Ceramic rods are better at forming the microbevel without rolling the edge. Some other conventional 'steels' are kind of marginal for that, without also rolling the edge. This is why I suggest using them at the existing edge angle. Better-quality grooved 'steels' do a decent job removing metal from the edge, and can work well for applying a micro. But that also requires the right use of pressure for them; if not applied with a light touch, the edge is more likely to get rolled somewhat, even if a microbevel is formed.
Put another way, honing rods of different types each have their strengths, landing somewhere in a performance spectrum between clean-cutting abrasion at one end of the spectrum, to simple, predictable & minimally abrasive realignment of a ductile edge at the other end. For a ceramic, its strength leans more to the clean-cutting abrasion end of the spectrum. A polished steel might remove some metal on a very small scale; but it really excels at simple realignment of a rolled edge with a minimum of metal removal, maybe doing a little bit of burnishing and work-hardening of the edge in the process. Grooved steels of varying quality would lie somewhere in between, with better ones doing relatively well at both abrasion and alignment, and lower quality versions not doing very well at either task.
Having used my polished steel for a while to maintain my kitchen knives, it works much better when used at the existing edge angle, as I formed it on the stone. Lifting much beyond the existing angle tends to degrade sharpness more than it refines it, with some degree of burring or rolling as the result.
