Comments on: Rogue T9 Sets and Bonuses Revealed

By: anon

anon — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:48:47 +0000

I think the 4 pc. bonus is going to work will with the popular glyph for combat rogues which is sinister strike. Your sinister strike crits have a chance to give 2 combo pts. which is great. making that proc happen 5% more of the time is good i think

By: Kasaron

Kasaron — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:40:43 +0000

@ Tedoubledy – Regemming to Agility after you gain the 4 piece is really the only viable option after you actually get the 4 piece. The gear itself provides the necessary Expertise. As well, spec CAN play a major factor in your expertise gem choices, as the Combat tree provides the extra expertise via a talent. As for myself, I find myself able to keep both the hit and expertise cap in Mutilate spec, but… That’s just me. Both the hit and expertise cap are EXTREMELY important to hit, mostly because even a 100k crit that misses or gets dodged causes 0 damage.

Point:
Expertise until the 4 piece is viable. This should help MOST with dps.
Expertise after the 4 piece is viable, but not needed; you should already have it. If you don’t, gem for it.

By: tedoubledy

tedoubledy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:39:46 +0000

I’ve been mulling this over for a few days now and I decided to go with the expertise gemming. Like Nim said, all the spreadsheets state that AP gemming gives the higest results pre 4 piece t8 bonus and agi being slightlly higher after t8 bonus, but I think a lot of it comes down to personal choice/play style. I mean the diff in dps in gemming for expertise is only a difference of like 20 dps for my current gear so its not that much of a waste and with my playstyle I feel that expertise gives me more of a sense of ease, especially in Ulduar where you spend half the time chasing the damn bosses around (razor, ignis, hordir, etc) So while i might fall behind a bit on fights like XT, i’ve already seen a huge improvement on fights like emalon. Maybe i’ll go back to Agi though when i get my 4 t8 bonus.

By: Nimblkorg

Nimblkorg — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:40:37 +0000

The choice between expertise-cap gemming and agility gemming is a choice I’ve been having mixed feelings about too.
What Sharadrin says about enough expertise being on top-gear seems only true for Combat rogues in my experience (Weapon Expertise). I have been endgame-raiding as Mutilate for a few months now, and even with best-in-slot gear I’d still be far away from the expertise cap.
My spreadsheets tell me Agility is the way to gem, and so I do, but you WILL get unlucky every now and then, and you will curse your gem-choice for it ^^ However, I want to gear for comon situations, not exceptions, so I just swallow it and keep on destroying the nasty bugger

One hint though: if you are not Expertise-capped as Mutilate rogue, Envenom when you have about 3 seconds of SnD left. Even if you get dodged, you still have time to do it again if you managed your energy. If you get dodged AGAIN…well…RNG is a bitch my friend!

By: Sharadrin

Sharadrin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:15:02 +0000

Most top end Rogues do not GEM for Expertise because their gear simply provides all the expertise you need. The chance for a boss to block/parry/dodge is static. Stacking more than you need is simply redundant.

I use multiple sheets. Aldriana’s and Mavana’s Sheet as suggested by the Rogue Guide to WotLK. http://elitistjerks.com/f78/t37183-pocket_guide_wotlk_updated_3_1_a/

By: tedoubledy

tedoubledy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:04:44 +0000

Sharadrin,

I was under the same impression too until someone pointed out that while expertise and hit cap are extremely valuable stats that as stats scale with each other the only real way to find out the optimal setting is to use a spreadsheet. Based on my spreadsheet I have always found that gemming for expertise did not raise my dps above that of gemming for Agility or AP. I was reluctant to give up my expertise cap but it seems that all the high end rogues that I see also gem for agi now rather than expertise. I think zaltu pointed out before too that its a personal choice. Which spreadsheets do u use?

By: Sharadrin

Sharadrin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:25:47 +0000

Tedoubledy,

According the Elitist Jerks, for Mutilate, Expertise has one of the highest EP values because if you’re missing a target because it’s dodge/parry/blocking you, then you’re more likely to miss that vital Envenom to refresh your SnD.

The idea is to maximize the amount of times that you hit a target to raise your baseline DPS. If you’re spending those 4-5 pts on an Envenom that refreshes your SnD while doing good damage, then your DPS raises. If that Envenom misses, you’re not cashing in the 2-for-1 value that Cut to the Chase gives you.

Expertise “cap” is 26/26. Do whatever you can get it.

By: John

John — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:57:52 +0000

Where did you get the info that the lower set drops in 5 mans? I can’t find that anywhere.

By: Blasse

Blasse — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:55:43 +0000

Hey Zaltu, To start with I can say I been reading you blog for a wile and enjoy very much, helped me getting a hang of the rogue class^^

Now for a question. I have seen some rogues stacking Expertise as “@!%, to me it seems wierd to be over capped with it. Can you ask me why? or are they just stupid?

And yes. The designers who disign this sets to ALL classes SHOULD be thrown in a pit with snakes. And I cross my fingers that they will change the Set bonuses…meh

By: Toxicwaste

Toxicwaste — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:04:32 +0000

I think the horde rogue T9 will be labelled Garona not Van Cleef