028 Rapscallion [200] v1.0.3

[Blackmage]

I agree that it become tedious by the end, and I do think it has too many ranks. Also, seeing as I find Flickering shadow to be a useless, or worse than useless skill on ANY race, the only reason my race is maxed is because I wanted to max everything. I've always found it to make them MORE visible and obvious, rather than less.

Raps is more easily found due to the ultimate than I'd like, but if you are willing to learn how to use it, you can mask the noise, and avoid being seen. Being found due to your hiding place isn't so much the problem with the race as it is a problem with predictability. We've all played against campers, most of us check obvious camping spots. So you need to be more creative with races such as this. If they still find you, switch to a different race for a bit. Learn to use their laces against them. If you don't have one, they are telling you they are near. It also makes sure you don't pop out where you'll be seen quite easily as often.

As an aside, why are you having problems affording the items you need? If it's because you need too many items, forgo them for a round or two and buy them all at once. If it's because you buy tomes, just realize, they aren't nearly as useful after you've got your ult. If it's necklace, buy that for only the races you NEED to stop, such as Blood Mage, Athena and Night Elf. The rest of the races can be nice, but they can also give people a "he's next to me" warning. But, given you only need a kill or two in order to get as much XP as a tome, often buying a necklace is a better investment. You stay alive longer, you get more kills, you get more money, ect. ect.

Comparing FP to Raps:

More HP, FP is running in, will be shot at more, Raps should have the element of surprise.
Disarming, FP will only get OHK if he gets a back hit on most enemies, some won't even die then. Getting rid of their gun is good. Making someone drop the bomb is funny, but I digress.
Burn... I won't comment on this, because I've always found this to be a silly gimmick rather than anything useful
Cloak: Works best at long range, making you harder to see, so you CAN get close and kill. Does give some ambush capabilities, but suffers worse problems than Raps in this case.

Raps is the assassin. They try to get into position to back knife, or if that fails, hope for the crit. The health is moot as they don't want to be seen, and if they are seen, they are usually dead. They don't need to proc a weapon drop or burn as they are trying to proc a kill. Yeah, he gets the short end of the straw on the cloak, but as he can buy the cloak item, that's less of a problem than it needs be.

Both of the vagas' ultis are used for mobility and escape. This also means that they need their ulti maxed ASAP. Raps uses it for stealth. They don't need to use it as much, as once you break stealth, it often takes some time to get hidden, so having only a point or two in it isn't awful. These aren't the same skills, they just seem to be.