Rogue Items

May 19th, 2008

As a Rogue, you’re mostly going to be relying on the strength of your dagger for your damage. There are a select few daggers pre-Molten Core that are considered acceptable. For starters, the Barman Shanker which drops off of Plugger Spazzring in Blackrock depths, the almost identical dagger keris of zul’Serak which drops from Warmaster Voone in Lower Blackrock Spire. An upgrade from both of those, however, would be the Lobotomizer, an Alterac Valley exalted level purchasable dagger, and glacial blade, available before lobotomizer.

In terms of off hands, Rogue preferences vary. For a dagger Rogue, preference is almost always given to offhand weapons with better stats than DPS, so you may find the occasional Rogue off handing a green dagger just because it has +30 attack power on it. A dagger with decent DPS that has +attack power bonus on it is Bonescraper, which can drop from Baron Rivendare.

For combat Rogues, suitable swords may be found in the form of the dal’rend set: Dal’rend’s Sacred Charge and Dal’Rend’s Tribal Guardian , which drops off of Warchief rend blackhand in Upper Blackrock Spire but is relatively hard to get both of them without doing many runs. The only other alternative would be to get lucky and loot a sword of zeal or buy one off the auction house, though they tend to be pretty expensive. Krol blade is a decent sword for a sword Rogue, either main hand or off but for the price is probably not worth buying.

There are two easily obtainable rings every Rogue should have, painweaver band from General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire and Don Julio’s band from Alterac Valley exalted rewards. They add a decent amount of attack power and both of them have a +1% crit bonus.

There are relatively few options in terms trinkets, but the ones available are fine so it honestly just makes things a lot simpler. The best trinket is one that you will get from the second part of the Warlord’s command quest line, obtainable in kargath. The trinket Blackhand’s breadth adds 2% crit and it’s a nice boost, considering the alternatives. Another trinket is one that can be obtained in the high 40s from a hinterlands quest. The trinket is called rune of the guard captain, which gives +1% to hit and +20 attack power. This is a pretty safe and beneficial combination, and many combat Rogues prefer the trinket called Hand of Justice which drops from General Angerforge in Blackrock Depths. The trinket grants +20 attack power and a 2% chance to gain an extra attack, pretty ideal for a combat Rogue, especially one with the sword specialization talent.
Consumables

Ideally, a Rogue will have a LOT of Heavy runecloth bandages. Every stun almost is an opportunity to bandage a bit if needed, and especially when blind powder is handy it gives just enough time to get a full bandage in. If a paladin isn’t too particularly clever you can bandage while he shields and heals himself, for example.

Another ideal item to have is of course, Major Healing Potions. Obviously these are expensive, so an alternative is night dragon’s breath and whipper root tuber from felwood, collectable as part of a quest. These might heal for smaller amounts but are all on separate timers, so a potion and each of these may be used without a cool down.

The most common consumables that no Rogue should be without are their poisons. Most Rogues as a rule have crippling poison on one of their weapons at all times in PVP. A Rogue is nothing with close range to its target, and crippling poison ensures that this is almost always the case. Instant poison is a good all around poison to use, and if you aren’t in a stunlock mood you might try a combination of deadly poison and rupture to put maximum damage over time on the target, which isn’t mitigated by armor or affected by my range once the enemy is afflicted. Wound poison is not particularly useful, as attacks like mortal strike have a much greater affect on healing done to the target. Mind numbing poison can be useful against casters, especially ones that can heal.
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Rogue Race Choices

May 14th, 2008

Rogue Race Choices
Class Overview

The Rogue is a character defined by his lack of presence. By the time you see the Rogue it’s usually too late. The Rogue specializes in very fast, very powerful attacks, though there is a variety of Rogue that prefers a more consistent pounding damage. While a Rogue may be somewhat fragile and easy to take down, the strength of a Rogue comes from its ability to choose its battles, and to start them at its leisure. The Rogue is a versatile fighter with many stuns, bleeds, high damaging and stealth openers in its array of skills. The best way to fight a Rogue is to find it before it kills you.
Playable Races
Alliance:
Humans:

Humans are a typical jack of all trades race, very well suited to most roles and tasks. As a Rogue the human typically can make good use of its racial abilities against other Rogues and in specific roles.
Racial abilities:

