of curse-testing, and magic mapping is a boon in Gehennom. Advancing escape spells to Skilled is less important, but can be useful if you want to rely on the jumping spell to reach tiles not accessible with jumping boots, or be able to terminate the levitation spell at will.

There is little reason to advance matter spells far, however, unless you want to use polymorph or cancellation frequently and do not have enough wands, or want to conserve the wands you have.

Armor

If you chose to use a shield instead of twoweaponing, and you haven't found a shield of reflection before reaching Medusa's Island, checking Perseus's statue for one can be especially rewarding for a rogue, provided you are careful not to get stoned by Medusa.

Late game

Weapons

Entering the late game, rogues should continue to refine their primary attacks, enchanting their melee artifact weapon to +5 or +6 and enchanting their missiles as well. Hoard any silver daggers you find on your way to Gehennom, canceling and re-enchanting them if their initial enchantments prevent them from stacking. A rogue at Expert level can launch a silver daggerstorm that can deal 100+ points of damage[1] to a silver-hating target in a single move. If you do not have at least four silver daggers, you may choose to use the wand of wishing at the Castle to wish for two or three more.

If you choose to try twoweaponing despite forfeiting the backstab bonus, good secondary weapon choices for rogues are crysknives, silver sabers, and elven broadswords. Crysknives pair well with Magicbane, since you can train both weapon classes to Expert for the lowest to-hit and damage penalty. If you have Grayswandir or Stormbringer, you may prefer using secondary weapons from the same classes so you do not have to train a second weapon skill.

Armor

Since rogues can use shields of reflection comfortably, they do not need silver dragon scale mail, which decides the GDSM versus SDSM debate in favor of gray dragon scale mail for this role. GDSM supplies the magic resistance that your quest artifact lacks, and frees the neck and cloak slots for other items. Alternately, you may choose SDSM if you have another source of magic resistance and you prefer not to wear a shield.

Rank titles

The status line shows you to be one of the following ranks when you reach the specified experience level:

  • XL 1-2: Footpad
  • XL 3-5: Cutpurse
  • XL 6-9: Rogue
  • XL 10-13: Pilferer
  • XL 14-17: Robber
  • XL 18-21: Burglar
  • XL 22-25: Filcher
  • XL 26-29: Magsman/Magswoman
  • XL 30: Thief

Quest

Main article: Rogue quest

The Rogue quest sees you fighting the Master Assassin for The Master Key of Thievery. Inspired by the profession you have chosen, there are lots of stealing monsters, traps, shapeshifters and challenges even to access the quest nemesis!

Variants

In versions of NetHack prior to 3.6.0 and some variants (including SLASH'EM) based on these versions, rogues could also get backstab damage with thrown weapons for each hit. This was considered unbalancing and removed in 3.6.0. [2]

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, rogues can be doppelgangers, humans, orcs, or vampires, and are always chaotic.

Starting equipment

Rogues start with the following equipment:

Skills

Rogue skills
Max Skills
Basic
Skilled
Expert

Techniques

Rogues gain the following techniques:

Level Technique
1 Critical strike
15 Cutthroat

Other abilities

Rogues can steal gold from monsters with the #borrow command. This is not terribly useful, as at low levels where gold matters there are much more efficient ways of getting it (e.g. credit cloning with your oilskin sack), and the amount of gold stolen is only your level x 25-50. Finally, it has a chance of angering peacefuls, most of whom are dangerous in the early game.

Strategy

If you're playing Slash'EM, try to get the Great Dagger of Glaurgnaa (chaotic Necromancer great dagger) if you can, because can drain levels from monsters and gives you magic resistance when carried.

The early game for SLASH'EM rogues is about finding an altar and doing a sac-fest for the Bat from Hell. Once you have this item, you will be very strong in melee through the end game. Additionally, Rogues start with a lot of gold, which can be used to run the protection racket or buy some decent equipment in Minetown or the Mall (though Rogues will pay a markup of 3x the normal rate). Other than that, the early game is played much the same as in Vanilla ... acquire daggers in the Gnomish Mines, advance skill to expert, pummel foes from range as they approach. This is slightly more difficult if you start with the pistol and bullets instead of daggers, but a careful approach to fighting weaker foes should allow you to get a stack of daggers and decent dagger skill relatively quickly. Use a scroll of teleportation to get out of scrapes, and poison your stack of daggers with your potion of sickness for maximum effectiveness.

The mid-game is also similar to Vanilla, but since non-lycanthrope and non-doppelgangers rogues can two-weapon, and SLASH'EM allows two-weaponing with artifacts, it's worth trying to get one of the stronger artifact weapons (or a strong non-artifact such as a silver saber, silver long sword, or crysknife) as a second to use with the bat. Doomblade, Serpent's Tongue, and Stormbringer are all good choices here, as is the Great Dagger of Glaurgnaa if you have a wish. You will also encounter Yendorian army members in the mid-game, from whom you can and should collect as many bullets as possible and enchant up to +7, then keep an assault rifle or two handy for use in mowing down powerful opponents. Rogues and Undead slayers are the only roles that can achieve expert in firearm skill, which gives a chance of up to two extra shots fired per round. A rogue who is expert in firearms, firing +7 bullets from an assault rifle will fire 5-9 shots per round (average 7) and do 1d20 + 7 damage per hit (average 17.5), for an incredible average of 122.5 damage per round. Using silver bullets for special occasions (Demogorgon, etc.) would add an additional 73.5 average damge to that.

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:

"Does having skilled or expert in firearms give extra damage per hit?"

In the late game, you may want to reverse-genocide gypsies and wish for a few stacks of silver daggers for use in Gehennom. Thrown weapons can strike from behind as well, so a stack of +7 silver daggers becomes an extremely powerful weapon against the demon princes. Between the bat, your silver daggers, and your assault rifles, you should be nigh-unstoppable in the end game.

A good ascension kit for a Rogue is:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rogues at Expert level can throw up to four daggers in one move. Each dagger deals 1d4 base damage to a medium-sized target, plus 1d20 silver damage, and +2 damage from Expert proficiency. If all four daggers hit their mark, this adds up to 4d4 + 4d20 + 4(2) = 16-104 damage. This does not count bonuses from high strength, enchantment, and rings of increase damage, which would raise the maximum even further.
  2. ↑ uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 648


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