Boot Camp

Rogue Boot Camp for Levels 1-13

Well the gates were closed for a bit. So I decided to sit outside light up some femfendar and :GASP: write since I'm bored. I just wanted to write a little skills guide for the young'uns to bolster what's already in written near the outside of our guild. I'll start with terms and skills. I've noticed a lot of the newer rogues sacrificing skills I would consider "must have" skills in order to learn useless things or the "crucial" skills from other rogues.

*Note: This is for rogues who are between levels 1 and 13(approx.)

Thiefy Terms

Some of ya young rogues didn't know what I was talking about when I said some things to yas.

1. Double Hide-- To activate paint, then HIDE using your stealth skill. As a result you should be hidden, with the Lurk spell in your mind.
2. Leap-- the act of attacking from the shadows. AKA jumping out, backstab, assass attempt
3. Re-leap-- the thief manuever or act of automatically leaping back into the shadows after attacking from the shadows. AKA double releap, auto re leap, assass releap, all types of crap.

Main Skills (for gl 1-7)

You should be about level 5 upon entering the guild. The road is hard at first but here are the skills that I feel are most important to learn.

1. Physical Training(aka PT)--The higher this skill, the more health you will recover when resting. The higher this skill, THE MORE HPS YOU WILL GAIN AT LEVEL. Why Learn? More HPs, duh. Learn this as soon as you can. A girl thief and a boy thief enter the lands at level 1. The girl learns Physical Training to Beginner and the boy stays at apprentice or has none. At level 2 the boy will find he has less HPs than the girl. Also, you should not attain a land level that is higher than your next guild portal. This will result in you NOT learning your Physical Training(among other skills) at the lowest level possible.

< 2. One-Handed Weapons(aka OHW)--This skill determines your skill with any weapon that can be wielded with one hand. It determines balance time of ALL attacks. By all attacks, I mean the higher you One Handed Weapons skill, the better your balance time is when ATTACKING(A/ATTACK), AIMING(AIM), and CHARGING (CH/CHARGE). Why learn? It makes you hit harder and faster. It is not possible to assassinate a creature with a Missile Weapon.

3. Dodging-- The higher this skill the less you get hit in combat. Why learn? We are not fighters so we don't have high constitutions and PT, thus we have less HPS. Getting hit less really does help, you may not realize it but if you compare your hp loss from before the skill was attained you will see there is a difference. Your chance to dodge is GREATLY decreased when in Berserk Stance(as are all defensive skills).

Skills not necessary to survive, but to consider:

-Remove Traps-- this skill increases chance of automatically disarming a trap upon entering a room or touching/unlocking which is trapped.

-Riding-- increases damage when charging and MAY improve balance time slightly.(OHW improves balance time for sure on a charge) For those who charge alot this may be an option, other than that I would only suggest learning enough to ride the mount you intend to purchase.

-Barter-- more gold when selling items/cheaper prices

-Resilience-- resistance to elemental attacks

-Spell Resistance-- resistance to magical attacks

-Awareness-- at least to apprentice. You will NOT be able to find some things if awareness is not on your skill list. It also impacts other skills

-Pick Locks-- a thief has the ability to unlock a door with apprentice skill. This should suffice for all doors and chests.(at least the ones I've encountered) This is an option for decreasing your unlock time, which can be useful in some rare situations.

-Pick Pockets-- this skill allows a thief to steal from monsters and innocents. This is a nice way to get some extra gold.(PICKPOCKET or PICKITEM )

Main Skills (gl 8, 9)

It is hopeful that you are level 8, glevel 8 by this point. That way you will be as powerful as you can be by level 8, not to mention getting that PT so you can have more hps by the time you reach level 9 and level 10.

1. Physical Training

2. One Handed Weapons

3. Poison-- The higher the skill, the greater your poison's intensity and the more charges. Why learn? You do more damage. You do Divine Damage. Damage is good, it is of the gods.

4. Multiple Attacks(aka MA, MAttack if yer talking to a monk *wink*)-- The higher this skill, the higher the chance of you getting more consecutive attacks on monsters. Why learn? Damage, duh. But this skill also helps you assassinate more. When you leap from the shadows with a multiple attack each attack is a possible assassination; Two attacks, two attempts.

5. Called Shot(aka CS, CShot)-- This skill allows you to strike a creature in a vital area and cause more damage. Used the same as as ATTACK(A) but you must type AIM to attack with a called shot. The higher the skill, the more damage you will cause when typing aim.
Why learn? Damage. Highly underestimated skill, learn it early though it may not serve you better than using ATTACK/A at first, there will come a time when most of your attacks are done with AIM. Your balance time is a bit longer with aim. The better you become in OHW, the LESS the BALANCE TIME will be . The better you become at Called Shot, the MORE DAMAGE you do upon landing a called shot. Called shot does NOT INCREASE the chance of assassination, NOR DOES IT DECREASE.

6. Stealth-- This skill determines how fast, how long, and how well you hide. Why learn? (1) Hiding failure in public is embarassing! (2) You stay hidden longer. (3) You are harder to search out by both monsters and other citizens. Do not underestimate this skill. I have found that a lot of rogues do, so I will give you a scenario. Lets say ya wanna kill a draggie. Ya hide like a good rogue and leap out like ya should :snaps, No assass!: but, luckily ya leap back into the shadows! But the damn dragon spots ya and cancels your chance for another shot at killing it.

7. Dodging

Skills to consider: -same as above

Main Skills(gl, 10-18)

Again it is advisable to be Level 10/GLevel 10 at this point.


1. Physical Training
2. One-Handed Weapons
3. Poisoning
4. Multiple Attacks
5. Called Shot
6. Stealth
7. Dodging

Skills to consider:

-Toughness-- decreases damage taken after being hit, very expensive for the first learn.

-Pick Pockets-- this skill begins to pay off here

-Barter-- saves gold at higher levels, might help with mount price a bit

After learning all the main skills and getting your new guild armor you may want to learn a bit of assassination to help you along the way. Learning a skill from guildmates always costs you one more build point. You will regret learning from others if you let impatience control you. So, if you do decide to learn from guildmates and learn TOO MUCH the day you will curse yourself will be upon you.

General Tips

-Get a Guild Ring!
-the Tool Bag is useful, type EX TOOL BAG for instructions on proper use.
-Locker the Lockpicking kit.
-Face Paint can be activated from within your pack, so it is not required to be "in-hand".
-when unlocking, use UNLOCK for doors and UNLOCK for boxes, instead of using the Lockpick kit. You get more exp.
-Keep your GLevels close to your Land Levels(normal level)
-Do not forget your City Level.
-Read the Charter.
-Follow the rules, especially number 1, erm...no 2, I'd just go with all of em.
-Don't steal from other citizens early on. Believe me it is best to build bridges before you burn them.
-Try SCALE WALL one north Town Center.
-Hunt the catacombs at first, then the Fort if ya can handle it.
-Study the monsters and their balance times.
-Practice double hiding, paint usage and assassination in battle.
-Learn how to use *cough OOC* the wizard and it's macros, not just the 1, 2, 3... macros. If any of ya young rogues got a question for me, post em here and I'll help yas if I can. Also I'm no longer a mentor so tone those tells down folks(points at those I'm talking about *tickles, runs n ducks*).

::Falls to the ground panting. Spin manages to make it into the shadows crawling. Spin is gone...eventually.::