Post by Reuben on Mar 1, 2007 5:24:22 GMT -5
Talent Builds
You can build your Talents in numerous ways. Here are some samples of builds others have used to some success.
~Assassin Build~
Assassination Talents (33 Points)
Improved Eviscerate - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 15%.
Malice - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance by 5%.
Murder - 2/2 points
Increases your chance to hit while using your Sap, Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot abilities by 5%.
Lethality - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ambush, Ghostly Strike, or Hemorrhage ability by 30%.
Ruthlessness - 3/3 points
Gives your finishing moves a 60% chance to add a combo point to your target.
Relentless Strikes - 1/1 points
Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy.
Vile Poisons - 5/5 points
Increases the damage dealt by your poisons by 15%.
Cold Blood - 1/1 points
When activated, increases the critical strike chance of your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Eviscerate by 100%.
Improved Deadly Poison - 4/5 points
Increases the chance to apply Deadly Poison to your target by 12%.
Improved Instant Poison - 4/5 points
Increases the chance to apply Instant Poison to your target by 8%.
Combat Talents (5 points)
Improved Gouge - 3/3 points
Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 1.5 seconds.
Improved Sinister Strike - 2/2 points
Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike ability by 5 Energy.
Subtlety Talents (13 points)
Master of Deception - 5/5 points
Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while in Stealth mode. More effective than Master of Deception (Rank 4)
Opportunity - 5/5 points
Increases the damage dealt when striking from behind with your Backstab, Garrote, or Ambush abilities by 20%.
Improved Ambush - 3/3 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Ambush ability by 40%.
~Stealth/Subtlety Build~
Assassination Talents (30 points)
Improved Eviscerate - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 15%.
Remorseless Attacks - 5/5 points
After killing an opponent that yields experience, gives you a 40% increased critical strike chance on your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Ghostly Strike.
Malice - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance by 5%.
Ruthlessness - 3/3 points
Gives your finishing moves a 60% chance to add a combo point to your target.
Relentless Strikes - 1/1 points
Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy.
Murder - 2/2 points
Increases your chance to hit while using your Sap, Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot abilities by 5%.
Lethality - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ambush, Ghostly Strike, or Hemorrhage ability by 30%.
Cold Blood - 1/1 points
When activated, increases the critical strike chance of your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Eviscerate by 100%.
Seal Fate - 5/5 points
Your critical strikes from abilities that add combo points have a 100% chance to add an additional combo point.
Combat Talents (8 points)
Improved Sinister Strike - 2/2 points
Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike ability by 5 Energy.
Improved Gouge - 3/3 points
Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 1.5 seconds.
Improved Backstab - 3/3 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Backstab ability by 30%.
Subtlety Talents (13 points)
Master of Deception - 5/5 points
Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while in Stealth mode. More effective than Master of Deception (Rank 4)
Opportunity - 5/5 points
Increases the damage dealt when striking from behind with your Backstab, Garrote, or Ambush abilities by 20%.
Improved Ambush - 3/3 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Ambush ability by 40%.
~Combat Assassin Build~
Assassination Talents (20 points)
Improved Eviscerate - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 15%.
Malice - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance by 5%.
Ruthlessness - 3/3 points
Gives your finishing moves a 60% chance to add a combo point to your target.
Relentless Strikes - 1/1 points
Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy.
Lethality - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ambush, Ghostly Strike, or Hemorrhage ability by 30%.
Improved Slice and Dice - 3/3 points
Increases the duration of your Slice and Dice ability by 45%.
Combat Talents (31 points)
Improved Sinister Strike - 2/2 points
Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike ability by 5 Energy.
Improved Gouge - 3/3 points
Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 1.5 seconds.
Deflection - 5/5 points
Increases your Parry chance by 5%.
Riposte - 1/1 points
A strike that becomes active after parrying an opponent's attack. This attack deals 150% weapon damage and disarms the target for 6 seconds.
Precision - 5/5 points
Increases your chance to hit with melee weapons by 5%.
Dual Wield Specialization - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your offhand weapon by 50%.
Blade Flurry - 1/1 points
Increases your attack speed by 20%. In addition, attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Lasts 15 seconds.
Improved Evasion - 2/2 points
Increases the effect duration of your Evasion ability by 4 seconds.
Improved Sprint - 3/3 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Sprint ability by 90 seconds.
