One Rogue's Journey

Here we go again. The PTR for patch 3.2 should be coming up at anytime now and everyone’s favorite floating skull, Zarhym, has posted a list of the initial changes planed for this epic event. Won’t you join me while I highlight and discuss some of the changes that will affect us my, stabby brethren and sistern? It will be ever so much fun, I promise. Oh yeah, also, remember that these are the initial notes and are always subject to complete change and/or removal.

This is a nice buff to Orc rogues. You still smell bad though.

What? Why? I mean, I guess it’s nice to have another weapon choice but I just don’t see the reasoning behind this. Don’t get me wrong though, if there are some decent Axe drops, you can be damn sure I’ll be using them, especially because of:

Ok, so they wanted to add another weapon to combine with Sword Spec like they did with Close Quarters combat for Fists/Daggers and Axes were really the only choice. Looks like Axe/Sword will be the new Fist/Dagger? I’d bet money on that.

I’m thinking Blizz wants to see more Shadow Dance rogue’s in the Arenas. The lower cooldown definitely gives the ability less of a kill them this first time or you’re outta luck sense about it. I like the idea of Shadow Dance and a deep subtly rogue but I think more changes need to be made to the tree as a whole before we see the end of Mut/Prep domination

So, overall? I’m pretty meh about things as far as rogues are concerned. There just aren’t a whole lot of changes but that’s ok and to be honest, expected. Rogues as a whole are in a really good place right now. We’re topping damage meters and we’re dominating in the arena. Life is good, I guess I should just suck it up and enjoy my new Axe.

I spent most of the weekend grinding out honor to pick up a few pieces of gear that I now have access to since my 3s team manage to reach 1550 rating. It was a good time.

Don’t lie.

What? Who’s lying?

You’re lying. Grinding honor is not fun. You hate battlegrounds with a passion.

That’s not true.

You really think you’re gonna be able to run that BS by me? Trust me, kiddo, I know you. You hate battlegrounds.

Alright, you got me. I hate battlegrounds. I hate them with the fiery passion of a million burning suns.

That’s it, let it all out.

That make me want to kick or perhaps eat a baby depending on the battleground (AV and WG respectively).

Good…good…give in to your hate…

Yeah…stupid battlegr….wait a minute…what are you trying to do to me? Stop right there, I’m on to you!

Who, me?

No, the other really good looking guy that’s trying to turn this into an angry rant about battlegrounds without any useful purpose.

Monday posts usually have a useful purpose?

Well, no, but they aren’t angry, vile filled rants either.

Maybe they should be.

No, no they shouldn’t. Now you go make me a sammich before I go back to the therapist and get some of those pills that make you go away.

…

That’s right. Anyways, like a said, I ground out a bunch of honor through a combination of Stone Keeper Shards, Wintergrasp Marks and repeated For Great Honor… turn ins. Easiest way to do it really.

This week my guild is really going to kill Yoggy…really…maybe…probably…

What’s everyone else up to?

I just duel specced for assassination and read your article about rotation for mutilate and have a question.
Why would you use envenom instead of eviscerate to refresh slice and dice?
What is the difference?
Thanks

This is a very simple question and that’s part of why I choose it to answer directly in a post. It is relatively easy to say that Mutilate rogues use Envenom, while Combat rogues use Eviscerate. Sometimes I feel like the why of things are glossed over a bit too much. So why do mutilate rogues use Envenom?

Well, the quickest answer is that Envenom ignores armor and thus will do more damage than Eviscerate.

Simple huh? Well, until next time…hey wait…what are you doing…I’m done here…let go of me…I don’t wanna explain anymore…ow…ow…STOP HITTING ME. FINE!

OK, OK, so if that’s the case than why don’t you use Envenom as combat?

Well, first off most Combat builds do not take Vile Poisons so there Envenom will do less damage.

