Factotums and the level 10 same game test.

[juton]

When I run a SGT prepared casters use the same list for every encounter. You can argue that at level 10 a Wizard can abuse contact other plane to customize his list everyday, but even if I had a Dm that would let me I'd feel to dirty pulling something like that so I don't consider it a valid tactic. I've seen someone animate a T-Rex skeleton in a game, it was strong but not broken, so I'd consider something like that a valid tactic.

I calculated how many flasks a flask rogue would need per level and it's not that extreme. If a rogue was soloing 10 CR10 encounters I think they'd need something like 60 acid flasks, with a bag of holding that's not unreasonable to carry around. I'm a little unclear how a flask rogue keeps their opponent flatfooted, things like rings of invisibility are 20K which you're not supposed to start with because they are more than 1/4 your WBL for a 10th level character. Also the RAW interpretation of WBL is very abusable, at every level you are supposed to have the alloted wealth available to you, even if you just burned through thousands of gold in the previous level. This makes a bit of sense, an organic character should have around 49K to have all his enchanted goodies, but if he has burned through 5K in various wands then the organic character played from level 1 is going to be weaker than a fresh character at level 10. But I can guarantee that none of my DM's would agree with this interpretation.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

The DMG actually details how much wealth you're expected to burn through for consumables each level.

[JaronK]

When I run a SGT prepared casters use the same list for every encounter. You can argue that at level 10 a Wizard can abuse contact other plane to customize his list everyday, but even if I had a Dm that would let me I'd feel to dirty pulling something like that so I don't consider it a valid tactic. I've seen someone animate a T-Rex skeleton in a game, it was strong but not broken, so I'd consider something like that a valid tactic.

I'm more thinking that either the character should know the rough type of enemy they're facing or not.  I don't buy the idea of purchasing Gravestrike and Razing Strike wands just in case, at least at lower levels, because you don't want to waste much money on stuff you won't use.  At higher levels it becomes more reasonable (only if your DM has the Rules Compendium... otherwise those wands are worthless). 

I think minor customization makes sense when using long duration spells like Animate Dead.   Once you've animated a few skeletons, it's reasonable to swap for something else.  Though at the same time, a character that's clearly designed to scout and gather information should have some ability to use that information.

I calculated how many flasks a flask rogue would need per level and it's not that extreme.   If a rogue was soloing 10 CR10 encounters I think they'd need something like 60 acid flasks, with a bag of holding that's not unreasonable to carry around.

At low levels it absolutely is extreme.  At higher levels you can afford it.  Don't forget you can't have just acid flasks... you'll need alchemists fire and holy water, in case of acid immunes (and demons or devils are acid and fire immune... and I think a rather common enemy for low mid level adventurers.  The price goes up considering how many you might need.  Storing them is fine once you have a haversack (most potion rogues can't actually carry a Bag of Holding as they're too heavy... str is a dump stat and they tend to be small, after all).  But even having enough of them out before a battle can provide serious weight issues, which is something most folks who don't play Rogues rarely consider.  When you're a Str 6-8 halfling or whispergnome, weight really matters.

I'm a little unclear how a flask rogue keeps their opponent flatfooted, things like rings of invisibility are 20K which you're not supposed to start with because they are more than 1/4 your WBL for a 10th level character.

Ring of Blinking if you don't mind the 20% miss chance (personally, I think a character that's all about doing damage shouldn't have to suck up a nasty miss chance, but that's what you get).  A Wand of Grease might help but it burns actions for a Rogue to do that and doesn't hurt fliers, plus you can't lock them in there.  I also don't like getting that close (30 feet) with a pure ranged attacker that has so little defense.  What happens when they close on you?  You squish, basically.

I'm also generally not a fan of UMD on someone who can't make their own stuff, and think it's very overrated.  For UMD to be worth anything the gear you buy for it must be better than any other gear you could possibly get (otherwise you'd have been stronger if you'd just bought that, and the skillpoints are wasted).  Certainly, there's no chance of random drops giving you the spells you want... what are the chances of randomly getting a Wand of Lesser Vigor?  If your DM is just handing you the drops you want, you pop back to the problem that if you didn't have UMD he might have given you something better anyway, since better stuff generally exists.  And UMD at low levels is just silly.  I don't know how many times I've seen people suggest third level Rogues using Gravestrike wands, as though the cost of such wands weren't rather high for a situational item at that level and as though a DC 20 were easy to hit at level 3.  And so few people remember that you can't use that hand to attack that round (thus halving your damage if you use TWF).

