I find myself having to build a rogue ad=nd I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to try and build the most defensive rogue possible so it would fair well on melee.
I was thinking of MC sorcerer or bard to get a few self buff spell such as blur and haste and shield. Does that make sense or are there better alternative that would give me things that would compare well as those spells?
I was thinking of using the shield spell to get a shield block in as well as another shield to keep the AC coming once I used the reaction and not being able to cast shield.
Any thoughts on how to make a rogue sturdier and harder to hit? The goal would be to stay within reach to capitalize on 8th level class feat Opportunist and still be able to keep in melee without dropping first.
I'm going to suggest reach weapon on a ruffian (probably long spear).
sure, you don't get AoO, but this would allow you to move easily slip away from an enemy. Combine it with skirmish strike, and you can slip in and out of enemy reach.
Make them waste their time on move actions to reach you. That means less time spent murdering you, and harder to gang up on you.
If you're going Ruffian, then getting the Sentinel Dedication from the Advanced Player's Guide might not be a bad idea. No one expects heavy armor rogue, after all.
I think there's a clear answer for this. Be a human and take a general feat at first level for shield block, then take the lastwall sentry or bastion archetype at level 2 for reactive shield.
Probably works best with ruffian, but thief is great if you don't mind the bulk.
Dwarf Ruffian Sentinel Dedication at 2.
Parry only gives you a +1 to AC but you can still use the TWF feats and use a feat to ignore the heavy armor speed penalty. Tiefling Heritage nimble hooves raises your speed back to 25 if you want to as well. The low light/dark vision is wasted there however so could talk to the GM if they'd give you something else appropriate because of that.
Thanks all for the different ideas. Indead, shield block would be problematic considering rogue has only one reaction. Will check that scout thing, looks like a good plan to lower to hit with stealth :-).
Thanks all for the different ideas. Indead, shield block would be problematic considering rogue has only one reaction. Will check that scout thing, looks like a good plan to lower to hit with stealth :-).
Well if you go Bastion you can get another reaction at level 10 for shield blocking.
I would think that Thief Rogue who raises shield each round ought to do the trick. Buy the best light armor you can and upgrade it as soon as you can every time you can.
Stat priority is DEX, CON, then who cares, fill it out however it makes sense for your character.
The rest of it depends on your team and what they're doing; it's not all up to YOU the tank to hold it all together. The Cleric can put Forbidding Ward on you, the Wizard can put Blur on you, the Monk can dance in and out of combat which will allow YOU to dance in and out as well, the Bard can use Inspire Defense, the Ranger uses a bird companion to Dazzle the enemy, etc.
PF2 combat is a synergistic thing, and it's important to be thinking as a member of the team, not as an isolated character.
I run for two parties and neither one even HAS a tank. In both cases the front line is a pair of melee strikers. They take a truck load of damage and have zero mitigation, but they also dish out the damage pretty fast as well. Characters get banged up on the regular, but it works. If that works, a Rogue with a shield will work too. IF the rest of the party plays ball and everybody is willing to adjust their specific character's tactics to fit the party.
That's one of the things I've found to be best about PF2: It seems that a wide range of parties are possible, and they all play different and allow for various and interesting tactics to play out on the tabletop. Very fun.
I wish you good luck with your Rogue Tank, however it ends up looking. I think it's a really rad character concept and maybe one day I'll get the opportunity to play one myself.