Character Overview

Rogue is the twelfth character in the game and is unlocked by sitting on the Nuclear Throne. Her starting loadout includes her Rogue Rifle and a portal strike. Her B-Skin is unlocked if she defeats Captain, a loop boss found in IDPD HQ.

Rogue A Sprites
	Icon	Rogue B Sprites	Icon
	Idle		Idle
	Walk		Walk
	Death		Death

Abilities

• Holding down RMB causes a series of arrows to appear that directs Rogue's portal strike, based on the location of her cursor.
• Once RMB is released it will cause a row of 5 IDPD explosions that will be set off in a line.
• Each explosion does 8 damage twice for 16 damage.
• Portal strikes CANNOT be cancelled nor their location moved.
• If a portal strike is being actively held down while exiting the level, the portal strike will still be consumed despite never going off.
• Unlike other IDPD explosions this can harm all teams. Players, props, enemies and IDPD can all get hurt.
• This can instantly kill Rogue if not running Boiling Veins or Strong Spirit.
• These explosions will destroy any normal projectiles, and will also set off other explosions they come in contact with.
• As explosions they can also destroy walls.
• Only walls within a few tiles of the level can be destroyed.
• If Rogue uses a portal strike inwards it will destroy less tiles than if it was done outwards.
• If RMB is being held down when Rogue dies she can still activate it, getting a few extra kills. No additional portal strikes can be activated.

• Rogue has a portal strike meter by her health bar. She has a max of 3, and always starts a run with 1 filled.
• An empty strike meter means she cannot use her active, while a full strike meter means collecting extra portal strikes will be wasted.
• Portal strike canisters always gives +1 portal strikes when walking over it. Unlike radiation canisters, these cannot be destroyed by weapons/enemies.
• If an exit portal spawns near a portal strike canister it will be destroyed, bursting out a unique portal strike pickup. This functions the same giving +1 portal strike, but is a pickup that can expire if not collected in time.
• This pickup used to be used in Rogue's old ultra that would drop from enemies rarely called Resourceful, but was replaced with Super Portal Strike.
• Open Mind can cause a second portal strike canister to spawn for Rogue in a level, as well as the chance for one on 7-3.
• Skipping two portal canisters will not cause Hostile Horror to spawn. Rogue is the only character who cannot fight them.
• Health Chests can still spawn as intended, replacing portal canisters.

• Upon being damaged in any way Rogue will produce an IDPD explosion around her body which does 16 damage and destroy projectiles/walls within her immediate vicinity.
• Unlike her active this will not harm her, unless if it sets off nearby grenades.
• In any betas this is changed so it will not set off IDPD grenades specifically.
• Blast Armor cannot be activated again during the brief animation of losing health on Rogue's HP meter.
• The longer she is damaged for, the longer until Blast Armor can be used again, although still brief.
• A simple calculation for this would be Frames = 4 + (dmg taken * 2). This means going from 12 to 1 HP would take 26 frames until her passive can activate again.
• This also includes when dropping Strong Spirit such as touching a Laser Crystal. Strangely when taking Van damage specifically, it causes 27 frames instead.
• Rogue also has a passive of "Heat" (slang for police).
• This will cause 2 additional IDPD portals to spawn mid-level and 2 to spawn once the exit portal opens.
• Immediately starts from 1-1 in preloop and counts for every area, with the exceptions of 7-3 and HQ3. Does not change the amount on 0-1 either.
• Mid-level spawns follow normal rules of only appearing when 20%-80% of the level have been killed.
• IDPD spawned in after the exit portal is already opened do not have to be killed.
• Opening up a second portal in a level will cause additional IDPD portals, such as Pizza Sewers or Vaults.
• Vaults being opened typically prevent IDPD from spawning, but still will for Rogue.
• Inside Vaults themselves, IDPD will just spawn when the exit portal spawns.
• Heat can be interpreted as a negative passive as IDPD are particularly dangerous enemies, or as a positive as many have solid pickup rates. This depends on the player as well as their weapons.