Aggression - 3/3 points
Increases the damage of yo
ur Sinister Strike and Eviscerate abilities by 6%.
Adrenaline Rush - 1/1 points
Increases your Energy regeneration rate by 100% for 15 seconds.
Glossary of Terms
• Proc - Short for 'process', which describes an item's feature to deal extra damage based on chance. For example, a sword may have a proc on it that says "Has a chance to send out a bolt of fire, dealing 50-75 damage". That is classified as a proc. Proc can also be used as a verb. For example: My weapon procs almost every fight.
• CP - Combo Points
• SS - Sinister Strike
• Evis - Eviscerate
• Stunlock - A combination of Rogue skills that keeps a target stunned continually.
• Solo'er - Refers to someone who can complete quests, kill monsters and go through content alone, without any help. A "Solo'er" is somebody who usually does quests on their own, and levels their character without the help of groups.
Quick Note About Rogues...
Just a quick note about rogues, grouping in instances, and controlling mobs.
I've noticed, after reading several of the combat Guides, that a lot of players seems to think a rogue's only real role once a fight starts is DPS. They're missing a great thing rogues can do: stun duty. Between Cheap Shot and Kidney Shot, my level 46 rogue can effectively stun a mob twice in one fight. In instances where I'm grouped with the usual complement of tanks, casters and healers, these stun attacks are very handy. I should note that I've not seen the high level instances, and it's likely that there are quite a few enemies there that are either immune to stuns, or have such high armor that I can't count on landing the blow reliably. But in at least the low- and middle-game instances I've seen so far, stunning has been a lifesaver.
Once the fight is on, the rogue needs to avoid out-aggroing the tank. This can sometimes be a problem for rogues concentrating on straight DPS (or even DoTs, if you're using them for some reason and the tank is doing poorly). So if it fits the situation, I will almost always relegate myself to stunning duty.
If possible, I'll start out stealthed and wait until the tank has hit the mob a few times. Once the mob's health bar has dropped a little bit, I hit it with Cheap Shot, stunning it for two seconds. Then I use Sinister Strike and/or Backstab enough to get five combo points -- but instead of using them as soon as they're ready, I just sit on them. If the fight is not going to last long -- and it usually doesn't, with a full group -- I'll forego the finishing move. (If the fight is obviously going to take a very long time, enough time for me to build up another five points, I'll succumb to temptation.)
Even if I can't start out stealthed (a failed sap or whatever) and therefore can't use Cheap Shot, I try to have five combo points and enough energy for a Kidney Shot by the time the mob's health bar is getting low enough that it is thinking about running away. I always use Crippling Poison in an instance, of course, but I find that a well-timed Kidney Shot -- which will stun the mob for five seconds at my level -- makes it a moot point. The group can finish off the enemy without worrying about any of this running-away-and-bringing-back-a-wipeout-force business. Even if it does start to run, having taken five seconds off of its running time means it isn't going far enough to matter.
This approach is about as simple as it can get, but it works. I only write about it here because I've yet to see others talking about it, and it's a role that rogues can play in a group that makes us a more versatile class.
Advantages:
-- The mob won't run off to bring back friends.
-- There is NO chance that I will outdamage the tank.
-- My energy bar stays ready in case a mob breaks onto a caster and I need to try to distract it.
-- Keeping a mob stunned for up to seven seconds of a fight can help the healer save a little mana.
Disadvantages:
-- By not using Eviscerate or Rupture, you give up some of your DPS.
Some folks might complain that holding on to your combo points in a short fight sacrifices DPS, and they're right. It does. But if the group is doing well, I'll ask myself, is the extra DPS I can dish out really needed? I'm trying to be a team player; working in a group always involves sacrificing some of your individual talents, as you put the group's needs at first priority. If the mob takes three seconds longer to drop, but we're breathing easier because it isn't going anywhere, I feel comfortable that I'm doing the right thing.
Naturally all this depends on the circumstances. If we overpower the mobs enough that a well-timed Eviscerate will take it down before it gets a chance to run, so be it. By contrast, if the mob greatly overpowers the group, I might start pounding on it as hard as I can. If the mob is of a type that never runs away, then stunning only serves to help alleviate damage to the tank -- and while that is a good thing, it might not be necessary, depending on your tank and on your healer(s). Somebody else (another rogue, priest, etc.) might be controlling the mob well enough that you don't need to concern yourself about how much damage you do. Etcetera. It varies. But stun duty can be a useful role in a group and it's something to keep in mind.
