THE CLOAK-AND-DAGGER ADVANCED ROGUE GUIDE v.3.1
This guide is the result of my personal experiences leveling 2 rogues to 60 as well as the combined knowledge of RogueSpot’s Cloak-and-Dagger members.
The Rogue of Azeroth, Loved and Hated for some of the same reasons. Capable of moving through the shadows and tearing apart casters in the blink of an eye, they don’t fair as well against armored classes. The Rogue class is one of the most entertaining classes to play. With a bag of tricks a mile deep a rogue’s motto should be “Die Another Day”.
0.0 Introduction
The Rogue is designed to be a glass cannon. Very high power damage hits and very fragile bones. Rogue’s can wear cloth and leather armor limiting their effectiveness as a tank. We can use Daggers, Swords, Maces and First Weapons and the debate of which is a better weapon combination is beyond the scope of this document. If you are attempting to use thrown weapons, guns, bows or crossbows as your main weapon please see the hunter guide. We can not use ranged weapons as our main damage source. EDIT: With the introduction of burning crusade talents its become quite apparent that throwing weapons will be able to do some serious eviscerate like damage.
The way the Rogue works in WoW is based on Energy and Combo Points. Every 2 seconds we gain 20 energy. All of our opening and finishing abilities require energy. Energy keeps us in check. When you engage in combat you use opening moves like Cheap Shot, Ambush and Garrote along with your bread and butter moves like Sinister Strikes, Back Stab and Gouge to execute finishing moves such as Eviscerate, Kidney Shot, Rupture, Slice and Dice and Expose Armor.
Now that we have that out of the way let me start with your first lesson.
Rogue: Stealthy Assassin
Rouge: Red Makeup used on the Cheeks
The quickest way to get laughed off forums when asking questions or making an argument is to mispell Rogue. It is every rogue’s pet peeve and as new rogues it is your duty to take on this burden. If you happen to do this on the RogueSpot.com forums me or one of the other Moderators will edit your post and correct the misspelling. It is just that bad.
OK! On with the Rest of the Guide.
0.0 Introduction and ToC
0.1 Basics
- 0.1.1 Starting Stats
- 0.1.2 Racial Abilities
- 0.1.3 Combat
- 0.1.4 Training
- 0.2.0 Talent Builds
- 0.2.1 Seal Fate 120 Energy
- 0.2.2 Preparation Daggers
- 0.2.3 Combat Daggers
- 0.2.4 Combat Swords
- 0.2.5 Hemo
1.0 Distract
- 1.1 Distract to pause mobs
- 1.2 Distract to break up mob groups
- 1.3 Distract to create distance between linked mobs
- 1.4 Distract to Catch PVP targets
- 1.5 Distract out of Stealth
2.0 Vanish
- 2.1 Using Sprint to improve Vanish
- 2.2 Vanish Pulling
- 2.3 Run through your opponent
3.0 Stealth
- 3.1 Hiding in objects to improve Steath
- 3.2 Restealth in PVP with out Vanish
- 3.3 Restealthing While Dotted
4.0 Improved Sap
- 4.1 No Extra Agro Pulls
- 4.2 Seperate 1 From Camp
- 4.3 Gathering with Sap
- 4.4 Sapping in PvP
5.0 Blind
- 5.1 No LoS Check
- 5.2 Catching Mounted Opponents
6.0 Items
6.1.0 Engineering
- 6.1.1 Catseye Ultra Goggles
- 6.1.2 Gnomish Net-o-Matic Projector
- 6.1.3 Gnomish Mind Control Cap
- 6.1.4 Goblin Jumper Cables
- 6.1.5 Goblin Rocket Helm
- 6.1.6 Gnomish Death Ray
7.0 Alchemy
- 7.1 Restorative Elixer
- 7.2 Free Action Potion
- 7.3 Health Potions (Duh!)
- 7.4 Swiftness Potion
- 7.5 Invulnerable
- 7.6 Catseye Elixer
- 7.7 Oil of Immolation
- 7.8 Agility Buffs
8.0 Blacksmith
- 8.1 Weapon Chains
- 8.2 Glimmering Mithril Insignia
9.0 Cooking
- 9.1 Thistle Tea
- 9.2 Grilled Squid
10.0 First-Aid
- 10.1 Bandage Macro
11.0 Poison Supply Dealers
12.0 Stunlock and You
- 12.1 Sealfate Stunlock
- 12.2 Hemo Stunlock
15.0 Theorycraft
- 15.1 The New Combat Daggers
- 15.2 DPS Comparison of the new 1.12 Talents
17.0 Preparing for Raids
20.0 Misc. Tips
- 20.1 100% Chance to crit sitting players.
- 20.2 How to Reset an Instance
- 20.3 Dueling in Contested Zones
- 20.4 Pick Pocket Opener
- 20.5 Dodging while running away
- 20.6 The Deadzone
- 20.7 Pets and Stealth
21.0 Macros
22.0 UI Addons
- 22.1 Usebyname
- 22.2 CooldownCount
- 22.3 Poison Pouch
0.1 Basics
What are the basics to being a Rogue? When I think basics I imagine the first time I played World of Warcraft and what would have been nice to know. I am going to touch on building your rogue emphasizing all the things you should take into consideration and point out the ones that are not really that important at all.
0.1.1 Starting Stats
I consider starting stats the be the least important factor. In fact they are so un-important im not going to list them. Put it this way. I stressed over starting stats when I made my first rogue. Debated for a couple of days because Night Elfs got the highest starting AGI (by about 3 pts). Now of course one single piece of armor counts that extra AGI and the actual amount of extra Agility you receive as being a Night Elf rogue will not make a difference in your DPS.
0.1.2 Racial Abilities
Night Elves
Shadowmeld - Night Elves get the ability to shadowmeld which allows any class to stealth as long as they don’t move. Since rogues already receive the ability to stealth they get a passive boost to stealth. The night elf bonus is the equivalent of +5 pts of stealth which equals one level.
Quickness - +1% to dodge is nice for rogues since we don’t absorb damage very well.
Wisp Spirit - 25% faster then normal ghost form this is great skill if you suck.
Dwarves
Treasure Finding – Kinda nice to find chests before others could be profitable since rogues can get to areas where normal classes cannot.