• The arrow indicators for portal strike are visually changed to be bigger.
• The explosion sizes are vastly increased covering a far larger area.
• Number of explosions and their damage is unchanged, this just improves AoE and makes multiple explosions hitting an enemy more likely.

Ultra A: Super Portal Strike		Ultra B: Super Blast Armor

• Rogue will now have a maximum capacity of 6 portals instead of her usual 3.
• Portal strike canisters/pickups now give +2 strikes instead of +1.
• Using portal strikes still only cost 1 to use.

• When damaged Rogue's normal blast armor will activate, as well as 3 more friendly explosions around her increasing its range.
• The direction of the explosions can be unpredictable, though often take a T-shape or Y-shape with one explosion at the bottom.
• These all mechanically work the same as Rogue's blast armor.

Other Perks:
Rogue will always start a run with her Rogue Rifle, a bullet weapon that does 3 damage per projectile.

Weapon	Fire Type	Reload Time	Ammo Cost	Damage Per Click
Rogue Rifle	Burst Fire	0.20 sec	2	3 x 2 Full dmg: 6

Entering IDPD HQ will cause an alternative theme to play for Rogue, "The Place I Once Called Home".

Preloop Strategy Guide

Rogue often gets a bad reputation in preloop from newer players as her abilities can be off-putting. She levels a bit more slowly due to a lack of rad canisters, has limited active usage and constantly have IDPD to deal with every level. For these reasons she has a stronger learning curve than other characters, but she is by no means a bad character.

Her first perk is the Rogue Rifle which fires as fast as the Revolver, but with double the bullets. This is a very strong starter that has DPS matching the Golden Assault Rifle (one of the best starters), even if her weapon requires some extra clicks.

Active Rating: (Text)
Rogue's active has usage in many different ways as she can use it within any range on-screen. Aside from just being used for extra damage on bosses or damaging enemies, it can be used on walls which helps create cover on the spot or lets her back up from bad situations. As she has a capacity of three portal strikes, she can always use the third one every level at any point as it will get refilled, while saving the other two for emergencies/bosses.

As weapon drops are based on the number of portals entered, Rogue should enter Pizza Sewers every run as it gives guaranteed additional difficulty which helps her find better weapons sooner. Rogue's active, passive and IDPD spawned are all capable of opening the manhole.

Passive Rating: (Text)
Blast Armor is able to deal damage to enemies which is sometimes handy, such as killing any that do contact damage. The main draw of this though is preventing Rogue from getting damaged from multiple projectiles in a row, which is actually really helpful. For example it's easy to mess up badly and walk into Raven bullets multiple times in a row, but for Rogue's case she would only be damaged by one of these.

Having extra IDPD spawns each level is a part of why many dislike Rogue, although this can easily be turned to her favor as they all have solid pickup chances. Just apply normal loop strategies where Rogue can instantly focus in on them as they telegraph where they spawn in, Shielders will be particularly annoying in the early areas but is honestly manageable.

Thronebutt Rating: (Text)
Rogue getting a bigger portal strike lets her deal more consistent damage to enemies and have a much larger AoE. As portal strikes are limited this also has limited usage, meaning that many other mutations are more useful at this point of the game.

As for mutation picks, Boiling Veins is strongly recommended while learning to use Rogue. It enables her to use portal strikes in very close range without worrying about death. Any other standard picks apply, although taking anything to deal with the IDPD earlier on (like Scarier Face) is always a solid idea.

Loop Strategy Guide

Rogue stands to be a lot more powerful in loop due to her ultras, but will also face an oppressive amount of IDPD each level which will make her runs very difficult. Loop 1 will have 4 IDPD portals mid-way, a Van, and 2 more portals at the end. Loop 2 will have 6 IDPD portals mid-way, 2 Vans, and 2 more portals at the end. This means in L1 she will have 66% more IDPD spawns to deal with and in L2 50% more to deal with, not including Van spawns. So while Rogue is a good character around this point, she will have a very rough time if running any weapons that cannot adequately handle elite IDPD. (Some players have completed loop with Rogue Rifle only, so that is not to say she is impossible without good loop weapons, just a lot more difficult.)

