Lisha's Rogue Help

Sorry this took so long for me to post lisha,

Recently I received a couple of advice requests from guildies working with their Rogue alts. You have to recognize that I'm not an expert but I want to share with the guild the research I have done about my class.

Talent Spec - Base your spec in your best pair of weapons. If you have a pair of swords that are better from your actual pair of daggers do not hesitate to respec from combat to mutilate or a combat sword specialization, this way you will improve your DPS. The most common specs are: Combat 20/51/0 Mutilate 51/18/2. These builds are optimal for maximum DPS, but I actually adapt these builds for my raid duties. Normally I am assigned to interrupt some mobs in certain encounters, so I use a point in Improved Kick for example. Weapons, Rotation and Poison in order to start DPSing early in an encounter, and to help the tank get aggro, try to cast Tricks of The Trade (ToT for short) on your tank before you start to dps your target. In raids, some times our leader asks us to wait to dps the target until the tank has correctly positioned the target, so even if ToT helps you to transfer aggro to your tank I think is better to focus on following instructions in order to not confuse the rest of the raid members. Also remember that a Rogue is a melee class so you must be at melee range in order to start trasfering aggro to the tank via ToT, and even if you have already cast it you can aggro the target before your tank and confuse him/her.

Mutilate and have the Highest DPS dagger mainhand, have at least one fast dagger in either hand. Fastest dagger - Deadly Poison, Other dagger - Instant Poison. Priority: **Ensure that there is a bleed (ie. Rupture, Deep Wounds, Rend) on the target.** Start up Hunger for Blood. (Start up with Slice and Dice or however you please, really). Use vanish whenever possible for Overkill buff.

1. Keep HFB up.

2. Keep SnD up (mainly via Envenom).

3. 4+ combo point Envenom.

4. ToT when off cooldown, especially with 2pc T10.

Combat: Mainhand a sword/axe, fist or mace weapon of generally slow speed. Offhand a sword/axe, dagger or fist weapon of generally fast speed. Mainhand Instant Poison, Offhand Deadly Poison. Use cooldowns whenever possible. Killing spree + blade flurry, blade flurry + adrenaline rush can be used. Adrenaline rush + killing spree is not recommended due to energy capping.

1. Keep SnD up, no matter what the number of combo points are.

2. 5 point Eviscerate.

3. ToT when off cooldown, especially with 2pc T10.

The previous rotation was a copy paste from a post in the Elitist Jerks rogue forums and is the happy rogue kind of fight that you wish to find every encounter a Tank and Spank that will maximise your DPS, but sadly not all the fights are rogue friendly and you have to keep in mind to use Kick and Kidney Shot when you have an interrupt duty like Assembly of Iron in Ulduar. Use Feint when the mob casts AoE damage to help your healers (it reduces 50% of AoE damage). When you have to fight with a lot of targets like whelps with Onyxia, never cast Fan of Knives without casting before a ToT on your tank, unless you want to be a dead rogue. When the tank dies we normally gain instant aggro cause we are in melee range, try to use Evasion maybe it gives enough time to a druid to battle res your tank or to your parters to finish up the mob. If not possible, Vanish or Sprint out of combat when a wipe is inminent, this will help you with the repair bill. As a pure DPS class we normally want to be at the top of DPS meters, but by experience, while trying to keep dpsing at max we do not pay attention in our health and in almost all cases we finish death. A healer must focus on keeping the tank alive who has priority over you, so keep an eye on your health. A live Rogue makes more DPS than a dead one, so try to follow the raid leader instructions, many bosses can kill you with 1 hit.

Gear and Gems wow-heroes.com is a good resource to see your gear, find updates and compare yours with the top rogues out there. Consumables - I used to eat Blackened Dragonfin, but now I notice that a Fish Feast gives you a better DPS performance. Try to use a Flask of Endless Rage in raids.

AddOns Deadly Boss Mod is a very useful tool for the warnings and timers, it helps you to run away in certain fights with bosses that can kill you with one hit. Also warns you when you are standing up over fire or poison. PowerAuras helps me to see when to refresh SnD and HFB buffs and also could be used to see bleeding debuffs on targets.