Stoneform – Grants immunity to Bleed, Poison and Disease effects and Increases armor by 5%. (70% move speed has been removed)
Gnomes
Escape Artist – Allows the rogue to break out of Root or Snare effects. It has a .5 second cast and cool down of only a minute so it can come in handy instead of trying to anticipate attacks and keep the right equipment on.
Undead
Will of the Forsaken - Considered by many to be an over powered ability (mostly priests and warlocks) allows you to break fear, sleep and charm and become immune to fear, sleep and charm effects for 5 seconds. It has a 2 minute cool down. This ability gives undead rogues a significant 1-up on certain caster classes that can keep you fear / charmed just as much as you could stun lock them.
Underwater Breathing - Increased by 400% makes underwater quests and fighting alot easier for you. Once you get used to this racial ability its hard to give it up.
Cannibalize - The sound for this trait was recently changed. Instead of sounding like your munching on a triscuit it sounds more like your slurping up some jell-o. Great skill to help relieve the use of bandages and consumption of food. This really helps with grinding and happens to be a great taunt… after you kill an alliance player, eat him! Its soooo much better then /spit.
Trolls
Berserking - Has been fixed so that it can now be activated when “wounded” it allows for an increase to melee and spellcasting speed by 25% for 20 seconds. 2 min cool down. Berserking currently stacks with slice and dice but not blade fury.
Regeneration – 10% Health Regen bonus it remains active during combat. This is a subtle skill that you wont appreciate until you win a fight with only a couple of HP left.
Beast Slaying - Passive ability to do 5% more damage bonus to beasts. Not really overly useful to a rogue except in grinding on beast mobs. Chances are you wont notice the effects of this one. Might help on the damage meters though.
Throwing Weapon Specialization - Not sure how much of a difference this one makes. Its insignificant either way as throwing weapons will not generate the bulk of your damage. This skill could possibly be slightly more useful in the burning crusade but my Magic 8 Ball says all signs point to NO!
Orcs
Hardiness - 25% resistance to stun and knockout effects. This trait is useful against other rogues but its doubtful that youll notice the effects in day to day combat
0.1.3 Combat
Well you made your rogue and watched the nice intro trailer for your race. You’ve even gone ahead and collected the first couple of quests you noticed. On your hotbar you will notice the abilities Attack, Sinister Strike, and Eviscerate.
The attack icon will actually look a bit different. Before you go into combat know this: The rogue uses opening moves to build combo points which he then spends on finishing moves.
Basic Combat at level 1 however works like this. Engage the mob, use sinister strike several times til 1-5 bubbles are lit around your enemies target frame. Then execute Eviscerate. Rinse and repeat. As you level you will be able to train new abilities that you can tie in to combat.
0.1.4 Training
One of the first quests you receive is to visit your trainer. He lets you know that he has your back and will help you learn all your new skills… for a price. Dont throw away the trash loot (gray items) collect it all and sell it to vendors, then hit your trainer at every even level. 2,4,6…. do I really need to be going over this?
0.2.0 Talent Builds
Talent builds are one of the biggest places I see new Rogue’s stumble. What build should I be. What talents should I get in this build. Whats the best build for pvp, pve, or both. I will briefly outline some of the most common builds
0.2.1 Seal Fate and SF120
31/8/12
- My current build and my favorite. The goal with this build is 120 energy with the 5/8 Nightslayer bonus. This build dumps damage incredibly fast but is more gear dependent then some of the more stunlock oriented builds. Key Talents: Vigor, Seal Fate, Cold Blood, Improved Backstab, Opportunity
30/8/13
– A variation of the previous that dumps vigor for the extra crit on the ambush. Key Talents: Seal Fate, Cold Blood, Improved Backstab, Improved Ambush, Opportunity.
31/14/6
– One of the newer builds to emerge since the 1.12 changes. This build goes a little farther into combat to pick up some of the nice utility talents like improved sprint. Key Talents: Improved Backstab and other Backstab talents, Seal Fate, Vigor, Cold Blood. Good Inclusions: Poison talents, Cool down shortening talents, Improved Sprint.
0.2.2 Preparation Daggers
21/8/22
- The Cold Blood and Prep Build also known as a Assassination / Subtlety split is known for its utility and is one build I consider a great equalizer on the battlefield. This build is cable of locking down almost any opponent or at the very least assuring your escape. It is used in the Famous / Infamous World of RogueCraft videos to demonstrate how a rogue can kill any class while naked and using only rusty daggers. Most classes have been given abilities that have nerfed this build recently but its still a very viable option for new pvp rogues. Key Talents: Cold Blood, Preparation, Improved Backstab, Improved Gouge
0.2.3 Combat Daggers
15/31/5
- If you want to rock the damage meters this is the build you want. Supreme dps is the name of the game and the talents you pick up in the combat line make it physically impossible for almost any other build to catch in damage. Key Talents: Duel Weild Specialization, Dagger Specialization, Blade Flurry, Adrenaline Rush.
0.2.4 Combat Swords
18/33/0
- The only other build listed here that I feel is capable of putting up a fight or surpassing combat daggers is combat swords or some variation of it. Same high dps output but with bigger knives. ;-) Key Talents: Duel Weild Specialization, Sword Specialization, Blade Flurry, Adrenaline Rush. Good Inclusions: Murder, Riposte, Weapon Expertise
0.2.5 Hemo
Hemo is decidedly the stunlock king and these builds will let you run an enemy from 100 percent life to dead with out giving them a chance to retaliate. The first build is more pvp oriented while the second build listed here caters to the farmers and other folk grinding faction.
24/3/24
- Key Talents: Improved Cheap Shot, Hemorrhage, Cold Blood, Improved Kidney Shot, Preparation. Good Inclusions: Improved Poisons, Lethality, Opportunity
2/24/25
- Key Talents: Improved Cheap Shot, Ghostly strike, Hemorrhage, Endurance, Setup, Riposte. Good Inclusions: Initiative, Preparation, Remorseless attacks.
