newer 60 needs advice on Solo'ing Campaign and such

alcattle

I have been level 60 for a little while. I have a lot of epic gear mostly from AH, I put rank #5 in most pieces. I do not have Armor or Weapon enchants yet.
I cannot finish the artifact quest, I started in Sharadar but I die too much and I lose interest.
Quick stats power 3.1k,crit 2.6k, ArmPn .5k and defense/def about 1k
20k HP but it goes fast.
modeled on stealth build but not sure it works for my ability.

any pointers, or ask if you need more info on my poor little rogue

pitshade

First, get some Armor Pen ASAP. That's going to be a straight up damage increase for you. What other gear do you have, especially weapons but rings and whatnot as well.

Second don't worry about a 'stealth build' for solo content. Extra stealth is useful and good but you don't need to use it forever. For pretty much anything in Sharandar, (since you have stealth feats) try using Shadowstrike, Blitz and Smoke Bomb. Use Sly Flourish/Gloaming and Duelists as your atwills. Run up to the mobs, use Blitz, hit Smoke Bomb. Duelist Flurry the biggest thing. Go into stealth as they recover from the smoke. Finish off the large mob, then use SF/GC to finish off the rest. Use Shadowstrike as needed to stay in stealth as long as the elite mobs are still around.

There are variations. You can incorporate any of the at wills. Sly Flourish does the same damage as DF and is faster, the bleeds don't really add up in solo content as the mobs die first. Cloud of Steel and Sly Flourish can be effective. Substitute Dazing Strike for Shardowstrike and use it to disable and kill the elites quicker.

Another strategy that works well is to use Path of the Blade just before you get close enough to aggro the mobs, then hit stealth and charge them. Use your preferred atwills on the elite mob first and then finish off the weakened small stuff.

Basically, your atwills are what cause damage, your encounters are there to help you avoid damage and generally I always slot at least 1 AOE power to deal with the weak stuff. As long as you can dodge, strong single targets aren't a threat to you, but getting mobbed by small stuff can hurt. Blitz/PotB + Smoke Bomb is a must if you don't want to stay in stealth all the time (which I find boring)

For fights like the artifact quest, (it's been awhile since I did that) it seems like you should use AOE, Stealth and Smoke to do hit and run attacks on the weak stuff especially those blazing skeletons. Then attack the boss. Prioritize staying out of the red over dealing damage.

beckylunatic

Artifact Recovery quest wasn't generally difficult on my TRs, just a lot of making sure I was behind stuff and attacking while it was locked into red cone animations, and staying right out of red circles. On some platforms, by sticking to the sides, it was possible to clear a few monsters without aggroing all of them. You often want to save the biggest baddie for last because they attack slowly and telegraph their moves a lot.

I'd agree that power is something you don't want to build on most TRs up front, and you need arpen.

A stealth build doesn't work so hot without at least a Battlefield Scavenger set, which is yowch twice as expensive now as when I decided to bypass some grind and just buy it off the AH for my last two TRs.

alcattle

I moved some enchants around and got a gemmed shirt, Power down to 2.6k and ArmPen up to 1.2k. all are R5 now so still room to improve. How's are these numbers?

pitshade

When you hover over the stat rating for Armor Pen, it will give you a number for Resistance Ignored. You want that as high as you can get it - up to 24% for PVE. That number is basically the bonus damage you're getting versus if you had no Armor Pen at all. So you've made a big improvement, probably around 7% more damage overall. You don't need the full 24% for soloing, that's to counter the armor of T2 bosses, but try and get it a little higher at least if you can. 17-20% will help deal with the things you fight in solo quests and if it doesn't fully cover what a boss mob (or some of the really big mobs) has it will help you clear out the weak stuff a lot faster - and getting mobbed is what kills a rogue.

Some items to consider (since I don't know what you already have) are Berserker's Ring of Cleaving which will give you Power, ArPen and Life Steal - great stats for a TR. One of the most expensive rings but the T1 version is affordable. If you run dungeons, you can get slightly weaker versions using seals. You can shop around and look at epic ring stats by visiting the Seal vendor in PE and find out what items have what stats. T1 rings have 133 points on each stat. T2s have 150 and Ancient have 154. Ancient Berserker rings are one of the most expensive rings however and Grand are still pretty expensive. If you can get into groups to run Epic Pirate King, going with Minor Grand rings from the Seal vendor is an excellent option.

In blue items, Piercing Berserker rings yield the highest amount of Armor Pen for any ring. Look for the ones that give (IIRC) 243 Armor Pen and 110 Crit. Alternately you can find ones that give the same amount of Armor Pen and 110 of another useful stat. There are also versions of these as Neck and Waist items.

onodrain

All solid advise.

When I was levelling and gearing up I used a slightly different approach, focusing mainly on single target damage.

At Wills: Cloud of Steel, Duelist Flurry
Encounter: Impossible to Catch, Bait and Switch, Deft Strike
Daily: Bloodbath, Lurker's Assault

Go up to mobs and when almost to them, stealth and destroy one with Duelist Flurry. When stealth almost gone, hit Impossible to Catch so they cannot harm you as you continue to destroy them. When you start taking damage or to avoid large red damage hit Bait and Switch, which propels you back from them. After AE damage is dealt or monsters start attacking your clone, Deft Strike behind one and mop them up.

By the time your clone is gone you are ready for stealth again and Impossible to Catch. It is one big cycle that you can keep doing and not be hurt very much. Just slower to kill things.

Also, I like Bloodbath cause it can kill multiple targets, begins immediately when you cast it, and it does a ton of damage. The listed damage seems to be per strike, as I do a lot more than what it lists. It also allows you to avoid any damage whilst the animation is going off, providing you with more immunity.

After getting better gear, I use a more DPS oriented build.

At Wills: Cloud of Steel, Duelist's Flurry
Encounter: Impossible to Catch, Path of Blades, Blitz
Daily: Bloodbath, Lurker's Assault

I usually lead with Path of Blades to thin the herd, then Stealth. Hit Impossible to Catch when Stealth almost gone and mop up with Blitz. Blitz pushes you back before you cast the daggers, so I avoid AE damage with it as well.

Try different techniques till you find ones you are comfortable with.