What do Rogues do?
In PvP, our job is to be sneaky and fight when our opponents are least prepared. Killing an enemy when they are already nearly dead and/or out of mana is perfectly acceptable as a Rogue. If you are concerned with your personal honor, Rogue isn't for you. Blizzard has chosen to give Rogues very little in the way of survivability in combat with the excuse that Stealth is powerful enough.
In PvE, what we do is very simple. We kill things. We have a few skills to help groups, but for the most part, we're all about doing damage. If you like seeing big, pretty crits and being on top of the rest of the group in damage, Rogue is what you're looking for.
Races
For the most part, the actual stats on each race don't really matter. At 60, the difference in stats will be negligible compared to the gear you're wearing, and even moreso at 70. We will instead be comparing racial abilities and traits.
Orc
- Racial Ability: Blood Fury. Increases Attack Power by 6 + (your_level -1) * 4 for 15 seconds. 2 minute cooldown. That's 242 Attack Power at level 60, and 282 at 70. Decreases all healing effects by 50% for 15 seconds. 2 minute cooldown. This adds a very large amount of damage while it's active, and is a very powerful ability in PvE. Also useful in PvP, but to a lesser extent.
- Racial Traits: Hardiness (15% stun resistance), Command (+5% pet melee damage), Axe Specialization (+5 Axe Skill)
A good choice for a Rogue. The stun resistance will save you against other Rogues very often, and occasionally against Warriors. Blood Fury makes you a PvE powerhouse, where you can throw out 2500 damage Eviscerates in raids when your cooldowns are ready. The best PvE choice for a Rogue.
Undead
- Racial Ability: Will of the Forsaken. Removes all Fear, Sleep and Charm effects, also grants a 5 second immunity to said effects. 2 minute cooldown. An extremely useful PvP ability. If PvP is your primary focus, this alone should be enough to make up your mind, as classes that can Fear repeatedly often give Rogues the most trouble.
- Racial Traits: Underwater Breathing (Stay underwater 4 times longer than other races), Shadow Resistance (+10 Shadow Resistance), Cannibalize (consume a nearby Humanoid or Undead corpse to restore 35% of your health over 10 seconds).
The best PvP choice for a Rogue. People constantly complain about how overpowered Will of the Forsaken is, so enjoy it.
Troll
- Racial Ability: Berserking. Increases attack speed by 10% to 30% for 10 seconds. The lowest benefit is obtained at full health, and vice versa. 3 minute cooldown. Not a bad ability, but if you're just looking for a damage increase ability, Orcs are better.
- Racial Traits: Regeneration(10% increased health regeneration, 10% health regeneration allowed in combat), Beast Slaying (5% increased damage against beasts), Throwing Weapon Specialization (+5 Throwing Weapons Skill), Bow Specialization (+5 Bow Skill).
Not really a very good Rogue race compared to the others available. Trolls were designed more with Hunters in mind.
Blood Elf
- Racial Ability: Mana Tap. Activate to drain 50 mana from your target and charge yourself with arcane energy for 10 minutes. Stacks 3 times, 30 second cooldown. Scales with level.
- Racial Ability: Arcane Torrent. Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds and restores 10 energy/12 mana per Mana Tap affecting you. Scales with level.
- Racial Trait: Arcane Affinity (+10 Enchanting Skill), Magic Resistance (+5 all resistances)
Promises to be a very powerful PvP race. With the new post-60 silence effects Rogues are getting and Improved Kick, it would be possible to keep a caster silenced for an extended period of time, while still dealing decent damage.
Choose Your Weapon!
A very common question these days. Rogues can use a great many weapon types, so it's completely understandable to want to know which you should use when you first start. The answer, however, is not quite so simple. You ultimately must make the decision yourself, but I can help you to do that by explaining what each weapon excels at.
There are four weapon types (excluding ranged) that you can use as a Rogue. One-Handed Swords, One-Handed Maces, Daggers and Fist Weapons. Each type has its strengths, though most Rogues either use Daggers or Swords. Maces are less common, but still more or less mainstream. Fist Weapons are rarely used at all, as good ones are hard to come by.