If your looking for even more Rogue Builds or maybe some new flavors check out the WoW Wikki. http://www.wowwiki.com/Rogue_Builds
Well if you got this far your questing, killing, and leveling up. Looks like you got the basics under your belt. Perhaps though you thirst for a bit more knowledge. Keep reading :-)
Its time to break into the advanced tactics section of this guide. Up until now this document looked like 5 other stickies on the WoW: Rogue forums. Time to separate the men from the boys, the men from the mice… the Rogues from the Rouges. From here on out this guide will focus around certain class abilities and how to use them beyond their basic applications. Lets start with distract!
1.0 Distract
When used distract makes mobs in the area turn and face a certain direction. The obvious use is to aid you when stealthed. However distract comes in handy when managing mob movement before a pull or when attempting to get to a chest or ground spawn near a pathing mob.
1.1 Distract to pause mobs
Use distract to momentarily pause (10 Seconds) a mob when it has pathed farthest from a resource node. This will give you enough time to unstealth harvest the node and restealth often with out having to engage the mob.
1.2 Distract to break up mob groups
Distract can also be used to break up mob groups that seem to be linked. For example the wandering ogre boss in Badlands and his thugs seem to be linked. However a well placed distract will make just the boss pause for 10 seconds separating him just enough to be single pulled away from his guards. This also works when breaking up the wandering troll patrols in STV. Use distract to separate 1 troll from the pack and then pull it.
1.3 Distract to create distance between linked mobs
Some mobs however are linked together. No matter how far away you get one of the mobs from the group the other mobs will agro you as soon as you attack. For instance the wandering Prophets Silithus. These targets are great if you are working Cenarion Hold faction as they drop up to 10 Encrypted Twilight Texts. However they are surrounded by 4-5 nasty mobs. At first glance this is not a soloable npc. However with the help of distract it becomes cake. For this you are gonna want to go dual instant poisons and then walk in the path of the mob group. You want just the prophet to see you so that he pauses momentarily. The other mobs will keep moving. You may have to do this twice but after you do you will be able to add a distract immediately before the Prophet would resume walking and catch up to the other mobs to delay her another 10 seconds. Open with a CB ambush and hit Evasion as soon as the mob pack gets to you. Using the distract gives you a couple of extra seconds before you have 5 mobs beating you down.
1.4 Distract to Catch PVP targets
Distract can be used in PVP situations as well. The target will not hear or see the effect of the distract spell itself but will be spun instantly to face the direction of your distract. While chasing a player down on mount dismount hit sprint and while in range use distract to make your opponent do a 180 degree turn. They will usually continue riding towards you for a second before they can react to having been spun around. In combination with crippling poison you can keep them from taking off again.
1.5 Distract out of Stealth
A lot of people believe that Distract has to be used in stealth and as a result place it on their stealth bar. Quite the contrary distract should be somewhere accessible all the time. It can be used quite effectively out of stealth to catch up with targets or delay targets trying to catch you if you are not currently engaged. I’ve even seen it used in duels to allow the Rogue 1 extra second to drop combat and restealth.
2.0 Vanish
Its been claimed over and over again that Vanish does not work as intended and that it breaks often or maybe just not to our liking. Regardless Vanish can work reliably and to your advantage in its current form. If you keep in mind what breaks vanish and what vanish works well against you will find that it will never fail you. Sometimes I wish I could fraps the rogues that complain the most and point out the problems they have with this ability.
First let me explain some short comings and how to avoid them. Thankfully a lot of them have been fixed recently. Vanish removes hunters mark. Vanish also keeps a spell from landing on you that was in the middle of being cast. However Vanish is not INVIS. If you have a warrior standing on top of you and panic mashing vanish there is a good chance your about to get pwned. Vanish is an improvement to stealth. I would like to say its +290 Stealth on top of what you have. It says it is improved… and it is. Its hella hard to find a Rogue while he has Vanish up. If you are standing on top of someone it doesn’t matter how high your stealth skill they will see you. This is what happens when fighting melee like warriors and other rogues. You mash vanish but since your on top of them you are instantly visible and their next button mashes select you as a target and break your stealth. In the same way we can mash cheapshot and it will select a visible stealthed target. Keeping this in mind lets look at how the skill can be improved upon.
2.1 Using Sprint to improve Vanish
If you get to many mobs on a pull or a sudden add often the gut reaction is to mash your vanish hotkey as quickly as possible to save your ass. However this often results in the exact opposite happening. To improve your chances with vanish turn / sprint (5 yards) / Vanish. Even if vanish does break you will have enough distance between where you are and the mobs original pull was that you won’t re-agro. Several times I have used this method and had to sit in a corner for a few seconds to wait for stealth to finish cooling down before I could continue. Even though Vanish broke it did fire dropping all my agro.
2.2 Vanish Pulling
Vanish Pulling is an art… more like mystery. I have not perfected but I see that it can be. Let’s say you have a group of 4 mobs ahead in a somewhat tight grouping. They are not linked but are close enough to pass proximity agro to each other. To use a Vanish pull effectively target the closest mob to you in the group.
There are two ways you can do this theoretically.
The first is to have you and the tank up front the rest of the group back safely out of agro range just in case you fail. Pull the mob group. Vanish when the first mob is in agro range of the tank and the rest of the mobs are not. This takes a bit of guess work but if done correctly when you hit vanish wiping yourself from the mobs agro lists all the mobs should return to their spawn points except the mob that was in agro range of the warrior. This should only work in instances as the anti-training code of WoW makes mobs outside instances ignore all agro until they get back to their spawn.
Vanishing with the first mob on top of you sometimes works as he will reagro if your lucky with most of the other mobs returning to spawn.
The other way this can work is that after you vanish all mobs start returning to their spawn point but don’t return at the same time. If you outdoors you may be able to hit the first mob to return to his spawn point, reagroing him! While all other mobs ignore the agro returning to their spawn points still.
This section is still being worked on and is not exactly science yet. Please feel free to test this out in instances but please don’t rely on these methods while pulling to General Drakisath.
2.3 Run through your opponent
Hit Vanish and then run straight through your enemy. Unless the enemy is many levels higher than you, you won’t be “proximity” detected for at least 1 second after vanishing. If you are behind them, the chances of being detected are much lower.
3.0 Stealth
The Basics of Stealth are covered in several places and most Rogues will not hesitate to enlighten you on how it and Shadowmeld work. At the simplest level it is your Level in Stealth skill 300 @ 60 plus any MoD skill plus any enchants or items.
