Crippling Strike, worth it?

[Sereth1728]

Hi, I am just wondering if crippling strike is a useful ability for a rogue. I read somewhere that for each backstab (sneak attack) level you get -1 strength to your enemy. Is that true? Or is it just a 1 strength deduction. If that is the case, then that sucks.

And is it always on, or do you have to activate it?

[kmonster]

I wouldn't take the feat. Sneak attacked enemies shouldn't live long enough to be threatening.

[Sereth1728]

So then, the question is are there any "good" rogue class skills?

Arterial Strike, Hamstring, crippling strike, envenom weapon? Or do rogues just kinda get screwed when it comes to that....again..

[kmonster]

If you use sneak attacks crippling strike is worth it, envenom weapon is also a good feat. But I wouldn't take feats which sacrifice sneak attack damage.
There are also many very useful non-rogue skills you can take like dash, rapid shot, improved critical, dodge, weapon focus, ...

[Sereth1728]

Thanks for the sound advice.
I do use sneak attacks a lot and my rogue is going for the weapon focus from fighter lvl 4. I havent gotten there yet, but i will. Im trying to make a rogue that can sneak attack and still fight a little in case one of my other fighters gets cut off by stun, web, etc....

Besides all that, I will say one thing. The rogue in icewind dale 2 is definitely five times better than the ones in bg2, 1 and dale1. The sneak attack is just so much better because you can still use it again without having to go back into shadows like in the old versions. It's just too bad no one will make an icewind dale 3 or something that uses the IE. The engine is just...perfect. Well almost

[kmonster]

The best way to raise sneak attack power is raising strength, the most important stat for rogues.