Super Portal Strike Rating: (Text)
Rogue is given twice the amount of portal strikes used per level and twice the capacity, which makes it so she can use her portal strikes in twice as many situations. This would be a good pick to anyone who actively likes using portal strikes and finding a lot of use out of them, otherwise her other ultra is the way to go due to its benefits.

Super Blast Armor Rating: (Text)
As a note Non-Beta will trigger IDPD grenades but will not happen on the Betas, Rogue should take Super Portal Strike if she is on Non-Beta without Boilies. Otherwise, Super Blast Armor is a very powerful choice. This is because it increases Rogue's versatility in levels a lot, the extra coverage makes it so Rogue will almost never get damaged multiple times in a row at all. It also will help a lot for close combat clearing out any low HP enemies with ease, helping create extra space near walls for some cover and overall being a really helpful safety net.

Thronebutt Rating: (Text)
Rogue should only consider leaning into her Thronebutt if Super Portal Strike is taken to entirely lean into her active. This helps her deal more consistent damage and is always a helpful addition, although using that mutation slot elsewhere is still a better choice.

Running Boiling Veins is strongly recommended for loop play as the increased amount of IDPD can give Rogue a really difficult time, along with her active and passive (on Non-Beta) playing into that. Healing mutations for recovery is also strongly suggested given the increased amount of damage she may take, specific mutations does not have to be considered otherwise as Rogue is actually a really solid character, she's just sometimes held back by the absurd amount of elite IDPD that can potentially spawn before a good build is found. IDPD are also a nuisance as they can drain ultra weapon usage without giving rads in return, which hurts their viability slightly.

Meta Strategy Guide

Note that this is an advanced guide, it is meant to be used by those primarily looking at loops 3+. This builds off of content shared in the meta guide.

If Rogue is playing on Non-Beta then it is STRONGLY recommended that she runs Boiling Veins. Popo Freaks can drop grenades upon death and this can be proc'ed by Rogue's active and passive alike, any run without Boiling Veins is a death wish as explosions will just randomly go off on her. On the Betas Rogue can run standard p9 or any variation.

Super Portal Strike Rating: (Text)
Ultra Shovel & SPC will be dealing the bulk of the damage making portal strikes unnecessary for damage at all. Portal strike's main usage in meta loops would be for Rogue to create sudden cover for herself which is very helpful during boss fights (Big Bandits, Mom) or to dive out of the way of Vans. However 6 portal strikes are absolutely not necessary for this, the benefits of Super Blast Armor is far more worth it.

Super Blast Armor Rating: (Text)
If playing on the Betas (or with Boiling Veins on Non-Beta), Super Blast Armor will be the more useful pick for similar reasons described in the loop guide. Being able to prevent getting hit multiple times lets Rogue play a lot safer which is particularly helpful in Throne II or Big Bandits fights where getting hit multiple times is common. It also can be used to create extra breathing room if she's ever having to hug a wall, such as being around Palace spawns.

However Super Blast Armor comes at a slight downside as it can break open spawns that she was trying to hide in. Portal strikes can always offset this by creating extra breathing room by spawn which is well worth it.

Thronebutt Rating: (Text)
As Rogue's portal strike becomes less useful than it is in loop, it's simply not worth the mutation slot in an optimal set.

Popo Freaks usually directly help the run so Rogue's Heat passive stops being a downside at this point. Rogue's viability puts her around mid-tier on Non-Beta (requiring Boilies) or upper mid-tier on the Betas. While she may struggle badly in loop at times, her active/passive gives her solid flexibility during deeploop that is definitely useful to the player, even if outshined by other characters.