[Reiker]

Originally Posted by Combo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

1.) Sneak. Does this make me "invisible" to monsters as long as I'm behind them?

Essentially, although it's more like it adjusts your faction for NPCs you're behind. You can buy/sell from vendors and do quests if you sneak behind an npc you normally have bad faction with.

2.) Hide + Sneak. Am I totally invisible when this is going on? Can I walk right past a mob assuming both skill checks succeed like Improved Invis, or is there a radius of detection that gets lower as my skill goes up? Does it have a duration, or can it randomly expire/fail?

As long as both succeed and you're moving invisibly, you're good to go unless you run into a mob that can see through hide. Some mobs can see through invis and not hide, while others can see through hide and not invis (although this is rarer). Obviously some mobs can see through both. Generally sneak/hide is better than invis as less mobs are able to see through it.

3.) Gear. Aside from Greater Snake Fang I have no clue what to grab early on in terms of a weapon. Armor I'm totally clueless outside of getting banded at some point and jewelcrafted junk when I can afford it.

Well, there's a lot to say here. Giant Snake Fangs are really good for new rogues, I think your first opportunity to grab one is from the giant snakes on the ledge and pit in blackburrow. Past that, you'll most likely want to start saving up money for a cheap dagger such as a SBD. You need a magic weapon as soon as possible, and you can try to snag a Pugius (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=7307) from Unrest or a Jambiya (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=7403) from Oasis if you can't find anything in your price range in East Commons. The most important thing to spend your money on is weapons, most of the best have already been mentioned here, and a haste item. The only haste item you're going to have a chance at without raiding is an FBSS and for this you'll need to get leveled up to camp it or save up 10k+pp. Your weapons and your haste item are bar none the most important elements to your character, other gear is just extra. You can try to buy Ravenscale, although this stuff was pretty expensive on live since people generally stop hunting in Cazic as mu ch after Rubicite is taken out, and very rare drops. Just try to scrape by buying str/sta gear from EC or winning drops in groups, and put your primary focus on good weapons and eventually an FBSS until you're able to start doing Plane of Hate for a set of Woven Shadow.