Secondly, Combat builds lack the Improved Poisons and Master Poisoner talents. These talents add an additional 55% chance to apply deadly poison! What this means is that a Mutilate rogue will be able to reapply a 5 stack of deadly poison in no time flat. The time it takes for a Combat rogue to reapply the same stack is significantly higher and thus actually turns into a lose of DPS (particularly when you take into account the T7 2-piece bonus).

And those reasons, are why you use Envenom as a Mutilate rogue. Pretty snazzy huh? Snazzy is a good word, people should use it more often.

Got a question you just must have answered? Leave a comment or drop me a line.

Happy happy Monday.

Happy Monday? What are you talking about, we hate Monday.

I’m just saying hello to the readers.

Why do you have to patronize them? They know it’s Monday and they know that there is no way you consider Monday to be any kind of “happy” day. Be honest with them kiddo and let them know that you agree with the cat.

Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

I blame you for that.

Hmm…interesting thought, but anyways, I was just trying to be friendly.

And that, my handsome friend, is why you fail at the Arena.

I don’t fail at the arena.

Don’t you? What’s your rating?

Right around 1450 in both 2s and 3s.

Fail.

That’s not fail, this is my first time even stepping foot into the Arena. Your standards are too high.

Maybe your standards are too low.

Wait…I’m confused…

I’m not surprised.

Shut up you. Aren’t we the same person? Why would we have different standards?

I don’t know. You tell me, Mr. Split Personality. All I know is that you need to step it up.

How’s that?

You need to setup your Afflicted3 mod better so that you can make more use out of it.

You need to protect your priest better.

You need to be quicker when fighting other rogues and make sure you’re the one who gets the dismantle off first.

You need to stop tunnel-visioning and chasing people around pillars and over altars and line of sighting your healer.

That’s all really valid advice. I guess you’re not just a pretty face.

Thank you. You also need to kill resto druids better.

Yeah, no kidding.

Now make me a sandwich.

No.

———-

As you can probably tell, I’ve been feeling a little sillier than usual lately.

What’s everyone up to this week?

I get a fair amount of emails on a daily basis. I enjoy it, really, even though often times I’m asked the same question over and over again. Fair enough I suppose, I can’t expect for people to read through the older posts, can I? I don’t know, probably, but either way since I’m such a nice guy (and handsome) I decided to compile a list of the most Frequently Asked Question questions I receive. Enjoy!

Is it better to gem with agi or attack power?

The quick and simple answer is to consult a spreadsheet. That wasn’t the answer you wanted though was it? So yeah, more often than not, AP gems provide an ever-so-slight advantage over AGI. The difference is so slight, however, that it is generally up to personal preference. I, personally, always gem for AGI.

It should be noted that once you have the T8 4-piece bonus, AGI will always come out on top.

What is the best talent build and glyphs for Assassination?

51/13/7

Often, depending on your gear, you can switch some points around in Master Poisoner for Turn the Tables. You’ll have to check a spreadsheet to be exact on this and it’s generally not worth worrying too much about.

What is the best talent build and glyphs of Combat?

15/51/5

Obviously, you can change Close Quarters Combat out for your weapon of choice. A good thing to note is that if you are using fists/dagger, you can replace that one point in Endurance with one point in Throwing Specialization. I’m a fan of this, as it helps on a couple of fights in Ulduar.

What poisons should I be using?

For Combat: Wound on the Main Hand and Deadly on the Off Hand.

For Mutilate: Instant on the Main Hand and Deadly on the Off Hand.

Why are you so awesome?

Just born that way I guess.

Will you have my babies?

Yes.

You’re damn sexy.

Not a question, but you are correct.

It’s Monday, the 1st of June, about 9am.  Do you know where your guild is? If they are lucky at all than they are sleeping in a nice warm bed, far from the harsh, bear-filled, outside world.

My weekend was good, I had a nice conversation with myself regarding the state of rogues in 3.2 and beyond:

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So, self, patch 3.1 brought a lot of really nice changes to the rogue class. We now have 2 viable PvE specs, we’re tearing it up in the arena, life is good. What awesome things do you think are in store for us in 3.2? Oh, and by the way, I love what you’ve done with your hair.