Daggers
A very popular choice. Daggers excel at doing a lot of damage in a very short period of time. Ambush, Backstab and Mutilate have ridiculously high base damage, along with exceptional crit chance for the first two. Daggers, however, have been plagued by poor Combo Point generation, which made the talent Seal Fate a popular pick. With the addition of Mutilate (the single most energy efficient CP generation), this is no longer such a huge problem for Dagger builds. Daggers also have the highest crit chance of any weapon, as the Dagger talents such as Improved Backstab/Ambush and Dagger Specialization add crit chance, and lots of it. Daggers make for excellent raiding builds, and good PvP builds. Mutilate is a very nice jack-of-all-trades build, and also happens to be superb for raiding.
Swords
Probably the best weapon to use with PvP, as it allows for high instant attack damage without having to be behind your target or stealthed. Particularly slow swords (2.8 or slower) combined with a high attack power (in the 1000 range) can be used with Hemorrhage with great success. Swords are also the strongest grinding build, as you are not reliant on stunning your target to do high damage instant attacks.
Maces
A close second in grinding power if you can find a good one. The Mace Specialization stun effect is extremely useful in all situations. Aside from the Mace Specialization talent, you can treat these exactly as you would a sword. There are some very nice maces out there, but Blizzard really needs to show Maces and Fist Weapons a little more love.
Fist Weapons
Think of Fist Weapons as Swords with the Dagger Specialization talent. Their Damage and Speed is about the same as a Sword (they're a little bit faster on average), but Fist Weapons have the added bonus of having some very, very fast weapons should you desire that in your offhand. An excellent weapon type plauged by poor itemization (that means there aren't many good ones). If you've got a nice set, by all means use and enjoy them, but don't go out there expecting to be fist specced from the start.
Main Hand versus Off Hand
A very common question, and for good reason. The question of what weapon type seems to be the most common, and the answer is very simple. If you're not Mutilate specced, it makes absolutely no difference aside from the Combat talents that effect only one weapon type.
That being said, what you actually do put in your offhand is a bit more involved than that. Your offhand weapon does 50% damage (75% with Dual Wield Specialization maxed out), so getting higher damage weapons will have a much lower effect than doing so on your main hand. This applies to attack power bonuses as well. The off hand weapon is not used for instant attacks either, so that frees up all damage range considerations entirely.
Now, the end all, be all answer. All other relevant stats equal (DPS, base stats, attack power, etc), faster is better for every build except Mutilate. There are two reasons for this.
1. Poisons are a set proc rate, and are not normalized to weapon speed like Enchantments are. This means that if Weapon A is exactly twice as fast as Weapon B, Weapon A will proc your poisons exactly twice as often (on average, though I realize an exact average is an oxymoron).
2. More swings means more spell interrupts. Most classes get talents that reduce this chance, but frequent interrupts can be the difference between life and death in a very close match. Granted, it's not a big difference, but if the stats are identical between weapons, why not take any advantage you can get?
Class: Rogue
By Individual Build:
1. 0.69% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
2. 0.55% - 30 Assassination, 0 Combat, 31 Subtlety
3. 0.41% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
4. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
5. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 0 Combat, 44 Subtlety
6. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
7. 0.28% - 16 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
8. 0.28% - 21 Assassination, 0 Combat, 40 Subtlety
9. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 0 Combat, 44 Subtlety
10. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
11. 0.28% - 35 Assassination, 3 Combat, 23 Subtlety
12. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
13. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
14. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
15. 0.28% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
16. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
17. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
18. 0.28% - 18 Assassination, 43 Combat, 0 Subtlety
19. 0.28% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
20. 0.14% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
By Points per Tree:
1. 8.44% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
2. 6.50% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
3. 5.53% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
4. 4.43% - 13 Assassination, 41 Combat, 7 Subtlety
5. 4.29% - 16 Assassination, 45 Combat, 0 Subtlety
6. 4.15% - 20 Assassination, 41 Combat, 0 Subtlety
7. 3.32% - 21 Assassination, 0 Combat, 40 Subtlety
8. 2.77% - 41 Assassination, 20 Combat, 0 Subtlety
9. 2.07% - 30 Assassination, 31 Combat, 0 Subtlety
10. 1.80% - 18 Assassination, 43 Combat, 0 Subtlety
By Specialization (31+ points in 1 category):
Assassination - 24.36%, Combat - 52.72%, Subtlety - 20.49%
You can build your Talents in numerous ways. Here are some samples of builds others have used to some success.