The human racial abilities that a Rogue makes specific use of are Perception and Sword specialization. Nothing is more valuable than to be able to see another Rogue before he sees you, as between Rogues that is often enough to decide the fight. Since most Rogues will offhand a sword weapon, Rogues benefit from the additional +5 to sword skill, which translates to better chance to hit with the weapon.
Night Elves:

The night elves, above all other races, are characterized by their agility and grace. To be a Rogue, one has to be stealthy and quiet, manipulative and cunning, all an outstanding quality of the average night elf.
Racial Abilities:

The two abilities that may stand out for a Rogue are Shadowmeld and Quickness. At first shadowmeld seems somewhat useless for a Rogue, but having a second stealth on a second cooldown may be enough to save you when a Horde gank squad comes around your grinding or farming area. Though having to remain stationary limits the usefulness of the ability it is just another type of precaution in the Rogues’ sneaky defense. Quickness adds 1% dodge, which is a primary form of damage mitigation for a Rogue. In other words, the Rogue’s armor being leather, better to not get hit at all than get hit for less.
Dwarves:

The Dwarves are a hardy race, and make use of their diminished size to remain hidden and perform their role. Though not very well suited to be Rogues, and their racial abilities do not lend themselves readily to the Rogue’s repertoire but can still add that pinch of flavor that a player needs to enjoy the game.
Racial Abilities:

The primary skill for a dwarf Rogue to be concerned with is Stoneform. The Stoneform effect will increase your armor by 5% as well as make you immune to bleed, disease and poison effects, which is very useful for a Rogue that needs to vanish and stay vanished. However, some would consider the reduction to 70% movement speed a hindrance to the Rogue with other places to be than in involuntary combat. The gun specialization for a Rogue is arguable, though from time to time having a decent ranged weapon is invaluable when someone is trying to run away from you, which with a Rogue does occasionally happen.
Gnomes:

The gnomes are one of the ideal Rogue races. Their considerably small size and stature lends themselves to staying hidden. You might stand right on top of one and miss it for lack of looking down. Another interesting mechanic of World of Warcraft that a gnome makes use of is the ability to squeeze through small areas, which as a Rogue that kind of mobility and freedom is invaluable.
Racial Abilities:

Escape Artist is likely the first ability to catch anyone’s eye. Since the Rogue relies on proximity to target snare breaking effects are invaluable, especially against a class such as the druid or mage. Being able to break a snare without using the vanish ability allows you to save it for when you really need it. Another ability that a Rogue can benefit greatly from is the racial +15 to engineering skill. Most players would do well to pick a crafting profession their first time through, but many engineering items can be a great supplement to Rogue abilities. Being able to net a running player, toss bombs on them, damage and debuff them in unorthodox ways allows engineering to lend itself to the Rogue play style.
Horde
Orcs:

The orc race is a race of politics, betrayals, assassination and brute strength. The orc Rogue is a brutal enemy, a foe who strikes without mercy at the weakest target to take it down.
Racial Abilities:

Hardiness stands out as being invaluable to the orc Rogue, as this passive ability will give them the upper hand in fights against other Rogues and sometimes hunters as well. Between Rogues, careful timing of stuns is often the difference between win and lose so being able to break up that timing is an incredible advantage. The other Rogue ability of use to an orc is Blood Fury. When you want to hit hard, you can activate Blood Fury for a 25% bonus to your attack power and get that extra damage you need. However, with blood fury it comes with a considerable price. For the duration of Blood Fury heals on the Rogue will be less effective, meaning he may not survive long enough to effectively use his ability. After the buff wears off, the Rogue is debuffed with -25% attack power for 15 seconds. An orc Rogue needs to be able to kill his target quickly to be effective with his abilities.
Undead:

The undead Rogue is merciless and cruel, and attacks without remorse. The forsaken are jaded to life and as such are quick to end it without pity. The undead is possibly the strongest Rogue race for the Horde, considering their racial abilities.
Racial Abilities:

