Changes

Rogues can be effective playing as mini-mages, but it requires good technique and excellent equipment, since Rogues have some magery shortcomings. They can not raise their mana as high as a sorcerer, they do not cast as quickly, and they do not have the natural magical to/hit values. Worst of all, Rogues in Diablo (but not Hellfire) can not raise their magic to 255 (245 is the max), so are unable to read the higher level books. Fireball is the biggest handicap, since [[D1_Spellbooks#Magic_Requirements_for_Spellbooks|it requires ]] 166 magic to read level 8 and 199 to read the level 9 book]], and above that it's 255, and out of reach for a Rogue. This means a Rogue must engage in some serious shrine running to try to find at least 6 Enchanted Shrines to max out her Fireball.

If a Rogue does manage to boost her spells at least a few levels with Enchanted Shrines, she needs quality equipment too, ideally stuff that boosts her magic. To/hit with spells (Fireball, principally) is determined by a character's magic value, and at least 150-200 magic is required for good accuracy in Hell or the Crypt on Hell difficulty. Magic and spell level boosting gear is therefore at a premium, and sticking a [[D1_Unique_Helms#Thinking_Cap|Thinking Cap]] and [[D1_Unique_Blunts#Dreamflange|Dreamflange]] on your mini-mage Rogue is almost essential.