3.1 Hiding in objects to improve Steath
As simple as it sounds. When your being chased and you vanish or stealth up sometimes the best idea is not to run in a straight line…. Instead change directions and find cover. Near Hemit Nesingwary’s camp in STV there is a low lying bush near the river. I have sat in this bush while stealthed many times with higher level “skulls†running past me on both sides. These objects, usually plants, allow you to hide yourself more effectively. The only sign your opponent will receive as to where you are is the stealth / unstealth noise that plays assuming they have the sound on their client on. This works well in Ashenvale where you can stealth and hide in a bush while your pursuers pass by harmlessly. Granted this doesn’t always work but it has worked enough to be worth noting here. What I frequently do is run in one direction hit vanish… and immediately change direction to a 90 degree angle. If you were sprinting to start with you have the momentum to get out of the way of incoming alliance headed towards the spot you vanished and hopefully cause them to search in the direction you were headed before you changed direction.
3.2 Restealth in PVP Combat with out Vanish
Some of a Rogue’s most powerful moves are their opening moves. During PVP Combat it can turn the tide of a fight to be able to get an extra opening move on an opponent. To do this you cannot attack or be attacked for 5 seconds. Use Sprint / Gouge / Blind and Kidney Shot to create these opportunities. Kidney Shot is less desirable as you should be attacking your opponent while they are stunned but it is viable if you are just trying to escape after realizing the fight is not going in your favor.
Examples:
Gouge and back off your opponent. You should be able to restealth a second or two after they are unstunned. You can also use Improved Gouge here which lasts 5.5 seconds allowing you to restealth before they are unstunned. (Zikatalya)
Sprint and run away behind a tree or in wide circles if you are dueling to avoid leaving the dueling area.
Blind your target then Bandage Macro to full health finally you should be able to restealth just as blind breaks. You might have to cut your bandage short to get stealthed in time.
Something I have seen a couple of times in duels recently is to restealth and then hit the opponent with sap. This keeps them immobilized quite a bit longer. Take the time to bandage, eat, drink, dance and restealth.
3.3 Restealthing While Dotted
As Cloak-and-Dagger member Romio recently reminded me you can still restealth while dotted. I know what your thinking… the dot will expose you. However the goal here is to restealth at the end of one tick of damage from the dot and cheapshot or perform an opener before the next tick of the dot damage. This is definitely a more advanced move but it works very well.
4.0 Improved Sap
NOTE: I am currently retesting some of the things in this section. Please use with caution as I am getting the feeling they are not working as I explained.
Improved Sap for those that pick it up is a very nice talent. 90% Chance to Sap Humanoid Target and remain stealthed. While the first think you may do with Sap is grief newbies in towns… there are some practical uses to this talent. Note: If you use some of the methods below trying to pull a caster or ranged mob you may agro both mobs away as they don’t run directly to you but sit and call for help (Agroing their friends you were trying to avoid) If you don’t have imp sap and you sap something then hit vanish the sap will be broken.
4.1 No Extra Agro Pulls
**Changed to reflect testing**
A little trick you can use when sapping groups of mobs regardless of whether you have Improved Sap or not is to Get behind the mob you would like to sap and then begin walking backwards before you hit your sap button. If you get revealed the chances are you will be out of range and will not agro the mobs. This works well in Zul’furrak and Sunken Temple.
4.2 Separate 1 From Camp
Another Sap pull, Go into heavily populated camps and sap one. Then move back out of agro range, but not so far that the mob won’t come to you…then unstealth. Once sap breaks the mob you sapped will come running at you alone, since you didn’t cause any damage. Doesn’t work so good with casters/ranged fighters since they can attack you from a distance and once they do they’ll get help. I was able to use this effectively in LBRS.
4.3 Gathering with Sap
This works with Regular Sap as well but is very useful when there is only one mob guarding a Chest or resource node that you want. Simply Sap the mob / Loot the Chest or Node / and Vanish. Works well in SM – Cathedral.
4.4 Sapping in PvP
The original use of Sap in PvP was to keep one target controlled while the Rogue killed the first target. While you can still do this if your primary target is something squishy like a mage there are other uses now, for example restealthing and using sap to get a longer breather to get a bandage in. You wouldn’t want to try this in a high traffic area as the extra delay is just time for someone to call in their boys on ventrilo but it can be very effective in 1 vs. 1.
If you find yourself in a 2 v 1 situation it can be very effective to vanish dropping both you and your attackers out of combat and immediately sap one of them. If you don’t feel confident enough to try this you can still use this information just stop reading at vanish.
5.0 Blind
If you are not a rogue chances are you hate blind. If you are a rogue you like it. While it does have a reagent cost and requires Fade Leaf to make it is one of your most useful skills. Undoubtedly you have used blind to escape or bandage up many times as you have leveled your rogue. However there are some benefits to blind that are not in the tool tip.
5.1 No LoS Check
Blind had no Line of Sight check or it may not have a /face check. Either way this works to your advantage. Every time I have used blind the mob has been in my face or I have turned to face the mob. However this is not necessary. Blind is perfect to use while running away. Just throw it over your shoulder and hope it lands. You may argue that turning around does not take but more then a second. However if two players or mobs are chasing you why give them an extra fraction of a second to catch up. Blind has a very long range compared to most of our abilities so it can also be used way before the opponent gets into melee range. Or if you are running at a caster trying to interrupt a cast use blind instead of kick. Blind will hit from father away possibly giving you the extra second you needed to interrupt the cast. This is great for when mages are going for the sheep.
5.2 Catching Mounted Opponents
While distract is great for catching someone who is mounted it has a couple of downfalls. The most noticeable of these is LAG! How many times did I swear he was in range… but I missed him anyway. Then if you do catch your target with distract if he is good he still has a good chance to get away. Blind on the other hand solves all these problems. Ride up to your opponent, dismount, blind, and then restealth to open with cheapshot or ambush.
6.0 Items
Every rogue should have a couple of items with effects to aid them. It could be anything from a special trinket to a helm of fire. Theres so many of these items however that it’s a bit of a big deal to cover them all. Ones that are famous are the Helm of Fire for its fireball dd and dot. The spider silk belt which has the ability to remove root. Green Welp armor has the chance to put targets to sleep but that has been nerfed and is pretty much useless now at level 60. You can use thottbot.com to look up the stats of any of these items.