But UMD on a Factotum is a whole other ballgame... if they took the appropriate item crafting feat.  Suddenly they've got access to all their spells whenever they need (so long as they save DC wasn't the main issue).

JaronK

[fuinjutsu]

The DMG actually details how much wealth you're expected to burn through for consumables each level.

Page reference pls?

[RobbyPants]

Regarding the three wands for rogues: it's largely dependent on if the DM allows them to be used as a swift action (Rules Compendium ruling).  If not, then they have to waste time to try and be relevant against certain encounters.  The rogue's life can be made easier if the DM allows them to purchase wands with less than 50 charges, but I don't know how many DM's allow that.  I'm not sure if it falls under house-rule territory or not.  It's no different than buying less than 20 arrows in a quiver.  If the DM allows it, then you can pick up something like a 10 charge undead wand and a 5 charge plant and construct wand saving you a lot of money early on.

As for flasks: it's going to burn a hole in your pocket big time at 1st level, so it's probably barely viable.  Weight limitations also suck unless you invest in a moderate Str, which makes you more MAD.  You'll likely be an archer with a cute little trick you can do a few times.  Also, for whatever reason, D&D hates 1st level rogues, and not getting Quick Draw or Weapon Finesse really limits what you can actually do at 1st level.  About the only way I can think of to get past acid and fire immunity is to just use weapons, like daggers.  You don't get to make touch attacks, which cuts down on your average damage.  Also, material and magic DR will cause you a huge headache, and getting a butt-load of magical daggers is prohibitively expensive.  You could rely on shuriken, which are cheaper to enchant, but you either have to eat a -4 penalty to hit or blow a feat on EWP.

By 10th level (the level of the STG for this thread), I think the rogue can overcome a lot of those limitations, but he will likely invest most of his resources to do so.  He still has noticeable weaknesses against oozes, elementals, and same-level (or so) barbarians, as well as Fortification armor.  That's a pretty small percentage of encounters, but it needs to be mentioned.


Jaron, I'm curious how much damage a 10th level factotum can do with Iajutsu focus.  I ask because I've never built a factotum and I don't own OA, so I only have a cursory knowledge of the skill.  I'm curious both per attack, and what he might do in a round spamming multiple actions.

[PhaedrusXY]

At low levels it absolutely is extreme.  At higher levels you can afford it.  Don't forget you can't have just acid flasks... you'll need alchemists fire and holy water, in case of acid immunes (and demons or devils are acid and fire immune... and I think a rather common enemy for low mid level adventurers.

At first level, you can't really afford it. After that, it is no problem. Seriously. Go do the math yourself, or look at the table they came up with on TGD. And most things aren't immune or even resistant to acid at the low levels. Even if they are, you can just pull out a normal ranged weapon. It's not like you have to use flasks all the time. You're still a perfectly competent rogue without them. Flasks are just a trick you use, when it's viable.

I agree that you have a minor point about the weight, but it's hardly insurmountable. Making them flat-footed is a bigger deal, but with a high initiative and a level of swordsage later, you should be able to keep them flat-footed for 2-3 rounds, which is enough for most combats.

[SorO_Lost]

1. Regarding the three wands for rogues: it's largely dependent on if the DM allows them to be used as a swift action (Rules Compendium ruling).  If not, then they have to waste time to try and be relevant against certain encounters. 2. The rogue's life can be made easier if the DM allows them to purchase wands with less than 50 charges, but I don't know how many DM's allow that.  I'm not sure if it falls under house-rule territory or not.  It's no different than buying less than 20 arrows in a quiver.  If the DM allows it, then you can pick up something like a 10 charge undead wand and a 5 charge plant and construct wand saving you a lot of money early on.

3. As for flasks: it's going to burn a hole in your pocket big time at 1st level, so it's probably barely viable. 4. Weight limitations also suck unless you invest in a moderate Str, which makes you more MAD.  You'll likely be an archer with a cute little trick you can do a few times.  Also, for whatever reason, 5. D&D hates 1st level rogues, and not getting Quick Draw or Weapon Finesse really limits what you can actually do at 1st level.  About the only way I can think of to get past acid and fire immunity is to just use weapons, like daggers.  You don't get to make touch attacks, which cuts down on your average damage.  6. Also, material and magic DR will cause you a huge headache, and getting a butt-load of magical daggers is prohibitively expensive.  You could rely on shuriken, which are cheaper to enchant, but you either have to eat a -4 penalty to hit or blow a feat on EWP.

