TSO Rogue AA

[Teaen Arcarius]

<p>I just hit 120 AA, well 122 actually, and I'm undecided where to put it in the TSO Rogue tree.  I mostly solo and group with a static group where I am a big part of the dps.  I'm not gonna list out all my 120 AA spent, but lets just say that its a mix of dmg/debuff, and defense. </p><p>So, here's a copy/paste of the TSO Rogue AA descriptions from Allakhazam:</p><ol><li><strong>Impenetrable Chains</strong> - Increases the physical mitigation by an additional 1%, Imcreases the skill bonuses by 5% (per point, defensive stance only) </li><li><strong>Rogue's Flurry</strong> - Improves the critical damage by 2%, Improves the base damage by 3% (per point, Double Dagger and Quick Flurry lines only) </li><li><strong>Circle of Blades</strong> - Improves the damage and critical multiplier by 2.5% (per point, Circular Strike and Circle Attack lines only) </li><li><strong>Hidden Adversary</strong> - Improves the hate reduction by 5% (per point, Stay Low line only) </li><li><strong>Battle Endurance</strong> - Adds an additional stamina component to the rogue's self buff, Improves the attribute gains of the rogue's self buff by 5% (per point, Flight of Foot and Street Smarts lines only) </li><li><strong>Poison Mastery</strong> - Improves damage of poisons by 3% (per point)</li></ol><p>Originally, I was thinking Impenetrable Chains to help with defense for solo and Poison Mastery for dps.  However, I've already got the Str line defense AA, and I've got the Strengthened Links AA from the TSO scout tree.  In defense stance (AD3), I've got 52% mit and 49% avoidance.  I already do pretty well solo, so I'm not sure how much difference Impenetrable Chains is going to make.  So, I'm wondering if Battle Endurance might be a better choice.  On the AA description it also says "Adds additional stamina to the Rogue's Flight of Foot and Street Smarts line of spells. It also increases the strength and agility found in those spell lines."  So, maybe it would be more worthwhile to increase sta/str/agi instead of increasing skill bonuses and 5% mit increase?  I dunno...  Anyone tried them?</p><p>Also, I'm not real excited about 15% poison bonus from Poison Mastery, but I think that it's probably the best dps choice in this line.</p><p>EDIT:  ok, I just checked the Street Smarts line (ending in Savy), and it doesn't have str or agi.  It says "Increases the strength and trauma resistance of the brigand".  The swashbuckler line has the agi instead of the traua resist, so now I'm really confused about what Battle Endurance is supposed to do..   <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Dareena]

<p>For the TSO Rogue lines, I used the following for my different mirrored builds...</p><p>Solo - Circle of Blades (5), Poison Mastery (5)</p><p>Group - Battle Endurance (5), Imprenetrable Chains (5)</p><p>My soloing AA build is all about DPS and finesse.  Since our biggest TSO issue is the number of group mobs, I wanted the max AE DPS output possible.</p><p>My grouping AA build incorporates the EoF Brigand tanking tree choices.  As a result, I'm normally taking a bit of the MT's damage and potentially stealing aggro from him (via shennanigans) if the healers need a few seconds to heal him up.  Under such a scenerio, it would be expected that the tank would then steal aggro back while I use my de-taunts.  In order to help make that work better, I wanted to max out my M1 Defensive Stance avoidance benefits and give myself some extra health to survive.  And the bonus strength for DPS is nice too.</p><p>Just be warned that the text description of <strong>Battle Endurance</strong> is incorrect.  If you look at it closer, you'll see that it only affects our self buff in Live.  The Beta part about buffing our movement speed AE was removed.  By having the max (5) points in it, you're looking at a +65 stamina increase (in addition to the strength gain).</p>

[TheSpin]

<p>I decided to spend my first 10 points in this line on Rogue's Flurry, and Poison Mastery.</p><p>I agree that aoe dps is more important than ever, but I am still a single target dps class and decided to become the best I can at my primary role rather than weak my primary role at the expense of a role I'm not designed for.  I did find 5 points to spare in the aoe on the brigand tree, and I might pick up Circle of Blades later, but I want to focus on doing my primary job first, and that is single target dps/debuffing.</p><p>I still haven't decided what my 2nd spec will focus on.  If I decide to go the tanking route I would probably pick Impenetrable Chains, and Circle of Blades... .one for surviveabiilty, the other to help with aggro.  (Right now my alternate spec was last used to harvest shinies in Chardok months ago).</p><p>I should mention that the things I enjoy the most about being a brigand are raiding, grouping, and soloing heroic mobs.  I solo quest as necessary, but it's not really what I enjoy.</p>

[SinIsLaw]

<p>Personally, I would say go max <span ><strong>Poison Mastery </strong></span>at first, then move to <span ><strong>Rogue's Flurry </strong></span>and <span ><strong>Circle of Blades</strong></span>. </p><p>I feel that Noxious Toxin & Rugged Shielding are a waste of points in the Brig tree, so you will have spare points for the Rogue tree...</p><p><span ><strong>Impenetrable Chains - </strong></span>is not really needed, I think i can count on one hand how often i went into def stance! Even when soloing/duoing I usually choose to be in off-stance.</p><p><span ><strong>Battle Endurance - </strong></span>this imho depends a lot on your stats. At lvl 80 & if you have access to Rok/TSO raid gear, it is so easy to max out STR and STA, that any additional points seemingly have almost no effect.</p><p><span ><strong>Hidden Adversary - </strong></span>imporve to Hideaway, also not really needed. Has a to long recast to justify spending AA points into it, if you ask me. <span ><strong> </strong> </span></p>