Rogue race and stats
 

I have been reading over the forums and can't decide which race to pick. Everyone seems to agree that STR is important but don't give many examples. What damage numbers could I expect to see when comparing Barbarian to Gnome every 10 levels assuming identical gear? If we really wanted to simplify it we could compare a Barbarian with all starting points in stamina to Barbarian with all starting points in strength while ignoring the fact that the starting points in strength would be wasted at end game according to some people. We could also do the same with Gnome. I just don't want to have super low dps compared to another race.

I would also like some weapon and gear recommendations. I have access to Fungi and SCHW or possibly CoF.

Thank you for your help.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Game_Me...bat_and_Damage

Role of STR on P99 Blue

The source code for EQ Emulator calculates max damage based on Weapon Damage, STR, Offense Skill, Class, and Player Level. This algorithm may have been changed on P99, but here it is for reference:

[Max Damage] = ([Mod] x [Weapon Damage]) + [Main Hand Bonus] (rounded down)
[Weapon Damage] is the damage listed on the weapon.
[Main hand bonus] is always 0 for non-melee characters, and weapons wielded in the off-hand.
[Main hand bonus] for one handed weapons is: ([Player Level] - 25) / 3 (rounded down)
[Mod] is calculated as: ([Offense Skill] + [STR]) / 100
If [Mod] is less than 2, then 2 is used instead.
If [Player Level] is less than 10, then [Max Weapon Damage] is capped at 10.
If [Player Level] is less than 20, then [Max Weapon Damage] is capped at 14 (for melee, see lists above).
So at low levels, [Max Damage] is always twice the listed weapon damage unless you have enough Offense and Strength to have a Mod higher than 2. For the critera above, a level 50 melee character using a 10 damage weapon, with 200 offense skill and 250 strength, max damage would be calculated as:

[Mod] = (200 + 250) / 100 = 4.5
[Main Hand Bonus] = (50 - 25) / 3 = 8
[Max Damage] = (4.5 x 10) + 8 = 53
Note that increased damage from strength is applied to both main hand and off hand weapons, and is a multiplier through [Mod]. The level based [Main Hand Bonus] is a flat number that is only added to the main hand weapon and is not affected by strength.

Similarly, Str seems to have a role in the Back Stab damage multiplier.

Strength is also important as it increases the carry capacity you can achieve before you start to lose agility (decreased agility can make you get hit more often, reduce your class AC bonus for monks/rogues and even slow down your walk/run speed).

Personally I find str super helpful for characters that I don't expect to spend a lot of time hanging out with level 60 shamans. If you are gonna twink and power level to 55+ for raiding then the stat is far less valuable.

Orc fang earrings are good. I use gold amber earrings as a place holder as they are super easy to get made.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Category:Rogue_Equipment

Choose a slot and sort by STR then go for items that are commonly sold or easily farmed.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Bracer_of_Scale https://wiki.project1999.com/Bracers_of_Erollisi https://wiki.project1999.com/Hero_bracers

are a few easy to get +str bracers


Don't neglect your defence skill.

Let's min/max the rogue race selection.

The most important stats for a rogue are STR (directly raises attack power - primary DPS stat), STA (directly raises total health - can't DPS when you're dead), and MR (dragon roar sucks - can't DPS when you're feared).

If you're goal is to ever raid at 60, you'll want these stats as close to max as possible. You should have a 60 shaman and 60 enchanter with you at your raid, too. They'll be able to provide STR (+67), STA (+50), and MR (+55) buffs. This means your goal will be to have gear that reaches the soft cap of these stats minus the buffs.

STR: 188
STA: 205
MR: 200

The easiest of these to raise will be STR, and you cannot put rogue starting stats into MR, so I'd recommend max out starting stats in STA and put the rest into STR.

Barbarians obviously start with highest STR/STA.

Dwarfs have the second highest STR/STA and are the only rogue race that starts with +5 MR, so I feel like they have an advantage for stats because the target for STR and STA are obtainable for any of the races.

Humans, Gnomes, and Dark Elfs can wear robes, so they can wear Robe of the Azure Sky if you're into that. It has great resists, but lower AC, no STA, and slightly less HP than Skyshrine BP

Please consider that humans are blind in the dark.

Gnomes get tinkering, but only clerics and warriors can click the gear, so that shouldn't really be a factor when choosing race.

Halflings have an XP bonus and can immediately sneak/hide.

Dark elfs have the best vision and also start with sneak/hide.

Wood elfs gets forage and also start with sneak/hide. Other races get hide at level 3.

Half elfs have nothing worth mentioning.

Some of the things that used to matter was that gear was only available to certain races by size like Hero Bracers and Tree Weave, but that's irrelevant in Velious.

For race, whatever you think looks the coolest.

For stats, dump into STR.

Strap on that Fungi and CoF, get yourself a Sebilite Croaking Dirk (main) and Winters Fury (off), some HP rings, orc fang ears, and some haze panther armor and you're good to go. Get epic MQ'd at 46, and you're off to 60.

You can basically pick any race and still reach 188 STR / 205 STA.

Having a fungi is great for soloing or when you get hit in groups.

The most important gear factor while leveling besides that are going to be haste and main hand piercer damage.

If you have a CoF, it has 36% haste which is the highest you can get on tradable gear. That would work until epic.

SCHW is a good bargain option, but only 22% haste.

For weapons, the best bargain choice is Frozen Shard

Ignoring Salindrite Dagger and Horn of Hsagra, other good choices would be Exquisite Velium Spear, Rabid Chokidai Fang, Serpent's Tooth. Just anything with 13/14 damage or about a .5 dam/delay ratio. I'd recommend avoiding weapons faster than 20 delay, though, because you'll end up tanking.

Some other random gear suggestions:
Phase Spider Carapace
Dragon Tooth Choker
Tribal War Boots
Orc Fang Earring
Poison Washed Spaulders
6/65 rings

I made a little wiki page that compares an expensive and budget set of gear options a rogue might pick if they only wanted to maximize strength. Obviously there are other considerations you would make with your actual gear but you can see that here:
https://wiki.project1999.com/Rogue_Str_Comparison

You could spend:
roughly 25k plat to get 161 strength (with no haste item)
roughly 3k plat to get 120 strength (with no haste item)

With the particular trade-offs you make changing that around a bit. Like assuming you got SCHW for a haste item you can basically subtract 10 str from those totals.

Combine this with the info about the stats you're targeting for super-high end play or use your own judgment if your mostly interested in the 1-55ish journey.

I find anecdotally that it feels like in my lvl 30ish-40ish tunes that the ones that have very similar gear but high or low str that there is approximately a 10-15% gap in damage. Its noticeable and makes a difference in a game that has such tight margins on a lot of fights, especially if solo, but not night/day

Oh, that Dire Wolf-Hide Cloak is a very obtainable suggestion assuming you don't use CoF.

I'd also recommend Talisen, Bow of the Trailblazer if you need a bow.

sorry also just realized when I copy pasted the table to update for the "budget verison" i missed a few things so i think i've corrected them all now

Dwarf is the technical Min/Max, and my rogue is dwarf.


However, I really, Really, Really wish I chose a race that can wear robes. Rogue in a robe is Fashion Quest Best in Slot and that = Overall best in slot. With velious gear and buffs, you can easily reach 255 str on even a dark elf.

Thanks everyone. I'm at work right now but plan to do a deep dive into it using this information. Thanks again.