7. By 10th level (the level of the STG for this thread), I think the rogue can overcome a lot of those limitations, but he will likely invest most of his resources to do so.  He still has noticeable weaknesses against oozes, elementals, and same-level (or so) barbarians, as well as Fortification armor.  That's a pretty small percentage of encounters, but it needs to be mentioned.


8. Jaron, I'm curious how much damage a 10th level factotum can do with Iajutsu focus.  I ask because I've never built a factotum and I don't own OA, so I only have a cursory knowledge of the skill.  I'm curious both per attack, and what he might do in a round spamming multiple actions.

1. Disregarding them is a house rule.

2. The economy is flooded with adventurers selling half-charged wands from randomly generated loot. Not allowing used wands to be brought from a wand seller is akin to not allowing PCs to buy a sword to start with.

3. I use daggers and save flasks for the BBEG which rewards more over ten times the amount spent. Why waste a flask when a (single) dagger will do? Also, you should search for threads on artificers, they spend a thousand times more gold and there are plenty of threads full of people talking about how they managed ok in a game.

4. What weight limitations? After level 3 it don't exist thanks to explanar spaces. At level 1, or 5% of the game sure it can be ugly but that is when you pile all nonrequired right now items on the tank and carry anything that bumps you into a medium load in your hand (free action to drop it, so it's ignored for the most part). Srsly, throwing weight limits out makes you sound like you are trying really hard to reach for something. Aiming for a rogues suck thread?

5. You know what else limits what you can do? Being level 1. What next, rants about how a druid cannot wild shape at level 1? How about complaining about how a paladin cannot ride a warhorse yet? Maybe a fighter cannot afford to wear full-plate? Drizzt is stuck using one weapon? Oh I know, the arcane caster isn't a god and ruling over the world.

6. Nothing has magic DR at level 1, at level 4+ or so you ignore it anyway. Hey guess who else has to deal with material DR, yeah. Everyone but the arcane caster. Where were you going with this? Finally why do you need multiple weapons? I was under the impression I wasn't battling Aliens with super corrosive acid that resolves a common metal dagger before it can be used again.

7. And 70% of the other base classes in D&D have weaknesses against: traps, social encounters, skill challenges, scouting missions, & theft of key items. I'd gladly trade off a weakness to two limited creature types to have talent outside of combat.

8. Your bonus dice for Iaijitsu Focus is based off your skill check and the formula is something like ((value-10)/5)+1 with a maximum of 9 or something.
10~14 = +1d6, 15~19 = +2d6, etc. Max is +9d6. If only works if you draw & attack with the same weapon in the same round and the opponent is flat-footed. This makes triggering IF worse than Sudden Strike but then again IF works regardless of anatomy.

Honestly Robby, most of your post seems like a rant aimed at Factotums and not Rogues. A rogue doesn't need 18 int like a fact so they have more room for str. Heck, the MiC glove & racial bonuses means 13 dex gives access to ITWF, a rogue isn't really dex dependent if you don't want it to be. Flask throwing, while costly, is several times more viable in game than IF at level 1 which at that point isn't even be giving bonus dice reliably anyway. Comparing the Rogue to a melee class is a joke, SA simply out damages everything and has with the option to ignore dr/regen/fasthealing/etc. and drain off charisma and if you count every instance that SA isn't applicable you'll find it's number is somewhere around the number of times the rest of the party wasn't applicable for a noncombat challenge.

[RobbyPants]

It's not like you have to use flasks all the time. You're still a perfectly competent rogue without them. Flasks are just a trick you use, when it's viable.

This is true.  I think the focus on flask rogues is a side-effect of the limitations of a SGT.  If you can't multiclass, then you have to find available tricks within your class.

If we weren't talking about a SGT, I've seen a pretty good mid-level rogue build with a level of barbarian for pounce.  It was a pretty viable TWF pouncer, it was a competent archer with a splitting force bow, and it could throw flasks with the best of them.  Of course, this is getting out of the purview of a SGT, but it's a good organic character.  The trick is finding stuff to do when one schtick doesn't work.  That's the problem with a 1st level flask rogue.  The prereqs on Quick Draw and Weapon Finesse lock you out of being useful until level 3.  Even then, without taking advantage of some crazy organization, you can only pick one of those at level 3.