~Assassin Build~
Assassination Talents (33 Points)
Improved Eviscerate - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 15%.
Malice - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance by 5%.
Murder - 2/2 points
Increases your chance to hit while using your Sap, Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot abilities by 5%.
Lethality - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ambush, Ghostly Strike, or Hemorrhage ability by 30%.
Ruthlessness - 3/3 points
Gives your finishing moves a 60% chance to add a combo point to your target.
Relentless Strikes - 1/1 points
Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy.
Vile Poisons - 5/5 points
Increases the damage dealt by your poisons by 15%.
Cold Blood - 1/1 points
When activated, increases the critical strike chance of your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Eviscerate by 100%.
Improved Deadly Poison - 4/5 points
Increases the chance to apply Deadly Poison to your target by 12%.
Improved Instant Poison - 4/5 points
Increases the chance to apply Instant Poison to your target by 8%.
Combat Talents (5 points)
Improved Gouge - 3/3 points
Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 1.5 seconds.
Improved Sinister Strike - 2/2 points
Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike ability by 5 Energy.
Subtlety Talents (13 points)
Master of Deception - 5/5 points
Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while in Stealth mode. More effective than Master of Deception (Rank 4)
Opportunity - 5/5 points
Increases the damage dealt when striking from behind with your Backstab, Garrote, or Ambush abilities by 20%.
Improved Ambush - 3/3 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Ambush ability by 40%.
~Stealth/Subtlety Build~
Assassination Talents (30 points)
Improved Eviscerate - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 15%.
Remorseless Attacks - 5/5 points
After killing an opponent that yields experience, gives you a 40% increased critical strike chance on your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Ghostly Strike.
Malice - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance by 5%.
Ruthlessness - 3/3 points
Gives your finishing moves a 60% chance to add a combo point to your target.
Relentless Strikes - 1/1 points
Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy.
Murder - 2/2 points
Increases your chance to hit while using your Sap, Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot abilities by 5%.
Lethality - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ambush, Ghostly Strike, or Hemorrhage ability by 30%.
Cold Blood - 1/1 points
When activated, increases the critical strike chance of your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Eviscerate by 100%.
Seal Fate - 5/5 points
Your critical strikes from abilities that add combo points have a 100% chance to add an additional combo point.
Combat Talents (8 points)
Improved Sinister Strike - 2/2 points
Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike ability by 5 Energy.
Improved Gouge - 3/3 points
Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 1.5 seconds.
Improved Backstab - 3/3 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Backstab ability by 30%.
Subtlety Talents (13 points)
Master of Deception - 5/5 points
Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while in Stealth mode. More effective than Master of Deception (Rank 4)
Opportunity - 5/5 points
Increases the damage dealt when striking from behind with your Backstab, Garrote, or Ambush abilities by 20%.
Improved Ambush - 3/3 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Ambush ability by 40%.
~Combat Assassin Build~
Assassination Talents (20 points)
Improved Eviscerate - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 15%.
Malice - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance by 5%.
Ruthlessness - 3/3 points
Gives your finishing moves a 60% chance to add a combo point to your target.
Relentless Strikes - 1/1 points
Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy.
Lethality - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ambush, Ghostly Strike, or Hemorrhage ability by 30%.
Improved Slice and Dice - 3/3 points
Increases the duration of your Slice and Dice ability by 45%.
Combat Talents (31 points)
Improved Sinister Strike - 2/2 points
Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike ability by 5 Energy.
Improved Gouge - 3/3 points
Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 1.5 seconds.
Deflection - 5/5 points
Increases your Parry chance by 5%.
Riposte - 1/1 points
A strike that becomes active after parrying an opponent's attack. This attack deals 150% weapon damage and disarms the target for 6 seconds.
Precision - 5/5 points
Increases your chance to hit with melee weapons by 5%.
Dual Wield Specialization - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your offhand weapon by 50%.
Blade Flurry - 1/1 points
Increases your attack speed by 20%. In addition, attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Lasts 15 seconds.
Improved Evasion - 2/2 points
Increases the effect duration of your Evasion ability by 4 seconds.
Improved Sprint - 3/3 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Sprint ability by 90 seconds.
Aggression - 3/3 points
Increases the damage of yo
ur Sinister Strike and Eviscerate abilities by 6%.