6.1.0 Engineering
Its my personal belief that this is the most useful profession for pvp hands down. The sheer number of trinkets that a Rogue can use to give him an edge in a variety of different types of fights is great. Ill cover some of the basic utility pieces.
6.1.1 Catseye Ultra Goggle
Increases your stealth detection Great when stacked with a potion or just by themselves to help you get your opener on opposing rogues. I always keep this on me and ready to equip. Whenever I go into a choke point like black rock mountain where I know Rogues like to hang out or when I duel a Rogue I throw these on. If you are using a SF:120 build with a thistle tea its game over for any Rogue thinking about fighting you.
6.1.2 Gnomish Net-o-Matic Projector
Shoots out a net that roots opponents for 10 sec. Can also be used to unmount someone. There is a possibility to net yourself as well or both you and your opponent. I have this trinket but I have yet to use it. This is another good one for keeping people from running away though and is really simple to make. Well worth the time and money.
6.1.3 Gnomish Mind Control Cap
This is my favorite item. Even after subsequent nerfs this item can still bring the pain. After successfully mind controlling a mage and watching him lite up his pally friend this device will always be in my toolbox. This is another tool that can be used to even up score in a 2 v. 1. Granted it does not work once either of you is in combat but popped from stealth it’s a great surprise.
6.1.4 Goblin Jumper Cables
CLEAR!!! And you just saved your entire raid from wiping. These add to a Rogues functionality more then anyone else’s (other then a hunter maybe) because rogues have vanish. What they are is a trinket that gives you a 25% chance of resurrecting your target. You can use it once every 30 minutes. Sure, it won’t work 3/4 of the time, but the first time you’re 2 hours into a raid and everyone dies but you and these things do work, you’ll carry one of these for the rest of your life. I also carry the twisting nether darkmoon faire card. So I am usually able to Self Rez myself or still alive from the vanish. If you are an engineer make the extra effort to get the XL version of these cables. They have to be made by a goblin engineer though.
6.1.5 Goblin Rocket Helm
This helm is very useful almost serves as a dirty sap. Allowing you to warrior charge your target stunning both of you… yourself for only a couple of seconds and your target for up to 30 seconds I believe. The first time I had it used on me I was trying to get away from a pally or something equally stupid and they nailed me with this helm. Not a fun time at all.
6.1.6 Gnomish Death Ray
One toy I have yet to play with is the gnomish death ray. This is a great one to keep in your bags as it can be used while your opponent is gouged. One of the combos cited was to quickly pick up 4 cp, gouge your target and then hit it with the gnomish death ray followed immediately by a cold blood eviscerate.
7.0 Alchemy
Chances are if you’re a rogue that you have the professions Herbalism and Alchemy. If you have something else your on your own. If you have some tips for other professions please post them and ill add them in. I am going to quickly list the potions I keep in my bag and on my hotbar.
7.1 Restorative Elixer
You get the recipe for this potion from a quest in the badlands. The potion requires elemental earth and goldthorn. It removes up to 5 disease, magic, poison, or curse effects from you. This includes HUNTERS MARK! If this wasn’t enough the potion is not on your combat potion timer of 2 minutes you can consume them one right after the other. This may be a bug though so you might see a fix for this in the future. Note Hunters Mark is not such a huge deal anymore with the recent changes to vanish but this is still a nice potion reguardless.
7.2 Free Action Potion
This is the Anti-Mage / Druid/ etc potion. Chug this right before a battle with a mage and there is a good chance the fight won’t last very long at all. This potion has been changed so it does not remove effects currently on you. It still lasts for 30 seconds so its still a great pre fight potion or perhaps right after the opening move. On ice mages you are gonna wanna forgo the ambush to chug this first and immediately backstab. Getting hit with their chill really sucks.
7.3 Health Potions
This is a no brainer. It probably shouldn’t be in an “advanced guide†but here it is anyway. Health potions are crucial to rogues in PvP. Sure you shouldn’t have to depend on them you should have to depend on your skill. But when your going up against a pally or a shaman this often gives you the extra seconds of life needed to pull off the Cold Blood Eviscerate. I keep 10 on me at all times.
7.4 Swiftness Potion
It could be argued that we have sprint so swiftness potion is redundant. However 15 seconds is sometimes not enough to get away. Especially if the first 10 seconds of that were spent rooted. A couple of these wont hurt and don’t even have to go on your hot bar. Just keep them in your potion bag when you need the long escape.
7.5 Invulnerable
This is my new favorite tool against warriors. Open with Cheapshot and then use Kidney Shot. When KS wears off chug this potion for 6 seconds of immunity to physical attacks. I find that I am able to take down warriors much easier with this. They cost 2 blind weed and a ghost mushroom so take a trip to swamp of sorrows to stock up on blind weed.
7.6 Catseye Elixer
Some people have claimed that when rogues duel each other its all about who gets off the first shot. While this isn’t necessarily true if you use blind and a bandage macro, there is no refuting that getting in the opening hits against another rogue swings the fight heavily in your favor. These potions only last for 10 minutes so you can’t keep them up constantly especially since they cost a valuable fade leaf and gold thorn to make. However if you know that there is a rogue creeping around or you know that a rogue is going to be coming back to find you this can give you the edge boosting your stealth detection by 10.
7.7 Oil of Immolation
I added this one cause I like to use it in instances or when others whip out there AOE. This can also be good for running around trying to expose a stealthed rogue. I remember one run through Zul’Furrak at the named mob in the scarab room that goes immune to physical attacks. Our casters were out of mana and I managed to do the last 250 damage needed to kill him with this potion. Not a life saver but definitely a fun one to keep on you.
7.8 Agility Buffs
In Wow the Main stat for improving a Rogues performance in combat is agility. This can be increased significantly by the use of potions.
The three most popular are:
Elixir of the Mongoose
Greater Agility
Giant Strength (buffs attack not agi)
8.0 Blacksmith
Besides being able to do the obvious with this skill and create decent swords, daggers and maces for your Rogue you can also make some nice little trinkets and other items that can improve your rogue.