[RobbyPants]

Actually, SorO, I think we agree on most of these things.  I'm just tyring to take as neutral as a stance as possible as Jaron didn't want to argue house rules.  I want to get a good baseline for what he thinks the factotum can do at level 10, while listing the limitations of the rogue as I see them, as well as ways to overcome them.

You're right that the 1st level comments are probably out of place for this thread.

1. Disregarding them is a house rule.

Kind of.  It falls in that weird category where core lists wands as standard actions, and rules for swift actions didn't exsist.  The clarification is in a supliment book.  I allow swift spell wands to activate on a swift action, but I don't know that you can honestly call disregarding that as a house-rule.  What if the DM doesn't own the book?

Jaron didn't want to argue house-rules, so I listed that as a potential limitation.

2. The economy is flooded with adventurers selling half-charged wands from randomly generated loot. Not allowing used wands to be brought from a wand seller is akin to not allowing PCs to buy a sword to start with.

Again, I agree.  Some games have DMs that don't like magic marts, but that's really the house-rule.

3. I use daggers and save flasks for the BBEG which rewards more over ten times the amount spent. Why waste a flask when a (single) dagger will do? Also, you should search for threads on artificers, they spend a thousand times more gold and there are plenty of threads full of people talking about how they managed ok in a game.

Agreed.

4. What weight limitations? After level 3 it don't exist thanks to explanar spaces. At level 1, or 5% of the game sure it can be ugly but that is when you pile all nonrequired right now items on the tank and carry anything that bumps you into a medium load in your hand (free action to drop it, so it's ignored for the most part). Srsly,

 throwing weight limits out makes you sound like you are trying really hard to reach for something. Aiming for a rogues suck thread?

My comment was out of place from the context of a 10th level SGT, anyway.

5. You know what else limits what you can do? Being level 1. What next, rants about how a druid cannot wild shape at level 1? How about complaining about how a paladin cannot ride a warhorse yet? Maybe a fighter cannot afford to wear full-plate? Drizzt is stuck using one weapon? Oh I know, the arcane caster isn't a god and ruling over the world.

See #4.

6. Nothing has magic DR at level 1, at level 4+ or so you ignore it anyway. Hey guess who else has to deal with material DR, yeah. Everyone but the arcane caster. Where were you going with this? Finally why do you need multiple weapons? I was under the impression I wasn't battling Aliens with super corrosive acid that resolves a common metal dagger before it can be used again.

The multiple weapons comes from the build likely relying on Quick Draw, TWF, and Rapid Shot.  Swapping flasks for daggers seemed like the natural choice.  If DR isn't an issue, you'll do more damage than grabbing a short bow and foregoing two attacks.

That being said, at 4th levle, you're probably best off getting a magic bow, using the daggers when you have to, and using the bow when flasks don't work and you encounter DR X/magic.

7. And 70% of the other base classes in D&D have weaknesses against: traps, social encounters, skill challenges, scouting missions, & theft of key items. I'd gladly trade off a weakness to two limited creature types to have talent outside of combat.

This is just from a SGT point of view.  If you're in a party with competent team members, it shouldn't matter.

8. Your bonus dice for Iaijitsu Focus is based off your skill check and the formula is something like ((value-10)/5)+1 with a maximum of 9 or something.
10~14 = +1d6, 15~19 = +2d6, etc. Max is +9d6. If only works if you draw & attack with the same weapon in the same round and the opponent is flat-footed. This makes triggering IF worse than Sudden Strike but then again IF works regardless of anatomy.

Ahhh.  That's the IF attraction.  I didn't know it worked regardless of crit immunity.

Honestly Robby, most of your post seems like a rant aimed at Factotums and not Rogues. A rogue doesn't need 18 int like a fact so they have more room for str. Heck, the MiC glove & racial bonuses means 13 dex gives access to ITWF, a rogue isn't really dex dependent if you don't want it to be. Flask throwing, while costly, is several times more viable in game than IF at level 1 which at that point isn't even be giving bonus dice reliably anyway. Comparing the Rogue to a melee class is a joke, SA simply out damages everything and has with the option to ignore dr/regen/fasthealing/etc. and drain off charisma and if you count every instance that SA isn't applicable you'll find it's number is somewhere around the number of times the rest of the party wasn't applicable for a noncombat challenge.

Well, I admitedly approached this thread with a bias in favor of rogues.  I wanted to post this as neutral as possible to see what people expect the two classes to do at level 10.

