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DEVIL OF CAROC, F CONSTRUCT BARBARIAN
Why She's Included and How to Use Her
Devil of Caroc is more or less the Token Evil Teammate in the party.
Here I use her as a hybrid Damage Dealer / Off-Tank. I select certain talents with a view towards maximizing her Deflection. It is the Riposte talent in particular that allows a Rogue to perform the hybrid role, since even a Graze can trigger a counter-attack.
For any part with a Rogue, it is imperative to debuff the enemies with Afflictions that will expose them to the Rogue's Sneak Attack. To take it further, you should strive whenever possible to have your enemies suffer from at least two such Afflictions at the same time so that the Rogue can make use of Death Blows and score double damage with each attack. The Druid's spells and Cipher's Powers are well-suited for such an endeavour.
Location
She can be recruited at #46 in Galvino's Workshop during Part 1 of the White March expansion.
Personal Quest
Stats
Skills
Mechanics: Rogues are the only class that starts with a +2 bonus to Mechanics, so Devil of Caroc definitely builds this skill up as the first priority so that she can take care of the traps and locked doors. The other two skills are not altogether neglected, but they definitely take a back seat.
Athletics: This skill is important for any character on harder settings, even squishy spellcasters. It helps any character go longer between resting, which is especially crucial during the Hard or Path of the Damned settings. It also provides bonus Health and Endurance.
Survival: Devil of Caroc is a combat-oriented character, so developing this skill for the resting bonuses makes sense.
Abilities
1st Level - Blinding Strike: Her default first-level ability, and I can't do anything about it.
3rd Level - Dirty Fighting: A passive ability that converts 10% of Hits into Critical Hits. Besides the fact that Rogues need to maximize their single-target damage anyway they can, this is the sensible choice for the additional reason that she'll be using a Battle Axe with a bonus to Critical Hit Modifier.
5th Level - Reckless Assault: It is a modal ability that grants +8 to Accuracy and +20% to Damage, but at the expense of a -8 penalty to Deflection. That may seem an odd choice for an off-tank, but I will minimize the Deflection penalty with the Deflecting Assault talent on the next level up. Furthermore, the Damage bonus from this modal will stack with the Damage bonus from the Savage Attack modal when I get it.
7th Level - Riposte: It provides a chance to inflict a counter-attack when an enemy Hits or Grazes the Rogue. It's a perfect ability for a tank-Rogue build, since even Grazes will trigger it.
9th Level - Persistent Distraction: If she's right next to a Flanked enemy, that enemy will also be Distracted. That in turn means a further -6 penalty to Deflection, and in turn makes a Critical Hit that much more likely. Since Grieving Mother very often leads off with Flanked Foes, this passive ability is almost always in play.
11th Level - Deathblows: It allows her to inflict double damage on her target when her target is subject to two or more afflictions that make it vulnerable to sneak attacks. One of my mainstay strategies is to inflict at least two such afflictions on multiple targets. For example, a Phantom Foes from Grieving Mother and a Relentless Storm from Hiravias will allow Devil of Caroc to hit her targets with double damage.
13th Level - Deep Wounds: Adds a little extra Raw Damage over time with each Hit. It may not be a big deal, especially when she can mow down a single opponent very quickly. But Retaliation will trigger it, and that can become useful for softening up multiple enemies that surround her.
15th Level - Adept Evasion: I pretty much have everything I want for her in terms of being both a Damage Dealer and an Off-Tank, so now I simply add a passive ability that increases her Reflex Defense against area-of-effect attacks.
Talents
2nd Level - Weapon and Shield Style: A sensible choice even for an off-tank that uses a shield.
4th Level - Vicious Fighting: In combination with Dirty Fighting, it in the aggregate results in 20% of Hits being converted into Critical Hits. Can be really useful when using a weapon like a Battle Axe.
6th Level - Deflecting Assault: Reduces the Deflection penalty for using Reckless Assault.
8th Level - Savage Attack: provides +20% Damage at the expense of a -5 Accuracy penalty. The Accuracy penalty is negligible for a Rogue that already has very high Accuracy and will frequenlty be attacking debuffed enemies anyway. I also get to use both Reckless Attack and Savage Attack at the same time as modal abilities.
