Need a new hunting style for my rogue

[Tenzle]

Alright, so my little picker is starting to have trouble keeping up with the boxes I bring him, and I'm just bored hunting him, I'm looking for a build that will let me solo hunt well, but is not terribly boring (OHB/Shield ambush is terribly boring).

I'd like to keep 404, and stay close to 2.5x pick and disarm if at all possible (he's open picking boxes for characters around 35 trains)


Here's my current stats:

Race: Elf Profession: Rogue (shown as: Master Craftsman)
Gender: Male Age: 0 Expr: 794728 Level: 26
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 77 (13) ... 77 (13)
Constitution (CON): 87 (18) ... 87 (18)
Dexterity (DEX): 68 (14) ... 68 (14)
Agility (AGI): 59 (19) ... 59 (19)
Discipline (DIS): 87 (3) ... 87 (3)
Aura (AUR): 78 (19) ... 78 (19)
Logic (LOG): 81 (15) ... 81 (15)
Intuition (INT): 75 (12) ... 75 (12)
Wisdom (WIS): 88 (19) ... 88 (19)
Influence (INF): 67 (18) ... 67 (18)


So of all the rogue hunting styles, which do people tend to find effective? As I said above he's currently 2x blunt / 1x shield, and its just not all that fun to go out and hunt on him, so I'm looking for something a bit more exciting.

[Beguiler]

Okay, my human rogue started out OHE/Shield/Ambush, fixskilled her to ranged.. She's 60ish now, and can open most bowels boxes, and uses open aiming archery, which has been quite effective. Just an option.


At level 29:
Armor Use (1.7X)
Ranged Weapons (1.9X)
Combat Maneuvers (0.5X) This eventually catches up to level
Ambush (1.0X)
Physical Fitness (1.0X)
Dodging (2.0X)
Climbing (0.5X)
Swimming (0.5X)
Disarm Traps (3.0X)
Picking Locks (3.0X)
Perception (2.4X)
Arcane Symbols (0.6X)
Magic Item Use (0.3X)
Harness Power (this comes later)
Spell Research (0.1X)
Minor Elemental (0.1X) She got 404 at level 30.

[Tenzle]

I had him ranged for a little bit when he was lower in his teens, and it was a disaster, he was hidden ranged but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I thought that aiming did not really get effective till closer till 60.

[Mike]

Budget constraints will stop you from having a terrible amount of "fun" effectiveness. You'll be stuck with the obvious right and wrong paths unless you have the funds for niche uberosity (dual returning hurls, sephwir bows, etc).

[WRoss]

go THW!

[Mike]

Whacking stuff in the head with a quarterstaff IS effective...

[Tenzle]

What i'd heard was that THW was just too expensive if I wanted to pick as well, how do open ambush THW rogues do, do they all just wish they were warriors?

[xt3kn1x]

My friend does twc, with hauberk, voln fu, and still keeps 2x pick/traps. He doesn't, however have 403/404 but can pick his own stuff, which is about all he cares about. I like locksmithing too much to give up 403/404, but if you care about your stuff only, would be a viable option.

[Tenzle]

Yeah, 404 and 2x+ pick/disarm are pretty much all I care about -- the problem I'm having is that I cant get enough xp off just locksmithing to keep the rogue near level to the people he's picking for, so I want to make him a bit more capable out in the world, as it just takes me forever to fry with OHB/Shield.

[waywardgs]

My friend does twc, with hauberk, voln fu, and still keeps 2x pick/traps. He doesn't, however have 403/404 but can pick his own stuff, which is about all he cares about. I like locksmithing too much to give up 403/404, but if you care about your stuff only, would be a viable option.

As it stands, 404/403 are pretty necessary for picking your own locks at 2x picking, especially when you get up around 60+.