Thanks, self, those are some pretty spiffy threads you’re wearing. What’s in store for us in 3.2 and beyond change-wise? Nothing.

Nothing?

Nothing. You said it yourself, we’re in a really strong position right now. Any changes that could occur would have to be major changes and I believe the crab man already said that they wouldn’t be doing anything near on the scope of 3.1.

So you think we’re pretty much set until the next expansion?

Yeah, in the way we play, at least. They’ll be a tweak here and a tweak there (like the overkill change), mostly for PvP balance but I don’t expect any major shake ups.

Hmm, you make a valid point.  So other than the new raid, what should us brethern and sistern of the shadows be looking forward too?

Well, in my expert opinion, we can look forward to running the new 5-man over and over and over again looking for that best in slot trinket to drop that never will, a la Shard of Contempt. Hopefully, this 5-man won’t be as annoying as Magister’s Terrace though.

Annoying? I didn’t really have a problem with MT.

Of course you didn’t, you got your shard on your second run through and never went in there again. Jerk.

Hey! That was unnecessary.

Well you are a jerk. Jerk.

Sigh…you’re lucky you’re too handsome to stay mad at.

That’s generally what I rely on.

Alright, I’m shutting this conversation down.

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So, maybe I had a bit of a weird weekend.

My guild is gonna kill Yogg-Saron this week, yes sir, we are. What is everyone else up to?

So the preliminary patch notes for 3.1.3 are out and there is one note for us, my stabby brethern and sistern.

Overkill currently decreases the energy cost of abilities by 10 while in stealth and for 6 seconds after breaking stealth. So yes, this is a nerf but not a particularly huge one and I’m actually pretty happy about it. Happy about a nerf? Zaltu you crazy, handsome bastard what are you talking about?

Well, it’s simple really.  This change cuts down on our opening burst which is, admittedly, slightly over the line. It is a nice, balancing change that certainly won’t gimp us in any terrible way. Trust me, we are still going to be able to front load a lot of damage with a full energy bar. I’m actually willing to bet that the 30% increased energy regen will be really nice after a Vanish. Time will tell on that one.

Side Note: The previous comments apply mostly to PvP, I don’t expect this change to have a huge effect (if any) on PvE Mutilate. I haven’t run the numbers but I expect the increased energy regen to more than make up for the loss of the decreased energy cost (so yes, you will still be using Vanish on cooldown).

So, bravo Blizzard, this one is well played overall.

With the landing of patch 3.1 onto our grubby little hard drives (you really should clean that thing you know, what would your mother think?), Combat is back in vogue. This has made me happy in indescribable, unnatural and most likely unhealthy ways. My unending desire for a combination of bits and bytes aside, I believe that the Combat build has a few little tricks to help you eek the absolute most out of your DPS. I’m going to share one with you today. Damn I’m a nice guy (also handsome).

Killing Spree

Killing Spree (KS) is the 51-point Combat talent introduced in Wrath.  The ability was/is extremely fun to use, though at launch it was a bit underwhelming (Combat as a whole was but that’s not what held KS back).  While it was a nice burst to combine with Tricks of the Trade and a good opportunity to pool a little bit of energy, it was missing that “IT” factor that really made it “pop”.

Enter patch 3.1 and the addition of a single line that changed everything:

and increasing all damage done by 20% for the duration.

Now, you must be asking yourself: All damage? So your KS attacks are done for 20% more damage, that’s pretty cool I guess but how does that change how it is used? Well my friend, here’s the deal: you continue white attacks during Killing Spree. This means that Killing spree syncs up AMAZINGLY with your attack speed increasing abilities.

Knowing this, it is a simple leap in logic to remember to put up Slice and Dice and pop Blade Flurry right before you killing spree to make sure that you get the maximum amount of white attacks in during that 20% damage buff! What this also means is that Killing Spree synergizes perfectly with Bloodlust/Heroism!