8.1 Weapon Chains
Weapon Chains are attached to your weapon in place of an enchantment. They make you immune to disarm. This is huge since both Warriors and Rogues can disarm a weapon and the effect is devastating in PVP combat. There are many humanoid mobs in PVE that can also disarm you.
Update: After leveling two Rogues I actually feel weapon chains are not that needed. Better to put a good enchant on your weapon then these. A rogue should always be controlling his opponent so in a perfect world the other player should never get a chance to disarm you.
8.2 Glimmering Mithril Insignia
Another one of the most useful blacksmith items is the fear trinket… or anti fear trinket really. This trinket when used will make you immune to fear for a short period of time which can be crucial when fighting a Warlock or Priest. If you are not undead this is possibly one of the best benefits from being a Blacksmith.
9.0 Cooking
Though cooking is a secondary profession I find it extremely useful when I am in “grind” mode. Not only does it let me conserve bandages. But it also gives me a stat (sta) boost.
9.1 Thistle Tea (Official Energy Drink of the Rogue)
This recipe is received through a quest and is rogue only. The Thistle Tea recipe should now also be available from Smudge Thunderbrew in Ravenhold Mannor if you have already completed the quest. (Kittykaboom)
Thistle Tea is important because it instantly gives you 100 Energy in combat. It is not easy to use well and takes a bit of practice to to get the most benefit out of this drink. When used correctly it is deadly, deadly to the point that most of your opponents will not get a chance to retaliate to your attack.
For example I use this combo frequently as a Seal Fate / 120 Energy Rogue:
CS / BS (4 cp)/ KS / BS / THISTLE TEA / BS / BS
Usually your KS will have worn off by the last BS but most of the times they are so panicked that they don’t do anything smart. When timed properly this opener can be devastating especially when combined with talents.
9.2 Grilled Squid
This is a good buff food for rogues. Combined with agility or mongoose potions just to boost your AGI. It Increases your Agility by 10 for 10 minutes. Alternating between this and Stam food while grinding might be a good combo.
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=10066
10.0 First-Aid
First aid is a secondary profession and seems to be a no-brainer skill. It reduces downtime between mobs and can be used in combat as the poor mans Lay on Hands.
10.1 Bandage Macro
Back in the day…. Yea I said … back in the day… 2004 bandage macros were the thing to have. The ultimate bandage macro would heal you and keep your combo pts on your target. Nowadays this just isn’t needed. Under Options find the box that says “Self Cast Always†and check it. Then just use your standard useinventoryitem macro. I personally still use the mod “usebyname†its bag slot independent as well as bandage type independent. So if you have more then one type of bandage it will use your best one.
11.0 Poison Supply Dealers
This is just a quick list provided by Kittykaboom of shady dealers and where they are… since there is never one when you need it most! Also blizzard implemented a change where most reagent dealers now have poison supplies on them so it is quite a bit easier to get the regs you need.
Fahran Silentblade (Ashenvale)
Malissa (Duskwood) In Town East of Griphon Master behind the buildings.
Jaysin Lanyda (Hillsbrad Foothills)
Smudge Thunderwood (Hillsbrad Foothills)
Salome (Hillsbrad Foothills)
Tynnus Venomsprout (Ironforge)
Rekkul (Orgrimmar)
Gerald Crawley (Redridge Mountains)
Patrice Dwyer (Silverpine Forest)
Mura Runetotem (Silverpine Forest)
Patrice Dwyer (Silverpine Forest)
Sloan McCoy (Stormwind City)
Jasper Fel (Stormwind City)
Sly Garrett (Stranglethorn Vale)
Hula’mahi (The Barrens)
Fahran Silentblade (Thousand Needles)
Samor Festivus (Wetlands)
12.0 Stunlock and You
Of all the tools of our trade… this is the one you must master. Any rogue can start a stunlock or maintain it for a few moments. But you Grasshopper… must master it! There are certain classes that just need to be stunlocked. Hunters and Warriors are great examples of two classes I recommend keeping immobilized for as much of the fight as possible. But how? I am going to share some common stunlock combos this is not the definitive guide and there are even more advanced variations of these. But they will provide you with a solid foundation on which to build future combos.
12.1 Seal Fate Stunlock
My personal favorite build is the Seal fate 120 energy build. Consider it the ying to hemo yang. While a hemo build stunlocks by reducing the energy used per move the seal fate 120 energy build looks to give you as much energy to work with as possible. Here are a couple of combos.
BS > BS > KS > Restealth > Sap > Repeat
or
BS > BS > CB > Evis
This particular combo works great when you need an extra second to bandage. The reason you start with 2 BS is to dump as much damage into a cloth caster as possible. A lot of the time you will find that if you put a cothie under 10% health they don’t think so well. Depending on the hp left on your opponent you can finish the combo early with a cold blood eviscerate. If your target is quick a Blind may be needed before the Cold Blood Eviscerate.
CS > BS > KS > BS > TT > BS > BS
The thistle tea in this combo makes it deadly and a great combo vs. other rogues. Its possible your last BS will be finishing as they are coming out of stunlock.
CS > BS > KS > BS > Blind > Restealth > CS > BS > KS > BS > Gouge (if needed)
If your fighting a high hp warrior that last backstab is a great time to thiste tea and burn him down. The name of the game is control and often improvisation. You will find yourself frequently in the position where something missed or x class broke y stun. It happens.
12.2 Hemo Stunlock
Hemo builds are the reigning kings of Stunlock. Any Rogue that delves into the subtlety talent tree will quickly find it is the great equalizer. Builds in this talent tree are extremely dangerous in PvP and a damn good reason not to underestimate that rogue in all blues and a couple of greens. The first time you disregard a rogue specced this way will be the first time you have a Rogue that still hasn’t completed his shadowcraft set laughing at you as you click release.
CS – Hemo – Gouge – KS – Hemo – Hemo – CB Evis
Basic Hemo opener
CS – Hemo – Hemo – KS – Hemo – Gouge – restealth
A slight variation
CS – Hemo – gouge – KS – Hemo – Hemo – rupture
Rogue/warrior kiting combo
CS – Hemo – gouge – Ks – Hemo – Hemo – blind – CB – CS – Evis – Hemo – gouge – KS – Hemo Hemo Evis
This is a 100% -> 0% stunlock, useful versus hunters or other players you know to be dangerous and cannot let them out of the stun at all.