Adrenaline Rush - 1/1 points
Increases your Energy regeneration rate by 100% for 15 seconds.
Glossary of Terms
• Proc - Short for 'process', which describes an item's feature to deal extra damage based on chance. For example, a sword may have a proc on it that says "Has a chance to send out a bolt of fire, dealing 50-75 damage". That is classified as a proc. Proc can also be used as a verb. For example: My weapon procs almost every fight.
• CP - Combo Points
• SS - Sinister Strike
• Evis - Eviscerate
• Stunlock - A combination of Rogue skills that keeps a target stunned continually.
• Solo'er - Refers to someone who can complete quests, kill monsters and go through content alone, without any help. A "Solo'er" is somebody who usually does quests on their own, and levels their character without the help of groups.
Quick Note About Rogues...
Just a quick note about rogues, grouping in instances, and controlling mobs.
I've noticed, after reading several of the combat Guides, that a lot of players seems to think a rogue's only real role once a fight starts is DPS. They're missing a great thing rogues can do: stun duty. Between Cheap Shot and Kidney Shot, my level 46 rogue can effectively stun a mob twice in one fight. In instances where I'm grouped with the usual complement of tanks, casters and healers, these stun attacks are very handy. I should note that I've not seen the high level instances, and it's likely that there are quite a few enemies there that are either immune to stuns, or have such high armor that I can't count on landing the blow reliably. But in at least the low- and middle-game instances I've seen so far, stunning has been a lifesaver.
Once the fight is on, the rogue needs to avoid out-aggroing the tank. This can sometimes be a problem for rogues concentrating on straight DPS (or even DoTs, if you're using them for some reason and the tank is doing poorly). So if it fits the situation, I will almost always relegate myself to stunning duty.
If possible, I'll start out stealthed and wait until the tank has hit the mob a few times. Once the mob's health bar has dropped a little bit, I hit it with Cheap Shot, stunning it for two seconds. Then I use Sinister Strike and/or Backstab enough to get five combo points -- but instead of using them as soon as they're ready, I just sit on them. If the fight is not going to last long -- and it usually doesn't, with a full group -- I'll forego the finishing move. (If the fight is obviously going to take a very long time, enough time for me to build up another five points, I'll succumb to temptation.)
Even if I can't start out stealthed (a failed sap or whatever) and therefore can't use Cheap Shot, I try to have five combo points and enough energy for a Kidney Shot by the time the mob's health bar is getting low enough that it is thinking about running away. I always use Crippling Poison in an instance, of course, but I find that a well-timed Kidney Shot -- which will stun the mob for five seconds at my level -- makes it a moot point. The group can finish off the enemy without worrying about any of this running-away-and-bringing-back-a-wipeout-force business. Even if it does start to run, having taken five seconds off of its running time means it isn't going far enough to matter.
This approach is about as simple as it can get, but it works. I only write about it here because I've yet to see others talking about it, and it's a role that rogues can play in a group that makes us a more versatile class.
Advantages:
-- The mob won't run off to bring back friends.
-- There is NO chance that I will outdamage the tank.
-- My energy bar stays ready in case a mob breaks onto a caster and I need to try to distract it.
-- Keeping a mob stunned for up to seven seconds of a fight can help the healer save a little mana.
Disadvantages:
-- By not using Eviscerate or Rupture, you give up some of your DPS.
Some folks might complain that holding on to your combo points in a short fight sacrifices DPS, and they're right. It does. But if the group is doing well, I'll ask myself, is the extra DPS I can dish out really needed? I'm trying to be a team player; working in a group always involves sacrificing some of your individual talents, as you put the group's needs at first priority. If the mob takes three seconds longer to drop, but we're breathing easier because it isn't going anywhere, I feel comfortable that I'm doing the right thing.
Naturally all this depends on the circumstances. If we overpower the mobs enough that a well-timed Eviscerate will take it down before it gets a chance to run, so be it. By contrast, if the mob greatly overpowers the group, I might start pounding on it as hard as I can. If the mob is of a type that never runs away, then stunning only serves to help alleviate damage to the tank -- and while that is a good thing, it might not be necessary, depending on your tank and on your healer(s). Somebody else (another rogue, priest, etc.) might be controlling the mob well enough that you don't need to concern yourself about how much damage you do. Etcetera. It varies. But stun duty can be a useful role in a group and it's something to keep in mind.
What do Rogues do?