I hope this tip helps you. Always remember that stacking your abilities and cooldowns in just the right way can have a significant affect on your DPS.

Right out of the gate I’m going to tell you that I’m forgoing a list this week as well. I should start calling this post Monday update instead of to-do list but you know how I feel about change (I don’t like it). With that said I have two solid posts lined up for this week that I hope to get out before I go on vacation this weekend (does it seem like I go on vacation a lot? Because I do, it is one of the benefits of being as awesome as I am). So you have that to look forward to.

In addition to my standard what is everyone else up to this week question, I leave you with another question. As I was looking over my guild this weekend I noticed that it seemed to have a spawned a bevy of druid alts. This got me thinking. 1st, what’s so special about Druids anyways? And second, am I the only one in this guild with only one 80? So I ask you my readers, are you a single character kinda player or do you have multiple 80s and if so, how many?

All against all
Enter the ring
The game of games
Bloodsport is king

-Bloodsport by Skold vs KMFDM

So with the coming of patch 3.1 and dual-specs, I have stepped into the Arena. Is it easy? No. Is it so mind-numbingly frustrating that it causes me to scream and yell over vent, bang my fist on my desk and generally lose my mind in fits of rage for brief moments? Yes. Do I absolutely love it? Oh hell yes.

Now I’m no expert but I’ve learned a thing or two in the past few weeks that I feel I’d like to share with those of you who either are just stepping into the Arena or are planning to step into the Arena. So here they are, in no particular order.

I Love the Sound of Your Voice

Communication is absolutely vital for a good arena team. As soon as the match starts someone should be calling out who to CC, who to burn down and where to move to. Call out everything that happens. Seriously, everything. Let your teammates know exactly when you got the sap off (or if you failed to do so). Tell them when you’ve used kidney shot, let your healer know when you’re popping Evasion or you’ve managed to get off that Dismantle. Let them know who and when you’re Blinding. The arena is a place where quick wits and quicker reaction times win matches and when that’s the case, information is king.

Say Goodbye to “A” and “D”

So. Keyboard turning. Keyboard turning is the act of using the “A” and “D” keys to turn your character. It is significantly slower than using your mouse to turn yourself. Keyboard turning is terrible in PvE and in PvP is it down right abysmal. Do yourself a favor, rebind your “A” and “D” key to strafe left and strafe right respectively.

Keybind, Keybind, Keybind

As I said earlier, the Arena is all about fast reaction times and one of the things that this means is that you don’t have time to click on your abilities. You have to, need to, must keybind them. Not only must you keybind them but you have to spend some time to keybind them in a way that best fits your playstyle. This is not something anyone can tell you directly. There is no magic list of keybinds. The only thing you can do is think about what abilities you use the most, what abilities you need in emergencies and how quickly you can react and press a certain key. This is going to take practice but more importantly it is going to require thinking about it. Keybindings for the Arena are not a set-it-and-forget-it affair. As you play and learn you’re going to realize that perhaps things are playing out a little different than you expected and that a change in keybindings might be for the best.

Don’t Forget to Focus (macro)

In the Arena you are often going to be paying attention to many different things at once. You’ll have to stay on one target while Blinding another. This is where your focus comes in. First off, I recommend an addon like Gladius which allows you to set your focus with something as simple as a right-click. Once that is done, a simple macro like this is all you need:

Two Sap (Macros) are better than One

I recommend having two different sap macros. One for saping your focus and one that’s “spammable” so you can attempt to sap that other rogue before he can sap you. Here they are:

Don’t Stop Believing Moving

Final tip for today. Move. Move. Move. A stationary target is an easy target. Even when you’re burning a target down, spin circles around them. One line of sight or directional-facing-error™ can be the difference between them going down or you. The Arena is fast-paced and high energy so you have to be to. Remember this maxim: “Be Quick on Your Feet or Your Enemy Will Put You on Your Knees”.

I plan to get into some more advanced tips in the future. So how about you my rogue brethern and sistern, any tips for the Arena?