15.0 Theorycraft
If there is one class that likes to do things by the numbers it is the Rogue. This spans many different games, my own experience starting with Everquest. The Rogue Community has some of the most hardcore Theory crafters and they have contributed a lot to the Rogue Community. I hope to highlight a small portion of this work here and provide links to the individual websites that have contributed here. I am not personally a theory crafter myself I prefer wreckless speculation myself. However here are a few places you can go if you want to squeeze every extra ounce of dps from your Rogue.
15.1 The New Combat Daggers
VitaminC writes the World of Rogue Theorycraft blog. In one post in particular he covers the new combat daggers build and how to maximize your dps down to the talent point. Here is a clip directly from one particular post.
Q u o t e:If you want to own DM up, the most important thing, beside l2p, is spec all the high DPS buffing talents. So lets look at the DPS gained from the arguable talents (raid buffed DPS, using Tier 3 gears. Numbers roughly got from Chalon’s current DPS calculators):Adreline Rush (Direct-scaling):
Assuming you are doing 1400 expected/average backstabs, AR is 150 energy, or 150 / 60 * 1400 = 3500 damage, over 300 seconds, or a mere 11.7 DPS per talent point.Murder (Direct-caling):
Assuming you are doing 750 DPS, murder adds straight 15 DPS when it applies, or 7.5 DPS per talent point.
Ruthlessness (Semi-scaling):
Assuming you are using SnD only, every 30 seconds, the actual CP/s = 0.6 / 30 = 0.02 CP/s
SnD DPS is around 110 of the overall 750 DPS, so each CP is worth 110/5 * 30s = 22 DPS/CP * 30s = 660 D/CP
0.02 CP/s * 660 D/CP = 13.2 DPS, or 4.4 DPS per talent point
Relentless Strikes (Direct-scaling):
Assuming you are using SnD only, every 30 seconds, so its an extra 25 energy every 30 seconds.
25/60 * 1400 = 583 damage, over 30 seconds = 19.4 DPS per talent point
Lethality (Semi-scaling):
Assuming 40% Crit, and Backstab DPS assumed to be 233. Working backwards, Backstab DPS is 122 ( 0.3 * 122 + 0.7 * 122 * 2.3 = 233).
So Lethality = 122 * 0.3 = 36.6 DPS per 5 talent points, or 7.3 DPS per talent point
Improved Poison (Non-scaling):
Assuming no VP, 15% Hit, 2.0 speed MH and OH, Backstabbing rogue.
20% * 130 * (90% * 1 + 95% / 4) = 29.575 ~ 30 DPS per 20% proc rate.
30 DPS per 20% proc rate => 3 DPS per 2% proc rate, or 3 DPS per talent point
Conclusion:
1. (Assasination Tier 2) 3/3 SnD is absolutely needed for combat daggers. Murder produces better DPS/talent point compare to Ruthlessness, so 2/2 Murder.
2. (Assasination Tier 3) Lethality is 7.3 DPS per talent point vs. Relentless Strikes’ 19.4 DPS per talent point. 1/1 Relentless Strikes + 4/5 Lethality.
3. (Assasination Tier 3, Combat Tier 7) AR is 11.7 DPS/talent point, but would require 3 talent points investment (2 fillers), so its actually 11.7 DPS/ 3 talent points. The other choice is 1/5 Lethality @ 7.3 DPS + 2/3 Ruthlessness @ 4.4 DPS each, netting you 16.1 DPS/ 3 talent points.
The resulted build is:
VitaminC is usually good about covering a lot of the new abilities and changes to Rogues and figuring out the math behind them. You can check out his blog at http://roguecrap.blogspot.com/
15.2 DPS Comparison of the new 1.12 Talents
Looking for a more information on our recent talent changes in the 1.12 patch you should check out Lithander’s blog. He dabbles in the math behind some of our new talents and is also the developer of the poison pouch addon. Here is a small excerpt from one of his posts.
Q u o t e:How do the new talents Serrated Blades and Deadliness compare to the old damage talents like Malice, Lethality or Opportunity etc?Serrated Blades (3/3)
This talent scales perfectly with gear and level. All our damage is physical and armor mitigation is percentage based so the only variable to gauge the power of Serrated Blades is the opponent’s armor.
Armor mitigation calculates like this: armor / (armor + 400 + 85 * level)
With 3 points invested and for a level 60 rogue it ignores 300 of the target’s armor. How does it affect the effective damage mitigation of a level 60 target?
1000 armor: Mitigation 15,4% -> 11,3%. Physical damage taken +4,84%.
2000 armor: Mitigation 26,7% -> 23,6%. Physical damage taken +4,17%.
3000 armor: Mitigation 35,3% -> 32,9%. Physical damage taken +3,66%.
5000 armor: Mitigation 47,6% -> 46,1%. Physical damage taken +2,94%.
10000 armor: Mitigation 64,5% -> 63,8%. Physical damage taken +1,97%.So all in all, Serrated Blades is quite efficient against low armor targets. This makes it especially useful against clothies, sundered mobs or in combination with Expose Armor. Note that it also buffs your Rupture considerably.
Deadliness (5/5):
For most rogues the dps through attack power is slightly higher than the weapon dps. These rogues would see their white damage increase by 5-6% through Deadliness.
(0.1 * attackpower_dps / (weapon_dps + attack power_dps) * 100).
If Deadliness affects not only attack power from gear but also attack power added through buffs, the increase would be like 7-8% in groups.
Specials attacks like Sinister Strike, Backstab and post patch even Eviscerate and Rupture are also affected by attack power. However a large part of the special damage is always a flat bonus which is not affected by Deadliness.
How much a special attack’s damage will increase depends on how much of its damage is based on attack power.
You can check out the rest of this at Lithander’s blog (Solfyre’s Rogue Blog) http://solfyre.blogspot.com/
17.0 Preparing for Raids
So you just hit 60… you still decked out in greens / blues and few purples. You got yourself into a great guild and your about to take your first trip into MC! How do you increase your survivability and make your guilder leaders / class officers take notice of you. Come prepared! Here is an excerpt from one of Psyae’s posts on what to bring for Raiding.