[strider24seven]

Long-time lurker, 1st-time poster here.

Having played numerous rogues and factota from levels 1-20, I would have to say that, at level 10, a normal factotum starts to gain the advantage on the rogue in an actual game.  Level 10 is when they can really abuse their extra standard action to use things like the skill trick Never-Outnumbered+Imperious Command and full attack in the same turn, or, god-forbid, dump 996 doses of Black Lotus on someone.  The rogue, on the other hand, is stuck trying to get the tank to flank with him so he can actually do decent damage, or just UMD a wand. 

However, in an isolated instance like the SGT, a specially-built factotum can be on par with a specially built rogue, like the flask rogue.  For example, if it's vulnerable to poison, the factotum wins, easily by dumping Black Lotus on it with 1 dose+Minor Creation (Unseen Servant is optional).  If it's vulnerable to poison, it's probably vulnerable to SA, so the rogue wins here, too.  If it's vulnerable to fear, then the factotum wins again (see NO+IC above), and the rogue does too, because it's probably vulnerable to SA.  If it is vulnerable to neither Poison nor Fear, then any Factotum worth his salt carries a Rod of Defiance+Lyre of the Restful Soul in his Haversack.  The rogue has a wand of Gravestrike.  However, versus elementals and oozes, the Factotum has the advantage of superior stealth (Cunning Knowledge+Darkstalker) and versatility (Iajutsu Focus+SLA's) to come out on top.  The rogue is pretty much shafted.   The rogue wins cleaner in most situations by chucking flasks, but the Factotum can win in most all combat situations if he is prepared or has foreknowledge (these two often come together).  The Factotum might not have the straight-up damage capacity of a flask rogue (IF usually comes out between +2d6 and +5d6 at level 10), so he might not one-shot every encounter, but a Iajutsu Focus attack with Quickrazors is nothing to sneeze at. 

Anyway, just my 2 cp.

[Saxony]

the Factotum can win in most all combat situations if he is prepared or has foreknowledge (these two often come together).

Is there anything granted by the Factotum class which grants fore knowledge?

Contact Other Plane. So there we go. It's available at level 13, which is more than 10 unfortunately.

[strider24seven]

the Factotum can win in most all combat situations if he is prepared or has foreknowledge (these two often come together).

Is there anything granted by the Factotum class which grants fore knowledge?

Contact Other Plane. So there we go. It's available at level 13, which is more than 10 unfortunately.

Other than the various "ask your DM for his/her notes" spells, the Factotum can be an amazing scout by level 10.  With Hide/MS checks between 30-50 and Darkstalker+Nondetection, only things with Mindsight and Touchsight can sense you (even if they're scrying you!).  And there are virtually (can someone confirm this) no CR 10 encounters besides a dedicated Psion or Mindbender that have either of those.  So you can just scope the situation out from the shadows.

Also note that if you aren't strapped for cash, you can just buy a continuous collar of Umbral Metamorphosis so you can HiPS, too.  22k is a lot for level 10, though.

[Saxony]

the Factotum can win in most all combat situations if he is prepared or has foreknowledge (these two often come together).

Is there anything granted by the Factotum class which grants fore knowledge?

Contact Other Plane. So there we go. It's available at level 13, which is more than 10 unfortunately.

Other than the various "ask your DM for his/her notes" spells, the Factotum can be an amazing scout by level 10.  With Hide/MS checks between 30-50 and Darkstalker+Nondetection, only things with Mindsight and Touchsight can sense you (even if they're scrying you!).  And there are virtually (can someone confirm this) no CR 10 encounters besides a dedicated Psion or Mindbender that have either of those.  So you can just scope the situation out from the shadows.

Also note that if you aren't strapped for cash, you can just buy a continuous collar of Umbral Metamorphosis so you can HiPS, too.  22k is a lot for level 10, though.

Keep in mind, Factotums can only pump each skill once per day. That's one encounter.

[JaronK]

Keep in mind, Factotums can only pump each skill once per day. That's one encounter.

I assume he meant the fact that it's an Int and Dex based class that adds Int to all Dex based skills.  That's why your hide skill gets so high.  Assuming an Int of 24 and a Dex of 20 at level 10 (not too unreasonable I think) a Whispergnome Factotum is rocking stealth scores of +33 to Hide and +29 to Move Silently before even getting in to gear and the like.  I've only very rarely actually used their +level to skill ability on either of those skills... you're usually plenty high enough already.  It does help while sniping though.  So yeah, Factotums can scout VERY easily if they have Darkstalker (which I consider almost a required feat for them), especially when we're talking about solo play.  In a solo situation, you should be in full ninja mode whenever possible. 