10th Level - Superior Deflection: A +5 bonus to Deflection that will enhance her role as an off-tank.
12th Level - Weapon Focus (Knight): It will increase the Accuracy of her attacks with Rimecutter, and in turn increase the probability of a Critical Hit along with the enhanced-Critical Hit Damage modifier that comes with using a Battle Axe.
14th Level - Hold the Line: Her attacks pack real punch, so this talent helps her lock down more than one foe in place as an off-tank.
16th Level - Bloody Slaughter: It won't become applicable until her target is almost dead, but it does make a finishing blow that much more likely. She has everything she wants by now, so I don't mind rounding out things in this fashion.
Inventory
Rimecutter Purchased from Azzuro at Caed Nua. It is the only weapon in the game that has both a Critical Hit Modifier and a bonus to Attack Speed that will stack with the Critical Hit Modifier and Attack Speed bonuses provided by the 'Durganized' enhancement. That definitely makes it one of the best single-hand weapons in the game, and ideal for a Rogue that wants to land as many Sneak Attacks and Critical Hits as she can. It already comes with the Freezing Lash Damage enchantment as well. I also added the Legendary enchantment to it afterwards.
Sura's Supper Plate: Looted from a rack at #21 in the main floor of the Cliaban Rilag ruins. It provides decent enough Deflection, especially when enchanted further. The Retaliation feature can help her wear down her enemies as well, especially in conjunction with a Combusting Wounds from Sagani's Ring of Searing Flames.
Twin Sting Purchased from Hamond's Emporium at #11 in Stalwart Village during Part 2 of the White March expansion. Although she is not primarily an archer, the crossbow does present some interesting possibilities for a Rogue, such as inflicting a small amount of Raw Damage with each hit, and the potential to trigger Merciless Gaze for the Rogue on a Critical Hit or Hit.
Argwes Adra's Helm: Purchased from Hamond's Emporium at #11 in Stalwart Village during Part 2 of the White March expansion. The +3 Resolve bonus will help her in her off-tank melee combatant role.
Devil of Caroc's Body: It is her default body armor, and she can't wear anything else. I added the Superb Quality, the +2 Perception, and the Slash-Proofed enchantments to it.
Hiro's Mantle: Purchased from Azzuro at Caed Nua. It provides welcome bonuses to Crushing and Piercing Damage Reduction, which suits her role as an off-tank and damage dealer. It also provides Retaliation, which will stack with Retaliation from her Sura's Supper Plate shield. In her instance, that means multiple chances to trigger Deep Wounds even on Grazes, or multiple hits of 5 points of Burning Damage in combination with Sagani's use of Combusting Wounds, or multiple tics of extra Burning Damage in combination with Kana's Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr, or multiple tics of extra damage when Grieving Mother uses Pain Link on her.
Gauntlets of Swift Action: Found as a random item at a chest at #4 in the Foundry. The obvious idea is her hitting her targets with her axe as often as possible.
Ring of Deflection: Purchased from Lora at #25 in Copperlane. An obvious choice for an off-tank.
Ring of Thorns: Looted from a Menpwgra at #8 in the 11th level of Endless Paths. The Dexterity bonus increases her Attack Speed with her axe. The defense bonuses are sugar on top.
Sentinel's Girdle: In a chest at #16 in the Cragholdt Bluffs. The +3 bonus to Might obviously helps increase the damage of her melee attacks. The ability to use Watchful Presence once per rest provides an ability that can be useful in some fights, and would otherwise be unavailable to the good party. The bonus Defense vs. Push attacks will also help her maintain tank position.
Glanfathan Stalking Boots: Obtained from a chest in the Ogre Cave while pursuing a Nalrend the Wise, as an item from the "Elmshore - North Cave" section of the random drop list. Attacking enemies susceptible to Sneak Attacks is her bread and butter, and her enemies will very frequently end up Flanked owing to Grieving Mother's use of Phantom Foes.