Q u o t e:Rogue Raiding: What to bring with you for a 3-5 hour raid:Consumables:
40 preferred poisons
10-20 weightstones (or sharpening stones for blade weapons)
5-10 major healing potions
10-20 food that gives a stamina boost
10-20 food that gives an attack power boost (the fruit from AD in EPL you can’t beat)
40 flash powder
20 blinding powder (rarely used in raids, but can be helpful)
20 high-ranked non-mage food (in case you can’t get food from a mage)
40-60 heavy runecloth bandagesFor extreme raiding and higher dps, add:
10 elixirs of the mongoose
10 greater agility potions
10 winterfall firewater
10 scrolls of agility IV
10 scrolls of stamina IV(yes, not everything on these lists will stack, but it’s good to have you choice, based on the mobs. For instance, you can use greater agility pots for trash mobs, then use mongoose on bosses)
GEAR Optimization:
Your optimal gear setup is determined by your talent spread and available gear, but you should generally bring a variety of gear with you if you want to be at your best at all times (and live through the tough stuff).First, determine your best gear for each situation. You can use an addon called Outfitter (or any other), which allows you to hotkey your gear swaps (yes, even will work for a weapon swap).
Stand at the bank, watch your stats, and then configure your attire for, at minimum, these things:
-maximum stamina
-maximum attack power
-maximum crit %
-maximum fire resistDepending on your spec, you might not need all of that. For instance, a combat mace-spec rogue with mostly +AP gear will probably focus on attack power over crit %. What gear you have will also come into play. A lot of your gear will stay on for most of the gear configurations. Then save each set and make sure you keep all the items in those sets in your inventory at all times when you’re doing raids (it’s not that hard to manage inventory, really).
Configure on the fly: right before a boss fight, you can switch to max stamina gear, and give yourself an AP boost. If it’s a fire-fight, then use FR gear with a stamina/crit/AP buff. You have it all there, so you can use it as you see fit.
With such versatility, you will live longer in harder fights, but still do great damage otherwise. It’s well worth the space, and your healers will thank you for keeping yourself alive longer with the stamina gear in tough fights.
You can check out more of Psyae’s WoW et Cetera blog here http://psyae.blogspot.com/.
20.0 Misc. Tips
I left some space for people who wanted to contribute sections for other Professions. This section is just a random collection of things I have noticed that might not fit into a category or do not necessarily need their own category.
20.1 100% Chance to Critical Hit sitting players.
You used to be able to stun sitting players and keep them stunned in a sitting position causing all your hits on them to crit. Now however the moment you hit them they will stand up. However it is a free critical. So no point to waste cold blood on your ambush since you can wait ‘til that lil’ mage sits down instead.
20.2 How to Reset an Instance
This used to be a somewhat difficult and debated topic however recent changes allow characters to exit an instance right click their picture and click reset all instances.
If you are deep in an instance however and don’t want to have to stealth all the way back out. Invite someone to your group. Make them the party leader, then drop the group. As soon as the counter comes up saying you will ported to your bind point /camp out of the game and log back in. This process will cause the instance to reset and for you to be placed at the start of the instance with out having to go outside. This is still a great trick if the entrance to the instance is usually camped.
20.3 Dueling in Contested Zones
This is a bad Idea! You are asking to get ganked if you do this.
Example: The other night I was in Azhara when I came across 2 60 Alliance Rogues farming Satyrs. Since it would be suicide to engage them I started thinking about other places to camp when to my surprise a Duel Flag dropped out of the sky. Here I am thinking to myself “No Freaking way they aren’t that stupid.” When they start attacking each other. I watch with my heart racing a million beats a minute until one of them drops to their knees in typical Night Elf fashion.
I ambush the loser and kill her quickly vanishing and moving away from the second rogue who has not realized what is happening.
Without healing the second rogue engages a Satyr so I step back up and Cheapshot / Kidney Shot then CB Eviscerate the rest of her life.
Of course I quickly relocated so they could not get revenge. :-)
The moral of the story is: Don’t Duel in Contested Zones unless you don’t mind the run from the GY.
20.4 Pick Pocket Opener
Now that it has been changed so you can pickpocket mobs in combat there really is no excuse not to. Grab a macro to pickpocket if you must plus an addon to auto loot or at least place the loot box under your curser so you can get it quickly. It’s a great source of Potions, regs, etc.
20.5 Dodging while running away
You cannot dodge when attacked from behind (so hitting evasion and running is useless. But when a rogue you’re fighting pops evasion, pop sprint and hit him in the back by turning around him at high speed) (not verified)
20.6 The Deadzone
There is a dead zone between 5 and 8 meters for any non casting class, so if you are not dot’ed and you have crippled your enemy, you can stay out of attack range and restealth (does NOT work in PvE!)
20.7 Pets and Stealth
Pets in general can still track a Rogue when he restealths. If the pet is on you simply slipping back into stealth is not an option. Vanish should be effective in shedding pet agro however.
21.0 Macros
Lately most of my Macros have been broken. I will fill this section is as I make them.
22.0 UI Add-ons
This section will list a couple of addons that shine for rogues or just in general. I am not going to list every addon. If you want a list of all of them go to http://www.curse-gaming.com. This is not a list of rogue UI components though if this is what you want check under the class area of the curse site.
22.1 UsebyName
Very nice little addon. I use this in my bandage macro so that it always picks a bandage out of my bag. Whether they change positions (which breaks some macros) Or I have different types of bandages. As long as I have a “bandage” in the bag this macro works.
22.2 CooldownCount
This comes stock with a lot of compilations. Definitely hard to play with out it. Simply displays a countdown on the button that is cooling down. Seeing as all out special abilities have a cooldown this is very nice. Its also been ported to work with Flexbar and half dozen other bar mods out there.
22.3 Poison Pouch
This addon is made by Lithander a cloak and dagger member from RogueSpot. It is also currently my preferred way for applying poisons and stones. In its simplest form you left click a poison to apply to main hand and right click to apply it to offhand. It also comes with a Smart mode which I have yet to test out.
Diese Seite verlinken:
|