The undead Rogue’s most useful ability is Will of the Forsaken. This ability grants immunity to, or breaks the effect of sleep, fear, and charm effects. This ability is almost overwhelmingly useful as many classes primary forms of defense are the ability to fear or charm the enemy. This ability is often used as a debuff breaker, but with proper timing and anticipation can be used to prevent the debuff from even taking place, however with a 5 minute duration for the effect it can be very difficult to use it that way. Another useful Rogue racial ability is the ability to cannibalize, or regenerate health by feeding off of corpses. In PVP combat you don’t know where your next heal is going to come from, so the ability to regenerate some health from the corpse of your latest victim may save you in your next encounter. It’s also useful to minimize downtime during grinding or farming periods.
Troll:

The trolls are an outcast race of Azeroth. Though they claim an affiliation with the horde based on honor, they take great pride in their own tradition of combat. With barely even a home to call their own they cling strongly to what is still theirs. The hilt of a dagger or sword is not unfamiliar to a troll and many will use them as Rogues, with great precision and deadly force.
Racial Abilities:

The showcase troll ability is berserking, a scaling increase in attack or casting speed dependant on the health of the user. Depending on your health level you can expect between a 10% and 30% increase in attack speed. Here’s where it gets tricky. A dagger Rogue that relies on single hit massive damage does not benefit very much from this ability, while a combat Rogue that prefers a flurry of attacks over pinpoint stabbing precision may appreciate the increased attack speed. Another racial trait to be aware of the +5% damage bonus to beasts. If the Rogue picks up a skinning profession this talent may have noticeable benefit to productivity and leveling. Finally, like the dwarf the usefulness of the +5 to bows skill is arguable, but may come in handy in a pinch.
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Additional Tips for Rogue

May 13th, 2008

Additional Tips
1. Heal yourself if you can and save the healers MP for the tanking classes.
2. Let the party attack first then when the enemy is distracted get into the fray attacking the enemies clothes.
3. Dont focus on one target semi kite your targets in the battle. Fight the whole party not just part of it.
4. When you are acting as the scapegoat for the enemy to attack use sprint to run around the enemy and let the party attack them from the back.
5. Rogues also need to be wary of other Alliance/Horde that will come into the battle with the parties. If you see one inform your party so you can take immediate action.

Like I said before Critiscism is appreciated and if you have any tips PM me or Post them and I will add them to the guide.

This is the intellectual property of Randall Mottwiler(Vashna/Galgaros). If you wish to re post this anywhere just ask me it will be allright(as long as you arent trying to sell it).

-Vashna, Troll Rogue, Warlord Kharma Trolls, Illidan server.
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Vashna’s Guide to Rogue PvP (Part 1)

May 12th, 2008

Stats
First of all you have to build up your stats to how you want to fight an enemy and build your talent tree. On the stats part focus mainly on Agi, Stam, and Atk Pwr. Str is good but you will want the extra Stam to last the extra mile(like Rogues can actually last the extra mile in the first place). Contrary to popular belief Atk Pwr owns. Although Agi is better raw pure Atk Pwr makes a HUGE difference in dmg. The extra Atk Pwr will help to take down the classes with heavier armor(IE: Mail/Plate users). Your talent tree is also a very important part of the whole aspect of PvP.

Talent Tree
Your talent tree determines your whole style of being a Rogue in PvP. There are many different kind of Rogues. Chain Stun/Assasination, Chain Crit, Combat, Subtlety(never met a Rogue that is Subtlety but I have heard of them), Assasination/Combat. Chain Stun/Assasination is keeping your enemy unable to attack back as long as possible while you do damage to them.
*example Talent Tree: Chain Stun/Assasination*
Improved Evis - 3/3
Murder - 2/2
Ruthlessness - 3/3
Relentless Strikes
Improved Kidney Shot - 3/3
Vile Poisons - 5/5
Cold Blood
Seal Fate - 5/5

Chain Crit is constantly hitting your enemy as hard as possible for the entire fight, this also REQUIRES extremely high Agi.
*example Talent Tree: Chain Crit*
Improved Evis - 3/3
Remorseless Attacks - 5/5
Malice - 5/5
Ruthlessness - 3/3
Relentless Strikes
Lethality - 5/5
Vile Poisons - 5/5
Improved Instant Poison - 5/5
Cold Blood
Improved Deadly Poison - 5/5
Seal Fate - 5/5
Vigor
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May 12th, 2008

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