Also, the Mindsight thing is part of why I like going Necropolitan.  Theoretically it stops that, though that's rather unclear (Lords of Madness is where Mindsight is from, and the book says that Mindflayers are nervous around undead in part because psychic detection methods don't work on them... but the Mindsight Feat never actually says that immune to mind effecting protects against it, so consult your DM).

[JaronK]

1. Disregarding them is a house rule.

Not really.  I think it's very common for the Rules Compendium not to be used simply because it was a poorly selling book at the end of 3.5 that a lot of folks never bothered to read.  It's not a house rule to leave out a splat book, especially a rare one.  Furthermore, the Rules Compendium didn't even do a good job of clarifying the situation due to the way it's worded.  The DMG gives two rules on the subject... first, that wand always take the same action as the spell cast, and second, that wands always take at least a standard action to cast.  The Rules Compendium restated the first without clarifying that it was intentionally overruling the second part, so it's unclear as to what was going on there, especially considering how much the Rules Compendium does just leave out.  So no, I don't think this is a house rule, just an issue to consider in when we're talking about real play.

2. The economy is flooded with adventurers selling half-charged wands from randomly generated loot. Not allowing used wands to be brought from a wand seller is akin to not allowing PCs to buy a sword to start with.

Ah, the Giacomo defense.  First off, nothing in the DMG indicates that half charged wands are located all over the place (but a good bit suggests that swords are).  Second, why are you assuming there's tons of adventurers in the campaign world?  Most DMs I've worked with pretty much assumed that the party was THE adventuring group.  That's why we're the stars of the show.  We've seen one rival adventuring group in all the campaigns I've been in (which rapidly turned into quite the rivalry, but that's another story).   I mean, you don't see Frodo and his crew walking along through their adventure when they happen to see Conan's party cruising by the same area.  That's just not how most adventures are set up (though that would be hilarious).  Third, why are you assuming there's markets available moments after you find out that you need them?  I tend to find out what monsters are in the way when I encounter them in a dungeon.  If I'm scouting well I can do some preparation for them, but unless I can teleport (Factotums can.  Rogues can't) I'm not going to be able to run back to town for the perfect supplies to make my situational abilities work.

3. I use daggers and save flasks for the BBEG which rewards more over ten times the amount spent. Why waste a flask when a (single) dagger will do? Also, you should search for threads on artificers, they spend a thousand times more gold and there are plenty of threads full of people talking about how they managed ok in a game.

Artificers?  You're bringing up Artificers?  You mean the class that is more efficient with wealth than any other class in existance?  The guys who can turn any magic item they want into any other one?  Really?  Come on, be serious.

And yes, you can throw daggers.  That makes you a variant of the weak CA Ninja.  It's not exactly impressive, but it is playable.  And yes, potion throwing is a valid trick for once in a while usage... but it's not something that a build does exclusively.  Yet in these SGTs, does anyone throw daggers?  No, they bring in potion throwers and use the potions for every single encounter.  And that doesn't really make much sense.

4. What weight limitations? After level 3 it don't exist thanks to explanar spaces. At level 1, or 5% of the game sure it can be ugly but that is when you pile all nonrequired right now items on the tank and carry anything that bumps you into a medium load in your hand (free action to drop it, so it's ignored for the most part). Srsly, throwing weight limits out makes you sound like you are trying really hard to reach for something. Aiming for a rogues suck thread?

No, it sounds like I've actually played Rogues enough to have this trouble.  Enough to know that a Haversack takes a move action to remove anything from it, so you need all your potions for the fight out in advance, and you certainly can't leave them on the tank.  Now, look at the weight of armor for the Rogue, plus his magic items, plus those rather heavy potions.  Notice a problem?  It's not the droppable stuff I'm worried about (I pull the "drop the haversack in combat" move all the time).  It's the weight of your combat gear that's suddenly an issue, and it's going to stay an issue long past level 3.  Even daggers are an issue in this regard. 

5. You know what else limits what you can do? Being level 1. What next, rants about how a druid cannot wild shape at level 1? How about complaining about how a paladin cannot ride a warhorse yet? Maybe a fighter cannot afford to wear full-plate? Drizzt is stuck using one weapon? Oh I know, the arcane caster isn't a god and ruling over the world.

