Rogue after archery and LAM

[Alashir]

Curious what experienced people's think of rogues after light armor mastery changes and the addition of further changes to archery, smastery, silentstrike.

1) does this give rogues any better shot at crowd control?

2) do people feel like these changes are enough to give rogues the edge they've been lacking?

3) from a archery perspective, how are rogues stacking up against the competition?

[Atmani]

I find my rogue to be extremely effective with Sniping, especially with the introduction of Shadow Dance (permanent 1s Hide RT, 1s Sneak RT).

I don't engage in crowd control much. I just snipe vulnerable targets from groups of 2-3 at extremely low risk, and Vanish instantly any time I'm popped out of hiding.

I personally still prefer MBP and have not transitioned to LAM. People on discord seem to like it a lot. For my use case, I'd rather have the always-on protection of plate crit divisor with very little downside vs. the Evasiveness proc (only 15% in doubles, 10% in Brig) and the Offensive CMAN bonus. Plate CVA is still way superior to LAM.

I can't speak to how other archers are doing, but Rogues seem very well positioned to me post-changes given the Sniping DS pushdown. I especially like using a Heavy Crossbow with my rogue, as cocking it (3s) can't reveal you from hiding. That means your primary shots only take 2 seconds, so even when you're revealed, it's either very briefly, or your Vanishes are very cheap (low RT). The main downside is anything with plate sucks to kill, but that's not an uncommon weakness (same for daggers, etc.)

Here's my build if you're curious. Just barely capped. I fixskilled to pick up 425 for the AS bonus in my 90s, was pure physical until then. Did UAC Ambush until late 80s with lots of success, but you can't beat sniping for effectiveness/safety combo.

Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 180 80
Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101
Ranged Weapons.....................| 302 202
Ambush.............................| 302 202
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 50 10
Physical Fitness...................| 302 202
Dodging............................| 352 252
Harness Power......................| 30 6
Stalking and Hiding................| 403 303
Perception.........................| 302 202
Climbing...........................| 140 40
Swimming...........................| 170 70

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 30