Macros I still have to work more in this topic but the one I found useful for ToT on Tank is:

------- start ----- /target /cast Tricks of the Trade /assist ------- end ----

References: Elitist Jerks Rogue forum for FAQ's, SpreedSheets, Guides (most of the things I just wrote are based on the stuff found there) http://elitistjerks.com/f78/ Macro guide (kind obsolete): http://www.wowwiki.com/Useful_macros_for_rogues Kind of blog-guide for raiding http://www.wow.com/category/rogue/

~Lisha

General Rogue Thoughts

Hey guys,

I thought I would write a little something about rogues in general. As you may know, Deadrush was my very first WOW character and even though I've been playing my priest and DK a lot more lately, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for my rogue. Rogues get tossed aside a lot of times because people do not understand them fully. Hopefully, this might clear some things up as well as help some of our newer rogues.

Rogues in PVE

You will never find a group (heroic or otherwise) that is dying to have a rogue in their group. With the advent of the DK, the buffing of ret pallies and the general improvement of all the other classes, rogues have kind of been left in the dust in some ways. A rogue with the same level gear as a DK or pally stands no chance at doing the same kind of damage. Realizing this is half the battle. Instead, think outside the box more with the crowd control (CC) and interrupt moves you have. Sure you might not be tops of the damage meter but you can mitigate some of the damage your group will take which can be just as important. Lesser knowledgable groups might scoff at the numbers you put up but those with experience (especially with rogue experience) will appreciate what you do and how you make the group successful. Some of the tools at your disposal.

Sap - How nice is it for a tank to only worry about having to deal with 2 or 3 mobs instead of 3 or 4. There's a good chance there's another CC dealer in your group as well (mage/sheep, paladin/repent, etc.) which means your group could go through a whole instance without fighting more than 1 or 2 mobs at a time.

Cheap Shot (CS)/Kidney Shot (KS) - Just because the fight has started doesn't mean you are out of CC options. When the tank pulls, hit the skull-marked target with a CS, build up a few points and then a KS. By this time, your group will probably have killed the mob (or close to it) and you are on to the next one. Throw in a vanish and you can restart your rotation and double your stunlock fun.

Kick - Tanks hate casters, no ifs, ands or buts. So use this interrupt to your group's advantage and save your tank some health.

Blind - Though it's not used a whole lot in PVE, it can still be a life saver. There will be times when your group has a bad pull (2 groups) or you somehow manage to get aggro from a mob. Throw a little dust in a mob's eyes and that's one less guy you have to worry about for a few seconds. By that time your group can handle the rest of the mobs and you've done your part to save your group.

Cloak of Shadows (CoS) - Again, this is a skill used more in PVP but it still has it's uses in PVE as well. Your healer will thank you when he has to heal/dispel one less person from a DoT (damage over time spell).

I am currently running an Assassination build with daggers that I am quite enjoying (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/rogue/talents.html?tal=00532300535010052010330135100500500300000000000000000005020000000000000000000000000). I'm getting a lot more DPS than I would have thought with very average to below average gear. Before each battle make sure your Hunger for Blood is triple stacked and that you refresh it as needed within the rotation. My current rotation is:

1) Ambush
2) Slice and Dice (SnD)
3) Mutilate to 4+ CP
4) If SnD has less than 12 seconds left, then Envenom and go back to step 3.
5) If SnD has more than 12 seconds left, then Rupture and go back to step 3.

The basic concept is to always have your Slice and Dice and your Hunger For Blood active. I keep Instant Poison on my main hand and Deadly Poison on my off hand.

Rogues in PVP

This is where rogues can really shine. Use all the above-mentioned CC and interrupts to your advantage. Gouge is a nice PVP tool to use against casters as well. CoS is a wonderful tool against warlocks; let em DoT you up and with one click of a button, you've erased all their work. Poisons are even more importatn in PVP so use those to your advantage. When doing arena, make sure to aim for anything squishy. Priests, warlocks, hunters and shammies are always nice to see. Stunlock everyone and keep them busy while your partner executes his plan. You want to ideally pair yourself up with a face melter (warlock or shadow priest) but other combinations are viable too. Stay away from another straight melee dps partner like a warrior. Lash and I found this out the hard way but we still had fun. Subtlety is usually the spec of choice here and the usual rotation would be something like:
1) Cheap Shot
2) Whatever your main CP generating move is (Sinister Strike, Mutilate, etc.) until Cheap Shot is about to expire
3) Kidney Shot
4) Whatever your best DPS rotations is while throwing in any necessary CC (too many options to write depending on spec and situation).