Not sure what this is in reference to.  I don't think I said anything was specific to level 1.  One person mentioned that potions are expensive at level 1, but considering there's CR2 demons that are immune to acid and fire, it's important to have a variety of potions for various enemies, so the costs do add up until around level 4 or so.  Remember, I'm not assuming you can perfectly equip yourself for every encounter, and I'm talking about potion throwers who rely on that as a standard combat tactic (like the SGT ones that always use them).  If you're only using potions in emergencies, the money issue goes away.  But if every fight is such an emergency, you have a problem.  Stocking up enough for a level or two (which you might have to do when going into a dungeon) can take out a significant chunk of wealth.

7. And 70% of the other base classes in D&D have weaknesses against: traps, social encounters, skill challenges, scouting missions, & theft of key items. I'd gladly trade off a weakness to two limited creature types to have talent outside of combat.

Two?  Again, you've got undead, constructs, plants, oozes, elementals, barbarians, dread necromancers, anyone wearing fortification armor, anything that is too dangerous for your d6HD lightly armored butt to get within 30' of... yeah.  Now, I'll admit, I like being able to deal with all that skill stuff.  That's why I started playing Factotums... so I could have all that, AND not get randomly nerfed by the most common monsters to find in the sort of long lost tombs that skill monkeys are built for (seriously, why is it that Rogues are weak to everything you find in tomb raider style dungeons, except for demons and ancient devils?  And why are potion throwers then weak against the last two?  Ouch!).

8. Your bonus dice for Iaijitsu Focus is based off your skill check and the formula is something like ((value-10)/5)+1 with a maximum of 9 or something.
10~14 = +1d6, 15~19 = +2d6, etc. Max is +9d6. If only works if you draw & attack with the same weapon in the same round and the opponent is flat-footed. This makes triggering IF worse than Sudden Strike but then again IF works regardless of anatomy.

Quickrazors are the obvious way to use IF due to the drawing thing.  It's a little harder to trigger than Sudden Strike, but luckily there's lots of ways to deal with that in melee (Blur Striking Weapons, Grease, high initiative and surprise rounds, etc) and Factotums have all of them... plus the whole "it just works on everyone" thing is a godsend.  I consider it equivalent to sneak attack for that reason... harder to trigger but works when it has to.

As far as how many dice you get, it depends very much on party wealth, optimization, etc.  With an Item Familiar you should have no trouble hitting 9d6 per hit by level 10.  With a +10 Compentance item, it's less so.  Without gear of your choosing, less still.  Really depends here.

And I do want to be clear here... Rogues were my first class.  I've probably logged more time playing Rogues than any other class.  But at the same time, their weaknesses REALLY stuck out.  In the end, the reason I ranked Rogues lower was that it was just so darn easy for them to be arbitrarily screwed without the DM intentionally doing it... which in the Tiers is the hallmark of T4.  Still capable of contributing and doing well, but able to be just left out in the cold if the DM doesn't cater to them sometimes (which I've seen happen over and over).  At T3, that's not an issue. 

JaronK

[The_Mad_Linguist]

And if you don't want to use quickrazors you can always just sleight of hand daggers as a free action for each attack.

Problem Sleuth is a factotum.

[juton]

And if you don't want to use quickrazors you can always just sleight of hand daggers as a free action for each attack.

Problem Sleuth is a factotum.

I've heard of sleight of hand being used to draw (presumably a hidden) dagger as a free action how exactly does that work? The sleight of hand rules say that you can take a -20 on a check to do it as a free action, but drawing a hidden weapon (or anything) doesn't seem to be a use of sleight of hand.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

And if you don't want to use quickrazors you can always just sleight of hand daggers as a free action for each attack.

Problem Sleuth is a factotum.

I've heard of sleight of hand being used to draw (presumably a hidden) dagger as a free action how exactly does that work? The sleight of hand rules say that you can take a -20 on a check to do it as a free action, but drawing a hidden weapon (or anything) doesn't seem to be a use of sleight of hand.

[juton]

I hope I'm not being too dense here, but drawing a weapon doesn't require a check, is the interpretation that not requiring a check is effectively a check with DC 0, so you could do it as a free action if you subtract 20 from your check? Because as I read the rules you don't make a sleight of hand check to draw a hidden weapon, it just takes a standard action to do so.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

I'm assuming it's the same as palming an object.  Every magician can palm cards from his sleeves, right