In PvP, our job is to be sneaky and fight when our opponents are least prepared. Killing an enemy when they are already nearly dead and/or out of mana is perfectly acceptable as a Rogue. If you are concerned with your personal honor, Rogue isn't for you. Blizzard has chosen to give Rogues very little in the way of survivability in combat with the excuse that Stealth is powerful enough.
In PvE, what we do is very simple. We kill things. We have a few skills to help groups, but for the most part, we're all about doing damage. If you like seeing big, pretty crits and being on top of the rest of the group in damage, Rogue is what you're looking for.
Races
For the most part, the actual stats on each race don't really matter. At 60, the difference in stats will be negligible compared to the gear you're wearing, and even moreso at 70. We will instead be comparing racial abilities and traits.
Orc
- Racial Ability: Blood Fury. Increases Attack Power by 6 + (your_level -1) * 4 for 15 seconds. 2 minute cooldown. That's 242 Attack Power at level 60, and 282 at 70. Decreases all healing effects by 50% for 15 seconds. 2 minute cooldown. This adds a very large amount of damage while it's active, and is a very powerful ability in PvE. Also useful in PvP, but to a lesser extent.
- Racial Traits: Hardiness (15% stun resistance), Command (+5% pet melee damage), Axe Specialization (+5 Axe Skill)
A good choice for a Rogue. The stun resistance will save you against other Rogues very often, and occasionally against Warriors. Blood Fury makes you a PvE powerhouse, where you can throw out 2500 damage Eviscerates in raids when your cooldowns are ready. The best PvE choice for a Rogue.
Undead
- Racial Ability: Will of the Forsaken. Removes all Fear, Sleep and Charm effects, also grants a 5 second immunity to said effects. 2 minute cooldown. An extremely useful PvP ability. If PvP is your primary focus, this alone should be enough to make up your mind, as classes that can Fear repeatedly often give Rogues the most trouble.
- Racial Traits: Underwater Breathing (Stay underwater 4 times longer than other races), Shadow Resistance (+10 Shadow Resistance), Cannibalize (consume a nearby Humanoid or Undead corpse to restore 35% of your health over 10 seconds).
The best PvP choice for a Rogue. People constantly complain about how overpowered Will of the Forsaken is, so enjoy it.
Troll
- Racial Ability: Berserking. Increases attack speed by 10% to 30% for 10 seconds. The lowest benefit is obtained at full health, and vice versa. 3 minute cooldown. Not a bad ability, but if you're just looking for a damage increase ability, Orcs are better.
- Racial Traits: Regeneration(10% increased health regeneration, 10% health regeneration allowed in combat), Beast Slaying (5% increased damage against beasts), Throwing Weapon Specialization (+5 Throwing Weapons Skill), Bow Specialization (+5 Bow Skill).
Not really a very good Rogue race compared to the others available. Trolls were designed more with Hunters in mind.
Blood Elf
- Racial Ability: Mana Tap. Activate to drain 50 mana from your target and charge yourself with arcane energy for 10 minutes. Stacks 3 times, 30 second cooldown. Scales with level.
- Racial Ability: Arcane Torrent. Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds and restores 10 energy/12 mana per Mana Tap affecting you. Scales with level.
- Racial Trait: Arcane Affinity (+10 Enchanting Skill), Magic Resistance (+5 all resistances)
Promises to be a very powerful PvP race. With the new post-60 silence effects Rogues are getting and Improved Kick, it would be possible to keep a caster silenced for an extended period of time, while still dealing decent damage.
Choose Your Weapon!
A very common question these days. Rogues can use a great many weapon types, so it's completely understandable to want to know which you should use when you first start. The answer, however, is not quite so simple. You ultimately must make the decision yourself, but I can help you to do that by explaining what each weapon excels at.
There are four weapon types (excluding ranged) that you can use as a Rogue. One-Handed Swords, One-Handed Maces, Daggers and Fist Weapons. Each type has its strengths, though most Rogues either use Daggers or Swords. Maces are less common, but still more or less mainstream. Fist Weapons are rarely used at all, as good ones are hard to come by.
