I fired this game up after reading through the thread a few weeks ago. I was curious about the actual differences between rogues and fighters, beyond what I could just remember. One thing I always wanted to try was a gun-using offensive character, and the high-damage stacking abilities of the rogue seemed like a good idea here.
So there are skills that allow me to utilize multiple firearms in a smart way, most importantly Arms Bearer and Quick Switch. The idea behind this multiple gun-toting terror was to have 3-4 pistols all equipped. Fire one, switch, fire another, switch, etc. Combined with a high dex, Quick switch would actually allow me to use a second, third, fourth gun faster than waiting for the first one to reload. The downside, of course, is that after gun #4 I have to reload everything. So the temptation is to stack three guns, and keep a melee weapon in slot 4, but the problem here is the problem of rogues in general -- they are absolutely shit at staying alive. If you get into melee range, you will quickly get buttfucked into oblivion. The way to avoid this is to invest in the more defensive-minded rogue talents, but of course the rogue doesn't have defensive-minded abilities so much as engagement-breaking abilities. And these are nice, but they don't solve the fundamental problem of allowing you stay in the fight while continuing to dish out melee. It is for this reason I originally said (and still believe) that if you want to roll a dual wielding melee specialist, use a fighter. They are better in every regard, except for raw damage output. But I believe they make up for this shortcoming by being able to stay in the fight and deliver more consistent damage over time.
So then I respecced, around level 7-8. Instead of 4 guns, I'd stick with one and go for talents that increased reload speed. Integral to this build was a reliance on things like Backstab, sneak attack modifiers, etc. The problem with Backstab, though, is that you need to be within 2 meters for it to work. This leaves you with two options, both heavily reliant on stealth (which has its own issues, chiefly that I have to take points from Mechanics, which I like pumping on a rogue).
One, you can use a guy like Eder to lure enemies towards you and, timing it just right, shoot them when they get into your 2m range. This is always a bit of a crapshoot because unlike melee, ranged weapons will not move the character in range to fire, thereby wasting your Backstab modifier if you accidentally attack an enemy without being in range first. And if you're dealing with groups, a mob hurtling towards Eder can include enemies who will bump into you (!) thereby pushing you out of stealth, also wasting your Backstab modifier. Finally, allowing Eder to pull enemies, but waiting for them to get into Backstab range, means you will lose the Sneak Attack bonus gained by attacking within the first 2 seconds of combat. Because it usually takes longer than two seconds for enemies to get within your range.
The second option is a more lone-wolf approach -- stealth, approach target, get off your pistol shot and take advantage of the huge Backstab and Sneak Attack modifiers. And this is no joke. Armed with Forgiveness, I was able to do a single attack damage of 128.5 at level 7. This is pretty fucking good! The downside, of course, is that you're basically helpless until your Coordinated Positioning or Escape talents can be used. And owing to the slow speed of guns in general, you're left standing there in a midst of enemies for a second or two, which is more than enough to kill you outright. Finally, if you do make it out alive your huge damage burst has been reduced to a trickle because at this stage of the game (level 7-8) you've had to put your precious talent points into those things that give you a big bang up front -- this means no Gunner, and no defensive talents like Graceful Retreat.
So it could be that I need to wait this out longer, gain some more levels, etc. I'm not sure. The first version of my rogue seemed to do more consistent damage and since I wasn't worried about Backstabs, I never died because I was never in melee range. But after my 3rd or 4th pistol shot, I was in for a lot of down time. The second version was much more of a glass cannon, once-and-you're-done type job. But the frantic race to not get murdered after my surprise attack was not a fun aspect to manage, and I died way more often.
The other option is to try a different class -- I could see Rangers doing very well with, say, an arquebus and Swift Aim/Swift and Steady. I'm not interested in trying a Chanter or Cipher, whose gun usage would be incidental to their main class abilities.
Any thoughts on what I should try?