Daggers
A very popular choice. Daggers excel at doing a lot of damage in a very short period of time. Ambush, Backstab and Mutilate have ridiculously high base damage, along with exceptional crit chance for the first two. Daggers, however, have been plagued by poor Combo Point generation, which made the talent Seal Fate a popular pick. With the addition of Mutilate (the single most energy efficient CP generation), this is no longer such a huge problem for Dagger builds. Daggers also have the highest crit chance of any weapon, as the Dagger talents such as Improved Backstab/Ambush and Dagger Specialization add crit chance, and lots of it. Daggers make for excellent raiding builds, and good PvP builds. Mutilate is a very nice jack-of-all-trades build, and also happens to be superb for raiding.
Swords
Probably the best weapon to use with PvP, as it allows for high instant attack damage without having to be behind your target or stealthed. Particularly slow swords (2.8 or slower) combined with a high attack power (in the 1000 range) can be used with Hemorrhage with great success. Swords are also the strongest grinding build, as you are not reliant on stunning your target to do high damage instant attacks.
Maces
A close second in grinding power if you can find a good one. The Mace Specialization stun effect is extremely useful in all situations. Aside from the Mace Specialization talent, you can treat these exactly as you would a sword. There are some very nice maces out there, but Blizzard really needs to show Maces and Fist Weapons a little more love.
Fist Weapons
Think of Fist Weapons as Swords with the Dagger Specialization talent. Their Damage and Speed is about the same as a Sword (they're a little bit faster on average), but Fist Weapons have the added bonus of having some very, very fast weapons should you desire that in your offhand. An excellent weapon type plauged by poor itemization (that means there aren't many good ones). If you've got a nice set, by all means use and enjoy them, but don't go out there expecting to be fist specced from the start.
Main Hand versus Off Hand
A very common question, and for good reason. The question of what weapon type seems to be the most common, and the answer is very simple. If you're not Mutilate specced, it makes absolutely no difference aside from the Combat talents that effect only one weapon type.
That being said, what you actually do put in your offhand is a bit more involved than that. Your offhand weapon does 50% damage (75% with Dual Wield Specialization maxed out), so getting higher damage weapons will have a much lower effect than doing so on your main hand. This applies to attack power bonuses as well. The off hand weapon is not used for instant attacks either, so that frees up all damage range considerations entirely.
Now, the end all, be all answer. All other relevant stats equal (DPS, base stats, attack power, etc), faster is better for every build except Mutilate. There are two reasons for this.
1. Poisons are a set proc rate, and are not normalized to weapon speed like Enchantments are. This means that if Weapon A is exactly twice as fast as Weapon B, Weapon A will proc your poisons exactly twice as often (on average, though I realize an exact average is an oxymoron).
2. More swings means more spell interrupts. Most classes get talents that reduce this chance, but frequent interrupts can be the difference between life and death in a very close match. Granted, it's not a big difference, but if the stats are identical between weapons, why not take any advantage you can get?
Class: Rogue
By Individual Build:
1. 0.69% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
2. 0.55% - 30 Assassination, 0 Combat, 31 Subtlety
3. 0.41% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
4. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
5. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 0 Combat, 44 Subtlety
6. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
7. 0.28% - 16 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
8. 0.28% - 21 Assassination, 0 Combat, 40 Subtlety
9. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 0 Combat, 44 Subtlety
10. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
11. 0.28% - 35 Assassination, 3 Combat, 23 Subtlety
12. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
13. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
14. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
15. 0.28% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
16. 0.28% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
17. 0.28% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
18. 0.28% - 18 Assassination, 43 Combat, 0 Subtlety
19. 0.28% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
20. 0.14% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
By Points per Tree:
1. 8.44% - 17 Assassination, 44 Combat, 0 Subtlety
2. 6.50% - 19 Assassination, 42 Combat, 0 Subtlety
3. 5.53% - 15 Assassination, 41 Combat, 5 Subtlety
4. 4.43% - 13 Assassination, 41 Combat, 7 Subtlety
5. 4.29% - 16 Assassination, 45 Combat, 0 Subtlety
6. 4.15% - 20 Assassination, 41 Combat, 0 Subtlety
7. 3.32% - 21 Assassination, 0 Combat, 40 Subtlety
8. 2.77% - 41 Assassination, 20 Combat, 0 Subtlety
9. 2.07% - 30 Assassination, 31 Combat, 0 Subtlety
10. 1.80% - 18 Assassination, 43 Combat, 0 Subtlety
By Specialization (31+ points in 1 category):
Assassination - 24.36%, Combat - 52.72%, Subtlety - 20.49%
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